Wajeeh Ullah

“Happy Families are all alike: Every unhappy family is happy in its own way”

This quote by Leo Tolstoy has very much to do with the Balochistan conundrum. The province of Baluchistan and its deprivations has always remained unpopular and unheard by the power elites. The federation has continued very successful in militarizing every issue of Balochistan sometimes in the form of military operations and jotting up of the so called electable in one single party before General Elections. The problems of the present Balochistan have deep rooted links in the dictatorial rule, hostile foreign involvement and distorted political culture.

Sadly, the frustration and despair backfires in ugly ways. The recent media report has shown a hike in the Targeted killings of Innocent passengers and daily wage workers. These workers who mostly belong to Punjab have been identified and then brutally murdered by the Banned BLA men. In another incident, DC Panjgur, District Zakir Baloch along with the Municipal committee chairman of Mastoong was allegedly killed on 13^th August in an attack on his convoy. Earlier this year in the month of April nine passengers were offloaded and killed in Noushki. The unfortunate killed persons belonged to Punjab. These killings cast a very symbolic meaning. Non-state actors are now identifying their targets from other cultural identities in order to create chaos, turmoil and tension in the society.

In the Times of British Colonial Raj, political agents and the tribal chiefs were the true custodians of the power. This political setup was very less challenged not because Baloch people are low in critical thinking but only because of the traditional setup of the society. Political culture here never experienced the true openness which is the baseline of every Republic. The nexus dragged the local Baloch in total misery, their political choices and opinions were undervalued and they were destined to live in a lawless politically deprived tribal society.

Balochistan was plunged into total destabilization after the martyrdom of Nawab Akbar Bugti. General Pervaiz Musharraf’s dictatorial regime overstepped its limitations and enforced the will of a military regime negating the fundamental rights of a citizen in a republic. Akbar Bugti was seen as the sign of resistance among his fellows. His targeted killing ignited the Baloch insurgency that is now challenging the absolute writ of the state.

Alongside this Balochistan is now cherishing a different form of political representation. The forerunners of the Balochistan cause are citizens from middle class households. They have harnessed the movement by raising slogans of “Haqq do” and to stop enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and to resolve the dilemma of missing persons. Baloch women, teens and elderly persons have joined the new leadership and have carried out successful marches in Gwadar and the federal capital, Islamabad.

Another dilemma that adds up to this fiasco is the hypersensitivity of the federation towards CPEC and its affiliated projects running in Balochistan. The point raised here is not to criticize these multibillion-dollar developmental projects as they are crucial for Pakistan’s future but is only to surface the presence of a security bubble. The bubble that often bursts and results in the killings of many civilian citizens. The continued presence of the military in every corner of the province has always depressed a local Baloch. Over the decades five major military operations have been carried out and, in the end, no political arrangements were ever seriously followed.

Balochistan has its own strategic depths. It Is now evident that there are hostile foreign involvements in the province. But all of this is impossible to tackle only using hard power means. The federation needs to show some reconciliatory and diplomatic attitude towards the already deprived under-valued people of Balochistan.

Lastly, we need to be more historically conscious of the role played by power elites in preserving their own material interests. The political history of Pakistan is entitled by the tussle between military rulers and bureaucratic elites as well as opportunistic electable and direct foreign involvements. All this will only end when the citizens of the Republic will identify their true democratic spirit and will stand against these expository elites.

Wajeeh Ullah is a student of BS Political Science at Government College University Lahore.