Pakistan: Another security lapse

Daily Times

It is obviously impossible to secure each and every thing and place, but being unable to protect those targets identified as under threat because of prior intelligence is unacceptable. Apparently the situation is that the intelligence system is working but the law enforcement agencies lack the wherewithal to act on the given intelligence. The attack on the Shalimar Express, a semi-private service, is of this nature (as was the D I Khan jailbreak). The private operators of the Shalimar Express had been receiving threatening calls from extortionists. The last call they received was on July 31, laced with warnings of dire consequences if the demands of the extortionists were not met. The issue was reported to the railway management, making sure that the Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique was in the picture. Pakistan Railways threw the ball back into the Shalimar Express operators’ court, telling them to arrange their own security. As it turned out therefore, the usual two constables of the railway police were ‘escorting’ the ill-fated Shalimar Express when it was blasted. Three people, including an infant, were killed and several injured. According to the latest reports, an improvised explosive device had been planted in the roof of a wagon’s washroom that exploded while the train was passing through Chatyana Railway Station, 17 kilometres from Toba Tek Singh. The Minister for Railways Khwaja Saad Rafique has called it an act of terrorism. He has ordered an inquiry into the incident, but without explaining why the railway management did not assist the Shalimar operators to thwart the attack when the country is afflicted on all sides by terrorism. The telephone calls, as reported by the Intelligence Bureau, were traced to Afghanistan. The attackers had been ‘identified’ and their plan was known. So much was on the table, yet still the incapacity to defend was in evidence. As the country sinks deeper into the quagmire of terrorism, the state machinery seems helpless and unable to do much about the situation. What made Khwaja Saad Rafique give a cold shoulder to the Shalimar operators when the lives of people were at stake? It was a matter of life and death of those innocent people who are dying like flies only because the authorities are not paying sufficient heed to the gravity of the situation. If Khwaja sahib thought the extortionists would be unable to go so far as to attack the train, or considered it unlikely for terrorists becoming extortionists, then the minister might require a new brief over the working of terrorist organizations using every means such as kidnapping, theft, extortion, etc, to fund their campaigns. The extortion racket has become an industry by now. With target killing becoming a routine and going unpunished, coercing people into paying extortion money has become easier. In Karachi (the original birthplace of the extortion mafia) there are about 50 no-go areas. Most of the extortion rackets operate from these pockets. Until June this year, 630 extortion complaints have been registered by the Citizen Police Liaison Committee, a Karachi body set up to help the police by providing information, crime statistics and technical support. Emboldened by their rate of success, the extortion mafia is fast penetrating into other cities all over the country and threatening business entities, as is suggested by the railway attack. Official reports have confirmed some political parties or their protégés are also involved in this criminality. Karachi’s violence has been largely attributed to the turf war ignited by different parties to get the maximum from extortion money. The recent phenomenon of the Taliban ramping up extortion operations in Karachi has added to the misery of the business community. In such circumstances, nothing can be taken lying down. We have already given enough space to the criminals and terrorists to wreak havoc on our lives. How much more do we intend to allow them to get away with before we wake up to the threat? We need to act collectively and on a serious note.