Uzair Baloch — the suspected Lyari gang leader arrested by Interpol in December 2014 in the UAE — mysteriously surfaced in Karachi after a Pakistan Rangers operation. Despite the Karachi police higher-ups’ several visits to the UAE in the early part of 2015, Uzair Baloch was not expatriated to Pakistan, though many believe that he was later secretly handed over to Pakistan. Pakistan has a long history of apprehending high-profile terrorists and gangsters. From the top brass of al Qaeda to the arrest of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan’s (TTP’s) Latif Mehsud and from the arrest of the alleged murderers of Dr Imran Farooq to apprehending Uzair Baloch, over the years, the Pakistani authorities, with their ‘magical wand’, have always been successful in arresting the most wanted criminals.The accused are brought before the media making sensational confessions at a certain, critical time. Most of the time, these criminals blame hostile intelligence agencies or certain political parties in Pakistan for their alleged support and backing in a bid to become approvers and get concessions. Some characters like Saulat Mirza meet their ultimate fate while others rot behind bars forever while their masters recruit a few more Saulats and Uzairs to fulfil their heinous designs. Hence, the system of terror and tyranny runs unabated. The dilemma is that the state of Pakistan, in this episode of terror and tyranny, acts like a silent spectator. Instead of eradicating the militant wings of political parties, state institutions use criminals allegedly associated with some political parties as a leverage tool, forcing political parties to dance to their tune. In this power struggle, agents like Saulat Mirza are made a horrible example of but the masterminds of terror are once again allowed to reach the legislature after being cut down to size and forced to follow a certain line of action. The sensational revelations that Uzair Baloch is making must be thoroughly investigated. The backers and financers of these gangs must also be exposed. People should also know why and by whom Khalid Shahanshah — the most important witness in the Benazir Bhutto murder case — was killed. But the most important question that must be asked is where was the state while the terrorists linked with various sectarian, ethnic, religious or political groups unleashed their brutality? Why does the state have an ostrich mentality by denying the presence of such elements in society? Instead of taking prompt action, why do our state institutions waste precious time allowing criminal elements to strengthen their roots in society? When various gangs in Lyari and other parts of Karachi were wreaking havoc upon the innocent people of Karachi, the state remained absent; it took state institutions four years to start an operation in Lyari. In the recent past, when Hazara Shias in Quetta were being slaughtered, the state remained a silent spectator. A cleric in Islamabad, right under the government’s nose, challenges the writ of the state but the state is unable to cope with the challenge. If the state had acted in a timely manner, we might not have needed the Lyari operation and Operation Zarb-e-Azb. The unfortunate incident of Lal Masjid during General Musharraf’s era was also the result of inaction. The same state of denial and ostrich mentality on the part of the government is evident again. Do we always need an unfortunate incident like the one at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar to act? Will our state institutions ever play a more proactive role to rid society of various kinds of terrorism? Do the horrible confessions of terrorists linked to various sectarian, ethnic, religious or political groups not indict our law enforcement agencies and other state institutions? Does it not indicate the failure of the state to discharge its basic responsibility to protect the life, honour and property of its citizens?What do our more than two dozen federal and provincial law enforcement agencies do when gangs of criminals consisting of thousands of people commit organised crime? If the state’s intelligence apparatus fails to penetrate these groups, does it not demand a complete overhaul of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies? Otherwise, if the state has intelligence on all such criminals but fails to exercise its writ, why should it not be labelled a soft state? The loss of more than 60,000 innocent citizens has strengthened the perception in Pakistan that key state institutions are more concerned about their strategic and sometimes political interests than they are about protecting the life and honour of the people. To achieve those objectives, sometimes certain militants, criminals and extremist elements are overlooked while at other times they are apprehended in order to twist the arms of opponents. The ordinary people and their interests, unfortunately, lie very low on the priority list of state functionaries. Talking to the common citizens of Pakistan, one can easily realise that the people are no longer interested in the power struggle between state functionaries. No one is interested in listening to the sensational stories of apprehended criminals. What people want to know is how many dangerous criminals like Uzair Baloch and their outfits are being overlooked and ignored by state authorities for one reason or another. There must not be any soft corner and leniency for such elements. The state should establish its writ by getting rid of all these gangs and militant groups irrespective of their political affiliations. Anyone having the slightest connection to militants must be disqualified from electoral politics forever and punished according to the law. The terrorists, gangsters and militants must be dealt with with an iron fist along with those who in any capacity backed, financed, supported or facilitated them in their mischievous plans. But should those who failed to discharge their official duties by overlooking criminal elements be not held accountable? Should the policymakers not admit their failure to protect the life and the honour of citizens and go home? Right now, the greatest challenge to the state of Pakistan is to get rid of all kinds of militancy, sectarianism and extremism, achieve stability through normalising its relationship with its neighbours by solving all outstanding issues through a dialogue process and start off the journey towards becoming a welfare state. In order to restore the confidence of its citizens, rather than being a merely silent spectator, the state of Pakistan will have to pre-empt and neutralise the threats faced by its citizens.This can only be achieved by reviewing state policies, depoliticising and restructuring law enforcement agencies, developing better coordination between state functionaries and last but not least, eliminating all political, ethnic and sectarian militant groups once and for all. The writer is an IT professional and passionate writer and speaker. He can be contacted at meetkashi514@gmail.com