BALOCH SCENE: THREE VIEWS – July 26

Baloch rights: edit in The Dawn, July 26
MUCH is said but little has been done to address the problems plaguing Balochistan. The grievances felt by the Baloch are genuine, and they have not only been ignored but exacerbated by the actions of the federation over the course of several decades. The government now at the helm in Islamabad made a promising start when it issued a public apology for the “the atrocities and injustices committed” in Balochistan. That was seen as a statement of positive intent, even by some nationalist forces, but the lack of follow-up relegated the apology to the realm of rhetoric. In the dying days of March 2008, Yousuf Raza Gilani pledged that the Concurrent Legislative List would be abolished within a year. That hasn’t happened. Broken promises are what the people of Balochistan have come to expect from the centre. It is time for deep and intrinsic change.
We are now told by the interior minister that there will be “good news” about Balochistan in a matter of weeks. This is a typically vague statement, short on content and high on hyperbole. Instead of mouthing off, we should be soul-searching. It must be admitted and recognised that, much to the detriment of the ‘smaller’ provinces, a form of neocolonialism has been at work in Pakistan all along. Regional rights over resources have been appropriated by the centre with little dividend accruing to the provinces. Successive governments have colla-borated with tribal chieftains who want to keep their areas backward so that the system remains intact and influence is retained by a chosen few. Education is denied because knowledge is a tool that could be used by the poor to better their lot in life. Industry is discouraged in parts of Sindh and Balochistan because monthly paychecks are likely to shrink the ranks of sharecroppers. The people have been rendered voiceless and the state is a party to this crime.
It is said that foreign agents are fomenting the insurgency in Balochistan, which is most likely true. At the same time, however, it ought to be acknowledged that the state is creating the conditions that can be exploited by outside forces. Given its natural riches, Balochistan should be the most prosperous province in Pakistan. In reality it is the poorest. It was not just the Musharraf era in which Baloch dissidents simply ‘disappeared’. The practice of branding political opponents as ‘anti-state’ must end and the government needs to ask itself whether its actions are forcing insurgents to seek outside help, which is what happened in East Pakistan. There has been enough talk and it is now time to act. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/baloch-rights-679

What ‘good news’ from Balochistan: edit in The daily Times, July 26
Just as unknown killers shot to death a professor of Government Degree College Quetta — two days after the killing of the principal of a Government High school –Interior Minister Mr Rehman Malik told the Senate in Islamabad that there could be “good news in two to four weeks about Balochistan” as a result of secret “back-channel” contacts. He did not name India as a mischief-maker and left the reference to “back-channel contacts” hanging in the air; but he did speak about his recent meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and the agreement he had reached with him on the establishment of “three bio-metric checkposts on the border” to stop the movement of militants he said were being trained at training camps in Afghanistan.
The senators had raised other questions, however. For instance, why had Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani not yet convened a promised all-parties conference on Balochistan? They had also voiced their concern about what they called an “East Pakistan-like situation” in Balochistan where non-Baloch settlers, including teachers, were being killed, and the national flag and anthem were not allowed to be observed in educational institutions in some areas. But Mr Malik was firm about having no truck with the separatists among the Baloch. He pledged action — of an unspecified nature — against Hyrbair Marri, the leader in exile of the Balochistan Liberation Army, who had recently told a TV channel that he “did not recognise Pakistan”. But Mr Malik insisted, “With some back-channel talks going on, God-willing, problems will be resolved.” More specifically, he said that because of efforts to “persuade those estranged”, it is possible that he might come up with “a better good” news in two to four weeks.
Anyone in Pakistan will tell you that the crisis of Balochistan will not be resolved by putting up a few checkposts on the Balochistan-Afghanistan border. While it is true that India is fishing in troubled waters in the province, its problems have not been created by it. The mention of Balochistan in the recent Indo-Pak joint statement at Sharm al Sheikh may have sent a shiver of unfamiliar triumph up Islamabad’s spine, but it has not led to any softening of the Indian attitude. In fact quite the opposite has happened.
Pakistan has been “path dependent” — tied to past policy decisions that deter policy change in light of new developments — on its Taliban policy in Afghanistan and is now facing its backlash. Balochistan is no longer a place made tough by the simple question of Baloch rights, it is also a region under Talibanisation. The killing of teachers is not far divorced in thinking from the destroying of girls’ schools in the tribal areas and the NWFP. It is no longer the Baloch sardars who have to be placated; we have to look at the growing strength of the immigrant Pashtun who threaten the local polity with their linkages with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
There is a Tehreek-e Taliban Balochistan (TTB) that undercuts the secular Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKAMP), vows lack of connection with Baitullah Mehsud, boasts “no enmity” with the JUI, and now speaks for people other than the Baloch. The grievances of the Baloch have been inquired into in great detail in the past by Senate committees. Much of what Pakistan has to do to save Balochistan has been spelled out there and can be the basis of negotiations. But the province is too disturbed to allow that process to take place.
Mr Rehman Malik is hamstrung also by nationalist backlash against his soft approach towards India. If you want to get ahead in Pakistan these days, be hawkish with India. But expect no respite from New Delhi, either. Balochistan needs to be tackled but before the talks with the Baloch begin the terrorists have to be taken care of. The media is hostile to the PPP government and will accept only mid-term elections as a precondition before it is helpful. The petroleum minister in Islamabad is already thinking of taking the Iranian gas pipeline through the sea.
Good news will take some time coming. Pakistan’s national politics is opposed to the deep self-correction that the state requires in foreign policy as well as the internal policy about the non-state actors which the state used to patronise in the past. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\26\story_26-7-2009_pg3_1

Damani dam breach: edit in The dawn, July 26
Another dam in Balochistan has breached after the recent torrential rains, once again causing misery and destruction. Although the incident is not comparable to the 2005 Shakidor dam-burst in coastal Balochistan in which hundreds of people went missing or died, the recent breach in the under-construction Damani dam has reportedly affected 15,000 people, submerged over a dozen villages and inundated over 1,200 hectares of agricultural land. The immediate needs of the affected people include food, shelter and medicine. Once the waters subside they will need monetary and other help to repair their damaged homes and rebuild their agricultural lands.
Post-disaster relief is no doubt an important responsibility of the local and provincial governments as well as of the army and relief agencies. But of equal, if not more, importance are pre-emptive measures to ward off a disaster or mitigate its effects. Dam failures during the monsoon rains have become common in recent years in Balochistan which has some 300 big and small dams. Of particular concern is the fact that the threat comes more from new dams. Shakidor dam was built in 2003 and the Damani dam was under construction. Clearly, greater checks, at regular intervals, on under-construction and built dams are in order.
What is also required is structural enhancement so that dams vulnerable to breaching do not threaten communities. A detailed evacuation plan to minimise harm to the communities when the structure fails should also be drawn up. This would entail installing an effective early-warning system and educating communities on ways and means to evacuate their villages when the threat of flooding becomes imminent. Considering the potentially immense damage and loss of life that can be caused. www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/damani-dam-breach-679