A complete wheel-jam and shutter-down strike observed in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan to protest against the military operation in Kohlu and Dera Bugti, building of Kalabagh Dam and mega projects controlled exclusively by the Centre suggests that the situation has already turned awry and needs consideration before it deteriorates further. The overwhelming response to the strike call given by the opposition and nationalist parties including Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement (PONM), Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), four-party Baloch Alliance and Awami National Party (ANP) reflects that resentment against the Centre runs deeper than the government would like to admit.
The conflict in Balochistan was triggered by the firing of eight rockets on a Frontier Constabulary (FC) camp in Kohlu area during the visit of President General Pervez Musharraf and firing on a helicopter next day that injured the IG of the FC and his deputy. Instead of a targeted police action against the perpetrators, the government chose a military offensive through the paramilitary FC supported by regular troops using helicopter gunships and jets to fight the rebels termed as ’Fararis’. But the consequent clashes have spilled over from Marri and Bugti areas as communication links and other government installations have been targeted through rocket and bomb attacks in other parts of the province and the security forces have also retaliated. Reportedly several hundred civilians have been killed in these clashes so far.
Coinciding with the strike came the government’s pledge that it would not relent in the action against the ’miscreants’. The Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao told the Senate at the end of the three-day debate on the situation in Balochistan that there was "an increase in the momentum of militancy recently", apparently rejecting the arguments of the opposition that instead of engaging in military action, the government should adopt a course of reconciliation through dialogue. Senator Raza Rabbani argued that the Balochistan problem is "essentially a political question". Balochistan is the largest and most backward province of Pakistan. Successive governments have failed to address the genuine concerns of the Baloch people, who have been demanding an equitable distribution of resources and the measure of provincial autonomy guaranteed in the Constitution.
The concept of dialogue is not alien to the government as it held detailed negotiations with the Baloch leaders and reviewed all aspects of the situation in the aftermath of tensions caused in the wake of the Dr. Shazia Khalid rape case in Sui on the suggestion of Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. Two out of the three parliamentary committees entrusted with the job gave their recommendations in their respective reports on the political, economic and security aspects in January 2005. Had the government chosen to implement these recommendations on a priority basis, the concerns of the Baloch would have been allayed to a great extent and the situation would have been different. It would have lent credibility to the government that is now offering ’constitutional’ guarantees to Sindh for supporting the construction of Kalabagh Dam.
In the present situation, when the nation was already contending with the rising tensions on the issue of building Kalabagh dam with widespread demonstrations against the project in Sindh, the expression of hostility in Balochistan is a warning sign. The two southern provinces seem to be coming together against the decisions of the Punjab-dominated Centre, posing a serious danger to national cohesion and solidarity. These crises need to be defused by bringing the protagonists to the negotiating table. The concerned quarters should understand that they are dealing with an explosive situation that might erupt into further chaos and anarchy if dealt with exclusively by military means.
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