In less than a week time, three deadly attacks on political candidates have been carried out. Only today, in the restive provinces of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) more than 90 people have died in two separate blast attacks. First Akram Durrani’s convoy came under attack in his hometown, and then Nawabzada Siraj Raisani’s rally was targeted. While the former politician succeeded a narrow escape, the latter could not.
Three attacks in less than a week are more than enough to discourage people from taking part in the polling process. The people of Pakistan have hardly absorbed the shock of the untimely death of Haroon Bilour and his comrades that two separate attacks in a single day have sent shockwaves across the country. The fact that terrorists are succeeding in targeting political candidates without any hindrance tells us how weak security arrangements are in such sensitive days.
Though the interim government has condemned all the attacks, it is to remind the government that mere condemnation does not absolve it from the responsibility of ensuring safe and secure elections. It is the foremost duty of the interim setup to guarantee not only free and fair elections but also to assure that no one sabotages the entire process by terror means. The attackers are targeting the political parties and their candidates without any discrimination. The state should take notice of the fact that these attacks are nothing but an attempt to sabotage the election process.
The recent attacks on Durrani and the ones that have claimed the lives of Raisani and Bilour are proof that our fight against militancy is far from over. These attacks also reveal that the interim setup has failed in providing adequate security to the politicians. All those institutions making tall claims of ensuring free and fair elections need to re-evaluate their performance. The state should use all its resources to ensure the safety of people in the coming polls.