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Suicide attack in Quetta leaves food for thought
WSN Network
 The
February 17 blast in a district court in Quetta comes close on the
heels of similar attacks – the majority of them suicide bombings –
in Mirali, Islamabad, Peshawar and Dera Ismail Khan. Nearly 15
people, including a senior judge, had died while 25 others were
injured in the Quetta attack carried out by a suicide attacker.
Balochistan is a restive province and government installations and
personnel have been frequently targeted by the insurgents. However,
Saturday’s explosion had several hallmarks of the jihadi methodology
and appeared to be in line with attacks carried out by religious
extremists angered by Pakistan’s cooperation with the US in the war
on terror. That this tide of religious violence is not going to
recede anytime soon is evident from the growing Talibanisation of
the border areas with Afghanistan and, according to some observers,
the inability of the military to stop radical elements from using
Pakistani territory to launch attacks on foreign troops across the
frontier.
With the NWFP governor himself admitting that public support for the
Taliban is growing in Afghanistan and with western predictions of
increased fighting in the months ahead, there is every reason to
fear a surge in religious violence across Pakistan.
One can understand the constraints that Pakistan faces in “doing
more” to halt such attacks, especially when the government in Kabul
appears to be utterly powerless to prevent violence on its side of
the border. But one must also question the rationality of the
approach that Islamabad has so far taken in countering terrorism. By
launching attacks on so-called jihadi camps and allowing
intelligence agencies to arbitrarily pick up people believed to have
links with religious militants, it has often ignored legal norms.
This only provides more fodder for the Taliban and other religious
elements to promote their cause among those who are already unhappy
with the state’s high-handedness. Needless to say, this is not the
best way of enlisting the people’s support for defeating terrorism
and reining in extremist elements.
21 February 2007
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