Balochistan Problem a Way Out

The situation in Balochistan is comparable, at least in terms of grievances, to that

of East Pakistan in 1968-9
UNREST in BALOCHISTAN
Friday, October 01, 2010

Introduction
News about a new and extended military operation in Balochistan has started circulating in the
past few weeks. While this would not be a new scenario as far as history of Balochistan is
concerned, the need for adopting a reconciliatory approach towards Balochistan is now being felt
more than ever.
Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan comprising nearly 44% of the countrys landmass
and is, by far, the richest one in terms of natural resources. But today, Balochistan is most
underdeveloped and poverty-stricken province where even the most basic infrastructure has not
been built and people do not have access to the very basic immunities of life.
The native people of Balochistan, numbered around eight million, have, for years, been
complaining of marginalization. Law and order situation is worse than the worst possible and
many a youth is now playing in the hands of those who want to destabilize Pakistan. Popular
leadership is alienated and people of Balochistan are least integrated with the rest of the country.
If we are asked to define national integration, it would be something like, the will of people to
live together that comes from common destiny and interwoven cultures, regional languages,
traditions, ideals, history, religion, customs, and right to equitable share in physical resources

with privilege of decision-making in economic, political, and social matters of a nation-state.

If we analyze this definition in the wake of situation in Balochistan, most would agree that the
situation is not extremely grave as far as first half of this definition is concerned. But there are
some serious reservations as to the right to equitable share and privilege of decision-making
in economic, political, and social matters. How and why have we come to such a situation is a
sad but complex tale?
The Balochistan problem is essentially a struggle for provincial rights. They revolted against the
overdeveloped federal state structure and demanded more provincial autonomy.
Dimensions of the Balochistan Issue
The Balochistan problem is essentially a struggle for provincial rights. They revolted against the
overdeveloped federal state structure and demanded more provincial autonomy. Rather than its
rich natural resources, Balochistan is characterized by economic backwardness, lack of
development and non-availability of basic facilities of life.
Balochistan has been a focus of trouble in the past but the recent episode is the most grave of the
all. The 2006 killing of Akbar Bugti at that time the motive figurehead of politics in
Balochistan in a firefight with the security forces gave the current wave of secessionists a hero
to latch onto.
Since then the situation in balochistan is out of control. National infrastructure is targeted
routinely and the incidents of target killings of academia and intelligentsia belonging to other
provinces, especially Punjab, have risen at an alarming rate.
The growing hub of Gwadar, which has been hailed as a special economic zone, is not only a
focal point of strategic interests of many global and regional powers in Southwest Asia, but also
a grave concern and source of contention for the natives of Balochistan as they feel being
marginalized in the development of this project as in other mega projects going on in the
province.
Balochistan has been an area of special interest for regional and global powers owing to its key
strategic position. Every effort made at mass development in this area met with covert resistance
from hostile competitors present in the region. The latest insurgency too coincided with the work
on mega project of Gwadar port.
And lastly, the security agencies of the country see this entire situation in security perspective.
While focusing on covert activities of hostile actors in the region, the economic, political and
social grievances of the people have been largely ignored. Consequently, the angry youth of
Balochistan fell an easy prey to the nefarious designs of our enemies. Thus the situation has
grown complex and requires a holistic approach in order to be improved.
Recent Efforts Made by the Federal Government
It was in this context that the need for adopting a conciliatory approach towards Balochistan was
strongly felt. As opposed to the military-action policy of Gen. Pervez Musharraf, a political

solution to the Balochistan problem in the form of Aaghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan Package was

hailed as a fresh breath to the ailing people of Balochistan.
It was expected to mitigate their sufferings and redress their grievances. Though Baloch sardars
and other nationalist leaders expressed their reservations about the package, the government and
other leading political activists of the country cherished it as a positive step towards the peaceful
resolution and redressal of the grievances of the people of Balochistan.
Balochistan Package tried to address many issues including the very contentious ones as well.
It aimed at reviewing the role of Federal agencies operating in Balochistan and withdrawing
army from Sui as well as deferring the proposed construction of cantonments in various parts of
the province.
It envisaged limiting the powers of Frontier Corps and removing the various check-posts
established by FC and Coast Guards away from the border areas of the province. It tried to
address the highly contentious issue of missing persons and setting-up of a judicial inquiry
commission to probe the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti and the murders of three Baloch
nationalist leaders in Turbat.
The Balochistan Package also tried to redress economic grievances by providing for different aid
packages and creating more employment opportunities for the youth of Balochistan. Various
arrears amounts due on federal government were promised to be released and the share of
Balochistan government in various mega projects was hinted to be enhanced.
It tried to create stakes of the province in the mega projects of Gwadar. The provincial
government and legislature were promised a lot of powers and representation in Gwadar port and
development authority.
The Package also hinted upon starting dialogue with the alienated Baloch nationalist leadership.
It indicated a conditional return of exiled leadership back to the country. On the constitutional
level, it promised provincial autonomy, and restructuring of NFC Award to include
backwardness, poverty, resource generation, and inverse-population ratio as against the previous
criterion of population as sole determining factor for resource distribution.
This new development has led to the intensification of the Great Game being played here in this
region of which Balochistan is a part.
Why Govt. Efforts Failed
Since its announcement, the Package had to face several challenges. The first and fore-most issue
was its implementation in the wake of civil-military relations in Pakistan. While this package had
been formulated by some sagacious brains of the nation and through a consensus of nearly all
major political parties, still the impression that the military establishment was not taken on board
was soon strongly felt.
This was and is the most significant reason of stalling of the promises made in this package.
Secondly, the provincial political setup was and is not truly representative as popular political
parties of Balochistan as they had boycotted the previous elections and they are still not part of

the system at this critical stage.

Thirdly, the situation demanded a better effort in terms of aid packages announced, especially
after the second year of worst floods in the province. Even the promises made were not fulfilled.
Moreover, there is a big question mark over the degree to which autonomy would be given to the
provinces. Certain provisions have been made in the 18th amendment but the demands,
especially from Balochistan, are now much beyond those provisions. And lastly, there is a
question of bringing the alienated and rebellious nationalist leadership back into the mainstream
politics over which this package failed to play any part.
The federal government will have to restore the confidence of people in its authority through
some confidence building measures.
Current Scenario
Most of the leaders of Balochistan outrightly rejected this package expressing their reservations
over its implementation. Two years after the package was announced, it can not be denied that
those reservations were not entirely baseless. Apart from some cosmetic gestures, the
government failed to move towards the implementation of this package.
The so far apparent failure of this package has made it crystal clear where the actual power lies
as far as the statecraft in Pakistan is concerned. The political paralysis in dealing with this remote
restive province is another manifestation of the power the military holds over the countrys weak
civilian governments.
The fact that the more vibrant as well as violent part of the political leadership of Balochistan
rejected this package whereas the establishment is not willing to implement even the provisions
made in this package, makes the situation more complex.
At the same time, in a larger view, the situation in this region has grown more tense in the wake
of a withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan. This new development has led to the
intensification of the Great Game being played here in this region of which Balochistan is a part.
Thus one thing is clear that the situation in Balochistan is complex and chaotic and we can not
have a straightforward and simple solution of this situation. Then do we need a new social
contract to cater the growing urge of dismemberment in the people of Balochistan?
Here, one is reminded of the famous-cum-notorious six points Sheikh Mujeeb. The situation in
Balochistan is comparable, at least in terms of grievances, to that of East Pakistan in 1968-9. A
new military operation at this stage, like the one was done in Bengal in 1971, may further
aggravate the situation.
Four decades later, most analysts would agree that a contract on the basis of those six points (one
or two less) would have at least delayed the dismemberment of East Pakistan, if not prevented
for good as more optimists would argue. Thus the need of the hour is an out of the box thinking
among the ruling elite of Pakistan.

The Way Out

The way out of this situation demands that we should learn from history. The Balochistan
problem must no more be seen in the security perspective only. Focus must be shifted on its
strong political and social elements.
Unfortunately this has been a culture in Pakistan that all legitimate political movements against
injustice have been labeled as foreign machinations and leaders of those movements have been
called traitors and agents.
Even the credibility of lawyers movement for the restoration of judiciary was questioned. This
culture must end and the dissenting people should be seen as patriotic as any other section of the
society.
The federal government will have to restore the confidence of people in its authority through
some confidence building measures. These CBMs should include a maximum possible
withdrawal of a chunk of troops from the settled areas.
Better efforts to rehabilitate the displaced people to their homes would help improve the image of
government. Then a broader political amnesty to all those who lay down their arms, like Gen.
Rahimuddin did in the era of Gen. Zia ul Haq, can bring back a large portion of secessionist
leadership.
Another CBM can be the introduction of dual citizenship as is present in many countries
including US and Canada. This would effectively remove the danger of ethnic disturbance
resulting from realization of mega projects.
Through these CBMs, we should create an environment to move towards a stable solution of this
problem. It would be a political solution that grants the province greater autonomy and control
over its resources.
Meaningful development can only occur if there is political empowerment, adequate healthcare,
educational and employment opportunities. Unfortunately these areas have been largely ignored
in the past.
Political and economic empowerment will bring positive social changes not only in the lives of
people of Balochistan but also in their views about the federal government and its agencies. We
should remember that it is the will of people to live together that provides for national integration
and smooth functioning of federal structure of government. May God provide our leadership
with the wisdom and right direction.