The government’s efforts to win back the support of the estranged Baloch youth and insurgents fighting against the government forces have suffered a jolt as the “non-serious” attitude of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik has disrupted the peace talks initiated by Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Mir Lashkari Raisani with some Baloch insurgent groups, Pakistan Today learnt on Wednesday.
A source close to the senator, who was tasked by the government to hold dialogue with rebel Baloch leaders and insurgents, told Pakistan Today that after continued efforts by Raisani some insurgent leaders had agreed to initiate dialogue with the government but the government showed no interest, which disrupted the process. When contacted, Raisani confirmed that the lackluster response from Malik had derailed peace talks between some insurgents and the government. “Actually, after a sequence of contacts by me, some groups had agreed to start peace talks. Some fighters had even come to my home. After their willingness, I contacted Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and also came to the federal capital. Gilani took me along to his recent Kabul visit. On our way back home, I briefed the prime minister about the peace talks while Interior Minister Rehman Malik was also present. The prime minister directed Rehman Malik to accompany me in peace talks. However, till now, the interior minister has not contacted me,” he said.
Raisani claimed further that since no response came from the interior minister, the insurgents told him they had changed their mind and returned to the hills. Raisani refused to identify by name the insurgents who had contacted him for peace talks, saying revealing their identity might endanger their lives. “I have given my word to those who were in touch with me. I also want them to return, because if they were hurt at my residence I would have been remembered as a villain in history. I cannot reveal their identity because that could make them vulnerable,” he said. Asked whether the prime minister also did not contact him to keep track of the process, Raisani said nobody from the government contacted him, which reflected the level of interest by the government.
“You would have to have a prospect of the situation in Balochistan [to understand]. Due to continued poor law and order situation and the poor performance by the Home Ministry, nobody feels secure. Whether they are insurgents or commoners, all are hostage to one or another group,” he added. Asked to elaborate on his point of view as his elder brother, Sardar Mohammad Aslam Raisani is the provincial chief minister, Raisani said he was telling the truth about his province and whether it was his own brother or someone else, one had to speak the truth.
“Political workers are being killed here and the government authorities mostly are enjoying holidays. The provincial government has no proper administration and its failure is leading towards chaos,” he asserted.
He said Balochistan was a ground for proxy wars of many nations, including Iran and Saudi Arabia, or for a covert war between intelligence agents from the Israeli Mossad, American Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or others, and the province was a battlefield and people were being slaughtered like sacrificial animals. He said the state should have provided security to the common man and dialogue should have been launched with the rebels and insurgents to bring peace and normalcy to the insurgency-hit province.
Asked whether he supported the burning of the national flag and refusal to sing the national anthem in schools, Raisani said because of bad governance those elements in schools and colleges who were supporting such activities could not be cleansed, which was why the national flag was being burned but no action was being taken.