THIS is with reference to the editorial ‘Balochistan attacks’ (Aug 27). The killing of 23 people in Musakhail district on the basis of ethnicity has set alarm bells rin-ging. The armed men stopped vehicles on a highway, offloaded the passengers, che-cked their identity cards, and killed the ones belonging to the Punjab province. The incident shows beyond doubt the inte-nsity of inter-provincial tensions within the country.

It was not the first incident of its kind in Pakistan. The tragedy is that nobody takes serious notice of such heartrending incidents. As such, all one gets is a round of rhetorical condemnations every time something goes wrong. Why is the government turning a blind eye to the situation? What are the motives behind such brutalities? What wrongs have these innocent people committed that they are being made to pay for?

The need of the hour is to take a strict notice of the emerging scenario because no one really knows where such actions may take the country to. If not properly addressed, ethnic violence can turn into something massive that the country surely cannot afford.

One shudders to imagine how encou- raging it will be for those in search of a chance to destabilise the country to see that the people of Pakistan are themselves at each other’s throats. It will only fac- ilitate them in their nefarious designs.

Muhammad Sarmad Shahzad
Lahore

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2024