Twenty people were killed and 22 injured in a suicide blast at Dargah Fatehpur near Gandawa area of Jhal Magsi district. A suicide bomber blew himself up when a police personnel stopped him at the entrance of Dargah. Deputy Commissioner Assadullah Kakar confirmed the death toll and said, “A suicide bomber blew himself up when he was intercepted by the police guard on duty outside the shrine”.
The province of Baluchistan has been worst hit by the terrorist attacks over the past two years. During the current year 82 people have perished and 132 injured in suicide bombing and firing. In 2016, 224 people lost their lives and were 434 injured in the acts of terror. One Judge Judicial Commission was formed to investigate the August 8, 2016 attack on Civil Hospital Quetta in which 60 people mostly lawyers were killed. Justice Qazi Faez Isa compiled the report which pointed out monumental failure of the Ministry of Interior to combat terrorism. But the federal as well as the provincial governments turned a blind eye to the findings of this report.
After a deadly terrorist attack on the Army Public School in Peshawar a National Action Plan (NAP) of 20 points was approved for implementation in letter and spirit. But only three points were implemented and action on the remaining 17 points is yet to be taken. After the Panama Papers revelations NAP is virtually on the backburner whereas the sharp sword of terrorism is hanging on our heads. National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA) is virtually dysfunctional. It is facing dearth of officers and financial resources. Rs. 1.4 billion has been released to NACTA so far. The total outlay of NAP was 40 billion for which the federal government had to contribute 8 billon and remaining 32 billion had to be provided by the provincial governments.
NAP has never been serious subject for the government otherwise top priority would have been given to its implementation in totality. The May 28 attack on the motorcade Deputy Chairman Senate, Maulana Abdul Ghafoor Haidary should have jolted the conscience of political leadership. JUI (F), JI and MQM were not happy about the formation of military courts. No attention has been given to strengthen the law courts for the trial of terrorists. Hence, two years extension had to be given in the tenure of Military Courts. A counter narrative to sensitize public opinion against the terrorism and extremism is inevitable but initiatives has not been taken because of political expediency. Shabaz Sharif government is averse to a thorough cleanup operation against the sleeper’s cells in South Punjab for fear of losing the vote bank in the next general election. The inland security laws were not reformed. Terrorism is a threat to the national security from within like termites and should be fought with courage and strong determination for which NAP provides a viable platform if the political leadership show some spine for its implementation.
Education reforms?
Speaking at the teachers awards distribution ceremony the Chief Minister Pervez Khattak said political interference has ruined the government educational institutions, The politicians has always used the teachers for their political objectives which resulted in big decline in the standard of education.
The Chief Minister has given an objective assessment about the degeneration of government educational institutions. The principle of reward and punishment has brought significant improvement in the elementary and secondary education. The representatives of Monitoring and Inspection Unit has performed a commendable job to ensure punctuality of teachers in schools. The curriculum reforms have brought a thorough transformation in the subject matter of text books. The contents of text books will certainly promote the conceptual acumen of the students. However, deficiency in the training programs is yet to be removed. The teachers of government schools need training and capacity building courses compatible with drastic changes in curricula.
The English text books from class-1-10 are being compiled the teachers specializing in linguistics, who have intermingled the topics related to traditional grammar and the difficult terminologies of linguistics. In the text book ‘Reader Two’ linguistic terms like Rebus and Diagraph are perplexing for the teachers of primary level. Likewise, the terms like cataphoric and anaphoric references included in the textbook of class 10 are beyond the comprehension of teachers. The teachers leave out explaining these type of terms as well as activity sections related to these topics intentionally without admitting the failure of their understanding.
There has not been reforms in the higher education per se. Unlike, the appointment of teachers on merit in school, the appointment in post graduate colleges and public sector universities are entirely made by politician and academicians according to their sweet will. The criteria and other steps for qualifying the post announced is purely a charade for public eyes. That is why, talented students are discouraged and frustrated to seek jobs in government colleges and public sector universities. The ultimately results of this injustice leads to one’s setting fire to one’s degree and transcripts. Specifically, talking in this matter one renowned example is of a student who had M.Phil. Qualification in Physics burnt his degree because of continuous mental depression caused by the injustice of the system. If this kind of misdeeds and mishandling is not rooted out in time, it will accelerate the sense of deprivation in the present and future youth.
