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Killing Fields 27 Dec 22
Killing Fields 27 Dec 22
The policy pursued so far has inflicted considerable pain and agony on the
law-enforcement personnel and the Baloch population alike. While the
paramilitary forces are armed with the ‘writ of the law’ in taking on the
‘terrorists’, the general Baloch public is furious at being treated like a hostile,
alien presence on their own soil.
The confrontation was triggered by the rape of a young woman doctor in Sui,
who pointed a finger of blame at an army captain. This enraged Nawab Bugti,
because he felt he was responsible for the safety of all under his protection in
the Sui-Dera Bugti area.
The Baloch are furious at being treated like an alien presence on their own
soil.
With Bugti demanding action against the young officer, the military ruler
would not even order an inquiry, and instead declared the alleged perpetrator
‘innocent’. To this day, it isn’t clear what the general based his verdict on.
There was a time when a kill-and-dump policy was rampant, and every month
a number of tortured, tormented bodies of young Baloch men, gone missing,
were found dumped with their names pinned on them, in all probability as a
‘warning’ to others.
Ironically, the ‘act tough’ policy has led to such disenchantment among the
Baloch youths that today, the zone of conflict has extended way beyond the
tribal belt to coastal areas, where traditionally the sardars have little influence.
The militant leadership is said to have shifted into the hands of the middle
class.
One attempt to cool things and deal politically with issues was made after
Nawaz Sharif’s PML-N entered into an alliance with the Hasil Khan Bizenjo-
led National Party following the 2013 elections and Dr Abdul Malik Baloch
became the coalition chief minister in Quetta. Dr Baloch was mandated to
make contact, and some preliminary discussions took place between the chief
minister, the PML-N’s federal minister, retired Lt-Gen Qadir Baloch, and
Brahmdagh Bugti, who was in exile in Switzerland. This triggered some
optimism.
That is what has happened. I will concede it has been a long time since I have
had the opportunity to travel across the beautiful land, but conversations with
Baloch friends, sources and contacts of different hues make me feel truly
depressed. The scenario is dismal.
A major policy flaw is that no attempt has been made to draw up even a list of
reconcilable Baloch leaders/groups and tell them apart from the
irreconcilables. If this is done, some movement towards talks with the former
can be made as also an attempt to isolate the latter.