After the massacre

The massacre of over 150 people – Balochistan Awami Party politician Nawabzada Siraj Raisani among them – in Mastung is one of the worst militant attacks in years. The purpose of this attack was not only to target an election candidate but to kill as many people as possible. There were over a thousand people at the crowded corner meeting and the perpetrators knew they would spread fear around the country. Now no one is going to feel safe at political gatherings. This will hurt our participatory democracy and affect the results of the elections. A direct attack on democracy shows the fragility of the system. The Mastung attack has been claimed by the Islamic State which raises questions about our war against militancy. Last year, Pakistan launched the Khyber-IV operations which were specifically meant to target IS. These operations were even concluded with assurances that the group had essentially been defeated. The attack in Mastung shows that is far from the case. A group that can carry out attacks of such lethality is hardly a spent force. Reports that the IS has been gaining followers in Sindh and Balochistan will now have to be taken seriously and acted upon.

The spate of attacks in the run-up to the elections shows just how limited our success has been in defeating militancy. The TTP, despite losing its leader and being the target of multiple army operations, was able to kill ANP leader Haroon Bilour. Perhaps the problem is that we have almost exclusively focused on operations while ignoring the rest of the comprehensive National Action Plan. Militant groups mushroom not by controlling territory but by recruiting followers and spreading their ideology. Tackling their hateful ideology should have been a priority. Instead, extremist groups operate as openly as ever and some have even found it possible to contest the upcoming elections. The capital city was brought to a standstill for over a month by extremists but we ended up giving in to their demands. Some mainstream political parties make alliances of conveniences with such groups and spout their divisive rhetoric. This has shrunk the political space available to those opposed to militancy and made it all but impossible for them to safely campaign. After every major attack there are promises that militancy will not be tolerated any longer. Those vows are quickly forgotten and the cowardly status quo is maintained.