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By: Rashed Rahman
Nationalism, with very few exceptions, tends to be articulated by the local elite and intelligentsia. Why should it be surprising then that some Sardars are voicing the demands of Baloch nationalism? Given the tribal structure of Baloch society the only surprise is that more of them are not doing so.
Revisiting the Balochistan crisis after two weeks reveals that things have become worse if anything. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has, after retreating in the face of regular troopsâ?T deployment in Sui, shown it has the capability to strike not only all over Balochistan, but even in the â?~heartâ?T of the state, i.e. Punjab. In separate incidents gas line to Lahore was blown up near Changmanga, as was the gas line near Taunsa. Meanwhile rocket attacks and the blowing up of railway lines have proceeded apace. Every new day brings news of fresh disasters.
Clearly, the predictions in this space in earlier columns about the fifth Balochistan war having begun are proving true. The governmentâ?Ts approach to the crisis has been heavy and ham-handed, slow and misplaced, and therefore unlikely to defuse the situation. The deployment of the army in and around Sui and the announcement of plans to build a cantonment on 400 acres on land claimed to have been allotted to the army (by whom, no one knows clearly) have poured more oil on the raging fire. Province-wide arrests of around 350 nationalist partiesâ?T cadres do not conform to the needs of reconciliation that has been the leitmotif of the governmentâ?Ts political policy on Balochistan.
In the absence of meaningful talks with the nationalist leaders, Mengal, Bugti, and most significantly, Marri, there does not appear much hope for the package of concessions for Balochistan being discussed at the highest level finding fertile ground in the troubled province. On the issue that sparked off the wider trouble this time round, i.e. the rape of a doctor in Sui, the authorities have moved glacially to arrest three top officers of PPL, along with now a havaldar of the DSG and five other employees of PPL. The main accused, an army captain, remains at large. This will not assuage the outrage felt by all and sundry in Balochistan at the heinous crime.
Mengal and Bugti have said they refuse to negotiate at the point of a gun. They demand as a pre-condition for talks the withdrawal of the army from its recent deployment in Sui. Senator Sanaullah Baloch and Akbar Bugtiâ?Ts JWP have withdrawn from the parliamentary committee on Balochistan. All this leads to the inevitable conclusion that the die is cast and armed conflict will grow in the province.
Marri has broken a long silence to tell the BBC that only the armed struggle offers any hope for the Baloch to wrest their long-denied rights. He dismissed the governmentâ?Ts talkâ?Ts offers as insincere and unlikely therefore to succeed. All the authorities were trying to gain from these ploys, he argued, was time to prepare their onslaught against the Baloch. Ominous views since even if Mengal and Bugti reverse themselves and re-engage in talks, without Marriâ?Ts acquiescence, no agreement arrived at, unlikely as it seems at present, will hold any water.
The intelligence agencies, civil and military, are bending their backs to convince the government and especially General Musharraf that the ubiquitous â?~foreign handâ?T is responsible for all the trouble in Balochistan. The finger of accusation has been pointed by these agencies at Iran. Tehranâ?Ts consul general in Peshawar has denied meddling in Balochistan, pointing out that only if peace prevails in Pakistani Balochistan will peace reign in Iranian Balochistan. The logic of this position is that Iran has nothing to gain and the prospect of trouble with its own Baloch nationalistsâ?T resurgent demands for autonomy and rights if it were to ever contemplate support to Baloch nationalists in Pakistan.
Much is being made by the government and its hangers-on of the alleged blockage of modernisation and development by the Sardars of the Baloch tribes in order not to lose their grip on their â?~subjectsâ?T. In fact, if it is not the â?~foreign handâ?T, then the Sardars are the authors of all the trouble, according to this â?~officialâ?T view. This is misplaced propaganda capable of taking in only the uninformed. Only three Sardars, albeit the most powerful, Mengal, Bugti and Marri are in the nationalist camp. The other about 101 Sardars are with the government. This has been the pattern throughout Balochistanâ?Ts long running conflicts with the Centre, including the 1970s war.
History teaches that nationalism, with very few exceptions, tends to be articulated by the local elite and intelligentsia. Why should it be surprising then that some Sardars are voicing the demands of Baloch nationalism? Given the tribal structure of Baloch society the only surprise is that more of them are not doing so. The overwhelming majority of Sardars is, as usual, aligned with the status quo, including leaning on the Centre for their political existence, perks and privileges. The small intelligentsia on the other hand is in the Baloch nationalist camp. Quite â?~progressiveâ?T people too have been taken in by the governmentâ?Ts propaganda about the Sardars being the sole obstacle to progress and development in Balochistan, in a faint echo of the 1970s, when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto managed to convince the rest of the country, especially the Left, aided considerably by a total news blackout on events in Balochistan, that Balochistanâ?Ts resistance to his military operation was only for the defence of Sardari privilege.
People have to understand that a tribal society is at a different stage of historical development. When deprived of its rights for long and oppressed in myriad ways, it resists, its language is inevitably that of nationalism, and its articulation inevitably by the local elite and intelligentsia. Balochistan is no exception. The tilting against Sardars is a red herring that obscures the real issues concerning Balochistanâ?Ts historical grievances becoming inextricably intertwined with the affront to the tribal code of honour in the shape of the rape of a doctor on Balochistanâ?Ts soil and the attempts to protect the perpetrators, especially the principal accused hiding behind his sullied uniform.
The writer, currently a freelance contributor, has held editorial positions in various Pakistani newspapers http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_8-2-2005_pg3_4 |
