IT is indeed ironic that on the day an advertisement was published in a
number of papers proclaiming the `achievements` of the Balochistan
government particularly the province`s chief minister two news reports
were also printed highlighting the frequent acts of violence that occur
in this troubled province. A vaccinator taking part in an antipolio
campaign was shot dead on the outskirts of Quetta, while four men
belonging to the Shia Hazara community were also gunned down in the
Balochistan capital on Tuesday. The frequently targeted Hazara have
become Balochistan`s most vulnerable community, while the targeting of
the vaccinator is also cause for concern, especially considering that
Balochistan is one of the key areas of polio transmission in Pakistan.
In the face of such rampant lawlessness, the Balochistan government is
hardly qualified to trumpet its `achievements`.
At this point it
is not clear if the vaccinator wasshot because of his association with
the anti-polio drive, or due to some other motive. What is certain is
that the attack affected the campaign, as vaccinations in several parts
of Quetta were suspended following the murder. While no major incidents
of intimidation of pollo vaccination staff have previously been reported
in Balochistan, the authorities need to keep their guard up, for
elsewhere in the country opposition to the drive has manifested itself
in unambiguously brutal ways. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan has banned
the campaign in parts of the tribal areas while in Karachi a local
anti-polio campaigner was shot dead in July. The attack came just days
after a foreign WHO consultant was targeted in the port city; the expert
luckily survived. These incidents lend weight to calls that vaccination
teams be provided security, especially in highrisk areas. The state
cannot allow extremists to violently derail the anti-polio campaign and
put the lives of countless children at risk.
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