The Easter Sunday suicide-bombing that killed at least 72 people in Lahore prompted a string of army raids across Punjab province, with suspected terrorists arrested and weapons caches seized. Yet a leaden television address by the prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, avoided all mention of this. Unsurprisingly. For months he has resisted the army’s demands to be unleashed on the multifarious terror groups of Punjab, a province controlled by his faction of the Pakistan Muslim League since 2008. The generals point to their successes in Sindh, where the paramilitary Rangers, granted special powers, tamed the militants and criminal gangs of Karachi. But Mr Sharif wants no such thing on his patch. He is all too aware of the unpopularity that resulted for Sindh’s governing Pakistan People’s Party; worse, the Rangers arrested a PPP notable. For now, the prime minister remains adamant that his police force needs no extra help.