Missing in Baloch conundrum…Abbas Nasir
THE hijacking of a train by BLA militants in Balochistan and the reprehensible murder of innocent, unarmed hostages was a step up the escalatory ladder by the banned group and was followed by the Pakistani militarys response that the attack would dictate a change in the rules of engagement.
This change was spelt out at a media briefing by the militarys top spokesman who said BLA members, supporters and facilitators would be targeted wherever they are; inside and outside Pakistan. The decision to respond to fire with fire was made clear.
The Pakistani position was reiterated: Balochistans insurgency is backed by India. On camera statements of Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav, who has been in Pakistani custody for some nine years, and footage of Indias national security adviser, Ajit Doval, speaking at a university in his country some years ago, were also played at the media briefing to substantiate the assertion.
Some security experts believe that Balochistan is being destabilised as vast swathes of land in the province and its strategically important coastline, where China is making investments as a vital element of its Belt & Road Initiative, are being fought over by foreign powers, from India to a brotherly Gulf State to even the US all those united in wanting to contain China.
Anything that allows the militant ranks to swell needs to be addressed.
There is also the added element of powers hostile to Iran trying to promote unrest in Balochistan (and Sistan-Baluchestan) that straddles Pakistans border with Iran in order to create a soft south-eastern underbelly so Iran is engaged on another front.
Under the changed rules of engagement, Pakistan may now target the BLA, as it has the TTP in recent months, by attacking their bases and safe havens in Afghanistan through air strikes and other kinetic operations. Pakistan says it would be well within its rights to take all measures to defend itself.
There can be no doubt that the country is under attack. Its soldiers and unarmed civilians alike are being killed and the outlines of a more sinister game, which appears to be focused on bringing the country to its knees by crippling its economy via rampant terrorism, can be seen.
The only disagreement, with great respect to the Balochistan chief minister whose passionate defence of the militarys policies in the province seems to have raised his stock with the establishment, despite his struggle to find credibility in his home province, is on non-kinetic measures.
The visibly irritated chief minister lamented at the briefing that the media (one can be sure he was referring to a few nearly barren islands because the rest have now fallen in line) tends to be sympathetic to the Baloch rights cause and this, he seemed to suggest, was unpatriotic.
No, sir, it is not. Patriotism isnt about advocating a uni-directional approach even in flawless English and chaste Urdu and merely parroting establishment-approved views; that has not worked. You can label those in the country who dont endorse this view anyway you like, it wouldnt matter to them, and more tragically, neither would it change the ground reality.
Militancy and terrorism, which target innocent civilians are wrong, and need to be tackled head-on and rooted out by force. Equally, anything that allows the militant ranks to swell by the recruiters exploiting state-created circumstances also needs to be addressed. Your own mini-census shows the Baloch who have crossed over to the militants side in scary numbers.
Enforced disappearances, the missing, remain a major issue that many Baloch I have talked to see as a major provocation. It alienates them because they see their lives as being of far less value than others in the federation. Brushing aside this matter wont make it go away.
For example, if Sardar Akhtar Mengal said he has a list of 5,000 missing Baloch on the floor of the National Assembly, someone should have approached him and asked for the list and investigated its contents on merit. It is not enough to cite the performance of the commission on the disappeared headed by an individual with arguably zero cred.
Let alone the affected Baloch, any fair-minded Pakistani wont be satisfied with the dismissive manner in which the state chooses to address this matter. Even if it does not wish to answer, in the battle of perceptions, empathy and compassion would be far more effective than a hammer-and-nail approach.
Again in the battle for hearts and minds, economic rights are important and even more important are political rights, which can only come through a semblance of representative rule. The last election in Balochistan saw politicians who have held their constituencies since the 1977 elections, lose.
Some of these candidates were not even nationalists and were largely-seen as pro-establishment. But since their political survival hinged on their constituency politics, they felt compelled to articulate the concerns of their electorate. They were made examples of.
Sanity demands that even as individuals and organisations that have chosen the path of an armed struggle are being pursued militarily, the reconcilable elements are approached, even if it means making them part of a power-sharing arrangement at the cost of the establishment poster boys, whod struggle to win an election, but have been placed in the highest offices in the land.
I say this because just about the time of the train hijacking, I saw what I found was a very disturbing video on social media. It showed a few insurgents, who were operating freely in Mastung, being filmed by some fascinated young men.
Alienation and apathy from the state often leads to the harmful romanticisation (or whatever name you wish to give it) of those who dont shy away from targeting innocent civilians. This cant only be dealt with kinetic operations. I wish those at the helm would agree.
Courtesy Dawn