Yet another bombing

The terror has reached federal capital and this should be a wake-up call for the government.

The lull in countrywide violence has proved to be the harbinger of a new and more intense phase. Back to back explosions in Sibi and Islamabad on two consecutive days have shattered the relative calm and sowed fears of more such atrocities in the days ahead. The killing of, at least, 23 people in a busy fruit and vegetable market of the federal capital on April 9 has once again exposed chinks in the state’s armour.



Coming as it does just over a month after the gun-and-suicide attack on the district court complex, the carnage is yet another manifestation of how ruthless the merchants of terror are and how helpless the government. In both the Sibi and Islamabad attacks, innocent civilians were targeted. Curiously, the credit for mounting both the assaults has been claimed by a banned Baloch separatist group. While the interior ministry was quick to rubbish its claim of staging the Islamabad attack as well, it would be unwise to leave the matter uninvestigated.

On the other hand, the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) have denied their role, saying the group deems attacks on innocent civilians un-Islamic. Given the spate of attacks, the carnage and the killings that have come after the talks with the TTP began, one is inclined to take this with a pinch of salt. One can also consider that it is not uncommon for its breakaway groups to act unilaterally and take independent decisions, but the idea behind holding talks with the militants is that the killings stop — and if independent groups are indeed carrying out these attacks, it begs the question of what exactly talking with the TTP can gain for us. Clearly then, the government needs to put its act together and craft a counter-terror strategy to tackle the runaway monster called militancy. The terror has reached the federal capital — the seat of government — and this should be a wake-up call for all the top functionaries to respond to the threat in a befitting manner. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar says this cannot be done without the aid of technology. If the deployment of crucial equipment can make the capital, and the country at large, safe, what the government is waiting for?

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11^th, 2014.

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