But the cache of arms and explosives unveiled in Quetta by the Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
home minister on Thursday could indicate an exception.
The massive haul, which reportedly consisted of around 4,000kg of explosives along with a host of other deadly paraphernalia, was recovered in raids conducted in different parts of the province, including areas near the Afghan border.
The provincial home minister linked the weapons to Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, saying these states were involved in supporting banned hard boy groups in Balochistan and that the explosives were to be used during Muharram.
This is not the first time government officials have named India and Afghanistan as alleged backers of terrorism. Former interior minister Rehman Malik
Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship.
, while in office, claimed he had 'solid evidence' of these states' involvement in Balochistan, adding that he had raised the issue with the Indian authorities.
Mr Malik repeated these claims last week, following the failed attempt
Curses! Foiled again!
on
Maulana Fazlur RehmanDeobandi holy man, known as
Mullah Dieselduring the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ...
's life in Quetta.
We believe, considering the sensitivity of the claims, that it is the interior minister who should have briefed the nation about the weapons' haul.
If there is indeed solid proof of foreign involvement in Balochistan's security situation, his ministry must give additional details, while the Foreign Office must take up the issue with the capitals concerned. As we see, in geopolitics, it is the amoral concerns of realpolitik rather than principles that guide a state's policies.
So it is entirely possible that foreign players are meddling in Pakistain's internal affairs, just as others at times blame this country of stirring trouble in their backyards.
The point is that it is our lack of vision and lawlessness that gives internal and external actors a chance to exploit the situation. Whether it is the separatist insurgency in Balochistan, the Islamist militancy in Fata, or sectarian terrorism and ethnic violence in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, these sore spots can be exploited because the state has failed to frankly and judiciously address these problems.
Leaving these open wounds to fester will only make them more vulnerable to foreign interference. So while we need to be vigilant about external intervention, we primarily need to set our own house in order.