THE only thing that is clear is that some two dozen people have lost their lives. Beyond that, the details of what has transpired in the Kalat and Mastung districts of Balochistan this week are hotly disputed.

On Friday, Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti claimed that the FC carried out a series of anti-terror operations in various parts of the province under the National Action Plan. But on Thursday, several Baloch areas in the province were hit by a strike called by the Balochistan Republican Party, which is claiming that a new operation has been initiated by the security forces in Kalat and Mastung.

And earlier in the week, a spokesperson of the National Party, whose leader is the chief minister of the province, expressed concern that extraconstitutional measures were being taken in the province without the knowledge of the NP — measures that have further undermined the prospects for a political settlement of what is now the longest-running insurgency in Balochistan’s history.

Also read: Strike in Balochistan in protest against operation in Kalat, Mastung

Collectively, those statements amount to putting Balochistan in a fresh state of uncertainty. If Chief Minister Abdul Malik Baloch’s own party is in a state of deep unease, but his home minister is aggressively defending the very same acts, what does that say about the state of the political leadership in the province?

The strike that was partially observed in many Baloch areas of the province also indicates that what the FC considers to be actions against militants, many among the Baloch consider acts of political repression and wanton brutality.

Perhaps the only relief is that no further escalation by the state seems imminent. Though with dozens now dead, a brutal response from militant Baloch quarters could cause tensions in the province to spiral out of control.

Perhaps most worryingly, the federal government appears alternately clueless and helpless when it comes to dealing with Balochistan’s security problems.

The PML-N government at the centre is seemingly so focused on the Chinese-aided development of Gwadar and the construction of an economic corridor from Balochistan that it appears to have no time for the security troubles there or ideas on how to deal with them.

Surely, a vibrant and functioning economic corridor is a non-starter if Balochistan continues to suffer from a low-level insurgency and state violence.

Simply outsourcing the security dimension to the army-led security establishment is not the answer. Had it been so, Balochistan would not be suffering for a decade since the latest insurgency erupted.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play