The attack on the FC convoy in Musa Khel is indicative of the fact that the security situation in Balochistan is once more in a state of unintelligible chaos. The FC forces are being termed as the bad guys for being the ones behind disappearances of innocent civilians. Therefore, they are brutally murdered by the custodians of the liberation rights of the people of Balochistan. Similarly, the security forces are busy maintaining some semblance of sanity in the province through brute force as such a state becomes an open invitation to suppressed criminal elements to become active and to operate freely, thus adding to the chaos.
This mutual hate process is enabled and kept alive by forces on either side of the power fence and the victims are always innocent people. The only ones keeping mum over the ongoing mayhem is the political regime that ought to be the most affected by such violent episodes of criminality.
It must be realised that these internecine feuds merely perpetuate age-old grievances embedded in the local memory. And the only means of progressing peacefully, if there is a political will, is that the real cause of the turmoil is ascertained by entering into dialogue. This will expose reality in its true form. Whether the myriad of nationalist groups are genuinely interested in attaining an equal status for the people of Balochistan or are merely towing the separatist agenda for the sake of personal and vested interests, can be exposed. This may be instrumental separating and banning the groups that are busy igniting anti-state sentiments from others.
Furthermore, the case of the missing persons is something that ought to be addressed in a holistically profound manner that has not been done so far. Who are these people who disappear? Do they have any affiliations with terrorist and militant or anti-state groups as claimed by the security forces?
What rationale do the security forces have for killing people at random? Does the strict tribal and sardari culture play a role in it? What about the Ferrari camps on the border areas? Has the law ever tried to trace the whereabouts of these people in these militant camps in or across the porous border?
Each and every case ought to be investigated thoroughly and followed till the very end to trace the real perpetrator behind this crime. But does anyone care? Why doesn’t the provincial and federal government come up with a plan of replacing the FC with a more effective civilian policing force in Balochistan instead of turning most of the area into ‘B Area’?
Balochistan has turned into a huge question for the authority that screams out to be answered immediately. But is someone interested? Is someone listening? Is something being done? Nobody can address the situation except the government by exercising its authority and resuming control of the province if it has one at all.
LUBNA HAMEED
Rawalpindi
