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By: AZIZ-UD-DIN AHMAD
On Monday Ch Shujaat Hussain told the press in Karachi that FC posts had been removed from Sui and Dera Bugti. The same day Interior Minister Sherpao categorically declared security forces will remain in both towns.
A day earlier views similar to those of Sherpao had been expressed by Governor Owais Ghani. Ch Shujaat Hussain has complained of the DG ISPR having put a spanner in the works through his statements. With discordant notes emerging from the government side regarding how to deal with the most burning issue of today, doubts are bound to be created about Islamabadâ?Ts sincerity to resolve it.
There is a perception that a strong lobby wants to force its will on the people of smaller provinces irrespective of the consequences for the federation. This explains why Balochi leaders are showing reluctance to meet Ch Shujaat Hussain.
The constitutional amendments to ensure provincial autonomy the Chaudhry has promised, are still nowhere in sight. The committee headed by Senator Waseem Sajjad to make recommendations has little sense of urgency with the result that the proposals sent to it by various political parties continue to gather dust.
But what the Senator has said about the concurrent list, one of the hot issues, reveals a mindset that would not go beyond cosmetic changes to enhance the scope of provincial autonomy, which is an exercise long overdue. Foot dragging of the sort will further strengthen the perception that the government is buying time.
There is still no word about Shujaat Committeeâ?Ts own recommendations, prepared without inputs from the representatives of the four party Baloch alliances. Unofficial reports tell the cantonment proposed for Sui might be relocated to the Mazari area 40 km away. This is supposed to be a concession to Akbar Bugti who had complained the cantonment will uproot the whole population in the town. The recommendation which fails to address the root of the problem will hardly cut ice with any Balochi leader.
Those who object to more cantonments in Balochistan are doing so on the basis of principle. It is rightly argued that only under the colonial governments cantonments are established to keep the natives considered undependable by foreign rulers under control.
The practice had ended after the creation of Pakistan and those constructed later were meant to defend the country in case of foreign attack. The establishment of colonial style cantonments in Balochistan would indicate to all that Islamabad does not trust local population.
Law and order is not in the best shape in Balochistan. But is it ideal in any other province? That army personnel have been targeted here is highly regrettable. This only establishes the point that if the army assumes a policing role, it is bound to be treated like ordinary police. The more it assumes a high profile role, the more it loses respect accorded to those who confine themselves exclusively to the defence of the countryâ?Ts geographical borders. So what to do to stop violence?
The ongoing surge of blasts and rocket attacks is not motivated by religious extremism and is a new phenomenon that needs to be understood in order to be controlled. What is required is to resolve the issue politically which requires sincerity. Contradictory statements issued by the government spokesmen indicate this is lacking. Why canâ?Tt reliance be put in Balochistan on normal methods employed in other provinces to deal with violence?
Strengthen police and the levies, provide them better weapons and more efficient means of transport, improve their training but for Godâ?Ts sake donâ?Tt send army to confront civilians.
What is required is an environment of trust between Islamabad and smaller provinces.
While the level of confidence in the smaller provinces has never been very high on account of the gross disrespect shown to provincial autonomy by one federal government after another, distrust has reached zenith under General Musharraf. Islamabad still relies on secret talks with individual leaders to reach vague understandings that it can interpret later as it likes.
This was done during talks with Nek Muhammad and his militants. A similar exercise is being conducted in Balochistan not realising that there is a qualitative difference between the Waziri militants and the Balochi politicians who have dealt with three military dictators and a Prime Minister who would not tolerate political opponents.
When the government side fails to achieve â?~positive resultsâ?T through secret diplomacy it starts maligning the Baloch leaders, forgetting that dissatisfaction with governmentâ?Ts policies is no more confined to the tribal areas. Interestingly every government emissary has made a beeline to Akbar Bugti hoping to win him over to the establishmentâ?Ts side.
He was praised sky high by those that met him. Failing to bring him over, the DG ISPR now accuses him of getting huge sums of money from the government. So sardars are fine if they toe the government line while they instantly turn into ogres persecuting their own people and blackmailers fleecing Islamabad when they happen to be on the wrong side of the government. Only those who dish out the propaganda will buy it.
Cantonments will solve no problem but will only aggravate the present ones. The countryâ?Ts security is best served when people know that their rights are ensured in an inviolable constitution and their grievances can be ventilated through a free, independent and sovereign parliament. Arbitrary rule through engineered political arrangements to put up a show of democracy has to end.
The quantum of provincial autonomy has to be increased and iron clad guarantees provided to ensure that it will be implemented in letter and spirit. If the rights of every province are properly ensured, people will have a vested interest to keep the federation united. The gas fields are either in Balochistan or in Sindh and there is likelihood of more being discovered in these provinces. These can best be guarded by the local people. It is not feasible to construct a cantonment on all of them.
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