Baloch question: op-ed in The News, Aug 22

By Tayyab Siddiqui
The writer is a former ambassador of Pakistan
It is puzzling that despite everyone believing that the situation in Balochistan has reached menacing proportions, nothing concrete has been done so far. Farahatullah Babar, the spokesman for the president, claims that there is a ‘rethink’ of the Balochistan policy and that “almost every fortnight, there is a meeting in the presidency on Balochistan in which all stakeholders take part.” Questions, however, remain: what are the outcomes of these meetings and how and when will this ‘consensus-based approach’ deliver?

The issues to be resolved are known to all and have been identified for a long time. Simply put, these are provincial autonomy, mysterious kidnappings of political activists, detention of political workers, increasing security operations in the province and undertaking of mega projects without addressing concerns of the people. The endemic issues of grinding poverty and backwardness merit equally urgent attention and alleviation. Former senator, Sanaullah Baloch, the unofficial spokesman for Baloch nationalists, maintains that “90 per cent of the province’s population lives without gas facility, 78 per cent without electricity and 62 per cent without safe drinking water. Balochistan has just 3.4 per cent of gas consumers as compared to 64 per cent of Punjab alone, which produces only 4.75 per cent of natural gas.” He further asserts that border and coastal security is 100 per cent controlled by non-Baloch paramilitary forces. Around 70,000 jobs in the Frontier Corps, Coastguards, police, Maritime Security and the ANF are occupied by non-locals. Even if these statistics are a little exaggerated or out-dated, the question is how critical the situation should get to invite action.

There is not even a single person in the entire political spectrum of the country who doubts the legitimacy of Baloch demands and that the province has suffered from neglect for too long and can’t brook further delay. The official statements of India’s involvement in the ongoing insurgency and alleged training of the BLA in Afghanistan may be relevant to the situation but no obstacle in the resolution of the crisis. Fundamentally, the issues facing us in Balochistan are of governance, discrimination, lack of representation and participation in the affairs of the province. These are the real issues. It should be a matter of utmost concern when the governor of the province goes on record to complain that “although I am a representative of the federal government, I was never taken into confidence by Islamabad on the Balochistan issues.”

Despite security operations at different times since then the province has not seen peace and normalcy. The situation became worse in the wake of Nawab Bugti’s killing in August 2006 and subsequent mysterious killings of three senior Baloch nationalist leaders. There have also been instances of increasing number of missing persons and of alleged involvement of security agencies in these disappearances, numbered in the thousands, but officially accepted only as 831.

We are confronted with a sea of seething unrest bordering on a widespread insurgency. Feelings of extreme economic deprivation and political victimisation are a lethal combination and demand radical, positive measures to stem the tide. Seeking solutions through setting up committees and conferences will not work. Palliatives like PPP’s apology (February 2006) just don’t work anymore. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=194214