SATURDAY evening’s massacre of devotees at the remote dargah of Shah Noorani in Khuzdar, Balochistan, makes clear that despite continuing counterterrorism operations, jihadi and sectarian groups remain a potent threat to national security. It also highlights the fact that the region of upper Sindh and the bordering districts of Balochistan have been experiencing a sustained wave of terrorism that, if not checked, may transform the area into yet another hotbed of militancy. The target — a revered Sufi shrine — was not an unexpected one; the militant Islamic State group, which claimed ‘credit’ for the atrocity, and those of its ilk, harbour a visceral hatred of the shrines of Muslim saints and holy men. According to their worldview, such places are centres of ‘deviance’. As opposed to this, arguably many Pakistanis hold Sufi shrines in high esteem as these sacred spaces have been part of subcontinental Islamic culture for centuries. The list of Sufi shrines attacked by militants in Pakistan is a long one; some of the country’s most iconic dargahs have been desecrated. In 2005, a suicide bomber caused carnage at Islamabad’s Bari Imam while 2010 witnessed attacks targeting Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s dargah in Karachi, Lahore’s Data Darbar and the shrine of Baba Farid in Pakpattan.

As mentioned above, the Sindh-Balochistan borderlands have witnessed a number of terrorist attacks. A suicide bomber targeted an imambargah during Eidul Azha prayers in September; one of the suspects had reportedly passed through Wadh, Balochistan. A suspect in the Safoora Goth massacre was also said to have spent time in Khuzdar. Moreover, one of the suspected handlers in the bombing that targeted a Friday congregation in a Shikarpur imambargah in January 2015, came from Dera Murad Jamali, while the deadly 2013 attack on Dargah Ghulam Shah Ghazi also occurred near Shikarpur.

Clearly, while the militant threat in Fata has been largely neutralised, and the extremists in south Punjab have been identified (but not acted against), upper Sindh and eastern Balochistan remain a blind spot in the national counterterrorism strategy. Whether it is IS, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi al-Alami, or any other militant actor with similar ideological and theological persuasions, the region needs greater attention in order to root out the menace of extremist terrorism. Also, the Balochistan government has announced the closure of the Shah Noorani dargah “until proper security arrangements” are made. We hope this is not an indefinite closure. After all, despite the passage of over a decade since the Bari Imam shrine was attacked, urs celebrations at the dargah have yet to resume with the zeal that once marked the event. While security is essential, people must be free and able to participate in religious events without the fear of encountering terrorism. Limiting these activities would only hand the militants what they want: the elimination of such rituals from national life.

Published in Dawn November 15th, 2016