By: Rashed Rahman
The fifth war in Balochistan since independence, whose historical, political, economic and cultural background has been sketched in this series, has now escalated to a worrying degree. The sputtering insurgency being led by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is fast being transformed into an all-out internal war between the forces of the Centre and the Baloch people. This latest acceleration in the conflict has followed President General Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Kohlu, Marri tribal area, about two weeks ago. On his arrival, eight rockets crashed into a Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp on the outskirts of Kohlu, fortunately without causing any casualties. The very next day, the Director General and Inspector General of the Frontier Constabulary were injured by firing on their helicopter while conducting an aerial reconnaissance of Kohlu area.
The government seems to have been sufficiently incensed by both incidents, treating the first as an attempted assassination of the president, to launch a major operation against the Marri area that has also taken the Bugti area next to it within its fold. Attacks by jets and helicopter gunships from the air, followed by ground sweeps by paramilitary forces have resulted in some villages and towns being demolished and casualties of over 100 people (at least) being inflicted. The majority of the dead or wounded are women, children and the elderly. Although the government continues to insist that no (military) operation is being conducted, and only the camps of the rebels (Fararis in Balochi) are being targeted, it is not illogical to assume that a great deal of collateral damage has been inflicted by aerial bombing and strafing.
Unfortunately, the lack of access to the areas of fighting, which are ringed by regular and paramilitary forces, makes accurate reporting impossible. Were the media to be allowed access to these areas, reliance on word of mouth and speculative reporting could be avoided. The more the government denies such access, the more the rumour mills will grind. Even after discounting the partisanship of Baloch nationalist spokesmen, unease is inevitable at the revelation that the 25,000 population of, for example, Dera Bugti, is threatened with aerial and artillery flattening. It is a truism culled from history that indiscriminate violence by the state breeds many more rebels than the rebels themselves could hope to muster.
The approach the government seems to be following, contrary to its claims, is one of collective punishment of the many for the sins of the few. Thereby, the government has not only handed the other side a propaganda coup on a grand scale, it has helped ’recruit’ the Bugtis for the struggle, and extended the conflict through the length and breadth of Balochistan, from Nushki in the west to Sibi/Jacobabad in the east, and from Harnai in the north to Mekran in the south.
An All-Parties Conference (APC) of the opposition in Karachi, while demanding a halt to the operation in Balochistan, has revealed that this operation has spread to five districts of the province over the last three months. It has been claimed at the APC that 21 jets and 19 helicopter gunships have been in operation. It was also revealed that 130 Sardars of the province are supporting the government, which punctures the rhetoric of the government that the insurgency is purely in defence of the Sardars’ privileges. Another worrying aspect of the situation is the allegation that some 2,000 people have ’disappeared’ after being arrested by the intelligence agencies from all over Balochistan. The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has reported on the phenomenon of the ’disappeared’, which revives memories of the ’dirty’ anti-guerrilla wars of the 1960s and 70s in Latin America.
Every day the media carries reports of the fighting, with its frequency, intensity and spread clearly on an upward curve. If the scenario has a trace of déjà vu for long time Balochistan watchers, one can only recall the old adage: Those who do not learn from history are condemned to repeat it. And add to that: History repeats itself, the first time as farce, the second time as tragedy. It is difficult to shake off the foreboding that the country is heading for a disaster. With Balochistan up in arms, Sindh aflame because of the agitation over the Kalabagh Dam, and NWFP and its tribal areas still unable to shake off the bulldog grip of the Taliban and al Qaeda, the number of fronts the government has opened up against itself hardly appears wise.
The Balochistan situation has allowed India to jump into the fray with expressions of concern at the escalating conflict. The Pakistan government has reacted sharply to this "interference in our internal affairs". No truly sovereign country likes such interference, and there was time when such a rebuke would be taken seriously by a neighbouring country. Instead, in today’s world, when the globe has shrunk to a village, the boundaries of sovereignty are circumscribed by the demands of justice and human rights. New Delhi may be fishing in troubled waters and waxing indignant at our foreign office’s rebuke on the basis that we too ’wave the red rag at them" all the time, but the fact remains that outside powers can only comment on our internal affairs if those affairs are mishandled to the point of crisis. We open the door of opportunity thereby to not necessarily sympathetic voices of concern about the fate of the Baloch. Of course the war of words between Islamabad and New Delhi on this issue has given the former the chance to bring in the ubiquitous ’foreign hand’ into the equation.
Be all that as it may, the situation in Pakistan’s largest, poorest and most troubled province bodes ill for the future. The political negotiations track is dead, and the only ’dialogue’ being conducted in Balochistan currently is the ’dialogue’ of opposing firepower. Where that will lead can only make one shudder. The Chaudry Shujaat political intervention, and the committee reports, etc, that flowed from it, seem infructuous now. Balochistan is poised at the brink of a ’dialogue’ of the deaf. Not only Balochistan, Pakistan as a whole may end up paying a heavy price for the attempt (once again) to solve political problems through the use of military force. Those who do not remember their history.
(concluded)
The writer is the Executive Editor of The Post |
