By: DR IJAZ AHSAN
The parliamentary committee on Balochistan has recommended that the ’Concurrent List’, which contains the subjects falling simultaneously under the jurisdiction of the federal and provincial governments, should be cut down from a total of 47 to just about a dozen items. If, as is likely, this does come about, it will be a major contribution of the parliamentary committee.
It will greatly enhance the quantum of provincial autonomy, and will constitute a milestone in the constitutional history of Pakistan. If this happens under an army chief, it will show that even a completely rubber-stamp parliament is better than no parliament, as such work could only have been done by a committee with representation from all the major political parties.
Readers would do well to remember that the subject of provincial autonomy has not always been approached as objectively and sensibly as is being done by this committee. During the closing days of One Unit one government spokesman had once used words roughly to the effect that "those demanding greater provincial autonomy will be considered as traitors. They will be hounded, searched and destroyed’. What a change from those days!
The people of the smaller provinces were equally vocal against the single province of West Pakistan. President Ayub Khan nominated a committee to tour the province and find out what grievances, if any, the people of the former smaller provinces had against the One Unit. On this Mir Ali Muhammad Rashdi, a senior politician of Sindh, had this to say, ’It is a wonder that the government has appointed a committee to go round and see what grievances the people have against One Unit. In the past if anyone mentioned One Unit without ablutions and without facing the Kaaba, he ran the risk of having his tongue pulled out’. Such was the venom against the One Unit.
But you see, mostly the venom was justified. Witness this! In 1968 I was at the Liaquat Medical College, Hyderabad. We wanted to hold a medical conference, and in this connection we wished to get the programme of the conference, and a short brochure, printed. We were told we would have to seek permission from the Deputy Commissioner.
The DC office informed us that since the creation of One Unit the required permission could only be obtained from the provincial home secretary, which meant Lahore. Just imagine! For printing a conference brochure, one of us had to incur all the expense and the bother of travel all the way to Lahore to get the approval. Not only had the provincial capital been moved from Karachi to hundreds of miles away at Lahore, further centralisation had made the life of the people miserable.
But how come suddenly all politicians, including those from the ruling party, are sympathetic to the provinces’ demand for autonomy? Well, it is like this. The worst imaginable bungling by the authorities had created a situation where something had to be done. You see, a lady doctor, Shazia, was gangraped in the maximum security area of the PPL in Sui, Balochistan.
To make matters worse, the main accused was an army officer, Captain Hammad. To save him, the authorities did all sorts of things they should not have done. They prevented the police from getting to her. They whisked her away to Karachi without letting the police interrogate her. In the meantime the Balochis, who felt their honour had been violated, set Balochistan on fire.
The fires have still not been put out, as every day railway lines and electrical pylons are being blown up. The total damage is in billions. To negotiate with Akbar Bugti, the President and secretary of the ruling party, followed by a parliamentary committee, came over and held negotiations. The Balochis made the most of the opportunity and put forward their demand for a great increase in provincial autonomy by greatly curtailing the ’Concurrent List’.
As there seemed no other way out for convincing the Balochis to consider a negotiated settlement of the issues, the parliamentary committee came up with its above-mentioned recommendation about increasing the quantum of provincial autonomy greatly. Thus it will be seen that sometimes the most rotten policies result in events that lead to social and political advancement. In the meantime Dr Shazia and her husband have flown away to an advanced western country, no doubt having got their visas through official intervention, and also almost certainly having been helped financially from the government kitty.
All this to save a reportedly very well-connected young officer. This is a great country. If you are well connected, you can get away with rape and murder; let us hope a day comes soon when you can’t.
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