PTI leader Nargis Baloch shot dead by unknown men in Quetta

QUETTA: PTI leader Nargis Baloch was shot dead by unknown men on a motorbike near Balochistan University in Pakistan's Quetta, media reports said. According to the details provided by Pakistani media outlet ARY News, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Nargis Baloch was shot dead near Quetta's Balochistan university by unknown men.

It must be noted that Nargis's two children were shot dead earlier this year. This is not the sole incident where a PTI leader was attacked earlier on August 6 as PTI's Member of Provincial Assembly, Malik Liaquat, had been injured after unknown people shot at his vehicle. The firing left four security guards dead while the other four, including the MPA, have been badly injured. The attackers have not been identified, as per the media portal.

Unknown attackers shot at Laiquat's car when he was travelling with his four guards and some other party workers. Taking notice of the incident, Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) Mehmood Khan ordered the Inspector General (IG) of the province to present a report of the incident. The police started a search operation after the incident. The CM has ordered to arrest of the culprits as soon as possible.

The law and order situation in Pakistan is continuously deteriorating. The widespread militancy and lawlessness across the country have worsened the internal security situation. There is a rise in criminal gangs at the local level. The security system of the country is a total fiasco as it is marred with apathy towards vulnerable communities, hatred for minorities, discrimination based on region and subtle promotion of extremism that has gradually resulted in widespread militancy and lawlessness across the country.

All of this has further jeopardised the development and peaceful existence of Pakistani society. Speaking about the issue, PTI chief and former Prime Minister Imran Khan said that the rule of law is the central principle of the development agenda. "The country's development is not possible without subjecting the powerful and the weak to the same law," he added. "It is time for the justice system to focus on lawbreakers and criminal elites," he said, and urged the lawyers to play their role for the supremacy of law, ARY News reported.

The meeting was also attended by PTI's vice-president Shah Mehmood Qureshi, Fawad Chaudhry, Farrukh Habib and Hassan Niazi. Matters related to the supremacy of the constitution and democracy were discussed during the meeting. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan witnessed 434 militant attacks on its security forces during the first six months of 2022, local media reported. At least 323 security personnel were killed and over 700 injured in these attacks, The Express Tribune reported citing details presented by the Interior Ministry in the Pakistani Senate.

The north-western state of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) reported the highest number of attacks on the security forces with 247 such incidents. Balochistan witnessed the second highest 171 attacks. Sindh province reported 12 attacks while Punjab witnessed the least number of attacks. Three such incidents took place in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. There's a high threat of terrorism and sectarian violence throughout the country, according to a report.

Not only this but the safety and security of women in the country is also a matter of grave concern as the country continues to witness gender-based violence. Last year, Pakistan was placed 153rd ranking on the Global Gender Gap index. The Sustainable Social Development Organisation (SSDO) and the Centre for Research, Development and Communication (CRDC) compiled a report that pointed out a growing trend in violence against women in Pakistan along with the increasing number of domestic violence cases in the country.

A total of 157 women were kidnapped, 112 women were victims of physical assault and 91 women were raped across Pakistan in the month of June, according to the report. More sadly, the women are just as misogynistic largely due to lifetimes spent under the patriarchal spell. May it be women professionals, female lawmakers or ordinary countrywomen walking on the road, no one is safe from the hands and eyes ever ready to assault them.

On the other hand, faultlines in Pakistan's economic policies have led to challenges for the rest of the social and commercial ecosystem. The perceptible deterioration in law and order across major cities has clearly hit the morale of investors including overseas ones. Ground-level feedback from various channels points towards a visible setback to industrial activities due to security challenges cropping up across Pakistan.

The latest annual security survey conducted by the Overseas Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OICCI) report, 'Members Security Survey 2022', reveals a declining trend in business confidence with respect to the law and order situation in the country.