“Time may be running out for Pakistan on Balochistan”
JK News Today News Analysis
After the assault on Jaffar Express in Balochistan, a loud warning has been delivered to Pakistani establishment that “ time maybe running out ,” for it before the “ separatist insurgency spreads further “ in the politically and economically marginalised Balochistan.
The assault on Jaffar Express passenger train while it was travelling from Quetta in Balochistan to Peshawar, the capital city of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan on Tuesday shows that time is running out for the country. It will have to address the issues that ignite resentment and insurgency in Balochistan and equip Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) with the capacity and capability to do such acts. Balochistan is slipping out of hands of Pakistan. .
. The questions that this incident left in its wake do not end with the claim of Pakistani army that it has successfully neutralized all the 33 terrorists involved in the attack, killing of 21 passengers and security personnel. If Pakistani security forces have rescued passengers who were taken hostage by the armed men of Balochistan Liberation Army and eliminated the gun men that was its duty toward its citizens but that doesn’t hide the systemic failure that resulted in this audacious attack
. Pakistan political rulers and military establishment never want to talk about it, because that exposes how such attacks are rooted in Pakistan’s own policies of using terror violence as a domestic and foreign policy tool. They tend to point accusing fingers at the external forces, this time Afghanistan is being held responsible
. This stratagem is applied to cover the real issues and the failures in Pakistani system. First, it serves as a critical ploy to hide the growing disaffection in the province of Balochistan where the local population is angry over the forced disappearances, and denial of access to the natural resource and the angry demonstrations are suppressed with force.
Who gave the groups like BLA and others in Pakistan, idea that guns and bombs can help deliver desired results to them or their cause. A little scratch to know the facts would place a host of realities before Pakistani establishment; it used terrorism in Afghanistan, India, in particular, in Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir, to bleed it. It has created an atmosphere in which the oxygen is drawn from the airwaves and training grounds of terrorists as policy tools.
One would expect Pakistani establishment comes clean on this episode, not only as to what made the BLA to go in for such an audacious act, but also where lay the systemic failures of the State.. The attack on the train is one thing, and any group that takes innocent people, be they train passengers are others, hostage know that hostage-taking is an extreme act and can defame them. But they must have had stronger reasons to do it. Pakistani establishment should decode them
First, Pakistan should dissect, how the attack took place, where were its failures in the intelligence gathering and securing the trains in the restive province of Balochistan. And, secondly, without any delay it should tell what could be the possible motivation behind such an act?
Pakistan need not go outside to learn what it needs to do. Its own media has shown mirror to it. The News International in its editorial, on Thursday – March 13, 2025- wrote: “this brazen attack is alarming at multiple levels,” as it underscored that the train hijackings are rare, requiring sophisticated planning and resources – and the BLA’s ability to execute such a complex operation suggests that it has been growing in strength and capability. The newspaper pointed out “but more than, it seems to have grown in the kind of support it is getting “. It noted that the BLA is successful in recruiting because the youth are disenfranchised and feel abandoned by the state.
It went on to list the unique challenges of Balochistan ad Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which it analyzed stem from “political alienation, economic exploitation and human rights violations.” The attention was drawn to the “missing persons crisis “, which it noted, has, “fuelled resentment, the unequal distribution of resources has deepened economic disparities, and political disenfranchisement has only widened the gap between the people and the state.”. It also delivered a punch line: The ongoing insurgency is not a simply a law and order problem but a symptom of these structural issues”
Dawn newspaper urged the State to think of going “beyond kinetic actions “, as it asked “there must be sincere efforts to address root causes of Baluchistan’s misery that are exploited by separatists “, and it listed these as “enforced disappearances, the province’s appalling socioeconomic indicators, and curbs on political activity ….. Lasting peace in Balochistan can come when there is good governance, the province’s people have a share in the mineral wealth and other resources, and the genuine representatives of the inhabitants are allowed to take the democratic process forward “.
“The Jaffar Express assault shows that time may be running out before the separatist insurgency spreads further. The rulers must act now to save Balochistan.”
