While travelling from Bannu to Zhob late last month, I was taken aback to see the road connecting Dera Ismail Khan to Zhob having been blocked with heavy boulders placed in the middle of rugged mountains in the Sherani district. This was done to stop workers of the opposition party from marching towards Islamabad. But there were no political activists on the road. All the travellers were moving from southern districts of Khyber Pakh-tunkhwa to Zhob or Quetta. We waited there for two hours hoping that someone would come and help the people, but no one turned up. The commuters then broke those huge rocks with iron bars and cleared the road for small vehicles, while heavy vehicles, packed with women and children, remained stranded. It appears that the recent protest in Islamabad was organised to provoke law-enforcement agencies to open fire on the people so that the party could hold the government responsible for the resulting bloodshed. A few weeks ago, a clash between two violent groups of students took place at the Bolan Medical College (BMC) in Quetta, leaving many severely injured. Consequently, the aut-horities conducted an operation, arrested some students, and ordered the evacuation of both girls’ and boys’ hostels. The edu-cational activities in the college have been disrupted since then. The authorities should resume the classes immediately. The Gover-nment Boys Primary School in Khumar Wala, Choti Zareen, lacks chairs, benches and blackboards. The school has 150 stud-ents, but does not have a boundary wall. Officials from the provincial education department should pay a visit to this school, and ensure that the basic needs of these capable future leaders are met.