Khurram Khan
Recent terrorist attacks in Balochistan on August 26 have once again highlighted the issue of simmering insurgency in that hapless province that has seen violence in the fifth insurgency now raging for the last nearly two decades. The reaction of the government was as anticipated to take the matter as a law-and-order issue. The condemnation statements followed with usual resolve to deal with the terrorists with iron fist. The huddles organised after the incident left no doubt that the political leadership was bereft of ideas as before and the issue was delegated to the civil and military bureaucracy to handle it.
Bureaucracy with its limited mandate can only suggest administrative measures to combat the terrorist threat. No doubt the state’s primary responsibility towards its citizens is to provide security. There can be no two opinions on that.
However, the leadership needs to go beyond the usual measures announced after such brutal incidents. Putting the blame on the foreign inimical countries to be behind terrorists and their machinations is a ploy to sidestep any meaningful change in the policy. It can only be initiated when the situation as that exists in Balochistan is considered as more than a security issue. Baloch people’s grievances stem from political and socio-economic deprivation.
The officialdom reiterated its call to talk to disgruntled Baloch elements within the constitutional framework. The state deems the constitution as an inorganic instrument when it comes to address grievances of people. Impliedly, the state demands complete surrender to its authority with whom the dissatisfied Baloch populace has disagreement over deciding their affairs and distribution of resources. The precondition reflects imperialist mindset.
The protesting communities are depicted as an enemy rather than equal partners. Denial of rights is the first step in causing a sense of alienation. In order to justify repression, the agitators are branded as agents of foreign inimical countries furthering their agenda. Consequences of repressive measures against own people that drive them against the state are conveniently ignored.
Leadership thrown up through manipulated electoral processes is clueless in finding a way to address the concerns of the communities and groups that require innovative thinking and taking bold decisions. Such forward looking thinking is not expected of a leadership that is handmaiden of the powers that be.
An attempt was made to find a solution to the simmering conundrum in Balochistan by the PML N government in 2013. Questions were asked by a person no less than the Prime Minister about missing persons and dead bodies dumped in the vast barren landscape of Balochistan. The political arrangement of cobbling coalition with nationalist parties was scuttled through palace intrigues initiated to destabilise the federal government of Nawaz Sharif. Thereafter, the province has been ruled by alleged proxies of the establishment.
Our inability to deal with the grievances of the indigenous people has its origin in the governance model of the colonial masters. Pakistan came into being through a political process without recourse to violence and an armed insurrection. Pakistan emerged as a compromise to the constitutional problem of India as described by father of the nation Quaid e Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah. It was an out of box solution of seemingly unrelenting conflict between the Hindu majority and Muslim minority in the central legislation.
Pakistan since independence has failed to exhibit policy options to overcome internal dissensions. The civil unrest and violence in erstwhile East Pakistan could have been avoided if the situation had been recognised as more than a law-and-order problem that was attempted to be controlled through strong arm tactics instead of recognising and appreciating the will of the people.
Our ruling elite is fixated with the constitutional provisions that are cause of discontent amongst the Baloch as not negotiable; hence their call of secession. However, the ruling elite has no qualms when the constitution is suspended, mutilated through decree, amended at whims to safeguard political hegemony and institutional interests.
The Baloch leadership has also failed to formulate proposals within the constitution that could allay their concerns and pave the way for peace in the province. Baloch despise development as it would lead to influx of outsiders that would leave them as a minority in their area. Another grouse is that the mineral and natural resources of the province are exploited by the local and foreign companies and major share taken up by the federal government.
These issues could be dealt with by initiating debate on finding a way to satisfy the apprehensive Baloch. There should be debate on curtailing constitutional guarantees on freedom to settle and carrying or trade and business in Balochistan by non-residents. Groundwater is extracted throughout the country by the land owners with impunity as their personal asset. Why can this authorisation not be extended to owners of land rich in natural and mineral resources?
Out of box thinking is needed to settle our disputes that have spilled the blood of innocent lives. One should go beyond the obvious to unravel possible policy options.
The author is former Joint Director General, Intelligence Bureau, Govt of Pakistan. He is a geo-political analyst.
