Image SBS
Peace Must Be Built on Truth, Not Illusions
By Liyana Hayat
San Francisco, CA
On May 6, 2025, seven Pakistani soldiers were killed in a roadside bomb attack in Balochistan’s Kachhi district. The Baloch Liberation Army took responsibility with no hesitation. The world’s reaction? Silence. Again. In response, Pakistan moved swiftly.
According to Al Jazeera and Arab News, the military launched a clearance operation, publicly identified the BLA as an “Indian proxy,” and inaugurated a national intelligence and threat assessment center to strengthen internal security. These were not performative gestures, they were decisive, necessary measures.
Now, a ceasefire has been announced. But for many, that word does little to soothe. History has made it clear that declarations of peace can be fragile, especially when made by those with track records of stirring instability. There is no comfort in promises when those promises echo through decades of broken trust. This was not a random attack in a volatile region, it was part of a calculated, ongoing campaign against Pakistan’s sovereignty.
In 2025 alone, over 200 people, most of them security personnel, have been killed in Balochistan, as reported by Al Jazeera. These aren’t mere numbers. These are lives cut short, stories unfinished, futures stolen. Militant groups like the BLA do not operate in a vacuum. Patterns over the years have pointed to external enablers, those who benefit from unrest beyond Pakistan’s borders. The evidence may be politely overlooked by some, but for those who have followed the conflict closely, the connections are neither new nor ambiguous. Still, international attention remains elsewhere. A bombing in a Western capital would trigger days of media coverage, formal statements, and global condemnation. But when it happens in Pakistan, it is reduced to a headline, brief, inconspicuous, and quickly forgotten.
This imbalance in outrage is not accidental; it is institutional. Despite the scrutiny placed on its every move, Pakistan’s armed forces continue to bear the weight of defending a nation repeatedly targeted. Their role is not to provoke, it is to protect. And while criticism flows freely, the cost of their sacrifice rarely receives the same attention. Seven soldiers fell that day. Three civilians also lost their lives. Twelve others were injured. These were not faceless casualties. They were sons, fathers, neighbors. And while their stories may not make international front pages, their loss echoes deeply within a nation that has carried the weight of conflict for far too long.
A ceasefire may alter the headlines, but it cannot erase the unease. Because in a region where violence has often followed silence, uncertainty hangs heavier than peace. Promises have been made before. Trust, on the other hand, is earned, especially when the price of misplaced faith is paid in blood. Pakistan stands not in bitterness, but in resilience. Not in rage, but in resolve. A country bruised by double standards but never broken. Still alert, still standing, and still watching carefully, because peace, if it is to be real, must be built on truth, not illusions.
( Liyana Hayat is originally from Pakistan and is keenly interested in the social and political affairs of the country as an expatriate. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and studies creative writing and journalism among other subjects.)
