Pakistan Continues To Ruthlessly Exploit & Shortchange Balochistan
nkdat...@bigmailbox.net
The News, Karachi, Pakistan
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
The Baloch-Islamabad conflict
Sanaullah Baloch
balo...@gmail.com
The Baloch-Islamabad conflict has intensified over the years, Baloch
hold Islamabad responsible for depriving Balochistan of its natural
resources and the appalling state of affairs in the province.
From Liquat Ali Khan to Gen Musharaf all rulers are pursuing the
establishment's unchanged "Zero-Tolerance" policy towards the
province, considering Balochistan to be a permanent threat and Baloch
unfaithful citizens.
Balochistan's contribution to the country is Himalayan. In fact,
Balochistan's immeasurable natural wealth and strategic significant
turned into curse. Islamabad's desire to control province energy
resources, without sharing its social, economic and administrative
benefits with Baloch, is a prime reason behind repeated military
actions.
The establishment is in constant efforts to politically marginalise
and disturb the very liberal and social fabric of Baloch society, by
supporting religious parties and co-opting gluttonous tribal and drug
barons is part of the policy to retain its unquestioning control on
Balochistan affairs.
Lacking political and democratic culture, Islamabad is governing
Balochistan through a system known as "control." Control, a
suppressive system, is a set of mechanism used in multi-ethnic states
by the dominant ethnic groups to contain and keep its control on
dissident ethnic minorities.
Control is based on the principle that one ethnic group takes over the
state, imposes its culture on the society, allocates to itself the
lion's share of resources and takes various measures, including
violent means (military operations) to prevent the non-dominant group
from organising politically.
Control works through three interrelated mechanisms: a) Divide and
rule, internally creating rifts and division among the non-dominant
groups, b) economic dependence: making them permanently dependent for
their livelihood on dominant group and central government. c)
Cooptation: involving non-dominant elite like greedy tribal chiefs,
feudal, drug tycoons, corrupt intellectual and politicians through
partial dispensation of benefits and favours.
The military's fresh, unwarranted and indiscriminate crackdown against
moderate Baloch nationalists, intellectuals, students, poets, anti-
establishment tribal elders, businessman and civilians is the
reflection of the "zero tolerance" policy against the ethnic Baloch
people.
A poor but educated Baloch, Munir Mengal, who dreamed to set up a
Baloch TV channel, was kept in a torture cell for two years without
any trial. Dr Hanif Sharif, a Baloch short story writer, Mubarak Qazi,
a poet, and a singer from Panjgoor were illegally detained and
tortured for their contribution to the Balochi language and literature
and for raising awareness against the inhuman state of affairs.
The gravity of Balochistan's problems is deep-rooted extending behind
the minds of the political parties and educated youths to the masses
who are experiencing inequality and injustices in their everyday
life.
Each region, town and village has its own story of mistreatment,
underdevelopment and exploitation. Start from Ormara, where Pakistan's
modern navel base is constructed, to Chaghi and Kharan, where the
nuclear test was conducted and copper and gold are being mined, to
Lasbela where the Industrial town and strategic facilities are
located, to Dera Bugti known for gas production, to Quetta and Bolan
where coal is being mined, and you will be confronted with a wretched
state of affairs.
Fuelling the national economy for years and helping to save billions
of dollars of worth of foreign exchange in terms of energy import, the
province ninety seven percent population lives without gas facility,
78 percent without electricity, and 62 percent without safe drinking
water. Balochistan has just 3.4 percent of gas consumers, as compared
to 64 percent of Punjab alone, which produces only 4.75 percent of
natural gas.
Balochistan being the major coal producing province is deprived of its
benefits. During the 1960s, when Lahore was of West Pakistan, 98
percent the coalmines of province were allotted to people having no
affiliation with province. Today the locals in these "black-gold"
regions live without water, electricity, education and health system.
The MoU signed by Islamabad with a Chinese company is a classic
evidence of misuse of Baloch wealth. Islamabad and the Chinese company
are taking 50 and 48 percent, respectively, and leaving only two
percent profit for Balochistan. The Saindak project is no man's land
for local Baloch youths. Chaghi, the gold producing district, is the
poorest of the poor.
Countless MoU's of such exploitative nature are inked with foreign and
local companies to aggressively exploit Baloch resources. These
include the Duddar Lead-Zinc Project and the Reko Deq copper-gold
project. Oil and gas exploration licenses are given without taking
account of Baloch needs and demands.
All glitzy mega-projects and control developments launched in
Balochistan, including those for gas development, coalmining, Gwadar
port, Mirani Dam, coastal highway, cantonments, and the extraction of
copper and gold deposits do not envisage any participation or direct
benefit to the people and the province.
The province is of strategic importance and shares long borders with
Iran and Afghanistan and a 700-kilometre-long coastline. But border
and coastal security is 100 percent controlled by non-Baloch
paramilitary forces. Seventy thousand jobs in the Frontier Corps,
Coast Guard, Police, maritime security and the Anti-Narcotics Force
are occupied by non-locals, which leaves hundred of thousands of
qualified Baloch youths unemployed.
An unemployed Baloch youth feel more depressed and exploited when an
unskilled soldier on their soil is brought and employed from another
province to fill the position which is legally, naturally and
constitutionally a right of a local Baloch youth.
Baloch bitterness by all means is genuine, and continued plunder of
Balochistan's natural resources and its economic and political
marginalisation and militarisation are the major causes of mounting
tension between the Baloch and Islamabad. Political instability is on
the rise.
Islamabad's reliance on brute force may help the central government to
create short-term cosmetic calm, but unrest and frustration will
further lead to growing mistrust between Baloch and Islamabad.
The establishment in Pakistan needs to radically alter its policies to
get rid of Balochistan's crisis. The egoistic approach towards
suppressed people is not good. Respecting the rights of ethnic groups,
accepting the principle of true democracy and full participation of
marginalised groups in state affairs is the only way out of internal
unrests and quagmires.