Category — Balochistan

By Salim Saifullah Khan
The writer is a senator and a former federal minister
Balochistan is the most serious crisis confronting Pakistan today. The grievances of the Baloch are well known to all, and yet no strategy has been adopted to remove them.

One word that defines the Gilani government is procrastination. On assumption of power in March last year, he offered the nation his 100 days plan, in which he also promised that the Concurrent List would be abolished within 12 months and the provinces would be given autonomy in accordance with the Constitution and the provinces and rights over their own resources. It is 18 months since then and no real movement has been made in any direction with the result that the patience of Baloch leaders is wearing thin and extremist elements are replacing the moderate leadership.

The tardy manner the issue is being addressed shows both the government’s ineptitude and its inefficiency. Each passing day is making the problems more intractable.

Recently, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar assured the nation that “a serious rethinking is already under way.” On April 22 last year, Zardari had also set up a National Reconciliation Committee for Balochistan. Its mandate was to have an in-depth study of issues such as provincial autonomy, Balochistan’s share in national resources, good governance, poverty-alleviation, an end to political persecution, tracing of missing persons, rule of law and relations between the province and the federation. The committee held only one meeting and lapsed into oblivion. I hope the present exercise doesn’t meet a similar fate.

It is unfortunate that the present government, with the largest cabinet in Pakistan’s history, has not yet appointed a minister for inter-provincial coordination. In the past inter-provincial coordination was considered an important portfolio. PPP stalwarts like Abdul Hafeez Pirzada and Rafi Raza held this portfolio. As minister for inter-provincial coordination during the last government, I had the opportunity to deal with the Balochistan Issue in all aspects and based on my personal knowledge, experience and contacts with Baloch leadership I can say confidently that the Baloch question is not intractable and can be solved if there is political will.

This brief account amply show why the Baloch leadership is so frustrated and doesn’t trust Islamabad. In the last 18 months the Baloch leadership has received only pious words and expressions of good intentions, which were not followed up by action. Time is of the essence. Governor Magsi has rightly warned the government that “the province will get out of control if the federal government did not take immediate corrective measures. How the situation is taking an ugly turn is evident from the unilateral “Declaration of Independence of Balochistan” by Prince Dawood Sulaiman, the Khan of Kalat, August 11. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=198806

IN a series of recent TV interviews, Shah Zain Bugti, the grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, has spoken eloquently on what needs to be done to end the insurgency in Balochistan.

The crux of his argument is that Balochistan minus the Baloch is a grossly flawed policy — one that Islamabad has been pursuing all these years. The young Jamhoori Watan Party leader has restricted his demands to three points: the trial of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the provision of gas royalty arrears to Balochistan and provincial autonomy. As the aggrieved heir to the slain Baloch leader, he has all the right to ask for the general’s trial.

It was almost pitiful to watch the Baloch leader being repeatedly grilled by anchors on the conduct of Baloch sardars, that too in response to his overtures when he emphasised that he sought a solution to the Balochistan predicament within the ambit of the 1973 constitution. The sardars’ anti-people policies, tyranny and support for terrorist attacks on vital installations in the province kept coming up. The construction of the coastal highway and the Gwadar port were also cited as development projects which have been opposed tooth and nail by Baloch nationalists.

There may be some merit in such counterpoints raised by self-righteous journalists. But what one fails to understand is why are the Baloch singled out for this harsh treatment. The Pakhtuns, too, have a tribal system which is taken as basic law by many communities. Clans in Sindh and biradaris in Punjab also practise tribal customs, some of them truly despicable.

Likewise, cult politics continues to be the norm within the country’s so-called democratic parties, whose ‘representative’ leaders often bury their heads in the sand when even a gross violation of the law takes place. In a country full of historical injustices and abuse such as that of Mukhtaran Mai, the burning of Christian homes in Gojra, Karachi’s May 12, 2007 street violence, to name a few, how can any objective observer single out Baloch sardars for censure?

The Baloch are not half as well integrated with the rest of Pakistan as, say, those hailing from Sindh. Their elected leaders at the centre and in the province do not enjoy the same representative status as do leaders from other provinces. The reason is that when the 2008 elections took place, Balochistan was in the grip of turmoil and Baloch nationalists had boycotted the polls.

As for the building of Gwadar port and the coastal highway by the Musharraf regime, nationalists allege, with some weight in their argument, that these projects have largely bypassed local communities. Sliding law and order has kept the Baloch at bay from job opportunities created at the port and the labour employed at the port is mostly from Sindh. The transporters whose vehicles ply the coastal highway are Pathan; the law enforcers operating across Balochistan are all Pathan and Punjabi.

If a Baloch villager is found carrying a few cans of unauthorised Iranian petrol in order to sell it to make a living, he is harshly punished and without due process; even his vehicle is impounded. He has to bribe his way out. This despite the fact that most of the petrol sold in Balochistan comes illegally from Iran, transported by petrol barons for whom the law enforcers conveniently look the other way. The same goes for the smuggling of ration provisions, liquor and other contrabands by non-Baloch smugglers.

The grievances of the Baloch are real and not imaginary. In his own homeland an average Baloch is treated like a man colonised by the many arms of the state which only know how to twist his arm. Little wonder then, that nationalist leaders, mainly highhanded sardars, should find resonance for their own causes with the Baloch people.

The Makran region comprising the coastal belt and areas bordering Iran, where much of the wrongdoing goes on and smugglers make millions a day, has no sardari system. The socioeconomic system in this Baloch-majority region is cooperative rather than competitive. No cruel, depraved sardars exist here. But there is widespread resentment and frustration among the people, hence their support for the sardars as their sole spokesmen.

Whenever in the past the sardars struck deals with Islamabad, not a drop of honeydew coming their way trickled down to these utterly impoverished Baloch. If Gen Musharraf, and rulers before him and those that have followed him, had established a somewhat equitable distribution of the wealth generated by this region, the situation today would be very different. But the people have been left at the mercy of the highhanded state machinery on the one hand and Baloch sardars, who now claim to be their messiahs, on the other.

What Shah Zain Bugti has been saying makes much sense. Even under these extremely extraordinary circumstances, he is not demanding extraordinary measures for Balochistan but pleading for provincial autonomy, which will benefit the other federating units equally. It’s the myriad government agencies operating in Balochistan which have no Baloch representation and which routinely break the law when it comes to penalising the Baloch that are the biggest hurdle in the way of resolving the crisis.

The Baloch must be given due representation in state institutions; in the vast security apparatus as well as development projects that, emanating from Balochistan, continue to benefit everyone but the Baloch. Couple this with provincial autonomy and subject the operations of law-enforcement agencies to scrutiny and the crisis will be over. All it takes is will in Islamabad to survey reality and move to correct the many wrongs done to the Baloch in their own homeland. (this article first appeared in The Dawn, Karachi on Sept 10, 2009)

THE government seems to have realised that only substantive measures in Balochistan can address the insurgency in the province. Chief Minister Aslam Raisani has said that the prime minister will shortly announce the first measure: to stop work on the new cantonments under construction in Dera Bugti and Kohlu. Hopefully, this should be among the first genuine moves to start the reconciliation process. This was a major Baloch demand that was endorsed by a parliamentary committee some years ago, and the government’s attempt to meet it should go a long way towards reassuring the people of the province that Islamabad is serious about looking into their grievances. The government must implement the decision in good faith. The Baloch are sensitive to the militarisation of their province. The military is seen as the source of oppression and tyranny by them and a means to stifle their demand for provincial autonomy.

Considering the number of issues that have plagued relations between Islamabad and Quetta, it is clear that stopping work on the cantonments alone would not resolve the Balochistan problem. The federal government is fully aware of this. Four committees in the last few years — the latest being the Raza Rabbani committee that made its recommendations a few months ago — have studied the grievances of the Baloch and made sensible recommendations. Action is needed on the missing persons, the Gwadar port and fiscal matters that have been raised at the NFC forum. These together with other issues have led to a sense of deprivation in the troubled province. Unfortunately, the government has not been able to decide how to start a dialogue with the nationalists and party leaders without whose cooperation no agreement can be worked out. Dialogue is absolutely essential if there is to be good faith between the two parties. Perhaps that is why Raza Rabbani suggested the release of political prisoners, the recovery of missing people and a judicial enquiry into the murder of some Baloch leaders. These would essentially serve as confidence-building measures and ensure a good start to the dialogue process.

It is a pity that the government is still mulling over the format to be adopted for negotiations. It sometimes hints that a jirga might be held to announce the measures. On other occasions there is talk of an all-parties conference. Now we are being told that the prime minister will unilaterally announce a special package for Balochistan. What needs to be understood is that no plan can succeed without the active participation of all stakeholders which include the Baloch representatives. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/the-baloch-issue-999

By Saleem Shahid
QUETTA, Sept 7: In a move that might lower political temperature in strife-ridden Balochistan, the government on Monday said work on setting up cantonments in the province was being put on hold.

Disclosing the major move, the Balochistan chief minister said a formal announcement about abandoning the construction of cantonments and several relief measures would soon be made by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani during his visit to the province.

The cancellation of the army’s decision, taken during General Musharraf’s days, to construct military garrisons in Bugti and Kohlu areas had been one of the principal demands of the Baloch nationalist groups, which always saw in the move an attempt to subjugate them.

The announcement made by Chief Minister Aslam Raisani in Quetta is being viewed by observers as a major concession, but the news broke so late that immediate reaction of Baloch nationalists was not known.

Nawab Raisani told a group of journalists that after much deliberation the federal government had accepted their demand to abandon the cantonment project. He said that all political parties and people of the province had reservations about the construction of military cantonments in Balochistan. “All parties have the same stand on the cantonment issue,” he said.

The decision to set up cantonments in Dera Bugti and Kohlu, taken at the height of the controversial military operation against tribesmen, had immediately come under criticism not just by the Baloch nationalist groups but also many human rights and political organisations.

The move was described as an attempt to suppress the Baloch nationalist movement, and their demands for share in natural resources and more political power for their province.

The late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti was among the first prominent leaders who opposed new cantonments in the province. Even in the previous Balochistan assembly all mainstream Baloch and Pashtoon nationalist parties and Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam had opposed the plan.

Even in the past, many Baloch leaders had questioned the decision of setting up cantonments in resource-rich Kohlu and Sui towns of Balochistan.

The secretary general of Pakistan Muslim League-Q, Mushahid Hussain Syed, recently claimed that after negotiations Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti had agreed to allow new cantonments in Balochistan. However, Nawabzada Jamil Bugti denied the claim and termed it “rubbish and lie”. He said his father had never agreed to allow new cantonments in the province.

He said that he himself was part of the negotiations in which Nawab Bugti had told Mushahid Hussain and Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain that they should not come to Dera Bugti for talks if they had no mandate.

Jamil Bugti said that this father had insisted till last that Pervez Musharraf rescind the decision.

Chief Minister Raisani said that various problems had cropped up in the province due to the plan for setting up new cantonments, and the provincial government had been telling Islamabad to persuade the army to abandon the project.

In view of requests made by the provincial government during meetings with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, the federal government had decided to abandon the plan, Mr Raisani added.

“Prime Minister Gilani will soon visit Balochistan and will announce a special package,” Nawab Raisani said. Although the chief minister did not give details of the proposed package, he said the provincial government had also taken up the issue of Gwadar port with the federal government. He said the federal government had been requested to hand over the port to Balochistan so that its people could become major beneficiaries of the project.

Highly-informed sources told Dawn that the Balochistan package, prepared by a high-level committee under Mian Raza Rabbani, had proposed several wide-ranging measures which might go a long way in meeting some of the major demands of Baloch nationalists. These not only include the cancellation of plans to construct cantonments away from the border region, but also about giving due share in natural resources to the province.

There is a proposal to allow the province to have complete financial control of Gwadar port for at least 10 years. During this period the revenue from the port will be spent on development of Balochistan. Another proposal is for manifold increase in the share in revenue from copper mining at Saindak.

Several other key measures have also been suggested to bring the disillusioned political and nationalist groups to the mainstream. These include engaging some senior Baloch leaders by the political leadership, with the promise to meet most of their demands as long as they agree to distance themselves from separatist politics.
( the above news item appeared in The Dawn, Karachi, Sept 8, 2009)

LAHORE, Sept 3: Jamaat-i-Islami amir Syed Munawar Hasan regrets that the Balochistan situation is explosive but the federal government is least bothered about it.

Speaking at an Iftar dinner here on Thursday, he observed the US and China had their eyes on Balochistan because of its vast resources while India and Iran were also interested in it but unfortunately the Pakistan government was the only one that was taking no interest in it.
He lamented that while an FIR was yet to be registered in the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, another Baloch leader, Rasool Bakhsh Mengal, was murdered recently.
He said the Baloch people were being pushed towards wall, making them think that their loyalty with Pakistan is a crime.
The JI chief said both the major political parties of the country — the PPP and the PML-N — had failed to serve the masses and their recent behaviour had fully exposed them.
He said Mian Nawaz Sharif had in fact given up his demand for Pervez Musharraf’s trial otherwise he should have been on roads.
There was no fun in giving an ultimatum only to withdraw it, he said. The PML-N was as much a government ally as the JUI and the MQM and it was fully cooperating with the PPP, he added.
He said democracy had been defeated in Sindh as the PPP men were bringing funerals to the Chief Minister’s house. He said all the political parties attending the London multi-party conference had declared the MQM a terrorist organisation and vowed not to join hands with it. He suggested that at least these parties should implement the London decisions.
Mr Hasan said the present government was an elected one but it could not be termed democratic. A democratic government must have taken note of the statements being issued from Saudi Arabia and London, he added. He said the decisions in respect of important national issues were being taken outside the country, which was most shameful.
The JI chief said Brig Imtiaz (retired) and Gen Naseer Akhtar (retired) had confessed their crimes and they must be put to trial without delay. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/govt-blind-to-balochistan-situation-ji-499

LAHORE, Sept 3: The Jamhoori Watan Party (Talal) has postponed its proposed long march from Lahore up to Dera Bugti for an indefinite period.
At a press conference here on Thursday, JWP leader Shahzain Bugti’s secretary Madni Baloch said the decision had been taken in view of the incomplete consultation process with some political parties of Balochistan and Sindh, as well as of the difficulties the participants could face due to Ramazan.
The march was to start from Friday (today) from Minar-i-Pakistan.
A jirga of Bugti tribes’ chieftains had opposed the long march the other day and urged PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif not to interfere in the Bugtis’ politics. Supporting the march, Mr Sharif had contacted some political players in Balochistan in a bid to seek backing for Shahzain’s initiative. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/jwp-again-postpones-long-march-499

THE murder of Balochistan National Movement leader Rasool Baksh Mengal, whose body was found hanging from a tree in Bela, calls for strong condemnation. While the party’s spokesman has said this is a part of the campaign to eliminate Baloch leadership, those behind this deadly game are undoubtedly posing a big threat to the unity of the federation and must be brought to book. The worrying thing is that there is a pattern to such killings. A number of Baloch leaders have been targeted in the past. Just a few months back, three of them were gunned down, that led to violence in the province. On the other hand, attacks on settlers in Balochistan have multiplied. More and more people are being killed. While restoring calm to the province should be the top priority of the government, it must simultaneously gird up its loins to resolve the Balochistan crisis. The PPP-led government tendered apologies, but has failed to go beyond that. It must take concrete steps to remove the sense of grievance among the people in the province.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/02-Sep-2009/A-cause-for-concern

By Bari Baloch
QUETTA – A shutter down strike and wheel-jam was observed on Tuesday in different parts of Balochistan while

angry rioters took out rallies and protested against the killing of Baloch National Movement (BNM) Central

Joint Secretary Rasool Bakhsh Mengal.
The protesters torched three banks, Judicial Magistrate House, 4 vehicles, SHO’s house and ransacked offices of Qazi Court, telephone exchange in different towns of Balochistan. Over 15 women including five children were wounded due to baton-charge and tear gas shelling.
Rasool Bakhsh went missing on August 23 from Uthal area of Lasbela district and his body was found by police on August 31 from Bela area of the same district.
The call for the strike was given by the Baloch National Front which was also supported by all other Baloch nationalist parties.
In Quetta, main trading centers and shopping plazas remained opened and a partial wheel-jam strike was observed. However, business activities remained standstill in Baloch populated areas.
The attendance in the offices was also remained thin while educational institutes remained completely closed.
The administration had taken strict security steps to avert any untoward incident and mobile squads of police, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Constabulary continued patrolling the City.
Wheel jam strike also paralysed traffic on national highways linking Quetta with Taftan and Karachi.Unknown persons set a truck on fire and pelted vehicles with stones in different parts of Quetta while the activists of nationalist parties tied black ribbons on their arms to mourn the murder of BNM leader.
An explosive device planted outside a marriage hall at Spini Road went off with a huge bang smashing windowpanes of the building and caused damage to a electricity transformer. However, no loss of life was reported in the blast.
According to reports reaching from other towns of Balochistan, shutter down and wheel-jam strike was observed in Turbat, Mand, Tump, Gwadar, Panjgour, Nushki, Soorab, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mashkay, Dalbandin and other towns.
Slain BNM leader Rasool Bakhsh Mengal was buried in his ancestral town Khuzdar on Monday night.
The protesters took out a protest rally, chanted slogans against govt agencies and demanded of the UN and Humanitarian Organisations to take notice of alleged genocide of Baloch people.
Later, protesters got infuriated and set 4 vehicles on fire at police line area of Khuzdar. Police resorted to aerial firing, tear gas and baton charge to disperse the protesters.
Dozens of activists of Baloch National Front took out a rally in Tump against the murder of Baloch leader and condemned the killing.
Unruly protesters burnt three banks and a SHO’s house when police opened aerial firing to disperse protesters. Ten women and five children were wounded in Mand after security forces baton- charged a protest rally in Mand and fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Unknown people also set ablaze a Judicial Magistrate House in Mashkay and ransacked offices of Qazi Court and telephone exchange. The sources said that police have arrested 12 BNF activists from Turbat and Hub in ransacking incidents.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/02-Sep-2009/Balochistan-reels-under-violence

By Amanullah Kasi
QUETTA, Sept 1: A strike was observed in several districts of Balochistan on Tuesday on a call given by Baloch National Front in protest against the killing of Rasool Bakhsh Mengal.

The strike was observed in Nushki, Dalbandin, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran, Mashkay, Hub, Pasni, Gwadar, Kharan, Turbat, Mand, Tump, Mach and Sibi.

Traffic remained suspended from morning till evening between Quetta and Karachi, Quetta, Taftan and Jacobabad as protesters blocked the National Highway near Kalat, Nushki and Mach.

The strike did not affect the provincial capital where government offices, banks, educational institutions and markets opened as usual. There was normal traffic on the road. BNF leader Salam Sabir issued a statement in which he accused Frontier Corps personnel of baton-charging a women’s rally in Mand, injuring nine women.

He condemned an alleged FC raid on the Khuzdar Degree College and arrest of BSO activists Waleed, Saeed, Hussain, Jalal, Mujahid and Anwar.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people attended the funeral of Baloch National Movement leader Rasool Bukhsh Mengal on Tuesday. He was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Khalq-Jhalawan village of Khuzdar district.

The BNF paid tribute to Rasool Bakhsh Mengal for his struggle for the cause of Baloch people. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/strike-observed-in-parts-of-balochistan-299

By Talat Masood
The writer is a retired lieutenant-general of Pakistan
When the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) coalition government assumed power in 2008, it provided President Zardari with an excellent opportunity to focus on Balochistan. Initially, he did raise hopes when, as head of PPP and being of Baloch descent, he made a public apology for all the wrong doings of the past against the Baloch people. This was followed by further conciliatory gestures by both the president and prime minister which resulted in the release of political detainees and a relatively relaxed political environment. Sadly, the momentum was lost and the province is once again adrift with insurgency taking a turn for the worse, as was evident on the third death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti when the province came to a grinding halt.

Prior to the assassination of Akbar Bugti, the insurgency was primarily centered on Dera Bugti, but after his death it has spread beyond the tribal belt into settled areas of Makran, Sarawan and Jhalawan divisions. In fact, there is an on-going operation in Makran division. Target killings are on the rise and Shias and Punjabis are the main victims. In addition, gas pipelines and high-voltage transmission grids are being blown up, and the armed forces are being targeted. All three militant nationalist movements — the Balochistan Liberation Army, Baloch Republican Army and the Baloch Front are now engaged in low-level insurgency operations and are closely cooperating with one another in attacking military installations and civilian targets.

The Baloch nationalist leaders believe that the present civilian government, even if it wants to pursue a policy of reconciliation, will not succeed as the real policy is still being determined by the military intelligence as was the case during General Musharraf’s period. The Baloch leadership believes that the establishment is not prepared to shed control over their rich resources and there is lack of confidence between the state institutions and the province’s political elite.

Regrettably, the Baloch leadership also does not have much to offer. Tribal chiefs have been mistreating their own people and failing miserably while in office. They are rightly accused of deliberately mismanaging provincial resources and development funds. In fact, they have deliberately kept the people backward by not promoting education, failing to build hospitals and creating physical infrastructure. On the other hand, Balochi nationalists and tribal chiefs claim that the federal government has deprived them of their normal democratic rights and has taken control of their natural resources, thus throttling the Balochs economically and politically.

Extensive involvement of the military and age-old tribal customs has prevented normal political evolution in the province. Practically all Baloch nationalist parties that have a large following and include the Jamhoori Watan Party, Balochistan National party, National party and the Haq Tawar Party boycotted the last national and provincial elections. The current provincial assembly draws its strength more from the establishment than from the people. With politics and governance of the province being managed from outside, the representative character of the provincial government is indeed questionable.

General Musharraf erred by ordering a military operation against Akbar Bugti. The latter was perhaps among the few tribal leaders who had earlier been a part of government and was still prepared to engage with the establishment provided he was dealt with honourably. Instead, Musharraf adopted the fatal military option. The younger generation of tribal leadership has, since then, become more alienated and radicalised. General Musharraf, on the basis of his development projects, wrongly assessed that a majority of the Balochs are supportive of the government and tribal chiefs had limited following.

Tribal leaders claim that false cases are registered against them to keep them out of politics and force them to leave the country. Geography, poor communication links, the absence of political and economic development, antiquated social structures and lack of say in the management of natural resources are mainly responsible for the current state of Balochi frustration.

The main demands of the rebel groups are that security forces should be withdrawn. Political workers and insurgents under detention should be released and the government should make a public apology for its wrong doings. Their main demand however focuses on control of resources and a high level of provincial autonomy bordering on independence. The demand for provincial autonomy in accordance with the 1973 Constitution is perfectly valid and the federal government should grant it, but going beyond that is unacceptable. However, more crucial in the context of Balochistan are social reforms and unless these are undertaken, any sustainable development will not be feasible in a centuries-old tribal structure. The only way to bring the region in the mainstream is to allow genuine politics to take root. But for both political evolution and economic development, the government has to provide security which, so far, has been unsatisfactory.

The government accuses the Balochistan Liberation Army and other nationalist parties of having links with India, Afghanistan and other foreign agencies. The involvement of India was even brought to the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by our prime minister at Sharm-el- Shiekh and will remain a serious subject in future exchanges.

China, Iran and United States too have a deep interest in the province.

The establishment of the Gwadar deep-sea port, confirmed deposits of precious metals in the province and shared borders with Afghanistan and Iran has given Balochistan a unique strategic position. Gwadar has the potential of being a highly profitable communication link between China and the Persian Gulf, and between Central Asia and Pakistan. The US has a huge interest in the province to protect itself in Afghanistan, and considers it important in the context of its potential rivalry with China and poor relations with Iran. The power play of global and regional actors in an insurgency-ridden Balochistan is a serious challenge for Pakistan. Islamabad should realise that the peace security and stability of the province are closely interlinked with the integrity and future well being of Pakistan. And Balochi nationalism has to be assimilated and harmonised with the overall national interest, and not allowed to remain hostile to it. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=195789