It is 1:04am on Wednesday, August 10. I am trying to collect my thoughts so as to write about Monday morning’s Quetta blast which snatched 97 lives – 62 lawyers, 29 civilians, 2 law enforcement officers, 2 journalists, 1 doctor – according to social media.
Bomb blasts are not new in Pakistan. You can google as to how many incidents have been happened thus far.
According to reports, Chief Minister Mr. Sanaullah Zehri of Balochistan said that the Quetta blast had RAW's involvement. This statement came out when Baloch and Pakhtuns were mourning and taking dead bodies of their beloved, when no one had any idea how many people lost their lives.
Shall we ask Mr. Chief Minister of Balochistan what he was doing if you had information about the origin of the attack so soon? Or are chief ministers and prime ministers only tasked to tell us who was responsible for terror attacks?
Who are they kidding?
Furthermore, the nation was informed that the bombing took place because the ‘enemy of Pakistan’ did not want to see development in the country and hence targeted China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
So it means that all infrastructural development will cause terror attacks. Do the country’s rulers really want that?
After every attack we hear their stories as to who and why someone orchestrated it.
Tell us, why Bacha Khan University was targeted? Why are there attacks in Jacobabad? Why are Hazaras are being killed? What was the purpose behind the APS carnage? Which infrastructure was targeted when Christians were attacked in Lahore on Easter?
On the other hand, the Baloch have been abducted for years, and recently Wahid Baloch was abducted from superhighway in Karachi. Who abducted him?
Is it Pakistan’s foes who have forced the statesmen not to work on the National Action Plan (NAP)?
It is not the first time that people have dead bodies of their beloved on their shoulders. Each attack has left a river of blood.
Let’s be honest here, the Quetta blast has revealed the real face of the NAP and how the government has failed to work on it with any honesty.
Under the nose of the NAP, banned militant organizations are allowed to move in Balochistan. Who allows them? How can they work freely in the province? What is Chief Minister of Balochistan doing? Is he not aware of the ‘nationwide movement’ regarding banned militant organizations?
Let me share here comments of Allama Maqsood Domki who talked to me in 2015 on Balochistan situation for The Wire:
“In Balochistan, the Pakistani state has given a green signal to terrorist organisations to divert attention from the Baloch freedom movement. Some Pakistani institutes are thinking if they allow religious terrorist groups in Balochistan, then they can weaken the movement for freedom. I want to tell them that this is a big mistake. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had “Sarhadi Gandhi” (Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan), whose ideas were unacceptable to the Pakistani state, and now you can see that the leader of the National Awami Party, Asfandyar Wali Khan cannot walk freely due to threats of terrorism. The Baloch, who should follow Akhtar Mengal (leader of the Balochistan National Party), are now following Mulla Ramzaan Mengal and Haji Mengal of the banned terrorist Ahle-Sunnat wal Jamaat (ASWJ). The ASWJ and Lashkar-e-Jhangvi both have a green signal from the Pakistani state”, said Domki.”
In 2015 Allama Maqsood Domki knew about the Balochistan situation but the statesmen still have no idea.
Balochistan has remained in conflict with state in order to gain its political rights. During ex-dictator Pervaiz Musharraf’s era, Balochistan’s political movement surged. Since then political activists and journalists have been abducted– approximately “35,000, Baloch people have been abducted,” according to a source.
Mr. Assad Iqbal Butt, from the Human Rights Commission, said the abduction of Wahid Baloch is a failure of state and a big crime. He believes such activities will promote anger in society and that the state should follow its own law if someone is involved in any activity, bring them to court.
He says:
“Each institute turns itself into a court and it is not a fair. To register an FIR is a basic right of a citizen – how can they deny it? The HRCP is working over this issue and will solve it.”
He added that according to a local English newspaper:
“Recently, 1000 Baloch people have been killed as per government report. State agencies deliberately force Baloch towards militancy because the state is unable to defeat on political grounds. They drag the Baloch into battlefield to crush them.”
Tell us who is behind it? Who abducted and killed Baloch? Is this all happening because of CPEC?
Quetta blast is an attack on sane minds aiming to eradicate the voices for Baloch people. Indeed, after Monday’s bombing an operation will be launched against Baloch citizens.
Mohammad Ali Talpur, a scholar and activist, says:
“They will never ever touch their own people in the banned militant terrorist organizations”
It is true that our land has lost sane minds and brave voices which spoke for the voiceless. The government cannot hide behind the curtain of excuses – the time has come to account for the National Action Plan and explain why banned organizations are working freely.