Get the ball rolling
Balochistan has passed through enough suffering and bloodshed. On the one hand missing persons, dead bodies dumped on the roadside and deserted places, migrations of displaced persons and on the other hand killing of poor labourers coming from other provinces to eke out a living and attacks on law enforcement agencies and state installations. The confrontation is uncalled for when an elected government led by a Baloch nationalist party is in place and major nationalist figures from the province are in the Parliament.
The sooner the peace is restored in Baochistan the better for the province and the country at large which is fighting a bloody war against the terrorists. As has happened in insurgencies of a similar type worldwide, reconciliation is the only way out. Attempts made by the Balochistan government in the direction have resulted in some of the Ferraris laying down arms. This is a good beginning despite those who surrendered were mostly foot soldiers. Both the federal and the provincial governments realise the need to hold talks with the insurgent leaders. The efforts made in the direction have so far failed to yield tangible results.
The willingness expressed by Brahmadagh Bugti, who controls the Baloch Republican Army (BRA), to negotiate peace with the government should therefore be welcomed. This despite his group having been involved in terrorist attacks and at one point its chief sought Indian help. By inducting Bugti into the system one source of terrorism will be blocked. This would also foil one of the Indian plans. An agreement by Bugti to join the mainstream would discourage other terrorist groups who would be pressurised by their rank and file to enter into similar deals. Rebuffing Bugti would, on the other hand, send a wrong message to those separatists who might have been pondering over joining mainstream politics.
MQM parliamentarians who have resigned from the assemblies and the Senate should also be brought back so that disputes are resolved peacefully inside Parliament rather than through extra-parliamentary means.
