Here’s how to begin proper, progressive forward movement on the Balochistan issue. It didn’t take much to get the additional 70mw power supply from Iran, and making the province’s coastal division ‘load-shedding free’ will bring multiple gains. One, it signals the right kind of attention from the centre, that the people’s basic issues are very much on the agenda in Islamabad. Two, the success of the present exercise will bring more such projects, in turn generating related economic activity and employment. Two more projects citing import of 1100MW are already in the pipeline. Three, employment generation and energy availability can, under the right patronage, stimulate entrepreneurship and consumerism, a phenomenon that can help the neglected province in an unprecedented manner.
Threats from extremist tendencies, be they of nationalistic or sectarian persuasion, are best countered by progressive treatment of genuine grievances. Balochistan has suffered in more ways than one, though the economic aspect stands out the most. And even if its claims of long years of political and financial isolation remain disputed, there can be no two views about the pressure it has faced as the natural waste-pool of the war on terror spillover. Its rehabilitation is essential, both financial and political, and in exactly that order.
It is also essential to keep the Baloch economically engaged in the province’s uplift, and not just for an ultimate politically correct posture. Once the locals increase earning and spending in the local market place, they will engineer the multiplier, and there are few better ways of turning minds from extremist bias.
