EXTRAORDINARY bravery in a nation of brave people — that is what is required to be a member of the bomb disposal squad in Pakistan. On Monday night, a senior BDS officer laid down his life while trying to save his fellow citizens from harm. Commander Abdul Razzaq was defusing an explosive device planted by suspected militants on Sariab road in Quetta when it detonated unexpectedly, killing him and a constable standing nearby. Eight people, including two policemen, were injured. According to newspaper reports, Razzaq had defused around 500 explosive devices during his nearly quarter century of service; just a few days earlier, he had disabled a 20-kilogram bomb elsewhere in Quetta. Suffice it to say, this man of almost inconceivable courage may well have saved hundreds of lives while playing Russian roulette with his own every time his skills and training were called upon.

However, it was a high-stakes gamble that need not have been quite as risky as it routinely was because, as is the case with many other BDS personnel, Razzaq reportedly had to carry out his work without the benefit of protective gear. Nothing — except for rock-steady nerves — stood between him and almost certain death as he painstakingly defused IEDs, suicide vests, etc. For perspective, consider this: a bomb suit, given the proximity of the individual to the device he is defusing, needs to provide far more overall protection than the ballistic body armour used by combat soldiers, police tactical units, etc. Yet BDS personnel in Pakistan are among the most poorly trained and badly equipped sections of the security apparatus, with low salaries and few avenues for career progression. Fatalities on the job are par for the course. Peshawar lost two consecutive heads of its bomb disposal squad, Hukum Khan and Abdul Haq — who between the two of them had defused over 2,500 bombs — within a little over a year. The state must do everything it can to ensure utmost protection for the bravest among us.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2017