Another jail break

In the past few years our prisons seem to have become increasingly porous. The escape of two suspects on trial for the 2013 massacre of 10 foreign climbers and their guide who were on a trip to scale Nanga Parbat comes as the latest setback in our fight against militancy. Obviously, if those held for the most heinous crimes are able to get away from jails, others gain encouragement from their ability to flee punishment. The two prisoners were among 12 Lashkar-e-Jhangvi members held for the massacre. They had, along with two other inmates, dug a tunnel from their barracks at a prison in northern Gilgit to the prison wall. Two men were killed as jail guards fired on the escaping prisoners. The prime minister has expressed anger over the incident and asked for an explanation as to why the prisoners were able to make their getaway in this manner.
The matter of prison security has become an increasingly urgent one. Hundreds of prisoners, including those linked to militant outfits, have escaped from jails over the past few years, notably from the Bannu jail in 2012 and from the DI Khan jail a year after that. The Taliban are believed to have orchestrated both incidents. The reality is that we seem to be unable to keep prisoners behind bars. This will in no way facilitate our endeavours to combat the militancy that has brought our country to its knees and also badly affected industries such as tourism. Few mountaineers, for very obvious reasons, have chosen to visit Pakistan after the 2013 killings. No region it appears is safe any longer from acts of militancy, and the fact that we seem unable to better secure our prisons is of little comfort given the perilous situation we face. This is something that needs to come up at the highest levels in our discussions on security and all that it involves. The possibility of inside involvement in such escapes has come up before. It must be thoroughly probed so that similar incidents can be prevented in the future.