HIGHWAYS IN BALOCHISTAN UNSAFE FOR TRAVEL

Two major incidents of kidnapping for ransom were reported from RCD Highway, mainly from Mastung to Surab, the area which had been handed over to criminals for minting quick millions. Three Hindu businessmen were whisked away from Jiwa Intersection of Surab region. They intercepted the passenger wagon along with passengers, including females, and taken to some desolate place near Surab where three Hindu businessmen were taken hostage and rest were freed along with the passenger van. However, they busted the tyres of the passenger van and taken the hostage to an unknown destination. No one had claimed the responsibility for the kidnapping of the weakest section of our population. This forced the Chief of Jhalawan, Nawab Sanaullah Zehri to condemn the kidnapping the Hindu businessmen from his home constituency. He implicitly blamed the state actors for being behind the acts of violence in his constituency and he condemned the incident and demanded their immediate release. There was a major protest in Kalat and its surrounding where most of the political parties, businessmen, traders and common people joined a shutter down strike and blockade of the RCD High for several hours to condemn kidnapping the three Kalat businessmen. They demanded their immediate and safe release. It indicated the level of anger of the people and disapproval of such acts of kidnapping for ransom, particularly targeting the weakest community in our society. It is confirmed that intelligence gathering was done and some people informed the culprits that they are traveling from Khuzdar to Kalat in a passenger van. It means an organized gang with reasonable communication links is operating in the area and committing crime against the humanity and the state. Ordinary criminal will never dare to commit such heinous crimes. It is not possible without support of highly powerful and influential people. It is strange that the government and the entire administration are unmoved on such crimes against humanity. Earlier, Dr Din Mohammad Bangulzai was waylaid and kidnapped by another gang in Lak Pass area the other day. It was another case of kidnapping for ransom. The criminals left his car and whisked him away to an unknown destination. Hostage taking of the Surgeon had forced the doctors to go on a lightning strike suspending healthcare system in all the Hospitals in Quetta. Even the District Headquarters Hospitals at Mastung and Naushki also observed the strike suspending work at OPDs for the second consecutive day. It seems that a section of the Government is patronizing the incidents of kidnapping for ransom encouraging the influential people to form such gangs so that they should become billionaires overnight. The entire area from Kalat to Khuzdar is unsafe and there were hundreds of incidents of hostage taking, robbing vehicles, trucks and passengers with police and levies on the sidelines presumably knowing the culprits and their patrons committing such crimes against the humanity. The gangsters were given proper shelter and assured that no one will dare to arrest him, detain him for questioning as they got full protection from the administration in this peculiar political climate. Senior journalist Shahzada Zulfiqar and his other colleagues were waylaid, taken hostage and robbed on the RCD Highway. Surprisingly, the Chief of Jhalawan and Provincial Minister was unaware about the incident and he condemned it. It means some other powerful people are operating such gangs in his area and he is also helpless as patrons of gangsters are more powerful. It is not out of context to mention here that there are zero crime rates in the tribal territories of Magsis and Mengals as the tribal chiefs had zero tolerance on such criminal activities. The black spot is between Kalat and Khuzdar where most of the armed gangs are operating with complete impunity and beyond Khuzdar the highway is safe for travel up to Karachi. The Government should show courage and demonstrate its will to crush the criminal gangs along with their patrons before the local people react and smash those gangs.