Balochistan Map. Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan [Area Wise]
The Baloch youth and Balochistan crisis
By Muhammad Akbar Notezai
In present scenario, of course, disgruntled Baloch youth is bristling with anger motto is the killing of their brethren brutally at the hands of establishment, which has alienated them from Islamabad.
They show aversion from any reconciliation process set up by the government because they have been betrayed many times. On one hand, government tries to negotiate with them, but on another hand, their ‘kill and dump’ policy is going on.
Unfortunately, abduction of youth, in Balochistan, is substantially increasing day by day, which has put their relatives behind the eight ball.They have been protesting against the abduction of their loved ones for years, but no one seems to resolve these manifold issues.
They are being shown stick usually to not stand for the fundamental rights of the Balochistans’ people, who despite living in mineral rich province, are bereft of basic necessities.
Undoubtedly, the corpses of Baloch youth is being thrown in abandoned areas of the Balochistan mercilessly by so called democratic government. If they have committed any crime, then they ought to be produced before court because court can only castigate them if they are blameworthy.
Recently, chief of PML-N Nawaz Sharif went to Karachi to meet veteran Baloch leader Sardar Attah Ullah Mengal who point blank criticized the army and entitled it ‘Punjabi army’. He further said, “The leadership is in the hands of youth, they don’t want to live in a country in which they received bodies of their brethren.” He further opined that the situation reached the point of no return.
Nawaz Sharif declared Sardar Attah Ullah Menagl’s allegations legitimate, and committed to negotiate with Baloch youth after coming in power, but many questions raise here: Will disgruntled Baloch youth negotiate with him? Will packages soothe the bereaved families of the ‘missing’ persons who tendered sacrifices for a great purpose? Will they be given their rights? It will definitely be a toughest task for him.
Subsequently, Nawaz Sharif met Talal Akbar Bugti (President of the Jamhoori Watan Party), he pledged him to give his father’s killers exemplary punishment, but he didn’t bother to ask about whereabouts of the bereaved families who are protesting for their relatives. It shows that PML-N chief merely gives priority to Baloch people for the coming election; unfortunately, he doesn’t want to pour oil on the troubled waters.
It is beyond comprehension that why is Imran Khan sympathetic to Baloch people? Does it mean that he has the support of the establishment? Well, he may have, because without support of the establishment none of them can rule in the country. That is why he discusses Balochistan’s concerns in his rallies because establishment may bring him to soothe Baloch people, especially the disgruntled Baloch youth, but they can not be tricked this time.
In fact, Imran Khan has become the leader of the turn courts who have enjoyed government with PPP, PML-Q and PML-N as well as has been the part of the military operations in Balochistan. PTI’s chief, with them, can never resolve the situation of the Balochistan.
Many of the political parties after coming in power, apologized Baloch people, then they became brutal to them. Imran Khan is going to follow their foot steps.
But Baloch people, especially Baloch youth is well acquainted with their policies that at first they apologize and then start suppressing them. Its instance is the Ex-General Parvez Musharraf’s regime and PPP’s government.
Ex General Parvez Musharraf apologized, and then launched fifth military operation in Balochistan which is still going on.
On another side, PPP did same that president Asif Ali Zardari apologized, then throwing of mutilated corpses of Balochs started, is continued up till now.
All political parties seem to be puppet in the hands of establishment which has treated Balochs and Baloch youth very badly. They are even killing educated Balochs who are raising voice for the disappearance of their brethren; therefore, it is going to alienate them more and more from Islamabad.
The political leaders had better think for the Balochistani people, who are downtrodden. They need to take stern steps for removing their sense of deprivation, because through barrel of gun they can never be brought into national mainstream.
Ex-corps commander calls for talks on Balochistan issue
By Amanullah Kasi, DAWN
Former corps commander Lt-Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch has urged the government to resolve the Balochistan issue through talks and avoid using force which is alienating the Baloch youth.
He said provinces should get the authority to exercise control over their mineral resources and the federating units should contribute a part of their revenue to the centre.
Gen Abdul Qadir, who served as governor of Balochistan under the present government, was speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the Quetta Union of Journalists at the Idara-i-Saqafat here on Monday. Balochistan Assembly Speaker Jamal Shah Kakar was chief guest.
The retired corps commander said that Balochistan with 13 members in the 342-member National Assembly could not protect its rights.
Therefore, the provinces should be given equal representation in the assembly.
He said he did not support the army rule because it was dangerous for the country. But, he added, political groups were involved in toppling civilian governments and clearing way for military rulers.
He also accused politicians, journalists and the judiciary of encouraging army generals to run affairs of the country, and said that on every occasion politicians welcomed army generals, journalists praised the army rule and judiciary endorsed the military takeover under the “doctrine of necessity”.
“Nawab Akbar Bugti was a respectable Baloch leader and he was badly treated but no-one could deny the fact that in 1973, the PPP government launched a military operation and Nawab Bugti supported the oppression in which hundreds of innocent Balochs were killed,” he said.
He claimed that political governments had done nothing for the development of Balochistan and military governments had played a better role in this regard by launching development activities and providing facilities to people in the province.
Gen Abdul Qadir regretted that governors and chief secretaries were often imposed on the province from outside, which showed that the federal government did not trust the Baloch and Pakhtuns of the province to become constitutional heads of the province.
Similarly, he said, personnel of the Frontier Corps did not belong to Balochistan; there was no Baloch diplomat or federal secretary in Islamabad and the province had no representation in hundreds of corporations.
He said the people of the province were not against the Gwadar port but they had certain reservations about development activities in Gwadar. The government, he said, must address the reservations.
He stressed the need for changing the “system of exploitation”, saying it had created disharmony and misunderstanding between provinces and the centre.
The government should recognise the right of the provinces over their resources, he said.
Speaker Jamal said that the corrupt among the educated people – whether they were politicians, doctors, bureaucrats, judges, lawyers or civil servants – were responsible for the current state of affairs in the country. He said the illiterate were sincere people, but they had lost faith in the system and believed that the educated were the source of their problems.
