Free and fair elections in Balochistan can set the course for improving the scenario there, agreed panelist and participants of a forum on Balochistan.
The forum was organised by PILDAT. “If the government and agencies can resolve the issue of missing persons and bullet-ridden bodies, things can improve,” Senator Hasil Bizenjo said, adding that it was a pre-condition for dialogue. He said that youth in Balochistan can still be taken on board, adding that the mindset in rest of Pakistan that Baloch is still a tribal society of the 1960s is deeply flawed. The “talk-down” syndrome of the centre and establishment towards Balochistan is the main cause of issues, he said.
Daily Pakistan Editor Mujibur Rehman Shami, former Sindh governor Lieutenant General (r) Moinuddin Haider, defence analyst Ikram Sehgal, Senator Humayun Mandokhel and PPP MNA Qamar Zaman Kaira also spoke on the occasion. Kaira appreciated the initiative of PILDAT and said that such a structured conversation, bringing together different MPs and schools of thought that PILDAT holds is not even generally accomplished by political parties and parliament. He said that media was up in arms even if the government suggests there should be a media-led Code of Conduct.
PILDAT Executive Director Ahmed Bilal Mehboob said that despite the 18th Amendment, the 7th NFC Award and the Aghaz-e-Haqooq Balochistan Package, which granted unprecedented financial, political and administrative autonomy to Balochistan in line with the demands of the nationalist parties and forces, unrest and insurgency in Balochistan is continuing. Shami said that the dominant discourse on Balochistan these days is blaming Pakistan’s military and security agencies for compounding the scenario in the province. Moinuddin said that the provincial government and the assembly were not taking responsibility for resolving the issues of Balochistan. Mandokhel said that population break-up in Balochistan is at 45 percent Baloch and 45 percent Pakhtun but the province is almost entirely run by Baloch at the moment. “Sehgal said that feudalism and democracy could not go hand in hand and feudalist mindset in Balochistan is its key problem.
