An awesome day started in the city of Quetta, the city once called little Paris or London for its beauty. The city is actually a piece of land covered by mountains and is on higher point from the sea level. That’s why it has cooler atmosphere than any other city in Balochistan, excluding Ziarat. But this coolness sometimes get shattered with bombs, target killing and abduction for ransom. This day get us to another bad news in the city.
This is not only Quetta, most of the country except the province of Punjab are bearing the brunt since our establishment got involved in creating terrorism factories seasoned with extremists ideology or I will say the politicized religious ideologies. Therefore, these factories have been living upon the lives of our innocent people. Some are targeted on the basis of sect, others are killed for being secular and at the same time gender based discrimination is on the peak and women are tried to be caged in the four walled houses.
So, sadly it happened again in the center of this glorious city. Four women allegedly targeted in acid throw attack when they were busy probably Eid-Ul-Fitar or daily routine Ramadan, the holy month shopping.
The people living in Balochistan have a diversity of culture. They have lived here for centuries on their ancestral lands. Though, they are follower of the peaceful Islam, didn’t discriminate any sect, gender and group on the basis of religion, color and race. Pashtun, Baloch, Urdu speaking population of the province, Hazara and minorities have always lived a life under the quote of “live and let others to live”. Now, as I write this piece it has been years sectarian killings have risen. Hundreds of Hazara belonging to the Shia community are targeted with bomb blasts. Security forces, police and others are faced by the same fate, whenever, they come in the way of these terror spreading organizations.
It is not the first time that such activities get to the surface and happen continuously. Since the time I was a child then teenage boy, such activities were surrounding the air with bad news. I remember, how my mother and other women were explaining the events taking place in “Zanana Bazar” a shopping area for women. Most of these events were first having a test case. For example these people would throw pamphlets warning women, particularly, young ladies not to be out of their homes.
The kinds of minor acid attacks, closure of CD and barber shops and ban on women at shopping centers were the primary steps taken by the outlaw organizations in Khyber Pashtunkhwa’s paradise like northern areas of Swat. After a shorter interval of time Swat faced an introduced Sharia law that pushed Pakistan to launch its military operation on the people involved in violation of the country’s law. The way I observe things happening scares me some think like the one in Swat is taking place in Balochistan. It may be a doubt or a mere fear. But God knows who are going to visit our land for the application of their brutal ways of treatment.
I pray for the quick recover of four women injured in the acid throw attack. It is only a test of the society taken by the hardliner religious organizations. Once they feel our senses dead. They will surely launch more attacks. So I ask the government of Balochistan to take strict actions against the culprits. That no one will dare doing so in the future.
Malik Achakzai 