Daily Times

The path to democracy is a lot harder for some to walk. Soon after polling opened for business in Quetta, a suicide attack claimed the lives of 29 present at one station.

Balochistan has been battered by terrorism long before polling began, earlier this month close to 150 people were killed during the election campaign, and almost 200 were left injured. Siraj Raisani, an election hopeful, also lost his life.

The current attack can be easily seen as an intimidation tactic, aimed at keeping people away from voting – it is a tactic that, sadly, worked to an extent.

Those that died include two children and six police officers. The incident left another 35 people injured. The suicide attacker was originally trying to enter the polling station but was stopped by FC personnel from entering.

In the comfort of our cities, we often forget to think about our western border. Casualties along said border marked our campaigns, and then our elections too. It says a lot about the resolve of the people who wanted their votes to count and continued to show up to cast them. It also says a lot about Pakistanis in general, who soon forgot about Quetta, delirious over their respective wins or losses.

For many Pakistanis, picking their candidate and putting the ink where it matters was a simple, peaceful task. But let us not forget that this wasn’t the reality for every single Pakistani. Till the time that we can ensure that this is a consistent reality for every voter in the country, this democracy will be no more than a pipe dream.

This incident reminds us that our duty as citizens does not end with the vote – we must now move forward and hold our leaders accountable. A vote is no small thing – some of our people died for it, and our leaders must answer for it.  *

Published in Daily Times, July 26^th 2018.