NOWADAYS Sindh is … in the news, but [it is not] good news as [it has to do with the] loss of human life. Sometimes it is targeted killings in Karachi…. In rural areas tribal feuds are claiming lives. People are [being] kidnapped and if they fail to pay ransom their bodies are dumped. Sometimes passengers [are targeted while on a journey. There were incidents in Balochistan where passengers were identified on the basis of sect [and] killed. But [such incidents in] Sindh, which has been the citadel of religious and ethnic harmony … are astonishing….

The incident … near Qazi Ahmed … rendered the people of Sindh speechless wherein armed people attacked an Attock-bound passenger coach and killed [several passengers]. This happened two days after the firing on the Love Sindh rally in Karachi; elements opposed to the unity of Sindh tried to [point] this incident [in] some other direction so that those who wanted to fuel ethnic riots could benefit. …It is the collective wisdom of the people which has been foiling such conspiracies. It was collective wisdom which articulated that whatever was happening was not in the interest of Sindh….

Who is responsible for stopping all this? …Of course it is the responsibility of the government and it has to become more serious [about] restoring law and order…. One … option is [that] police patrolling should be started on the highways…. Stoppage of long-distance passenger coaches should be banned in [small] towns and they should have stops in big cities … The president … has taken notice of the firing on the Karachi rally and the Qazi Ahmed incident, but s ome people assigned by the president … did not play their role…. The president should take notice of it. — (May 27)

Selected and translated by Sohail Sangi.