The ruthless attack on a passenger coach near Kalat, Balochistan, last week once again laid bare the horrifying reality of terrorism that continues to engulf the province. Three people lost their lives and seven were injured when gunmen, perched on nearby mountaintops, opened fire and hurled grenades at the vehicle. Among the victims were the brothers of the late qawwal Majid Ali Sabri. What more is needed to remind us that terrorism in Balochistan is indiscriminate, targeting not just security forces or foreign nationals, but also innocent civilians simply going about their lives. This attack comes on the heels of another heinous act in Zhob, where nine passengers were abducted from Punjab-bound coaches and killed. The targeting of Punjabi passengers has been going on for years now but this is now increasing. This ethnic dimension that some terrorist outfits have added to their campaign of violence is disconcerting and has nothing to do with the empowerment of Balochistan’s people.
The scale of violence in Balochistan this year has been staggering. From the assassination of Additional Deputy Commissioner Hidayatullah Buledi to the bombing of a school bus, to IEDs claiming civilian lives, the province has witnessed an unrelenting wave of terrorism. These attacks represent shattered lives, grieving families and a region locked in fear. One would have to be living under a rock not to know that groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and its affiliates continue to receive support from hostile foreign actors, most notably India. The pattern of attacks being preemptively reported by segments of Indian media, even before verification by Pakistani authorities, raises serious concerns about foreign collusion and prior knowledge. The coordinated attacks during the recent Pakistan-India war – 33 in total across Balochistan – also point to the strategic use of terror proxies to destabilise Pakistan. These are not the actions of a nationalist movement seeking justice, but of militant outfits weaponised by geopolitics. That said, the state’s response must be multi-pronged. Intelligence-based operations (IBOs) have reportedly taken out hundreds of terrorists this year, including 203 in Balochistan alone, but eliminating terror requires more than military might. What it needs is moral clarity.
There must be a clear distinction between terrorists who kill children and blow up buses and the legitimate voices of Baloch dissent who speak out against decades of marginalisation, economic neglect and enforced disappearances. Painting both with the same brush not only alienates the local population but also gives space to terrorist outfits to exploit genuine grievances. The failure to deliver justice, rights and development to the people of Balochistan is the state’s long-standing Achilles’ heel. For far too long have the people of this resource-rich yet impoverished province been treated as an afterthought. It is this neglect that creates the space in which extremist ideologies breed. A secure Balochistan will not emerge through military operations alone. It will emerge when the state treats the Baloch people as equal citizens, when missing persons are accounted for, when local voices are included in decision-making and when development projects serve the people instead of just extracting resources from their land. Terrorists like the BLA and their foreign sponsors must be crushed. But in parallel, the state must also reclaim the moral high ground by proving to Balochistan’s citizens that their lives, cultures and aspirations matter.