KU Blast: Inside the Mind of Woman Suicide Bomber
A suicide bombing in Karachi that claimed four lives – three Chinese nationals and one Pakistani citizen – has been gaining the attention of relevant quarters of the country, not just because it targeted the foreigners, but the fact that the bomber was a woman.
What is even more surprising is the accomplished academic and strong family background of the attacker.
When Shari, aka Baramsh, posted a good-bye message on her Twitter handle some 10 hours ago, no one was really aware of what she was going to do next.
It was Tuesday, April 26, when the nation found out that another three Chinese nationals had been targeted for their presence in Pakistan.
Those fuelling the insurgency in the restive Balochistan province are not unknown to anyone, but the background of the bomber in question merits some questioning.
It wasn't an overnight indoctrination or a sudden urge but by all possible means an act well-thought-out.
Let's delve into the profile of the woman who took the lives of four human beings, beside her own in the deadly suicide attack.
Shari was a primary school teacher in her native Kech district in Balochistan. She completed her B.Ed in 2014 and M.Ed in 2018. She did her Master's in zoology from the University of Balochistan and MPhil from the Allama Iqbal Open University.
She left behind a daughter Mahrosh and a son Meer Hassan – both the children are as old as five. Her husband is a dentist while her father served as a director in a government agency. Later, her father also served as a member of the district council for three years. Her brother-in-law is a lecturer.
The family is a well-established, highly educated and peaceful. One of her uncles is an author, a former professor and human rights campaigner.
It may be difficult to know what exactly provoked her to join the Baloch armed struggle, but she remained a member of the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO-Azad) in her student life.
Importantly, none of her family members is missing or subjected to enforced disappearance except a fifth cousin who got killed during a military operation in 2018 in Kech.
The tactics to employ a woman in suicide bombings have raised some questions: Is the Baloch insurgency redefining itself? Why use females now in such attacks and not before? Were these women brainwashed or coerced?
The answers to these questions remain unanswered to this date but what is certain is that those who cannot see the country prosper have fallen to a new low to use anyone or everyone to fulfil their nefarious designs. – The Express Tribune
