VIEW: Time to move on in Balochistan
BY: Abbas Rashid
While none of the established political forces acknowledge any links with the BLA, there is hardly any condemnation of its actions from these quarters. In effect, then, the BLA may be said to have a political face and this can have significant implications in terms of its potential social base and ability to sustain its activities
Earlier this week President Pervez Musharraf reiterated that the Balochistan issue would be resolved through civil means and, reportedly, the National Security Council (NSC) meeting probably on February 15 will take up Balochistan as a priority matter. How quickly things move from there on remains to be seen but as matters stand there does not seem too much headway on the immediate issue that has galvanised a large section of opinion in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country: the rape of a lady doctor in Sui, allegedly by an army officer who has yet to be arrested. This in itself is a travesty. But, the emotionally charged nature of the case also means that the delay in prosecuting it provides a more receptive audience for those among the Baloch who maintain that the army considers itself above the law and sees Balochistan as a colony to be run as it sees fit, deepening a more general sense of alienation.
The parliamentary committee report on Balochistan has yet to see the light of day, as the sub-committee headed by Senator Wasim Sajjad has still to finalise its recommendations. However, the sub-committee headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain has apparently done so. Among other things, it reportedly recommends maximising provincial autonomy and reviewing the 47 items on the concurrent list, substantial enhancement of the gas royalty and lease money and the implementation of measures that address Baloch reservations with respect to the Gwadar project and the recruitment of more Baloch into the FC levies and the armed forces.
The final report will be compiled on the basis of the reports of the two sub-committees. For a start it remains to be seen whether the government would be willing to move ahead with these recommendations. The other issue is that of their acceptability to the Baloch leadership. It is not particularly helpful that Balochistan Nationalist Party (BNP) Senator Sanaullah Baloch and Rauf Mengal, resigned from the committee on the direction of their party chief Attaullah Mengal. The Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) member Senator Amanuallah Kinrani also resigned last Saturday to protest the crackdown by law-enforcement agencies in the area.
While in one sense the problem may be seen as the sardars wanting more for themselves at another level they are increasingly connecting to a sub-nationalist sentiment that is more broadly based. In the current context two issues have made this possible: the armyâ?Ts decision to build more cantonments in Balochistan and the development of a deep-sea port at Gwadar. The opposition of a few key sardars is only one part of the story. Balochistanâ?Ts grievances against the Centre go well beyond these. The fact that it took decades to get gas from Sui to Quetta is something the average Baloch is fully cognizant of. The army presence in Balochistan, especially in the Baloch areas, has a particular resonance, not least because of the virtual absence of the Baloch from the military and paramilitary forces. There is also a widespread sense in Balochistan that while it is rich in resources, the people of the province do not benefit from them. And the huge project of Gwadar in which the Baloch have not had any significant role at any level seems too many as one more exercise of developing the resources of the province while excluding its people from the benefits that flow from such development. It should have been easy enough to front-load the enterprise with Baloch involvement but the old pattern was followed yet again.
The government can and should negotiate a better deal for the Baloch people in the package that it offers so that all benefits do not flow to the sardars personally. Over time an essentially anachronistic sardari system must give way to the forces of modernisation. But, primarily, it is a change in the material conditions of the people that will produce a modern middle class to take the place of the sardars. The Centerâ?Ts policies must assist in the process of such change. There is an obvious and critical flaw in a strategy that essentially seeks to replace the sardari system with one run by corps commanders.
For now, the alienation of many young and educated Baloch should be a matter of particular concern. Most of the acts of violence and sabotage have been attributed to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which in some form has been around for a while but only now seems to have come into its own. It has claimed responsibility for a number of blasts in the area as well as the blowing up of the pipeline in Punjab. It is important to note that while none of the established political forces acknowledge any links with the BLA, there is hardly any condemnation for its actions from these quarters. In effect, then, the BLA may be said to have a political face and this can have significant implications in terms of its potential social base and ability to sustain its activities. As for the â?~foreign handâ?T thesis subscribed to, among others, by the Balochistan chief minister Jam Yusuf, it misses the key point that where internal dissension is allowed to grow external forces are more than likely to take a hand in the proceedings. There is more than one country, not all of them in the neighbourhood, with a motive to do so in Balochistan.
The urgent need, however, is to put our own house in order. The issue is not whether Balochistan can or will separate, but whether we are willing to put in place an equitable framework for political participation, development and distribution, accommodating the aspirations of the federating units, and thereby securing the long-term interests of the federation, as a whole.
Abbas Rashid is a freelance journalist and political analyst whose career has included editorial positions in various Pakistani newspapers
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_12-2-2005_pg3_2
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