DAWN Editorial
Monday, 16 Feb, 2009
The simmering province of Balochistan, which had fallen off the national radar in recent months, is at a crossroads again. On Friday, the Baloch Liberation United Front, threatened to kill UNHCR official John Solecki unless 141 Baloch women alleged to be held in captivity by the state are released by today.
The demand has come in the wake of allegations that a Baloch schoolteacher, Zarina Marri, has been abused in custody. On Jan 31, Zarina Marri’s issue echoed in the Balochistan Assembly, where four ministers and a legislator staged a walkout and demanded that Zarina Marri either be released or produced before a court.
On its part, the government has strongly denied the claim and Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has promised prompt action on any information provided. But the schoolteacher is only the tip of the missing persons iceberg which continues to poison relations between the Baloch and the state.
It is not known how many people have gone missing the Baloch claim several thousand are missing but have only identified several hundred but it’s clearly a sine qua non for bringing peace to Balochistan.
Beyond that there is a long list of Baloch grievances. The return of displaced persons, estimated by human rights organisations to run into the hundreds of thousands in Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts alone, is a key issue.
Then there are the development projects in Balochistan, which the Baloch argue should benefit local people first and foremost. There is also a demand that the formula for revenue sharing to be determined by the National Finance Commission reflect the needs of Balochistan’s people.
To date, the government has taken some positive measures. For one, the military operation of the Musharraf era is no more; the present violence is low-level and more of a tit-for-tat response. Secondly, the government has released several high-profile Baloch leaders and reached out to them publicly.
Thirdly, the federal government has tried to ease the financial woes of the Balochistan government. Meanwhile, there is talk of the next Senate chairman being from Balochistan. While all of this is positive, the problem remains that there is an impression that the government is distracted by other issues.
The Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Reconciliatory Committee on Balochistan, set up by President Zardari, laid out a roadmap for the resolution of Balochistan issues last October and some preliminary meetings were held between its members and prominent Baloch figures, but nothing has come of the consultations.
Admittedly, the demands of the most militant of Baloch nationalists are hard to meet and make negotiations difficult.However, this is all the more reason to engage the political parties that are willing to talk and help lower the temperature in the province.
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