By: Nizamuddin Nizamani,
E-mail: nizamani68@yahoo.com
Phone: 0300- 2422236
Balochistan appears to be shrouded under iron curtain, on the footings of East Europe used to be during the fifty years cold war. Baloch society stand extremely segregated and excommunicated from the remaining Pakistan and main stream socio political activities. This seems to be the result of a deliberate effort at the part of forces that be that they raised a transparent iron curtain, over Balochistan and never allowed the factual realities about this province to come to limelight, lest the good hearted people in remaining three province extend their support for demands of Balochs, and they protest against the harsh treatment and socio political and economic injustice perpetrated to this province for the last half a century alleged by the nationalists. This kind of attitude at the part of ruling communist elite resulted in dismemberment and destruction of erstwhile mighty super power the USSR.
Balochistan seems to have transformed into a closed society. One can not learn about what is going on behind the arcane and secretive circles, on the bases of the information published in the main stream national newspaper, because that information is reportedly filtered and published only with the tacit approval of the establishment. One can only know about the factual position by either directly interacting some active Baloch individuals or some selective Newspapers like Balochistan Express, Intakhab, Tawar, Azadi, Assap etc, or some selected net websites. People of Balochistan think that these few papers report the real situation and others specially mainstream news papers are filled and loaded with Baloch bashing stuff.
It is a sorry state of affairs but a critical fact that the youth and common public in Pakistan have been kept in the darkness about inherent difficulties of this country. They seem to be deliberately kept uninformed about socio political rifts engraved due to the poor planning and ill-treatment rendered, by the past establishments to the small provinces, where they ruled and controlled with coercive tactics and strategy.
Most of Pakistanis, especially good hearted people in urban areas felt dumbfounded on the recent political developments and violence in Balochistan.
People in cosmopolitan cities of Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Peshawar (under chilling cold) living comparatively cozy and comfortable life, with all the possible facilities, first time in the history listened and realized that there will be a load shedding of natural gas.
First time they listened the strange and equally unbelievable announcement that their home heating systems and kitchens may have disturbed supply of gas. How could the cheapest source of energy, cheaper than even water, in the big cities, will be hampered? A perpetual source, taken so far granted, that they never bothered to think and ask about its original source of constant supply.
Car drivers, enjoying almost a free ride with CNG (Compressed Natural Gas) Kits as compared to Petrol and Diesel, saw the unending queues on the gas stations, and found some gas stations even closed.
Pakistani public, teenage youth and those in twenties, preoccupied with satellite channels, netting & chatting, FM radios and mobile phones could not comprehend about what was going on around them? Their inquisitive questions and curiosity ended with the learning that the Sui is in fact a village near Dera Bugti, a tribal area in Balochistan province, which is the major source of natural gas, and this gas has been named after that village as Sui-Gas (Sui’s gas).
Students in schools, colleges, universities and other learning institutes raised questions, and got answers that this source of natural gas was first explored and extracted in 1952. They also learnt the bitter reality that almost all the major cities and towns of Pakistan benefited from this source but for the cities, towns and native people of Balochistan. That Bugtis, in the vicinity of the gas field lived under abject poverty.
Liberal, open minded, logic and justice oriented youth wanted to know the reasons behind this entire sudden and equally tragic scenario.
This is irony of the fact that Pakistan rich in natural resources but poor in management could not deliver the goods promised before and during its formation, to its constituents and stakeholders. People kept crying but the rulers turned deaf ear to them. Old saying "Nero played the fiddle, while Rome burnt". The rulers and establishment always provided only one prescription to the nation regarding every critical situation, that nothing is wrong and everything is ok (sab achaa hai).
People were deprived of their right to know. They seem to be deliberately kept in the dark. The repeated clause sab acha hai continued till the fall of Dhaka in December 1971.
The rulers of the day never considered the opinion of the masses. They did not consider Pakistani nation worth, the sharing of the issues, and problems potentially lethal to the stability of the country. The never realized the importance of the interactive, enlightened and feedback based decision making process and democratic, sharing values of the society take into account many alternative solutions to problems, instead they behaved and acted with autocratic style. Dangerous problems crept and started rotting the very fabric of the society but they kept the nation in oblivion regarding the lava boiling underneath.
Public only learnt, that something was wrong, when it was too late; when some major street agitation or "accidents" came on the surface or dangers dealt a lethal below to the stability of the country.
Take for example, the fall of Dhaka in December 1971, military operation in Balochistan in 1972-76, agitation and anarchy in Sindh during Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) against General Ziaul Haq in 1983 and 1986, thousands of bomb blasts in Peshawar, during mid eighties, strange plane crashes carrying important military Generals, kidnapping and killings of foreigners, political violence in Karachi or thousands of sectarian and ethnic killings in bomb blasts all over Pakistan. Agitation and violence in Balochistan is not the exception too. People may take it as an overnight development, but in fact they were kept in the dark and oblivion by those at the helm of affairs controlling all the media. They continuously insisted that nothing was wrong and all was ok.
Regarding Balochistan’s critical situation scores of scholars, journalists and strategists warned and recommended remedial measures but all such sensitive and precious research and recommendations were dumped in shelves and parked permanently. Books and other print material weighing several tones, containing highly useful investigative information regarding the potential dangers for this country were banned and removed. Nation had not a clue of such recommendations cum warnings, lest the good hearted people demand the implementation of those suggestions against the vested interests of a selected few.
This kind of ignorance and one sided autocratic handling of the issues continued in Balochistan that became the root cause of Baloch sense of deprivation and victimization. People of Balochistan therefore have a feeling that ruling elite from Punjab, NWFP and Karachi, controlled their resources and have denied them the right of living on equal bases. Previous governments with their high handed attitude have nourished this concept.
The administration in Islamabad seems to have developed a certain imbalanced attitude towards the people of Balochistan, and the intellectuals and leaders from Balochistan are fully aware of it and they have expressed their feelings on different occasions.
The statements, comments, reports and complaints seem to be the cry in the wilderness, and there seems to be no one to evaluate the effects and consequences of such level of frustration. It points towards the presence of certain level of rift and conflict between Balochistan and the Federal Government.
Dr. Aftab A Kazi in his book ’Ethnicity and Education in Nation Building-The Case of Pakistan (Boston USA 1987)’ opined that "The state of Pakistan is a new political entity lacking a previous history. As with most other new societies, its thirty eight year history has been filled with conflict, violence, and disintegration. Communal, religious, and ethnic conflicts, in addition to those of power distribution, have kept this new state in a continuous constitutional crisis.
It is understandable that the people of a region with poor or near non-existent educational services will compare their situation unfavorably to those in the more advantaged regions. It is also natural for the less advantaged groups to recognize their relative disadvantage and realize they are experiencing "relative deprivation". Educational inequality indicates the presence of other social, political, and economic inequalities of a regional character, and the combination of all of these factors together generates the feelings of relative deprivation and the pursuant political instability."
At the moment the position of Baloch national leadership portrayed by Pakistani media seems to be the repetition of old practice adapted by the previous federal establishments in seventies and eighties against which the think tanks and scholars of that time not only pointed but also urged the rulers of the day to change the strategy.
Dr Kazi Kazi further elaborate that " Stereotyped Images, is a set of biased images of group or category of people that is unfavorable, exaggerated, and oversimplified, for example, stereotyped images of Bengalis in united Pakistan, the officially circulated images of Sindhis, Balochs, and Pathans in the residuary Pakistan".
Either the representatives of federal government and secret agencies failed to notice the slowly boiling situation in Balochistan or they misreported it. This option can not be accepted, considering their overall performance. Only one situation is possible that the federal establishment knew every thing about the frustration in masses and as a reaction, potential conflict and disaster, but they deliberately kept the Pakistani nation in the dark and kept reporting that every thing is ok, as per practice. People were shocked about the developments in Balochistan and they started questioning what was going on in this comparably peaceful region.
The geopolitical importance of Balochistan is in fact the foundation of deprivation and distress for Balochistan and course of rift in Balochs and Islamabad.
Naive methods of old military rulers who could not understand the typical socio cultural conditions of Balochistan compelled people with different ideologies to come together.
Balochistan of 2005 looks very different, frustrated and fiery, volatile and violent, ready for confrontation. The developments around Dera Bugti seems to be not an activity in isolation but just a demonstration of some well organized and meticulously organized thought out plan after decades of preparation.
The Balochistan situation therefore needs serious attention, specially of the silent majority who must take an impartial stand and must take the one sided, slanderous reports about Baloch leaders with a pinch of salt. The Iron curtain over Balochistan is neither in the favor of province nor federation. There must be transparency in the information flow and every Pakistani must be apprised of what ever developments occur in Balochistan and due value must be given to their opinion in the largest interest of the country
(Writer is Trainer and Researcher in Ethno political Conflict Management & Development Studies) |
