VIEW: Another nail in the coffin

By Sheikh Asad Rahman

Habib Jalib’s murder is another nail in the coffin for Balochistan-Centre reconciliation. Habib was a man from a simple background who rose to prominence as a Baloch nationalist leader through hard work and an undying struggle for Baloch rights. He was a person who had no truck with militancy even when he was jailed numerous times by the state for his so-called anti-state activities. He stuck to the peaceful struggle for Baloch national rights. A lawyer by profession, an ex-senator, secretary general of the BNP-M, he had researched the Baloch issues, especially those pertaining to national identity, unity and integration. A democrat to the core, he was no sardar or nawab, but a humble person with a vision for a democratic, prosperous Pakistan, where the rights of all the diverse nationalities that live in the territories of Pakistan are ensured. His murder is a not only a great loss to the people of Balochistan, but also to the federation.

He very eloquently presented the 63-year exclusion, oppression, suppression and exploitation of the Baloch at a conference held in Islamabad under the auspices of Sungi Development Foundation and Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) on June 11 and 12. His insightful analysis woke up the audience to the so-called ‘issue of Balochistan’, which is nothing but being treated as a conquered colony, administered by the army and its security agencies and not by the federation. He also spoke about the foreign hands responsible for the current conflagration, naming the US as the main culprit. He told the audience about a close encounter with death in a peaceful demonstration held in Quetta to protest the arrests of BNP-M workers where he was fired upon by the Frontier Corps (FC) and police. Luckily, a young man stepped in front of him and took the bullets meant for Habib. Just a month later, he died by another assassin’s bullets.

Maula Bux Dasti, BNP vice president (Dr Malik group), was killed in Turbat three days earlier. Another nationalist leader of a political party that shuns militancy and espouses the politics of the late Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, a peaceful negotiated constitutional settlement of all issues pertaining to Balochistan in its troubled relationship with Pakistan, was lost to the Baloch and the federation.

Peace and inclusion of all peoples in governance are the prerequisites for a prosperous and developing state. Pakistan is a multi-nation state and this fact has to be acknowledged, thus recognising the different stages of political, socio-economic and cultural realities of each nationality. Once this parameter is established, only then can fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution be applied equally to all nationalities. Pakistan’s history is replete with exclusion of one nationality or the other. The East Pakistan debacle of 1970-71 is a lesson we should have learnt by heart but have not. The present crisis of Balochistan began immediately after the vivisection of the country in 1971.

Today, once again, the situation in Balochistan is extremely precarious where almost every day, citizens, students, sometimes the only bread-earner of a Baloch family, disappear. Mutilated bodies are found dumped in desolate places. The Baloch allege the establishment’s promotion of ethnic and sectarian violence as the norm in Balochistan. The security and intelligence agencies are alleged to be complicit, if not directly involved, in targeted killings. The police claim that even if they arrest the perpetrators of targeted killings, senior officers of the security agencies get them forcibly released within hours, to the extent that on refusal the police personnel are beaten up. The Baloch allege near death torture victims being thrown out of highflying helicopters, reminiscent of the 1970s. Fear and desolation has permeated into every section of Baloch society. Extra-judicial murders and disappearances are driving many Baloch households into abject poverty.

The chief minister of Balochistan as well as the federation’s representative, the governor, have publicly stated that the FC has established a parallel government and is not listening to nor obeying their orders. Therefore, the question arises, who governs, or rather, who rules Balochistan? Do the democratically elected federal and provincial governments govern or some other institution? Is it a conquered region or a part and parcel of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan with fundamental rights enshrined in the constitution? Practically, it is being ruled as a colony, natural resources exploited whose benefits are not available for the Baloch but are available for all other parts of the country.

The extra-judicial murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti in August 2006 led to a wave of sympathy all over the country, especially among the youth of Punjab. Rallies, demonstrations, seminars, etc, became quite vocal after this murder. It is alleged that in order to change this sympathy into hatred, the establishment encouraged land mafia and sectarian groups to start a terror campaign against non-Baloch settlers. The Baloch allege that it is these groups that are involved in the targeted killings so as to grab the land and homes of settlers and that these groups then falsely claim responsibility in the name of Baloch resistance groups. It is pertinent to note that a majority of the tribes whose youngsters are resisting the autocratic, undemocratic colonial rule are from the same tribes whose leaders have been murdered.

The exclusion of the Baloch from all levels of policy-making, decision-making and governance over the last 62 years points to a deliberate and conscious decision to keep the Baloch away from the corridors of power, economically poorest of the poor, by the powers that be.

The president apologised for the wrongs done to the people of Balochistan over the last 62 years. A package named ‘Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan’ was offered to them and recently the 18th Amendment was enacted by parliament, which devolved a semblance of, not complete, provincial autonomy by abolishing the concurrent list from the constitution and devolving 27 subjects to the provinces. But can these measures be implemented when those that are willing to negotiate are ruthlessly murdered?

(The writer is Director Programmes Sungi Development Foundation. He can be reached at asad.rahman@sungi.org—- Courtesy: Daily Times, Lahore)