The spike in violence in Balochistan has triggered a discussion among the nation’s sane minds to suggest ways and means to salvage the situation in this estranged province of the country
M. Alam Brohi
The recent spike in violence in Balochistan has triggered a discussion among the nation’s sane minds to suggest ways and means to salvage the situation in this estranged province of the country. In the aftermath of the violent attack on the Jaffar Express, the flying visit of Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif along with the Army chief to Quetta and the statement that followed the visit and the huddle of the parliamentary leaders, hopes for a negotiated settlement of the Baloch conundrum have been getting dimmer. The Prime Minister and the Army chief talked in military terms vowing to crush the insurgency and making Pakistan a hard state. This displayed the mindset of the rulers. They consider the current violent situation in Balochistan as a security issue. To them, the only solution to this festering problem is: the Baloch insurgents should unconditionally surrender or face the kinetic wrath of the state. No middle ground is acceptable to the ruling elite.
The unrest in the province has a chronic history beginning with the annexation of Balochistan into Pakistan by force in the early 1948
President Asif Ali Zardari accompanied by his crown prince undertook the journey to Quetta and had a huddle with his party’s Chief Minister, Inspector General of Police, and the senior military commanders stationed in Balochistan. He asserted to do all in his power to foil the attempts to divide the nation. He also pledged to establish his camp office in Balochistan after Eid ul Fitr to personally address the grievances of Baloch. Well, Mr. President, do you honestly believe that your camp office would carry the needed mandate and authority to address the Baloch grievances spread over the past 7 decades ranging from resilient demands for ownership over their natural resources; political and economic autonomy in accordance with the agreement signed by Quaid e Azam with the last Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmed Yar Khan, and fair and just share in the federal funds and jobs. Our political leadership should stop punching the bag more than their weight.
While approaching the Balochistan issue, we should keep two facts in mind. First, the unrest in the province has a chronic history beginning with the annexation of Balochistan into Pakistan by force in the early 1948; its merger into the infamous One-Unit in 1954; the arbitrary dismissal of the elected government of National Awami Party in July 1973 and the tragic murder of Sardar Akbar Bugti in 2006. Throughout all these insurgencies, the Baloch have suffered untold miseries facing disappearances, bullets, jails and executions.
Second, this would not be the first time to hold talks with Baloch nationalists for the ultimate salvage of the situation in Balochistan. General Musharraf constituted a parliamentary committee under Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to look into the grievances of the Baloch. The committee’s comprehensive findings were quietly shelved. President Asif Ali Zardari, in his first term, initiated the ‘Protection of Balochistan Rights’ Program enhancing the share of the province in the NFC and promising jobs in federally administered departments and institutions. However, the initiative petered out too. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif mandated the nationalist administration of Dr. Abdul Malik for talks with estranged Baloch nationalists. He failed to make any headway. The moot question is why all these attempts failed?
The reasons for the failure of these abortive attempts to mainstream the insurgent Baloch were simple. The civilian and military leaders have widely different, and sometimes, mutually contravening approaches to the question of Balochistan. Widely believed to be a political problem, the military leadership has always viewed the Baloch unrest as a security threat overruling the civilian leaders. Earlier, in the mid1960s, the rebel Baloch leaders laid down their weapons on General Ayub Khan’s guarantee for reconciliation. Instead, Nawab Nauroz Khan Zehri, his sons, nephews and close aides were arrested and dumped in Hyderabad and Sukkur Jails. In prison, they were unfairly tried by military courts and seven of them executed. Nawab Nauroz Khan, over 85 years, died of distress in the Jail.
Nawab Akbar Bugti, a pro federation politician, just wanted justice for the lady doctor allegedly molested by a young army officer in Sui. There has been an ever widening trust-deficit between Generals and Baloch leaders with the exception of clan leaders of Zehri, Jam, Jamali and Magsi known for their pro-establishment stance in politics and provincial autonomy.
In the run up to the initiation of a political process or talks with the estranged Baloch leaders, the federal government may like to constitute a high-powered parliamentary commission with overwhelming representation from the small provinces to look into the grievances of Baloch insurgents. This will hammer home the seriousness of the federal authorities in salvaging the situation in Balochistan.
The Commission should find out: a) the ratio of the people of smaller provinces in federal jobs in accordance with the article 38 (g) of the constitution; b) their representation at all levels in the national army as provided for in the constitutional article 39 and their appointments in open competition in the Army’s industrial, commercial, financial and educational institutions; c) the due share of the small provinces in jobs and dividends of the mineral and hydrocarbon industries such as Gas and oil, coal and gold, precious metal and stones exploited from Balochistan KPK and Sindh; d) the extent of the under-representation of the coastal provinces of Balochistan and Sindh in the management of the Seaports and their administrations with suggestions how to compensate them; e) under representation of students of small provinces in scholarships for higher education abroad.
The findings of the Commission may be made public for all to see. The implementation of these recommendations of the commission should be carried out in a fair and transparent way without any procrastination. There may be continuous political communication with the pro-Pakistan political leaders and moderate Baloch leaders. For the time being, the political leadership has shifted to the young middle class activists like Baloch women spearheaded by Dr. Mahrang Baloch. She travelled with a small crowd of women and children to Islamabad. She was not treated well and forcibly sent back. Now she has been arrested under anti-terrorist laws.
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The author is a former member of the Foreign Service of Pakistan and has served as Ambassador for seven years.
