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WEEKLY
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| Confidence-building in Balochistan |
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Thursday, November 12, 2009
Adnan Adil
Given the statements coming out of the federal capital, one gets the impression that the Balochistan issue is about the transfer of funds and once the much-publicised package for the province is doled out, the issue will be resolved. This is not the case. The Balochistan issue is not about money, but the assertion of en ethnic group on its distinct political identity.
In fact, Baloch leaders and young activists resent the use of the term 'Balochistan package'. They believe that the Baloch people are owners of their resources and do not need any charity in the form of a package or an award. They want to have full control of their resources. They don't consider development projects a panacea for their ills; rather they resent mega development projects like Gawadar and suspect they have been launched to convert the Baloch into a minority in their homeland. At the moment, Baloch nationalists seem to be focused on one objective, that is, to invite international organistaions to help them gain freedom.
As the media coverage of Balochistan is quite sketchy, it is only after a first-hand interaction with the people that one gets a good idea of how grave the situation is. In Quetta, one comes across horrible stories of alleged excesses against the people by the security agencies, targeted killings of non-Baloch people by Baloch militants and the Baloch youth's estrangement from the rest of the country. Young Baloch men and women are quite candid and fearless in expressing their rebellious views. Baloch girls now seem to be on the forefront of the nationalists' propaganda campaign. The graffiti along the national highway from Quetta to Qalat gives an inkling of what is happening in the province but not mirrored in the national media.
After meetings with senior public figures and government officials in Quetta, it is quite evident that the powers, as far as law and order issues are concerned, rest with the military establishment. Every civilian figure, howsoever senior in position, refers to the cantonment when it comes to matters of public safety. While the politicians have been given a free hand to mint money through development projects and posting and transfers of government officials, the decision to arrest or detain people or to deploy forces are in the hands of the khakis in the cantonment. Even the top men of the police and other civilian security agencies seem helpless in the areas that, legally speaking, fall in their jurisdiction but have been taken out of their purview practically.
One such issue is picking up suspects of insurgency without formally charging them and keeping them in illegal detention. Baloch activists protest at the incidents of enforced disappearances and present them as a proof of Islamabad's alleged cruel and inhuman treatment of the Baloch people. Activists and lawyers say that over the last six years more than more than 100 Baloch people have been abducted by the intelligence agencies and kept in illegal detention without being charged formally. According to Baloch organisations, 8,000 people are missing but they hardly have credible evidence to support this allegation.
In many cases, they do not even have a complete list of the names, what to speak of their addresses and parentage. The fact is that incidents of forced disappearances by the security agencies can be exaggerated but cannot be denied. The relatives of the missing persons are seeking redress from human rights organisations and superior courts. They tell stories that make one sad. One meets with old Baloch women crying, young girls wailing and old men who have lost their sight while weeping for their missing sons. They accuse that now state agencies are not sparing Baloch women either. However, some cases highlighted seem to be exaggerated and without any evidential support, such as the case of one Zarina Marri whose identity has not yet been established. Some accounts could be exaggerated but the state has not come up with any plausible defence except the mantra that India is behind the Balochistan insurgency.
A serious issue in Quetta are the increasing incidents of target killings. In most cases, the settlers, mainly Punjabis and Urdu-speaking, have been targeted. Young Baloch nationalists unashamedly own responsibility for these killings and justify them as retaliation for the killing of their leaders. These target killings have caused an exodus of skilled and qualified people, including highly qualified teachers of universities, from Balochistan. According to an estimate, in the last couple of years, especially after Akbar Bugti's murder, 50,000 people have left Quetta for other parts of the country. Out of fear, thousands of non-Baloch government employees have applied for a transfer out of the province. Hundreds of transfer requests of college teachers are pending with the government. More than half the educational institutions are closed all over the province. Several hospitals are without adequate medical staff.
Sectarian killings are rampant with the Hazara community in Quetta suffering 260 casualties over the past six years. Not a single perpetrator has been convicted so far. The Hazaras say that the administration, instead of protecting their lives and property, protects the perpetrators of crimes against them. They allege that some members of the police force have an ethnic bias against them and are involved in their killings. They are also of view that some sectarian militant organisations have patrons in the intelligence agencies. The Hazara community is quite concerned over the activities of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jindullah, both comprising Baloch Sunni militants.
The failure of the state agencies in clearing doubts and misgiving about them is quite ominous. Not a single ethnic community, the Pakhtoon, Baloch and Hazara, seem to trust the security and intelligence agencies operating in Balochistan. There seems to be an agreement over the alleged involvement of these agencies in one or the other mischief. The general perception about security agencies, however incorrect it may be, is itself a major issue that has not been tackled by Islamabad. There are general complaints from the cross-section of the population that these agencies are involved in committing excesses against common citizens and are humiliating the public. The attempt to crush the Baloch insurgency through brute force seems to have increased alienation of the people there.
On the other hand, apparently efforts are underway to internationalise the Balochistan issue. Young Baloch say they have no hope left in the state including the superior judiciary and if anybody wishes to support them, he should raise his voice about the human rights' violations and injustices carried out against them at the international level. They request the civil society and human rights activists for helping the United Nations' intervention. They say they want independence and are ready to die for it.
Baloch political leaders, however, appear to have a moderate position and tend to support a solution with more autonomy to federating units within the framework of Pakistan, but they seem to be afraid of expressing their moderate views in public, lest they draw the ire of angry youth. Senior politicians explain that the Baloch youth has been forced by the circumstances to behave like this, this being the outcome of more than 60 years of deprivation, and that the state is responsible for this hatred among the people of Balochistan. The moderates believe the reduction of military's presence in province could be the first step towards building an atmosphere of trust conducive for talks between Islamabad and the Baloch leadership. However, the ground reality is that the politicians there seem to have become irrelevant and the youth is calling the shots. Any effort aimed at normalising the situation in the province can hardly be successful without negotiating with the young men and women there
Islamabad's track record in dealing with nationalities within the federation is not so bright. The powers that be may or may not respond to this situation, while the civil society of the country may take initiative by raising its voice against the excesses of security agencies in Balochistan and human rights violations against the people. This may also help remove some misgivings of the Baloch population about Punjab and the rest of the country, which they believe have abandoned them, leaving them at the mercy of the state's brute force.
The writer is a freelance journalist. Email: adnan_adil@hotmail.com
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ISSN 1563-9479 
