Friday, July 16, 2010
Balochistan mourns once again. However, this time, the entire country has also followed suit. The cold-blooded assassination of one of the province’s moderate and peaceful nationalist politicians and human rights activists, Habib Jalib Baloch, has reduced the nation to deep sorrow. Killed by unidentified gunmen outside his home in Quetta, this tragic incident has brought to light, again, the repression of any voices in Balochistan dedicated to rationality and restraint. As General Secretary of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Jalib strongly advocated the removal of the military and Frontier Corp (FC) from the province and back into their barracks, granting the rights of the Baloch people and defending the cause of the missing persons who, unfortunately, are numerous in Balochistan.
Habib Jalib Baloch’s funeral procession was reflective of his stature as a martyr. Carried from the Civil Hospital to the Red Zone that houses the CM Secretariat and the Governor’s House, furious mourners protested the demise of a widely respected leader. Similar tearful protests and angry voices could be seen and heard all over the country. Barricaded by the police who threw tear gas into the crowd to disperse protestors before they could enter Quetta’s Red Zone, Habib’s mourners and adherents now have two paths open in front of them: they can either continue the politician’s peaceful struggle for Baloch autonomy or they can become consumed by the rising tide of hatred and extremism engulfing the province.
For too many years now, the Baloch people have been cast aside by the Centre and for too long they have been made the victims of the military’s use of force. No one is unfamiliar with the devastations inflicted upon people in Balochistan who dare raise a voice against military operations in their province. However, the recent spate of target killings in the province point towards a more aggressive and extreme aim. The murder of a moderate member of the political arena means that there is now a very low threshold for the fundamental human right to express an aspiration for autonomy, knowledge of rights, recognition of identity, and condemnation of army operations.
Balochistan has, unfortunately, become a messy muddle with speculations, conspiracies and blame travelling faster than government willingness to grant the Baloch their constitutional rights. Some quarters are pointing to the involvement of nationalist insurgents, who they cite as becoming too extreme in their views against those who toe a more democratic line. However, such misguided views fail to address the logical conundrum that the “men in the mountains” and parties like the BNP-M all advocate the same slogan: freedom from occupation and granting of complete autonomy to the Baloch. Both may have chosen different pathways to get there, but they remain allies when it comes to the basic interests of their province and their people.
It is a lot more likely that the usual suspects, a list led by the FC, the military and every other member of the security agencies currently engaged in Balochistan, may have had a hand in this murder. Some reports have indicated that an unknown group called the Baloch Musalha Defai Tanzeem has claimed responsibility. Whenever shadowy groups just ‘magically’ appear, suspicion is immediately aroused that they may just be front organisations for an agency that would like to create further waves in the choppy political waters in Balochistan.
It remains to be seen whether Habib Jalib Baloch’s followers continue to resist the renewed and after his murder, strengthened appeal of the insurgents. His political legacy of moderation is now at risk of being overtaken by more radical methods with increased resonance for a battered and disgusted Baloch populace. *
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010 716story_16-7-2010_pg3_1 |
