Balochistan: in retrospect

Balochistan has always had troubles - ever since it became an independent province. Tribal rivalries, a strong and ferocious sardari system dominated by inflexible and egoistic chieftains, ethnic diversity, vast hinterlands void of government machinery, far-flung and inaccessible areas – this and much more has contributed to Balochistan’s backwardness.
The people of the province have also never really tried to change their circumstances much. The two dominant communities of the area – the Pakhtuns and the Baloch – have always fought over trivial issues. Had both the communities tried to take serious steps to resolve the issue, the state of affairs would have been positively different today. Why have these two major communities not reconciled each other’s efforts into a unified approach to bring the province at par with the rest of the country.
The Baloch are the dominant group in 20 out of 30 districts in the province, and have also had the maximum number of chief ministers in the last 40 years. On the contrary, the political scene has usually been hijacked by Pakhtuns owing to the community’s relative educational superiority. The subtle fault-lines widened – with the majority living under the political influence of the minority. As a result political infrastructure developed overwhelmingly in Pakhtun-dominated areas, leaving the Baloch at the behest of their chieftains who rule within the confines of a strong sardari system.
Education became a part of the Pakhtun-dominated areas where the better political infrastructure in place paved the way for public sector education reforms. The sardari system, on the other hand, rejected any such development. Starting from primary education till the higher secondary level the system became rooted in Pakhtun areas keeping the Baloch areas void of their basic education rights. Resultantly, the Baloch lag behind the Pakhtuns in competitive examinations, promotions and postings because of the better educational backgrounds of the latter.
The outcome of that is evident today – only five students from the Gwadar district managed to successfully complete a degree from the University of Information & technology, Balochistan in the last seven years. One wonders who would then benefit from the 90 percent reserve quota for Balochistan students. The Pakhtuns dominate the others in the corporate world, services and educational quota. Eventually this educated class maintains both the public and private sectors of the province, leaving the Baloch far behind in their quest of parity.
The Pakhtun areas also enjoy health-sector reforms far better than Baloch-majority areas, who trail behind because of their inaccessibility as well. There are many state-of-the-art hospitals in the Kharan, Chagai and Washuk districts. However, inadequately trained staff has left these medical facilities at the mercy of looters, plunderers and wayfarers. Add to that the harsh extremities of the climate, and the Baloch suffer from ill health. Over the years, the Baloch remained deprived of basic healthcare facilities the government is supposed to equip them with.
The renewed NFC share of Balochistan, standing at 9.09 percent, should have been reflected in the improved state of living standards of the people of the province. That, however, is not so. In 2003, when the government tried to introduce mega projects for the socio-economic uplift of the area, the sardars resisted vehemently. Today out of a huge kitty of Rs100 billion that the province is getting through the centre out of its NFC share, gas royalties and development projects, nothing is trickled down to the people. It is instead being directly given to corrupt parliamentarians to enjoy at public expense. The practice is further marginalising the poor and deprived masses of the province – especially the Baloch – nudging them into joining the insurgency and joining hands with militants against the government.
There is no rule of law – lawlessness, arson looting, kidnapping for ransom are rampant in Balochistan. The security apparatus is helpless in restoring law and order and bringing normalcy to the province. Following the 1861 Police Act, 95 percent of the area is under the Levies, where virtually no control of the government exists. The Levies are under the administrative control of either local chieftains or influential or public representatives who serve the chieftans. The police and other central government law-enforcement agencies have no access to the Ferrari camps (working under the control of the Baloch sardars) carved inside Mastung, Noshki, Dasht, Kabo and the rest of the 95 percent of the no-go areas.
The recent surge in terrorist acts by Lashkar-e-Jhangvi against the Shia community has disturbed the already fragile security situation inside the province in general and in the Pakhtun dominated areas in particular. The critical security matrix has been further worsened by a sharp tilt of sub-nationalists and deprived masses (the Baloch) towards anti-state trans-frontier actors. Twenty-six Indian consulates/covert medical centres located all along the western border inside Afghanistan provide them with funds as well as material and moral support – enough for an all-out anti-state initiative. Strong evidence exists against these medical centres, which are located in Kandahar, Jallalabad, Mazar, Kabul etc, as front offices for training Baloch insurgents.
The disappearance of 200 Baloch youths a few years back, once traced, led the trail to these medical centres. Many of the coerced youth when recovered disclosed the anti-state motives garnered by the Indian authorities in Afghanistan. At the same time these Indian centres are effectively coordinating target-killing/abductions for ransom, and well-orchestrated media campaigns maligning law-enforcement/intelligence agencies by unnecessarily involving them in human rights violations and extrajudicial killings.
Now the question is: how do we clean this mess up? The answer is to put your own house in order. A few steps the government needs to take immediately are: 1) provide efficient governance all across the length and width of the province by employing trustworthy and loyal public servants; 2) develop a broad-based policy for the concerted employment of law-enforcement agencies and intelligence setups at their respective tiers to establish the writ of the government; 3) provide people basic healthcare facilities through public & private sector partnership; 4) education must be made available to all through a network of basic education infrastructure development; the private sector must also be tasked with some responsibility; 5) policy-making by the central government to take all tribes/sardars onboard by providing a platform to redress grievances and resolution of their concerns through political means; 6) the central government should provide a strong platform in the shape of an all-powerful parliamentary committee being represented by stakeholders to ensure implementation of approved policies by all and sundry; and the central government should formulate a narrative for media/civil society to play a more responsible and positive role in Balochistan.