Daily Times

There has been marked decline in acts of terror ,sabotage and attacks on the civilians and vital installations in the country for quite some time. This has been possible by the unrelenting resolve by law enforcement agencies with a very clear road map under operation Zarb ul Azb and operation Radul Fasad. The ugly head of the scourge, however, keeps rearing time and again and in and around specific areas using improvised explosive devices against the law enforcement agencies. The activities are confined now in waziristan and certain areas of Baluchistan adjoining the Iranian border.

There is, however, an alarming development in terms of the extended out reach of an ethnic outfit ‘ Baluch liberation Army ’. The outfit, during the past two years, had been making desperate attempts to destabilise the peace in the largest financial hub of the country, namely, Karachi. The recent aborted attempt of a suicidal attack on Karachi stock exchange is a point in sight. A major catastrophe was averted through instant and professional response by the Rapid Response Force of Sindh police neutralising the terrorists so successfully outside the building of the stock exchange. In the clash two security guards and a police official embraced martyrdom. Destiny designed something so different for them. Command and staff of the Sindh police deserves accolades for such an outstanding feat.

The incident reportedly had the similarity with the attack on the Chinese consulate in Karachi some two years ago. It had distinct footprint of BLA.

One is certain that taking cue from the last incident the law enforcement agencies would be able to connect the dots and resolve the instant case as well.

CEPEC is treated by the radicalised elements as inimical to Baluch interest while the nationalist political face on the other hand has a grouse against less share of the Baluchistan province in the CPEC projects. This avowedly contradictory stance needs deft balancing act

The incident should not be taken smugly. It evidently reveals the sheer desperation and exacerbation of these elements who had been assigned the aborted mission of unhinging the peace of the biggest metropolitan of Pakistan. Karachi whereas, over a period of time, has developed a unique resilience to get over the instant shock and revert to the normal routine. A stretch of two kilometres of I. I Chundrigar road not only houses the Pakistan stock exchange with a huge foreign investment, including the Chinese investment but also has the headquarters of premier commercial banks of Pakistan including the financial nerve centre of the country, the State Bank of Pakistan. One could imagine the huge financial and psychological loss if such elements could have been successful in their nefarious design. It could have been a rerun of the Mumbai carnage, after sordid event the sub continent was never the same.

Notwithstanding the elimination of terrorists on the spot, the incident, however, alludes to some grey areas of security and intelligence short falls warranting soul searching and some deeper reflection. Karachi should be having layers of cordons and specially in high risk areas. It is a moot point that how the four terrorists who entered the city, lodged them in some sleeper cell, purchased a car used in the commission of offence, had a reconnaissance of their target four days ago, reached the spot without let or hindrance . They were reportedly lodged in Gharibad and drove through layari expressway. They were not on the radar of our intelligence network during all these days. Resultantly they were able to breach the outer cordon of the sensitive business district before mounting their deadly unsuccessful operation.

Actionable intelligence though estimative in nature is key to averting such deadly events. It helps tracking down inimical elements before they could mount their attack. This intelligence is gathered both at the strategic and operational level. Hosts of agencies are positioned in the field in this regard. The biggest challenge is how to coordinate and share this information laterally at the ground level as there is tendency to safeguard its vertical movement before sharing. ‘ stove pipe approach ‘ which takes the information vertically up slackens the rapid response. In the instant case it is known too well as who were their master mind and operators . Under pinning their handlers providing logistics locally was now as important to deny them the space outside their known environment.

The issue of the ‘liberation army’ and its cadre need not be taken in isolation. It requires a larger perspective to understand as how ethno centric sub nationalism is spawning these elements while their master mind and operators were sitting outside Pakistan. Over a period, in view of our inept public policy discourse there has been a growing radicalisation in certain pockets of Baluchistan. Perceived and a real sense of denial, oppression and injustice were seen as ploy used by the successive federal governments notwithstanding the fact that local imperatives also accentuated the grim picture. It drifted a section of youth towards the radical beliefs. These beliefs though isolated them in relative terms from the vast swathe of the people, but at the same time provided them with social space for breathing and nourishment. The political face of sub nationalist swathe also provided them with the social space, at times enabling them in making conflicting claims. CEPEC, for instance, is treated by the radicalised elements as inimical to Baluch interest while the nationalist political face on the other hand has a grouse against less share of the Baluchistan province in the CPEC projects. This avowedly contradictory stance needs deft balancing act.

The Rights of Baluchistan and the say of its inhabitants concerning all their matters and share in the national scheme of things should be of paramount concern. Constant formal and informal engagement with different elements of Baluch society is a key to sustainable relations between Islamabad and the federating unit. Integrity of the state at the same time cannot be compromised at the behest of unauthorised militant militias. It should be loud and clear, raising of arms against the state could not be brooked . There is a need at the same time to employ as many non kinetic measures to main stream an important federating unit which continues to suffer from a rampant sense of injustice and social exclusion.

The writer is an author. He is former interior secretary and at present Adjunct Faculty at LUMS