Balochistan is Calling

Historically, the Balochistan region consisted of the current province of Balochistan in Pakistan, Sistan and Baluchestan province in Iran and some area in Afghanistan. Today, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan by occupying 43% of its total area.

In 1947, Balochistan comprised four princely states namely Makran, Lasbela, Kharan and Kalat. The first three states opted to accede to Pakistan, whereas, Khan of Kalat allowed the accession of Kalat State to Pakistan at the request of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1948. However some people argue that the State was annexed under the threat of military action.

Khan of Kalat’s younger brother, Prince Abdul Karim, was the first person who stood up against this accession. This point saw the start of an unabated hostility. Since then the various separatist movements including Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) launched by Mir Balach Marri, Baloch Republican Army (BRA) by Bugtis, Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) formed by Sher Mohammad Marri, etc. have been fighting against the Government of Pakistan. The killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti added fuel to the fire. It is also true that many political parties in Balochistan do not propagate the separation of Balochistan rather they are raising their voice for their political rights, such as the National Party remains highly critical of the authorities on the treatment of the province and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) speaks of provincial autonomy.

In order to keep the law and order situation under control, Balochistan is divided into two categories namely A and B areas and separate forces operate in each region. The areas under Balochistan Police are ‘A-Areas’ which include Quetta and some other towns while the rest of Balochistan comes under ‘B-Areas’, which are controlled by Levies. Generally, the Levies have proved to be more effective and successful as compared to the Police. The reason is that the Levies mainly comprises the locals who are more connected to the populace here. Moreover, they know the local terrain well and have a very good understanding of the local social fabric, customs and cultures.

The Frontier Corps (FC) is another paramilitary force operating in Balochistan according to the FCR. Both Levies and FC were first introduced by the British and since then both the forces have been operating in the region. The Baloch people have more grievances against FC rather than the Army itself. Local Baloch people have less than 10% representation in FC. The legality claims that FC is a force to police the borders but it has infiltrated in the inlands of the province and is seen on the roads with barricades on the name of security issues and maintaining law and order. Even a former chief minister of Balochistan accused FC of running a parallel government in the province. This is widening the gulf between the paramilitary forces and the local citizenry.

When it comes to economic and human development, the indexes rank the province as the least developed area in Pakistan. The literacy rate here is at the lowest. The current literacy rate of Balochistan is merely 32% against the national literacy rate of 56%. The government schools present a dismal picture of the current state of affairs in education. There are 10,381 schools in the province and 8.6% of them are in dilapidated conditions. Former US President J.F. Kennedy once said:

‘We cannot always build the future for our generations but we can surely build our generations for the future.’

Unfortunately, the government has not paid any heed to the aspirations of the people of Balochistan. It does not, however, mean that the authorities are doing wonders in the rest of Pakistan, but the Balochistan’s situation is extremely grim. It makes the future of the Baloch youth bleaker and they may fall in the hands of separatist militants.

The maternal mortality rate in Balochistan is 600 out of 100,000 while this rate in Pakistan as a whole is of 265 out of 100,000. Similarly, there are only 98 hospitals in Balochistan with least paramedics and other facilities. Almost 82% households in the province are exposed to food insecurity and 56% women lack the knowledge of malnutrition.

The economic exploitation of Balochistan has also worsened the already strained relations between the federation and the province. Sui Gas Reserves were discovered in 1952 and in 1955 the commercial exploration began here, but, unfortunately, the province had been denied its due share of royalty and is awarded only 1% as royalty. Besides, a staggering amount of Rs. 120 bn of payments to Balochistan is still outstanding.

Gwadar Port is yet another bone of contention between the federation and the province. This port city holds many fortunes for the nation but the Balochs’ shaking confidence on federation is hindering the project. The local people have strong reservations against the development of this new city as they believe that the people from other provinces will occupy the key positions in this project owing to their enhanced skills and abilities. Consequently, the locals ‘will be outsmarted by those people and hence they will remain marginalized. Government must address these issues prudently.

This need is further elaborated by the fact that former PPPP regime announced the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package which is yet to be implemented. The Government must address these issues before it’s too late. Pakistan cannot afford another debacle like that of 1971. The possibility of foreign hands in the deteriorating situation of Balochistan cannot be ruled out. But, we must realize that it is only the weak internal controls which made possible for these foreign hands to craft their nefarious designs in the province. Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, has given a six-point agenda which can be taken a roadmap to the solution of Balochistan problem. The dialogue with the separatist elements must be started in order to make them a part of the solution rather than the problem itself.