After a flurry of “pipeline attacks” in Balochistan that actually increased the load-shedding hours across Pakistan, the Baloch militants suddenly announced a ceasefire last Monday. Everyone thought it was the usual Ramazan ceasefire on the part of the Baloch nationalists fighting the government. Some thought it would not hold. But since Monday there have been no reports of sabotage or bombing from any part of Balochistan. No pipelines have been blown up. No policeman or soldier has been killed.
The announcement of a ceasefire came from Beebargh Baloch and Sirbaz Baloch of the Baloch Liberation Army and Baloch Republican Army. This was unusual even though they denied having entered any deal with the government. That the announcement was unpredicted was proved when political circles in Quetta reacted positively, “albeit with surprise, to the two organisations’ sudden decision to stop militant activities”. For once everyone thought this was a prelude to some kind of binding settlement between the Baloch and the PPP.
This was substantiated by former senator Mr Sanaullah Baloch on Tuesday when he welcomed the ceasefire declaration and termed it “a good omen for the province”. Mr Baloch had resigned from the Senate in despair which he felt at the reaction or lack of it shown by the government to the killing of the Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti. In all his interviews he was at pains to stress the separatist elements in the Baloch argument because he appeared clearly doubtful about the ability of the federation to save the province from its descent into absolute alienation.
Although the PPP had taken the first steps towards improving the situation in Balochistan after the military operation there under President Musharraf, it wasn’t followed up with action. Mr Asif Ali Zardari had “apologised” to the Baloch nation for the killing of Nawab Bugti, and his party had last February called for an end to the military operation in the province, but further movement was so slow that the consensus built by the PPP chief minister of Balochistan, Nawab Aslam Raisani, was fraying at the edges. Then in the last week of August things began to look up even though the release of ex-chief minister Mengal came too late and was considered too little.
Mr Rehman Malik, the prime minister’s adviser on interior, has played a significant role in this. He announced on August 28 that the names of all political leaders of Balochistan had been removed from the Exit Control List (ECL) and 35 checkpoints of the Frontier Corps in the province were being abolished. At the end of his two-day visit to Quetta Mr Rehman stood together with chief minister Raisani and said, “The name of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri’s son, Nawabzada Gazain Marri, has been removed from the ECL and a new passport has been issued to him”. Mr Malik said he had also met the sardar-in-exile, Mr Gazain Marri, in Dubai “on the directive of PPP’s co-chairman Mr Zardari” and that he was likely to return to the country soon.
More contacts heretofore not explored seriously were made too. Mr Rehman Malik disclosed in Quetta that he had met the PKMAP chief, Mr Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the JWP leader Nawabzada Talal Akbar Bugti and other leaders and discussed Balochistan with them. He announced that all the detained political workers of Balochistan would be released and cases registered against them would be dropped after a committee formed to investigate their cases had forwarded its recommendations.
Balochistan was put on the back-burner — with lethal effect because of the pipeline blowing — after President Musharraf put India into the equation. He said he was “a thousand percent sure” the money was coming from the Indians ensconced in Afghanistan. The accepted wisdom in Pakistan is: if you want to bring any discussion of reconciliation to a close, make a reference to India. So anybody reaching out to India is contaminated and has to be exterminated like vermin. Most leaders now enjoying the support of the people in Pakistan have been labelled and persecuted thus. But the rational way to tackle India’s penetration is to move closer to the people and work more diligently to remove their grievances even if that means spending a little more from the federal kitty. Paradoxically, it is only when people living inside a federation feel “free of control” that that they become loyal to it.
Mr Rehman Malik is to be praised for the hard work he has single-handedly put into bringing the Baloch to the negotiating table. He must now bring the exiled leaders back into the mainstream. That is the challenge. *
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008 9 6story_6-9-2008_pg3_1
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