Trying to wash hands off the shocking suicide bombing that targeted Chinese nationals in Karachi on Tuesday by dismissing it as a “cowardly attack of terrorism” cannot work for the present government. Had it just been locals whose charred remains needed to be meticulously pieced together, optics would have been an ideal game and crocodile tears from the government machinery might have long drowned the chaotic flames. However, it is China, our “real iron brother,” and the last resort to resuscitate our gasping-for-breath economy. And when one of most benevolent friends point-blankedly asks Pakistan to address the “root causes of the problem,” those sitting in the government are bound to move heaven and earth to get to the bottom line. Having had numerous brushes with death in Karachi alone (at the hands of the same organisation that smugly accepted the responsibility for blowing up the star-crossed 16-seater), Beijing has every right to leap up, press for answers and lay claim to fool-proof security. After all, no country indulges in soft diplomacy to live through the terrors of the battlefield. There remain no qualms about the urgency to realise the precarious safety situation and open eyes to the number of Hydrean serpents rearing their heads. For a banished organisation like the Balochistan Liberation Army to find support in the poshest of institutions and have the capacity to smuggle parts of the suicide vest right underneath the nose of well-equipped checkpoints in a city with a large police force and a sizeable Ranger’s presence is no joke. Rather, it is the manifestation of the worst terrors of the country’s gut-wrenching nightmare. Unless Pakistan plugs all the loopholes in its law enforcement narrative and strikes at the heart of the shambolic breakdown of law and human rights ravaging all across Balochistan, we would be forced to witness even deadlier bloodbaths orchestrated by Baloch militancy. Nevertheless, to lend them an ear should not be equated with offering them the other cheek. Pakistan should rightfully smell the making of yet another looming threat to its very foundation and roll up its sleeves for emergency information-gathering and counter-operations. What Karachi Police, the Sindh government and Speed Shehbaz intend to roll out in order to rise to the occasion (or at least, do some face-saving) remains to be seen, but one thing’s certain: shuffling faces won’t fit the bill. *