Balochistan is limping back to normality, but this is no guarantee of a lasting peace, for underdevelopment and the lack of provincial autonomy responsible for the Baloch people’s dissatisfaction have yet to be addressed by the centre. It is a measure of the influence wielded by the province’s nationalist leaders that their call for a strike evoked a violent response in every nook and cranny of the province.

The wave of anger and lawlessness in the wake of last week’s kidnapping and murder of three Baloch leaders cannot be attributed to the crime alone. Matters had been drifting in that direction for a long time, and the triple murder merely served to ignite passions once more. The current phase of the unrest began in 2005, with fighting in the Sui area when the government moved in the army to secure gas installations that were being subjected to regular rocket attacks by private militias loyal to Nawab Akbar Bugti.

The latter’s death in August 2006 may have caused a temporary setback to the insurgency, but dissatisfaction in the country’s largest province continued to simmer. However, those who thought that holding general elections and the assumption of power by democratic governments in Islamabad and Quetta, together with the PPP’s apology for past excesses perpetrated on the Baloch, would defuse the situation were disappointed. Attacks on vital installations continued, even if they were of a sporadic nature as the military scaled down its operations in the area.

It should be noted though that government apathy is not the only reason why Balochistan has suffered all these years. The province has also suffered as a result of the political rhetoric on the part of some Baloch sardars who have glossed over the genuine grievances of people, including their poverty in a land of immense natural wealth. For instance, at a recent press conference in Karachi, a Baloch political party demanded Balochistan’s ‘sovereign right’ to self-determination. This is loose talk that does not advance the cause of the Baloch.

The government and Baloch leaders have no choice but to find a democratic solution to Balochistan’s problems within the ambit of the constitution. Two parliamentary committees formed during the Musharraf era came up with useful suggestions but these were not carried forward. The absence of concrete proposals from Baloch nationalists for constitutional am-endments and enlarging the area of provincial autonomy is also noted with regret.

Insurrection and agitation can, no doubt, focus the world’s attention on the grievances of the Baloch people, but in the long run the politics of violence is counterproductive and enables non-state elements, including external powers, to exploit the situation.