Simmering Balochistan needs immediate response
By: Khalid Khokhar
The apex court’s decision that the Balochistan government has constitutionally failed to curb the incidents involving human rights violations, killings and kidnapping-for-ransom, has been received with mixed reaction by the people. To many, general and local bodies’ elections were the only constitutional solution to the growing security problems.
Nonetheless, the federal government’s non-acceptance that the provincial government has failed to deliver that warrants stepping down of Nawab Raisani from the office of chief minister, ignited the mounting political turmoil of governance. This obstacle requires concerted efforts by Islamabad and provincial administration to reach a solution through reconciliation and accommodation.
Balochistan has been simmering for a long time for the collective follies of civil and military regimes ever since the independence of Pakistan in 1947. The current democratic government has apologised to the people of Balochistan for the atrocities and injustices committed against them by the past governments and pledged to turn over a new chapter of mutual respect in the province.
The conflict in Balochistan is basically about inequitable distribution of funds, royalty of natural resources, provincial autonomy, etc. Resultantly, a deep-rooted sense of insecurity marked by feeling of deprivation crept in the rank and files of the common Baloch. Countless targeted killings coupled with a continuous series of missing persons have added more miseries to the lives of the Baloch people. The civil government is weak and lacks confidence of the people of Balochistan.
The 13th CM of Balochistan, Nawab Aslam Raisani, has turned out to be an inefficient CM since taking over the government in 2008. The Baloch have genuine grievances against the post-2008 regime that their right to representative government was ignored. The situation in Balochistan could have never been so painful if the people of Balochistan were treated on the basis of justice and equality and given the same rights as given to the people of other provinces.
The money that could have been used to reduce the sense of deprivation in the province and in improving the law and order situation was drained off through fake and ghost projects like repair of dilapidated roads, compensation packages for the CM’s family and nobody knows what happened to the Rs250 million development funds given to every member of Balochistan Assembly. Nothing substantial has been done to improve the standard of living of the common Baloch. The tall claims of Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package were termed as eyewash by the Baloch leadership.
The past four years of CM Raisani’s democratic rule under the PPP have been ‘good for nothing’. A crisis of governance all over has deepened with controversies ranging from rampant corruption to blatant disregard for the rule of law. No roads, no bridges, no industry and no development work; that is the situation in Balochistan that prevails since 2008. The development work is one of the foremost responsibilities of the provincial government which is empowered to initiate projects regarding new hospitals, schools, roads and improvement in the living conditions of people. The political government could have won the hearts of the Baloch people if it had performed its duty in the real sense. Besides inefficiency and inefficacy of the political provincial government, other factors also contributed to deepening the crisis in Balochistan.
Taking Balochistan out of the present predicament will require a colossal effort by all the political parties, selfless intelligentsia and social reformists on six dimensions: operational, developmental, administrative, legal, political and financial aspects of the situation.
A vast section of Pakistan’s population consider that a better course might have been a call to an all-party conference to pave the way towards a just and rational resolution of Balochistan issues, particularly the case of enforced disappearances. In this connection, all the Marri, Mengal, Magsi, Bugti, Raisani, Zehri and other tribes should be engaged in the consultations and the armed struggle should be terminated. Our well-aware politicians need to display greater responsibility by avoiding their narrow political gains over the national interests. The media also needs to act more proactively.
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