The killings of 23 people in Balochistan’s Musakhail district based on ethnicity raise concerns about the country’s integrity. According to a Dawn report, armed men, numbering 30 to 40, blocked the inter-provincial highway, stopped 22 vehicles, offloaded the passengers, checked their identity cards, and killed those from Punjab. This incident highlights the ongoing interprovincial tensions within the country, which is already grappling with multiple national-level problems.

This is not the first instance of ethnically motivated violence in Pakistan. Similar incidents occurred in previous years, such as the 2019 killing of 14 people near Gwadar, the October 2023 shooting of six labourers in Turbat, and the killing of nine passengers near Noshki in April this year. Numerous smaller incidents occur daily, often going unnoticed. Tragically, little serious attention is paid to these heart-wrenching events, and formal condemnations are typically the only response.

The pressing question is: What motivates such brutalities? What wrong have these innocent people committed to deserve this fate? And why does the government seem to turn a blind eye to the situation? Immediate, strict action is needed, as the consequences of inaction could be dire. Small-scale ethnic violence, if left unchecked, could escalate into massive outrages that the country cannot afford.

Additionally, such violence encourages those who are always seeking opportunities to destabilise Pakistan. The knowledge that its own people are turning against each other makes their work easier. Issues that could be resolved through peaceful negotiations should not become the cause of unjust killings.

MUHAMMAD SARMAD SHAHZAD,

Lahore.