Daily Times Editorial July 12, 2013

No one is safe A suicide blast near Guru Mandir, Karachi on Wednesday killed President Asif Ali Zardari’s security chief Bilal Sheikh and two others and injured over a dozen people, most of them security guards of Mr Sheikh. According to bomb disposal officers, an explosive device of around four kilograms and packed with nuts, bolts and ball bearings killed Mr Sheikh on the spot when the suicide bomber approached his stationary vehicle and detonated himself on the side Bilal Sheikh was sitting. No claim of responsibility is available so far, but the signature makeup of the bomb suggests the local Taliban or some affiliated group may have been behind it. Ironically, reports say Bilal Sheikh, because of his high profile security charge, was himself protected by a police contingent. It is said he was in the habit of changing his routes frequently and never revealed his destination beforehand. Nevertheless, eyewitness accounts from Guru Mandir where he had stopped to purchase fruit say he was a regular customer. The assailant reportedly was tracking him, knew his routine, and pounced when Bilal Sheikh’s bulletproof vehicle and police escort stopped in the fruit market. This suggests the planners of the attack seemed to know at least one habit of Bilal Sheikh, regularly visiting the area of the attack for purchases. This points to the serious need to overhaul the routines of high profile leaders and their security staff. Complacency, the natural outcome of inertia when nothing untoward happens for a long time, is the biggest enemy of safety and security. The enemy is everywhere, the threat permeates universally, and no one can afford to let their guard down at any time. It has been reported that the head of the bomber has been found from a house near the site of the blast. Forensic experts have decided to surgically reconstruct it to try and identify the bomber, who reportedly is a foreigner. The attack and its death and injury toll have been condemned by the president, prime minister and many other leading political figures. The PPP announced a peaceful protest throughout Sindh on Thursday, seeking calm given it was the first day of Ramzan. This incident is the latest reminder of the terrorist threat that looms over the whole of Pakistan. If the security chief of the president cannot be protected, what chance for ordinary mortals? Some versions speak of the assassination being a message for the president himself, who is on record as having taken a firm stand against terrorism. Since he assumed office in 2008, President Zardari has been subjected to a great deal of criticism for being ‘invisible’ (not seen frequently in the public space). This criticism has increased since the May 11 elections in which his party the PPP was trounced. Given this incident, perhaps the critics will revisit the real dangers to our top officials. Of course a ‘bunker’ mentality will not make the threat disappear. That requires proactive counter-terrorist measures. It is interesting to note that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif (and the PTI) during the election campaign ran on a platform of opening talks with the terrorists in the interests of peace. Only a few weeks in office have proved a sobering experience for the prime minister and the country as whole as a result of the intensifying spate of terrorist attacks. The truth has hit hard. The terrorists are not only not going away any time soon or coming to the negotiating table, they are embarked on an incremental strategy of sowing as much death and destruction as possible. The prime minister therefore has reassessed the threat and his position from one of talks exclusively, to force plus talks, if his statement to a FATA parliamentary delegation is any guide. That is as it should be in the face of an unremitting siege the terrorists have laid to state and society. The military too is on the same page as the prime minister. This offers the best hope that the political side can bring all the political forces of the country together (through an all parties conference and all other means) and, with support to and the help of the army, security and intelligence services, bring all the stakeholders on the same page to forge a consensus counter-terrorism strategy and the means to implement it. Nothing is more crucial at this point, nothing else will give the country the space it needs to tackle all the other crises, energy, the economy, etc, without tackling the violent threat and restoring peace.