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.
A starting point might be for the Federal government to listen to the grievances of the people and the nationalists. Secondly the role of the military must be brought under control of the government. No movement of forces or for that matter military interventions should take place without the involvement of the provincial government’s explicit approval.
Finally both of relevance to the issue of Balochistan and Pakistan as a state is a redefining of the relationship of provinces with the federal state. This could take the form of a loose federation in which few powers resided in the centre with the vast majority of powers devolved to the provinces. The issue of resources should be a provincial matter as should the vast majority of issues with the exception of a few.
I am not Baloch but I know very well that what the Baloch nationalists are saying is correct and true.
Thanks bhaijaan …
If you are not Baloch and you understand their cause than explain. Don’t just make blanket statement s”I know very well that what the Baloch nationalists are saying is correct and true.” We are listing explain.
I am not Baloch but I love my Baloch friends. I also know many of my non Baloch friends got killed by Baloch Militia in last 3 years. Let me tell you there are 4 kinds of Baloch.
a) Poor Balouch (90%) good people but very poor and uneducated
b) 7% Educated Balouch the live outside Baluchistan in other parts of Pakistan living a better life and they don’t want to come back to Baluchistan and they fully assimilated in Pakistan
c) 2 % poor uneducated Balouch they are slaves to their Sardar’s and they will kill non local without a single thought
d) 1 % top rich Sardars, very greedy, always looks for lame excuses to keep Balouch Nationalist Agenda alive. They are merchants of death, they profit from the bribes that get from the government in the form of federal and provincial funds and positions .
To me it appears that both sides are wrong. The government is wrong by putting the blame on ‘foreign hands’. The government should produce, not just to Pakistani media but also to the rest of the world, concrete evidence of these alleged ‘foreign hands’. That would win the sympathy of US and the rest of the world. Just saying ‘foreign hands’ without proof is not going to help.
The Nationalist are wrong for taking the law into their own hands. They should affirm that Balochistan is an integral part of Pakistan and should negotiate their just demands in a peaceful manner.
There appear to be different political players in Balochistan with very different agendas. All these factions have to come together and negotiate their demands but not independence.