Despite Balochistan being treaded as a political playground with frequent picking and choosing, and change of favorites, it is not devoid of the menace of terrorism, suicide bombings, and targeted killings. Life would be worth living, jubilant, and replete with happiness for many, but it is absurd and uncertain for the dwellers of Balochistan due to its feeble security apparatus. It has become a dreadful place where you can be killed for your beliefs, either targeted or in a bomb blast. The worst thing that can happen to you is you can go missing, with no sign of your existence behind.
The month of August is a stark reminder of fateful incidents that have left indelible imprints on the lives of the people of Balochistan. On the 8th of August 2016, a group of lawyers were killed in Quetta Civil Hospital when a suicide bomber blew himself up, resulting in the deaths of at least 74 people, most of them lawyers, and injuring over 100 people. They had gathered to mourn the tragic death of their colleague, Bilal Anwar Kasi, President of the Balochistan Bar Association, who had been shot dead earlier that day. This incident devastated the legal fraternity of Balochistan, setting the province back by a hundred years and dealing an irreparable blow to Balochistan’s future. Jamaat-ur-Ahrar, a splinter group of the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the bombing.
The fear of death creeps behind you and follows you everywhere in Balochistan. On August 5th, 2021, a renowned political figure and provincial central committee member of the Awami National Party (ANP), Malak Ubaidullah Kasi, was kidnapped and later killed. The identity of his killer remains elusive. His hands were tied behind his back, suggesting that he had been taken captive, dragged, tortured, and then killed.
Moreover, life is transient, and death is unfathomable, but losing someone you loved so much is a sheer baptism of fire. On August 26th, 2021, a powerful bomb blast near Mangi Dam Ziarat killed three sons of the soil: Risaldar Major Zaman Kakar, Risaldar Mudasir Hussain Panezai, and Sepoy Zainullah Kakar. This incident devastated the deceased family emotionally and left a dismal imprint on their lives forever. The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a separatist militant group notorious for deadly attacks on security forces in Baluchistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.
On August 13, 2020, while the rest of Pakistan was busy buying Pakistani flags and getting ready to celebrate their 73rd year of independence on August 14, Hayat Baloch, a student of Physiology at the University of Karachi from Baluchistan was killed by a serviceman of the Frontier Corps, a paramilitary force in Pakistan, in Absor Turbat after a bomb blast.
The insecurity has locked and haunted the people of Balochistan in a vicious circle of indecisiveness, preventing them from leaving their homes. Recently, on August 1st, 2023, two police personnel escorting the polio vaccination team were killed in Quetta. On August 2nd, Jawad Hazara, a policeman belonging to the Hazara community, was shot dead on Spinny Road, Quetta.
The American poet and civil rights activist Maya Angelou wrote “When Great Trees Fall” in 1987 after the death of her friend and fellow writer/activist James Baldwin. The poem, which Angelou read at Baldwin’s funeral, compares the deaths of “great” people to “great trees” falling in a forest.
“When great souls die,
The air around us becomes
Light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes, briefly,
See with
A hurtful clarity.
Our memory suddenly sharpened,
Examines,
Gnaws on kind words
Unsaid,
Promised walks
Never taken.”
The same grief and sorrow resonate with the people of Balochistan, who have lost loved ones to terrorism, suicide bombings, and targeted killings. Such violence is a pestilence that is sweeping away the peace of the land and depriving it of prosperity. Balochistan needs peace and tranquility for its inhabitants. The looming security crisis has been blemishing lives, wreaking havoc, and thwarting socio-economic activities.
Desperately, insecurity has become the undefeatable enemy, persistently affecting the lives of the people of Baouchistan. The state should act in a novel manner to end domestic disputes among separatist and religious militant groups by promoting conciliation and consensus rather than confrontation and contradiction. It should thoroughly investigate such incidents to prevent further callous acts and save the lives of its security personnel and citizens. Moreover, the security apparatus should be vigilant of suspicious moves by enemies and fight tooth and nail to keep the province safe and livable.
In conclusion, the people of Balochistan sigh with distressing grief, saying, “No matter how fast I run or how far I go, it won’t escape me: pain, misery, and emptiness.”
About The Author
Samiullah Kakar is a student of Law at Gillani Law College Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan. He hails from Quetta, and is aspiring to be a judge.
The views expressed in this article are solely those of the original author and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views of Rationale-47.
Rationale-47 
Very good analysis regarding Balochistan
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