Political parties and the Baloch issue
The indiscretion by certain US congressmen to introduce a resolution calling for an independent Balochistan has done little good to either the US or the Baloch cause. The move has provided the morbidly anti-US lobby in Pakistan another issue to malign Washington, despite the declarations by the Obama administration that it does not support the move. Meanwhile, voices continue to be raised by important politicians, lawyers associations and human rights groups to urgently stop the atrocities in Balochistan.
Leaders of almost all parliamentary parties agree on the urgency to stop the bloodshed. PM Gilani has promised to call an APC to find solution to the issue through ‘collective wisdom’. JI Chief Munawwar Hasan has called for an end to “giving the Baloch the gift of body bags”. MQM Chief Altaf Hussain has said the APC has been overtaken by new developments and what was needed was to end the suffering of the Balioch people. The PML(N) has predicated its attendance of any conference on Balochistan with the participation of the nationalist parties. What the nationalist parties think can be gauged from Akhtar Mengal’s statement welcoming the resolution in the US Congress as a positive step. Hasil Bizenjo, a moderate among the nationalists, has asked those protesting against the move by three Congressmen why things have been allowed to go to extreme in Balochistan. There is apparently a disconnect between the perceptions of the mainstream politicians and the nationalists which has to be removed before holding any meaningful talks. This can only be done by a firm move by the government to stop the killings.
Whoever is responsible for the forced disappearances and custodial killings is highly powerful. Unless the political administration is ready to act, and is not checkmated by the opposition, more and more people in the unfortunate province are likely to look outside for help. This requires an understanding with the opposition. But does the government have the wisdom to take other parties along and the will to bell the cat?