IN its latest economic report on Balochistan the World Bank has not presented us with good news. Pakistan’s poorest province is growing poorer, its economic growth lagging behind that of the other provinces. In the period spanning 1972-73 to 2005-06 the provincial economy expanded by 2.7 per cent per annum which was much slower than the performance of the other provinces. The social indicators are also appalling. Illiteracy is high in Balochistan (nearly 60 per cent) and the primary school enrolment ratio is low. With its large area and a small scattered population, the province has failed to provide sufficient facilities for healthcare as a result of which diseases are rampant and immunisation cover poor. All this has naturally affected the economic potential of manpower which has not enjoyed the fruits of development. The World Bank focuses on the economic solution, as Islamabad has been doing over the past several years. The Bank’s report speaks of the untapped mineral resources of Balochistan and the potential of Gwadar port to become a rich source of income for the province.

Bank experts are correct in their economic assessment. The province is under-developed and lacks resources. But the key issue in Balochistan that is hampering the resolution of its problems at the moment is the disparity that gives rise to the acute sense of injustice the Baloch feel. This has created disquiet among them and has given rise to political polarisation between Quetta and the centre as well as the other provinces. The World Bank’s report confirms this disparity and vindicates the intense dissatisfaction and anger the Baloch have been articulating over the years. Their grievances have obviously not been addressed as they would have wished and the various military crackdowns have only exacerbated matters. The resultant conflict that has been ravaging Balochistan’s social and political structures for the past several years has also inflicted severe damage on the economy.

The fact is that Balochistan’s economic problems that go back several decades and the province’s socio-cultural traditions cannot be addressed effectively if there is no political healing touch from Islamabad. The Baloch suffer from a sense of deprivation as they feel they have not been given control over their own resources and policymaking. Developing Gwadar, as the World Bank suggests, would not help much if the Baloch feel that the jobs created are going to outsiders. It is therefore important that the political solutions that Islamabad claims it is working on — they have been much too long in coming — should be expedited and the confidence of the Baloch won. Thus alone can economic strategies produce results.