WHILE Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri’s claim that there is no military operation going on in his province may be technically correct, few will believe that any institution other than the army calls the shots where security policy in Balochistan is concerned.

Addressing the provincial assembly on Friday, Nawab Zehri said it was the Frontier Corps and provincial security forces that were conducting “targeted operations” in the province.

Interestingly, just below the story quoting the chief minister in this paper’s Saturday edition was a report citing the Balochistan home minister in which he said 92 militants had been killed in the past four months, while elsewhere on the pages it was stated that two separatist militants had been killed in Kalat in an operation conducted by “Frontier Corps and intelligence agencies”.

Let us be under no illusion: when it comes to Balochistan’s security affairs, the military is very much in charge, as both FC and the intelligence apparatus take their cue from the army. So instead of being in a state of denial, the Balochistan chief minister should tell the public what is actually going on.

Both sectarian and separatist militancy have apparently come down in the province, while reports of ‘encounters’ and shootouts continue to trickle in.

While the need to pacify Balochistan is undeniable, we must also ask the security establishment what is being done to address the political problems of Balochistan. What has become of the process to bring in the ‘angry Baloch’ from the cold?

This process was continuing apace under former chief minister Abdul Malik Baloch, but has considerably slowed down under Nawab Zehri’s watch.

At the heart of Balochistan’s problems is the political disenchantment of the separatists. While a security clampdown can produce short-term results, the long-term development of Balochistan depends on a political solution, so that separatists cannot exploit what are in many cases genuine grievances.

The provincial chief minister would do well to give a detailed briefing of where the process of political reconciliation stands.

Published in Dawn, April 4th, 2016