IMRAN JAMALI
The defeat of nationalist parties in Local Bodies elections in Balochistan has exposed the popularity of the warlord’s status - holding chieftains who are hoodwinking the masses with their secessionist sloganeering. The myth of the feudal lords whose clans have been holding reigns of people since centuries stands exposed as it is said that the people within their so-called territories are not allowed to cast their votes in accordance with their own will but on the orders of their lord.
There had been campaigns against the centre and the sardars like Nawab Akbar Bugti, Ataullah Mengal and Khair Bukhsh Mari raised hue and cry about a possible military operation in the province but this did not happen. So much so their anti-centre campaign failed in bringing LB polls results in their favour. One positive aspect of the local government polls was that for the first time, however, there was no violence in the three phases of the elections and that all candidates and parties accepted the people’s verdict without any hesitation.
The four-party Baloch alliance won a few nazim seats only in Baloch areas and the Pukhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party in Pukhtun-dominated areas. The nationalist Ponam and the four-party alliance failed to win. All major political groups, Ponam, MMA and the ruling PML, suffered setback and lost the Quetta city nazim seat to a young PML dissident, who refused to accept the candidate nominated by the high command of his party. Mir Maqbool Lehri was always confident about his victory and had said after filing his nomination papers, "The party’s high command has taken a wrong decision by not nominating me and I will prove it by winning the nazim’s post without the support of party leadership."
The ruling Pakistan Muslim League, on the other hand, captured 11 districts in Balochistan and swept through interior Sindh while its ally, the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, has taken Karachi and Hyderabad. In the NWFP, too, the Q-League has managed eight out of 10 district nazim slots. Balochistan, unlike the Punjab and Sindh, saw a split mandate not because the ruling League in that province did not resort to the same tactic to win but because the nationalist parties in Balochistan decided not to throw in the towel. They gave the official candidates a tough fight and as a result the province has seen a split mandate.
Mir Lehri’s victory is being considered highly alarming for Baloch and Pukhtun nationalists, who may face a tough time in the next general elections also. If the defeat of Ponam in Quetta and the four-party Baloch alliance in Gwadar is a big blow to nationalists, the victory of a PML dissident is also worrying the JUI-F which had won an MNA and three MPA seats in Quetta district in the 2002 general elections.
The worst performance in Quetta was that of the JUI-F candidate who got only 34 out of 871 votes. The JUI-F, however, performed quite well in containing nationalists in the northern districts of the province mostly inhabited by Pukhtuns. The National Party, a component of the four-party alliance, was divided over the poll strategy in Khuzdar and Kalat districts and one faction of the party sided with the JUI-F, a second faction went along with the PML in Kalat and a yet another faction supported the BNP-Mengal in Khuzdar.
The Balochistan National Party (Awami), which is a coalition partner in the provincial government, succeeded in capturing the nazim seats of Makran coastal area in Kech and Panjgur, but the PML won the Gwadar district nazim post after entering into an agreement with the group. The PML retained its traditional support of pro-establishment tribal chieftains by winning nazim seats in Bolan, Sibi, Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Chagai, Nushki, Washuk, Barkhan and Lasbela.
Given the positive results and violence-less phases of the elections, political observers are considering the Local Bodies polls a mode of big change in the conservative Balochistan province. Along with the ongoing yet geared-up pace of development, political reforms introduced by President General Pervez Musharraf seem to be paying dividends. After decades of indifference by various regimes towards lesser-developed and relatively remote parts of country, finally an endeavour is made by him to end the economic injustice towards smaller provinces and under-developed areas.
The centre initiated numerous development projects in various parts of the country. These projects include development of communication network, water reservoirs for irrigation purposes, establishment of healthcare centres and provision of electricity and gas to under developed areas. Balochistan has got a substantial share in the development package for the first time since independence, which was long overdue.
This neglect on part of the rulers had created sense of deprivation amongst the masses. The projects underway in the province have started taking a proper shape and with their completion would prove to be catalyst for social and economic prosperity in the province. There has been substantial increase in the allocation of funds for the development of province and six mega projects have been introduced, besides several small projects. Different schemes for the provision of basic living facilities for general population are on track, and government has also asked for international assistance in this regard.
The behaviour of some Sardars does not justify the negligence on the part of past regimes. Balochistan has been the main supplier of gas to the whole country but most of its own area is deprived of this facility. The government has taken notice of these issues and has undertaken various steps to ensure provision of the basic facilities to the province. It has initiated several developmental works, to bring the province at par with other provinces. Balochistan is being paid Rs13 billion on account of gas royalty alone, while Rs 31 billion was given additionally to the province, which included gas development surcharge.
There has been substantial increase in funds for the Balochistan and the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) allocation has increased from two percent to 14 percent. This increase in PSDP is now spent on the development of the province.
Balochistan was always kept behind in the development sector in the past but the mega projects, modernisation of water channels, and construction of dams, would certainly bring prosperity to the people. The province receives about Rs 24.7 billion under the NFC award on the basis of population, which is not sufficient for carrying out development process in the province. It also needs financial assistance from international donors and foreign investors to bring the province at par with other provinces.
Government has asked international organisations and developed countries for aid and assistance in developing the province, which is increasingly becoming a strategically important location. Government initiative has encouraged the foreign donors and lead to approval of US $875,000 technical assistance (TA) grant to the Pakistani government for the preparation of the Balochistan Resource Management Programme by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved project worth Rs 614 million for setting up five new research institutes in the agriculture sector of Balochistan to increase farm yield and improve livestock. In the education-training sector, Ecnec approved three new projects worth Rs 3.8 billion.
Besides, six projects worth Rs 3.2 billion for the higher education sector have already been approved. There has been an increase in allocation of funds for the development of the province by 300 percent in the federal budget. Priority has been given in budget allocations to the development of water, infrastructure, health and education. The decision had been taken to provide gas to Ziarat, Loralai, Qalat and other areas in Balochistan by June this year. Similarly, the job quota for Balochistan had been increased.
The Balochistan Road Development Sector Project (BRDSP) aims at widening and improving a total of approximately 1,400 km in the Balochistan Province of Pakistan. Construction of communication network will enhance the economic activities in the area by providing easy access. These development works on completion, besides improving socio-economic conditions of masses will also bring awareness amongst them to stop the exploitation at the hands of few sardars and would help themselves to get freedom from the clutches of local sardars and tribal chieftains.
Great responsibility lies on sardars to join hands with government to develop a working partnership to lessen suffering of Baloch people, who have been prey of negligence for a long time. Sardars also must take such steps to neutralise government’s apprehensions toward securing national installations. On the other hand government must take such measures, which could allay the sense of alienation, bring nationalists into the mainstream politics, create local stake in the province’s development and assuage their grievances. There is also a need to create a sense of ownership among the local people making them directly responsible for the security of vital installations.
Once these projects are completed and the political reforms take roots in the society, the myth of the Sardars would stand further exposed. Already splits within the Bugti and Mari tribes have sent the realisation to the people who have deliberately been kept illiterate by the Nawabs. There is a growing feeling among the people to get education and come in to the mainstream of the country’s socio-economic uplift. President’s strategy not to cope with the sardars physically or through operations but spreading awareness among the public is based on pragmatism and long-term result-orientation.
http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/dec-2005/22/columns5.php |
