Balochistan: a broken promise?

flargefont-sizeprintemailComment on this article sharePPP spokesman Farhatullah Babar's article in these pages, in response to one byformer senator Sanaullah Baloch, cleverly skirted the issue of internallydisplaced persons (IDPs) and missing persons in the country's largest provinceof Balochistan.It is, in fact, these two unresolved issues that have plagued the PPP-ledprocess of reconciliation in the conflict-ridden province.The PPP came to power for the first time in the history of Balochistan after theFeb 2008 polls. The ruling party's pledge to end the insurgency, restore trustamongst the Baloch and ensure a permanent settlement of the Baloch dispute washeavily hinged on drastic constitutional and institutional changes. The party,despite all its promises, never opted for generous constitutional amendmentsthat could restore the confidence of the Baloch people in Islamabad's commitmentto their cause.A handful of measures taken to demonstrate that the so-called process ofreconciliation was being initiated were, in fact, individual-specific. BesidesSardar Akhtar Mengal and Shahzain Bugti, a grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti,no commoner among the hundreds of `missing persons' has been released to date.The government has not even acknowledged the case of the missing persons andthis compelled a relatively new organisation, the Baloch Liberation UnitedFront, to abduct John Solecki, head of the UN refugee agency in Quetta on Feb 2.The question is, was the PPP government waiting for such an ugly development —the kidnapping of a foreign aid worker — to raise the issue of Balochistan'smissing people? If it is not resolved immediately, can we actually affordanother disgraceful incident in the future? Are such incidents what it wouldtake to highlight the plight of the `disappeared'? Worse still, Rehman Malik,the advisor on interior affairs, brazenly ridiculed the Baloch list of missingpersons by billing it `unrealistic' and `exaggerated'.Similarly, Baloch nationalist demands include de-militarisation of the province;they have called upon the government to withdraw troops from Dera Bugti andKohlu districts that stand ravaged by the military operation carried out duringthe Musharraf regime. A year after the general elections, neither has the armybeen pulled out from the conflict zones as a confidence-building measure (CBM)nor has the media been allowed access to witness and record the extent ofexcruciating damage caused to human life, property and livelihoodsJamil and Talal Akbar Bugti, sons of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, are notpermitted to enter their native soil of Dera Bugti to offer fateha at the graveof their slain father — an undoubtedly inhuman and undemocratic act. How canBugti's sons and tribesmen believe that democracy has truly returned toBalochistan when they live under such cruel restrictions? The members of theopponent Bugti clans have been pitted against Akbar Bugti's heirs who have noaccess to their land and other property. The personal library of the slainnawab, once believed to be one of the best collections in the region, isreported to have been looted by none other than big guns in the security forces.Similarly, the PPP government, which clearly lacks the spunk to bypass thesecurity and intelligence agencies, has failed to intervene in the existinghumanitarian crisis in Dera Bugti and Kohlu. The five-year long armed conflictin the area has created over 100,000 internal displaced persons; hailing mainlyfrom the Marri and Bugti tribes, IDPs have been forced to take refuge inneighbouring Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts of Balochistan and are indesperate need of medical assistance, rehabilitation and economic incentives.On the other hand, for over two years, security forces — the actual rulers ofthe area — have kept governmental and non-governmental organisations from notonly conducting surveys in the area, but also from dispatching any form of aidto IDPs. How can the Baloch have faith in the PPP-led process of reconciliationwhen policies initiated by Pervez Musharraf persist? The process ofreconciliation can only begin when IDPs receive medical care, food and a promiseof a gradual return to their homes.Furthermore, instead of ending the cycle of enforced disappearances, the statesecret services have, under the PPP administration, allegedly begun whiskingaway political opponents all over again. Currently, no one knows the whereaboutsof Dr Bashir Azeem, the central secretary general of the Baloch Republican Party(BRP), Jalil Rekhi, the party's information secretary and another central leaderof the opposition, Chakar Qambarani. Even a university student, Qambar MalikBaloch, was recently said to have been abducted by government functionaries.Islamabad can no longer afford to oversimplify or underestimate the Balochissue. It is time the centre treated the province in a dignified manner —empowered it politically, administratively and, most importantly, economically.It is crystal clear that the unrest and sense of deprivation in the provincecannot be eliminated until Islamabad concedes to its demand of completeconstitutional ownership of indigenous natural resources.Therefore, the PPP government should seriously induct drastic constitutionalreforms before the Balochistan conundrum spirals out of control. A powerless anddeprived province poses a greater risk to the integrity of the federation ofPakistan. Democratic governments are expected to confront daunting challenges.If the PPP can defend its recent truce with Islamic extremists in Swat, then, aswas rightly argued by Sanaullah Baloch, why can it not come up with a similarbold initiative that guarantees economic and political sovereignty forBalochistan?The writer is a journalist based in Quetta.