Tragic reality

Just one day after the country observed the third anniversary of the Army Public School attack, terror struck the country again after a suicide attack at the Bethel Memorial Methodist Church in Quetta. At least eight people were killed and 40 injured in the attack, which took place during Sunday services. Two suicide bombers had tried to enter the church but law-enforcement officials posted outside were able to kill the attackers. However, one of them managed to detonate his suicide vest. As yet no group has claimed responsibility for the attack but Quetta has been targeted many times in the past few months. In November, DIG Hamid Shakeel Sabir was killed in a suicide attack while a month earlier a car bomb killed eight policemen. By all accounts, the quick response by the police and the Frontier Corps prevented the attackers from entering the church and killing a lot more people. Law-enforcement officials are on the frontline of the war against militancy, daily risking their lives to keep us safe. But questions must also be asked about how the attackers were able to get so close to the church, which is located in a high-security zone of Quetta. It is hardly a secret that minority communities and their places of worship are a primary target of militant groups; and these 12 days before December 25th are amongst the most important on the Christian calendar. There must now be an inquiry into the attack to determine if there were any intelligence or security lapses.

In the aftermath of this attack – and the many others that have taken place this year – the state has to dispassionately judge how well it has implemented the National Action Plan. While there have been successes in defeating militant groups in Fata, NAP was meant to be broader than just military operations. We were supposed to root out not just extremist groups but the extremist mindset that has flourished in the country. The APS attack should have taught us that there can be no appeasement of extremists yet the state continues to tolerate hate, as seen just this month during the Faizabad protests. Last year, after the bombing targeting the legal community in Quetta, Justice Qazi Faez Isa had produced a comprehensive report laying bare the failures of our counterterrorism strategies. A year on that report is gathering dust and militant groups are as emboldened as ever. We have clearly failed as a majority of 97 percent to protect the minorities who live amongst us. We have failed to deal with extremism, terrorism or the dark mindset that lies behind it. Eight more lives have been lost and still there is no clarity in our strategy to fight militancy. This attack should be the last straw but, sadly, we have said that many times before and have to keep repeating the same mantra after every new attack.