Balochistan has come under focus in the last few days with the murder of a member of Balochistan assembly and his wife, a Supreme Court hearing on the missing persons case, unabated violence in the province and a US Congressional hearing on the Balochistan issue.
Meanwhile, Interior Minister Rehman Malik recently said that there were reports indicating involvement of foreign hands in the prevailing situation of Balochistan.
“Natural resources are in abundance in Balochistan and it is a conspiracy hatched by the anti-state elements to keep the situation disturbing there,” he said.
The blame game has been going on for decades and while there have been calls for a parliamentary committee’s visit in the province, no clear solution has been presented.
Baloch nationalists lay the blame with the government and armed forces, while the government blames ‘foreign hand.’ Who, really, is to blame?
If a peaceful future of the province is to be envisioned, all major stakeholders must be taken on board. How must the government achieve this?
Dawn.com invites its readers to give their views and suggestions.
In my opinion,both are to blame. Balochistan is a territory that is of extreme startegic importance, both for US and Pakistan n for India n China too. Since its a part of Pakistan’s federation, the responsibility lies on da state to ensure its development and well being of its ppl. Its true that not the whole of Baluchistan is against Pakistani state, but they are being forced to become so. Why? Because we don not respect them or their fair demands, we do not listen to them, we are not trying our best to address their grievances n we are definitely not sincere in solving the misunderstandings BTW Punjab and Balochistan. Rather we are silencing the voices who are demanding justice by means of force and violence n then why shall we demand a response other than violence and insurgency in return. Just to state the obvious here, our agencies and FC is responsible for some serious Human Rights abuses and it is beyond the political government’s control. Read HRCP reports for the past 3-4 years. So we must bring the responsible HR abusers before the courts and shall convict them for their crimes.
Having said that, the foreign world, who ever it may b has no right to interfere in our matters be it India,US or any other agency or country. Why is US highlighting the Baloch insurgency now? Only because it wants to pressurize Pakistan to keep supporting the US cause in Afghanistan and also to give a clear message to China that it wont let China settle in Gwadar that easily. Human Rights abuses are not only being committed in Baluchistan, but also in Afghanistan and in Iraq by the very infamous NATO and US forces, so lets focus on that for a change and have a Congress committee hearing on that as well n dont forget to call witnesses from those very countries who can witness against ur brutalities. Leave us alone US.
very well written
there is no any third force or country to destabilize balochistan situation.it is result of state’s wrong and fake policies over balochistan.
I agree with you. I lived in Quetta as a young boy. I started my school and Quranic lessons in Chaman Phatak Jama masjid. I made some friends who are still in touch and they have been my brothers for the last forty years. They are very simple and loving people. They have suffered a lot and have been victims of brutality inflicted by the army.
I agree with u .I lived there for FIFTY long years.They r very humble people.
In my opinion there is definitely foreign hand involved to destabilize the Pakistan.
Regards
Hamza Khan
You stop interfering in other countries and you will be free of such thoughts.
People always uses that word “foreign hand”, do they really know what they really mean by that?
All those above said is only a partial truth, the harsh reality is that Baluchistan lies at the corridor of energy resources, not its own but those resources which are stuck past Afghanistan, in land locked countries.
Just search the gas reserves of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan etc, whole world is depending on it, and only shortest possible route is
through Baluchistan and then Gwadar or warm waters.
Just look at the Atlas or world map, that is why Russia attacked Ahfghanistan and now NATO doing the same, you try to figure out who else’s interests are in that area, why NATO was focusing so much on Southern Afghanistan.
Even Iran has its own interest in the area, as present Afghan government is supported by Iran and Turns are against them, India also need a bigger share because their energy resources are growing and future supplies are limited else where.
Please have a look at region and then you will able to understand the real situation, and then you may able to find that there many paid “war lords” easily, funded by different countries, and realise that there many hands and not just one foreign hand !
I hope balochs won’t have to pay to price for congressional hearings, God Bless us.
Congressional hearings mean nothing, get a grip people. I am surprised Pakistan has given so much notice to it, it means absolutely nothing.
Pakistan should not react to a single congressmans personal crusade, it should have been ignored.
Now the Baloch leaders who are rebels have become bold, we must not invite them under pressure.
Who is wrong? The GOVERNMENT of course. Right from day one. The very title of the bill called aghaz-e-huqooq-e-Balochistan recently passed, proves that the Baloch had not been allowed any huqooq (rights) for 63 years. An even no it is the aghaz, the beginning of giving some rights to them. What is happening there is like genocide. As to foreign hand, it is like house fly that falls upon something rotten. If the people are satisfied with their government, no foreign hand can intervene.
After reading above all comments its clear that it isn’t the foreign hand but its the disabilities of our institutions which reinforced the trouble in Baluchistan. Baluchistan being the part of this country and have rich resources never received the attention she deserve. The situation there is worse than FATA but SC is turning deaf ears and blind eyes. Baluchistan is slipping from our hands the way Bangladesh did but our so called leaders will just called it a conspiracy.
i totally agree with u …
All of Pakistan has become unstable and vulnerable and Balochistan is no exception; however, it is time all Pakistanis to show support for Baloch brothers and ask government to solve the issue of missing persons and killers of Nawab Bugit & not to mention killers of wife and daughter of Mr. Dumaki. As long as Mr. Malik is in power, I don’t see any improvement. The other big issue is that Pakistan has yet to gain freedom, all of her problems including the problems of beautiful of Balochistan are going to solve also. That is the reason why I request all of you to support PTI/Imran Khan to bring freedom which is long awaited after the departure of English. It is time also for media and judiciary to play a major role to bring this nation together.
Complete autonomy , short of independence, where Baloch elected govt. can make all decisions except for Defense (only on borders) will satisfy all parties concerned. Baloch govt. can collect and spend all the money it collects from the land/people, and also pay a small Royalty for federal govt, for defense.
Dear friend many of us have not even visited or travelled in Balochistan. To be honest and straight forward we all must be of knowledge that there is a definitely anti pakistan campaign going on in this region. Poor masses are made use of it but poverty is every where in Pakistan. There are few myths let me just name them which are so commonly played. First. Balocchistas is full of natural resources. MY apologies but it is exaggerated. Even production of gas from sui is just 20 percent of total production of total Pakistan. Second. It is a nationalist movement. With all the respect it is not so even anti Pakistan tribes just control fraction of barren wasteland which has no yield. As a Paksitani we should be worried to manage anti taliban operations in waziristan and avoid its spill over into the neighbouring districts of Balochistan. My friends any one who has blamed intelligence agencies for killing of Domki’s wife and daughter are just misleading the public. Just wait for few days and truth will come out. Dear countrymen please beware of the conspiracies hatched against us. Our law enforcement agencies can never ever follow independent policies in Balochistan which do not have public support. Since childhood im listening that this area is backward but i think we are good talkers only. Instead we need to focus our energies on the develpment. Change will come from within. No punjabi or sindhi will go there to bring change. We all must denounce violence.
You’re right that my argument is “theoretical” but if you wonder who are those actual visitors and how do they get them and also compare with other serious ad networks you’ll realize that all they offer are “hits” and I guess you don’t need “hits” just to have your traffic spent uselessly but you actually need “visitors”.
Baluchis do not own Baluchistan and they have never claimed their right. Baluchistan belongs to Pakistanis, but Baluchis should be treated equal. On can see the mistretament of Baluchis by the federal govt. and heavy handed brutality against the Baluchis. They have sub-statandard health and education system compared to Punjab and Sindh. Baluchis have been treated as second class for a very very long time. Treat them with respect. I grew up in Quetta and believe me the Baluchis are angry.
Their leaders are to blame. While in power they just filled their own pockets . But I agree that something should be done for Baluchistan. It’s high time the govt spent money on it.
The solution is simple but not agreeable to parties which are non-Baloch. The problem is that Balochistan is rich in resources. However, this province does not see any of the revenue that comes from these. Baluchistan should get its fair share of the revenues in order to develop itself. The situation in Baluchistan now is similar to that of Iran in the 1920s and 30s. The Anglo – Persian Oil Company (APOC) was getting a major share of the profits from the oil while the Iranians were not. This lead to the rise of Iranian nationalism as in Baluchistan. Pakistan may be one country but there are different identities within which conflict with each other. Anything to assuage these conflicts justly, will help the country as a whole. Baluchistan should gain the advantages from the resources within the province.
Give them what they deserve and there will be no militancy.
No actually give them what ever they want.
No question Balochistan is suffering and is underdeveloped. But has any one carried out rationale analysis as to what is the real cause of this malaise. Has any body ever questioned where does billions of rupees disappear in provincial budget espacially after NFC award. A province with with such a small population should be in much better shape. I think a deep look will reveal that the reason, along side so many other ,is the way available resources are plundred by the provincial government.
If the SC shows the same determination it did when pursuing the “memogate” and other “significant” petitions, and follows the Baloch case for a solid month or two and turns on the the screw the various institutions, I’m sure some headway will be made.
This IS the really issue…..not mansoor ijaz sir jee! Also, the Nawabs of Balochistan are equally to blame for this….living in luxury while the people they supposedly are fighting for die in abject poverty! Education is the one of the major issues for that province…give people intellect and they will not be bending in front of the nawabs (saeen).
Make Balochi, Pashto and Sindhi mandatory for all Pakistanis….promote each other’s cultures….slowly break down the barriers.
Somewhere to start,good suggestion. please comment on this man’s suggestions. Is it feasible?
Very right the cultural barriers should be broken ….. excellent suggestion …..
Balochistan province is largest province of Pakistan according to area.Its population mainly consists of Pashtun and Baloch’s.Different studies shows that Pathans and Balochs are almost equal in population in Balochistan.So the Baloch have no right to claim an independent Balochistan without the consent of Pashtun population.As i am the resident of Balochistan i can clearly see an external hand in arming the Baloch insurgents.They must be stopped so that in future no one can think of harming Pakistan.
As long as you can see the “foriegn hand”, you shall fail to see the real hand.
Balochistan was independent till 1948 and was annexed by Pakistan by coercing and duping the then leader. There were less than 10% pashtuns in Balochistan at that time. The Russian war brought millions into Balochistan. To twist history to suit your argument amounts to blatant lying. What about Junagarh?
I agree 100 %. One has to define a Baluchi. In order to solve the problem, one has to know the problem. By definition a Baluchi is a indeginous person who has been living from generations. Legal residents are not Baluch. My fateher came to Quetta from india in 1947, had a jo, free housing and health care from govt. As soon as he got a change he moved to Karachi. I could have claimed as a legal resident of Baluchistan and could have qualified for a CSP job after college. I did not do it because my father did not allow and that would have been a lie. Today Baluchistan is a population of army dependents and Afghans who ran for their lives from Afghanistan. Baluchis have all the right to be angry. I went to GSP as a guest speaker 30 years ago and I was shocked to find out that there was no Baluch senior staff member, mostly lower level workers were Baluchis. Wake up people, recognise the Baluchis problem and help them. Stop blaming the foreign hand.
To me if anybody holds NIC of Pakistan must be considered as a citizen of Pakistan.So pashtuns whether they came from afghanistan or they live in Pakistan from the start,they are citizens of Pakistan.They now consists of almost half of Balochistan population.As compared to balochs,pathans give much preferance to education rather than involving themselves in other negative activities.As a resident of Balochistan my advice to all residents of the province is that, dont indulge yourself in negative activities and fight for your rights in a healthier way.If someone challenges the writ of the government,its the first and foremost duty of the state to stop them from bringing instability in the country and to insure the safety of all citizens including those who settled in Balochistan from other provinces.
What is wrong with Junagarh ? It is one of the most peaceful and well governed areas of South Asia. I don’t hear anyone complaining in Junagarh.
In Baluchistan most lower level position are taken by the Balouch because it requires no skill. 99% of the clerks are Balouch because they lack higher education. Very few Balouch aim for higher education because they see no value in it. For example look at Baluchistan University, Bolan Medical college you will find Balouch student but they are under achievers. Don’t get me wrong I am not saying that it is there fault, a common Balouch always complain about the state they are in because they put all the blame on the government. Let’s say Pakistan is run by the people other than Balouch but who is running Baluchistan ? majority of Baluchistan key government positions are in the hands of Bolouch and Pathans. You have be honest otherwise the blame game will not end. The Baluchistan provincial ministers are unqualified, uneducated, opportunist individual mostly sons and daughters of Sardar or Nawab. It is a laughing affair and very common in Baluchistan if a Nawab has two sons he will allow one son to be with PPP and the other to be with PML. How can you loose it is always a win win situation for them one of the son will always be milking the federal funds while other not in power will take Baluchi agenda of suffering under Pakistan and wait for his turn in the next election.
Wakeup Pakistan the problem of Baluchistan and the rest of Pakistan are the same Nawab’s, Sardar’s, Chudary’s, and Khan’s keep their people illiterate. Look at Punjab, Sindh, or NWFP same story villages are run by Chudary’s, Sadars and since the creation of Pakistan situation has not change poor are getting poorer and the wealth of any Nwab’s, Sardars or Chudary has not decreased a bit but has increased exponentially. Pakistan requires a honest government to eradicate this colonial system of Sardar, Nawab and Chudar’s. Look at India they dis-mental the old system and did the land reform and things are better for them. Education and land reform will bring equality for the people of Pakistan. Only after reforms will will call each other with our proper name “Pakistanis” and not Baluchi, Pathan’s Sindhi or others.
very true. that is the ’cause’ of the problem. Eradicate that cause now.
Getting separated from Pakistan is not the solution for the people of Baluchistan. Baluch leaders are not sincere with their people. Their leaders have no vision but feudal mind set. For their own interests they are misleading.
O leaders of baloch please stop thinking negatively. educate your people and free them from your slavery. Let them be the part of main stream.
On the other hand the government of Pakistan must approach common baloch people and must solve their grass root level problem because the feudal lords there are the main problem.
Everyone knows the problem…it is time to act fill the gap. If we don’t, others fill definitely fill it.
And you mean to say the Pak Army and politicians are sincere now …? Atleast we have leaders, who think about us, what can you say about you… We dont want always to be a giver… Our kids dont get proper education, we dont have medical facilities… you take everything from here and enjoy your modern life, leaving nothing for us and whenever we speak about equality, you term that as “anti-nation”. We are fed up of being a part of this corrupt nation. Hamm naya jaha banayenge…
Shabbir, every disparity may leads to a new hope presented by the same people who have been the cause of it in the first place (Nawabs /sardars)and when hope runs out of steam it leads to (Hamm naya jaha banayenge…) There is nothing wrong with thinking like that.Situation compels you to do so., but it may not be a right way to think.
There is only one problem,the old process of hope and disparity starts again.
The answer lies within the nation, mass education and less dependency on the elite. Working within the country’s frame work. It will be quicker,efficient, and more productive.
Correction is easier and better than trying to build a new sand castle each time you hit an obstacle. Why we cannot learn anything from Egyptian revolution /Arab spring. Why kill each other?
Pakistani government is to blame for many ills of Baluchistan and rest of Pakistan but wake up Shabbir nobody forced you to make “Hamm naya jaha banayenge…” Other than Quetta the entire Baluchistan Balouch areas in the hands of Balouch leaders. Balouch leaders are eating government funds for 5 decades. Where did Sui gas money d go ask Nawab’s sons, the government continues to pay the due share to the Balouch leaders. In my opinion it a wrong policy they should not give a penny to the Balouch leadser and spend it on people of Baluchistan so that a common Baloch can see the difference in there life. Balouch leaders have done nothing for my Balouch brothers. Look at Pathan area of Baluchistan and they are doing much better than Balouch in Baluchistan. Go to the a typical Pathan villages you will find reasonable schools, a Masjid and a shops with goods. Go and visit a Balouch village and you will find no business activity activities now ask yourself who is responsible for all of this. Don’t blame other for the common problem all of us has to work to make a Hamm naya jaha banayenge… for all of us not just for a certain group.
Shabir, with all due respect, I believe our Baloach bretherns need leaders that do something about the Baloch people – thinking alone does not cut it. To my knowledge, I have never heard of a Baloch leader who asked the government to build something, perhaps, roads, schools, hospitals. The requests were always for money and ownership of resources – not by the people of Baloachistan but by the Baloach leaders.
Modern Life? Have you ever even left Balochistan to see how the rest of the country is?
If your resources are being stolen, why do we have a gas shortage?
Your resources are undiscovered and under utilized.
You province has been given far more control over its own finances recently, yet you will not see the benefit because of the corruption of your own leaders. And whatever expertise is required to harness the resources of your province, can only come from non Baloch, yet no one would step foot there because of fear of being murdered by Baloch nationalist.
I disagree with you about the intentions of Balochistan Leaders. If they really care about the people of Balochistan then they build universities, hospitals, libraries and roads. What they provide the innocent uneducated people are guns and hate getting supported by what so ever means. Tell me one example among many of nationalist leaders who is from common man not from feudal loads??As Pakistani we as whole suffer from corruption and bad leadership but it does not mean to be separated?
Be real. To build roads, university and hospitals, it require a lot of capital. Where will the money come from. This is the job of federal govt. and the province to come up with cash. Leader can go to Islamabad and make their case for their people. There is no authentic Baluchi in the govt.
You just described the situation in Pakistan.
Please do not talk about seperating Baluchistan from Pakistan. What we need is a break from all the corrupt politicians who have been ruling Pakistan in the past years and present years(which also included the Baluch leaders who are now lamenting the sorry state of affairs in Baluchistan). I agree Baluchistan has been treated very unfairly and there needs to be sincere efforts taken to improve the state of affairs here. And let’s not give in to anti Pakistan elements who are giving air to breaking Pakistan again. Remember the story of the woodcutter and remember the moral of the story, if you are united no one can harm you but the moment you break up you become vulnerable on getting harmed.
So please let’s stay united and keep Pakistan intact. Once everyone thinks like this no one will be able to break us.Pakistan Zindabad and may God Bless all of us.
there is a single solution of solving Baluchistan issue, they should be given their rights as they have been deprived from them since Pakistan has captured it, they don’t have the right to live thier lives, it is the basic right of human being and today they have raised voice against these and rehman malik and other ministers or militant leadership call them terrorist and the agent of India. if raising voice for ur rights is terrorism then Baloch do accept it, Islam also teaches us for raising voice for ur rights, Baloch should be given their rights and the military should withdraw from balochistan.
1.seriousness is required to takle the issue.
2. as the matter is of the serious nature so serious people should cope up with rather politicising the matter.
3. law enforcemnt agencis should be held responsible, as they are payed for the security.
4. stake holders should com to the for front whole-hartedly.
5. either foriegn element or any any internal one, it should be delt strictly.
6. educate the people.
7. the funds provided by the fedral govt or from any other source, should be made sure that the fund reaches the reall needy person.
8. rather satisfying the tribal leaders the common man shoud be satisfied.
and their are many other reasons that can be used as a tool to addres the problem. but the main thing is seriousnedd not the punishment.
Government has obviously mishandled Baluchistan. One government after another. What is the big deal. The province has such a small population. It should’t be difficult to accommodate them.
We should have shifted capital to Las Bella and developed Baluchistan in a manner that it could be considered the heart of Pakistan.
In the beginning there was Chief Commissioner’s division and the states. What was the need to merge them.
Now the best thing is to give them their revenues so that they can catch up with other provinces.
You may differ on my view but let it be known to others. What is the purpose of nationalism on the basis of sects and races in Pakistan ,instead of pakistani nationalism .The country was made in the name of Islam and for merit ,justice and equality for all living there.Why we always talk about the nationalists.What they have done to the nation’s welfare except creating hatred and a state of mistrust among peoples.We should talk about those who have been deprived of all necessities of life under their their own rule.
Correction. Country was created for Muslims to get their due rights not in the name of Islam. and that is the same case now. Due Rights of Baloch People are pending.
Baloch have no faith in the Pakistani leadership, as they have consistently been cheated and swindled by the successive rulers( especially establishment including the army). When they demand for their rights, they are called traitors and sedition charges are framed against their leaders. The kidnappings and subsequent murder of Baloch people and their leaders still continues unabated, despite the fact that a democratic set up is in place in the country. The Baloch now have no option but to take up arms to get their rights. The only way forward to end the Balochistan crisis is to give them total internal autonomy, making them master of their own fate. They should be allowed to use their resources according to their wishes and needs.
Khan Sahib, it is one thing to demand for rights through negotiation but it an entirely different thing to ask for rights at gun point. There is no nation that will allow this behavior. Either the nation will come down or the people will pay a price. We all get fed up when things do not go our way but pointing gun at an army and others is not going to solve anything.
Amjad,
I hope your comments also holds true for Kashmir.
@KP – good one.
Baloch people need included in the benefits that rest of the Pakistan reaps from the natural resources of Balochistan. Money received from the mining of copper and uranium etc must be spent on Balochistan development but made sure no nawab’s benefit from the payment directly.
All I can say this is people and the politicians has to wake up and solve this issue immediately.balochistan is full of natural resources and many Western powers including USA is very interested and keen to make this an independent country. Please realize the severity of the situation and wake up.. its now or never, otherwise we will just lick our wounds and the outsiders will benefit with the situation and the resources this state offers…
A lot of exaggeration is made about the “Rich natural resources” Everything is a natural resource . Wheat, Cotton, Sugar cane, Rice and Fruits are all natural resources. If one part of the country is rich in one kind, the other part of the country is rich in another type. So don’t be very much proud of the “Rich natural resources” The basic problem of the Baluch is lack of education. If a Baluch has a gold mine under his house, first of all he will never know it is Gold because the gold mine would not glitter and even if somebody tells him that this is Gold mine, he doesn’t have the know-how to extract gold from it. Thus the root problem is illiteracy. The Baluch leaders should pay attention to Educate the people which they will never do. Because if Baluch people get educated, they will lay down their arms and go after developing natural resources and their Lords will lose control over them.
Why do we have to wait for people to be killed, to be discussed in Washington, to be disappeared, and other violences for an issue to be realized as a serious matter?
Our media is equally to blame for not highlighting the Balochistan issue. The first step for a solution would be to remove all the Army, Intelligence agencies, and the FC from Balochistan and once and for all bring them under the civilian control. They should not be the masters of us rather it should be other way round.
Mr. Baluch, can you arange a 10,000 people peacesful and orderly march in Quetta and Islamabad, demanding Baluchistan’s native sons and daughters God given rights, ( outsiders should be welcome to join ). If you can do it, believe me Pakistanis will listen and help. Do not wait for some one else to do. You should have done yesterday. Good luck.