If prayers or tears could bring back the four who had died in a heart-wrenching blast in Quetta’s bustling Qandahari Bazaar, Daily Times would have used up all its ink and all its prayer; clinging to the slim hope of a miracle. Sadly, no magic spell can turn the clock back. In the eyes of the state, the fallen amount to nothing more than a few more tally marks on the bloodied register. After all, ours is a country that has been battling the demons of terrorism for as far as one can remember. But for all those mourning the loss of their loved ones (a teenager giddily showing Eid stalls to his niece; a minor girl excitedly prancing from one shop to the next and two police officers, whose kin must be anxiously awaiting the Eid break), the excruciating agony is bound to linger all their lives. As if the nefarious designs needed to send a stronger message across, another police vehicle was targeted using around two kilogrammes of explosive material. This tragedy followed on the heels of an attack in the Kuchlak district wherein (surprise, surprise) two more unformed officers laid down their lives: a hefty price for choosing to defend their homeland and their brethren. All this continues to wreak havoc in a province that has been silently bearing the brunt of ill-conceived policies and overall apathy towards its tear-stained alleys. Only a handful of extremely fortunate families living in the city must have avoided the back-breaking burden of mourning the untimely departure of someone they once held very dear. We have all been too familiar with the bloodied saga and therefore, the inability of the state to rattle out of its complacency and strike a decisive blow speaks volumes about its apparent lack of concern. That any and all militant groups need to be dealt with an iron hand, not offered a backdoor escape route, has been painted on the wall but no one in power is willing to look beyond the myopic agendas. When and if the urgency of terrorism manages to sneak its way through the political buzzwords, it is only to kick the electoral can along the dusty road. For all other intents and purposes, the entire kitchen going down in flames would still remain a moot point. *