EXACTLY two years ago, on Nov 23, 2009, parliament unanimously approved the Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan package. Militants marked the second anniversary of the package with a ferocious attack on a Frontier Corps convoy in the Balochistan district of Musa Khel on Monday. The Balochistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the assault, which left 15 security personnel, including a major, dead. This was a brute reminder for the state of Pakistan of the militants’ ability to violently oppose whatever effort is undertaken to norma-lise the situation in the province. The attacked FC troops were to be deployed as security for newly discovered coal reserves in the area. This imparted greater meaning to this strike by those who accuse the state of usurping Balochistan’s rights and plundering its resources.

The government admits the pace of reforms has been slow, and everyone from nationalists to rights activists to journalists agree that the official Balochistan campaign is falling far short of winning the approval of the people of the province, let alone neutralising the rebels and others, such as sectarian killers, who thrive in times of instability. The space for politics within the existing framework has shrunk. The Balochistan Assembly, born of an election that was boycotted by many nationalist parties, is not what one would call a house representative of the people. Outside the assembly, many political leaders who could help initiate a process of reconciliation have been forced to stay away from areas stalked by militants.

In the absence of an effective political mechanism to facilitate a search for solutions, the civilian administration is totally dependent on security personnel to maintain order. This is an option fraught with dangers. As disappearances and deaths in the province continue to be linked to the security agencies, they fuel the militants’ description of Balochistan as a besieged land and adds to the impact of their attacks on troops. The interior ministry recently informed the National Assembly that FC personnel were ‘confronted’ 258 times between 2007 and 2011. Such attacks have drawn a strong response from the security agencies, as is evident in Musa Khel where a search operation is under way. It is not easy to talk of peace in moments of heat and hurt. Ultimately, however, it does not have to be a test of just how capable the security agencies are. Balochistan is in need of an urgent push towards a lasting solution — one which must be based on politics, on honest, fair assessments of the situation and on the will and ability to push through decisions based on these assessments.