Moniza Inam goes to Quetta to meet many a nameless citizen, who tells her what is wrong with Balochistan, and how to redress the wrongs done over the years to bring the Baloch back into the national mainstream

Balochistan, physically the largest province of the country, is suffering from problems which are multi-dimensional and multifaceted in nature. Its hapless citizens are caught in the deadly spiral of violence, crime, kidnapping for ransom and ethnic and religious persecution. No section of the population is spared and every ethnic, linguistic or religious group has its own set of grievances.

Issues like target killing and ‘kill and dump’ operations are causing much strife and distress. On the other hand, citizens are caught cross hair in the fight between the security forces and the separatists.

The first thing that strikes a visitor to Quetta is the overwhelming feeling of doom and gloom writ large on the faces of its inhabitants. Everyday life has become taxing and the prevailing sense of helplessness and insecurity is taking its toll on the collective psyche of the people who have become hostage to radical nationalists, religious militants, smugglers, drug dealers and the land mafia, not to speak of the crumbling civic infrastructure. This very striking factor which is all too visible in the Balochistan capital indicates the lack of priorities on part of the ruling elite.

I spoke to the people belonging to diverse sections of the population across the political, ethnic and religious divides. Most of them requested anonymity. The overriding concern is the deteriorating law and order situation. Naeem, (not his real name) a working journalist states, “When I leave my home in the morning I give it a good look as I am not sure I will reach home alive in the evening.”

Tracing the history of the present crisis, a leading ‘moderate’ Baloch writer and intellectual states, “This insurgency has its roots in the historical injustices and the way the federal government usurps the rights of our people and terminates all the pacts with the Khan of Kalat.”

In this regard, he explains, the on-again off-again relations between Islamabad and the Baloch leadership which has resulted in five uprisings. For the average Baloch it is a matter of great inspiration that the Kalat state gained independence on August 11, 1947 and had an accord with the British known as the ‘Standstill Agreement’, and that it remained an independent state till March, 1948, after which it was annexed by Pakistan through an army operation. There were four uprisings in the past and fighters went to the mountains to fight a guerrilla war. The present one is different in the sense that it is an urban guerrilla war and even educated people such as students, doctors, engineers and lawyers are backing the sentiment behind it.

This predicament is not about law and order and terrorism only; rather, it is a crisis of governance, competence, feelings of dispossession and mistreatment. The list of grievances of the Baloch youth has reached an unprecedented level and they are not ready to live in this miserable condition anymore. They are fully aware that their land is full of mineral resources as well as huge deposits of fossil fuels which could change their lives for good.

At the same time, they don’t trust the provincial government which they regard as the most corrupt and incompetent regime in recent history, or indeed Islamabad, which has always given them a raw deal. They say they are fed up with empty promises and hollow slogans which mean nothing.

Balochistan lacks proper infrastructure and road networks; Gwadar port, too, is not fully operational; job opportunities are scarce; industrialisation is non-existent and the government is still the main hiring agency. Shedding light on the situation, Mohammad Ejaz Khan, a local journalist states, “When 5,000 jobs were announced under Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan nearly 35,000 people applied for them so immense is the level of joblessness.” If the government gave jobs to these young persons it would have created goodwill and these employed persons would have seen some stake in the federation. Salam Sabir, Balochistan Student Organisation (Azad) central spokesperson, says all projects started by the federal government are benefiting non-locals, Gwadar port being a prime example.

Dr Ishaque Baloch, central vice president, National Party, emphasises the importance of diversity which is promoted and cultivated throughout the world; however, it is suppressed here and the concept of a single Islamic nation is endorsed. He advocates the writing off of all cases against the political workers and to solve all outstanding problems through dialogue and engagement.

The old British garrison city of Quetta is home to several ethnic and religious communities such as Hazaras, Christians, Parsis, Ahmedis, Bohras, Ismailis, Hindus, etc. Nearly all of them complain about the deteriorating security conditions. A Parsi lady mentions the case of one Neelufur Abadan who was kidnapped on March 8 this year and has not been released as yet, even after the payment of the ransom demanded by her abductors. This lady who requests anonymity says, “This is the first time our community has been targeted as we enjoy extensive respect due to our philanthropic and community services.”

This sentiment has been echoed across the board by other smaller communities too, such as Bohras, Hindus and Christians. Abductions for ransom are cited as the biggest threat. Sadiq Umrani, President, PPP Balochistan, elaborates, “Maintaining law and order is the responsibility of the provincial government and it fails miserably on this account.” Aslam Bhootani, Speaker, Balochistan Assembly, refutes these charges and claims that due to the Afghan war and the ‘war on terror’ the whole region is destabilised and is in the grip of terrorism and militancy.

However, there are some indications that in the last one year things are getting somewhat better and people who had migrated to other provinces are coming back. Markets are opening late, Eid shopping is in full swing, and law and order has also relatively improved.

Anwarul Haq Kakar, a local PML-N politician, contests the claim that the Baloch-led insurgency is a popular uprising and asserts that by and large the people support the government’s efforts to improve job opportunities and enlarging the economic pie. However, he says that his community, the Pashtuns, are basically entrepreneurs and lawlessness has radically affected their businesses.

Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) leaders, Osman Kakar, provincial president, and Kahar Khan Wadan, vice president, believe that Pakistan is a multi-national and not a single nation country. Every nation has its own language, culture, land, natural resources and history and, therefore, each of them should enjoy equal rights in the federation. This will satisfy the smaller provinces which are critical of Punjab’s hegemony and the tension caused by the most populous province to its smaller counterparts.

There are people in Balochistan who certainly don’t condone the government’s strategy of quelling the violence with more violence and hold the view that this problem could be solved through negotiations. ‘Kill and dump’ operations and politics scarred by dead bodies will only increase resentment, fuel the insurgency and further weaken the moderate forces. The parties (National Party and Baloch National Party-Mengal) that are willing to work with the federation are threatened, their workers are killed and most of their leaders are on the hit list of those not wishing to compromise at this point. As a political observer comments, “It is a great tragedy that the party of Mir Bizenjo is totally marginalised in this uprising, along with the liberals and the communists.”

The federal government is pouring in an unprecedented amount of money but it is all lost in corruption. There is no evidence of a trickling down of the benefits of the much trumpeted Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package. Many say that on the ground, the initiative proved to be a non-starter from the very beginning. This has added to the general breaking down of law and order in the province.

However, some in the provincial government hold a diametrically opposite view. Zafarullah Baloch, the home secretary, says that law and order is not all that bad in the province and compares it with Karachi where scores of people are dying everyday. Regarding kidnapping for ransom, he gives the official figures, according to which 35 people have been kidnapped in 2011 and only seven gangs are operating here.

Baloch states, “We are trying to eradicate the problem and have arrested many criminals, increased patrolling on the highways and strengthened the law enforcement agencies.” On missing persons, he holds that the provincial government has appointed a joint investigation team. Besides that there is a provincial task force, of which the home secretary is the chairman.

The home secretary explains, “We have a list of 50 missing persons on record. As far as dead bodies are concerned 102 bodies were recovered in 2010 and 132 in 2011 so far. We encourage the people to register the FIRs to initiate the legal proceedings.”

On the last day of my visit to Quetta, I attended a civil society meeting in which they were busy devising a strategy to deal with the post-conflict situation, and on how to promote peace. There were representatives from international organisations who are willing to help and provide models that will work at different levels. It came as a ray of hope in an otherwise depressing visit, and as a testimony to the resilience of the human spirit despite all the staggering odds.