Way forward in Balochistan

Proof of the pudding…

First Gen Raheel hit the nail on the head. Balochistan, in a nutshell, needs negotiations and progress. Then Chief Minister Nawab Zehri stressed how “negotiations, not the bullet” was the only viable solution. And then yesterday the prime minister also emphasised real work, not rhetoric as he inaugurated the Gwadar-Turbat-Hoshab highway. There is common ground, therefore, as far as the to-do list regarding Balochistan is concerned. If this development should translate into constructive negotiations with self-exiled Baloch leaders, the elbow room for foreign powers playing out proxy wars in the province – as the army chief pointed out – would also automatically diminish.

But there is so much that is wrong with the province that the problems identified by the leaders amounts to barely scratching the surface. Of course, the Baloch rebellion by disgruntled sardars is a long, lingering problem that must be overcome. And foreign players have stoked and supported revolts and insurgencies for a long time, which must also be stopped. But Balochistan is also the poorest part of Pakistan. Most people continue to be deprived of most basic necessities of life. There is little by way of education and health facilities. People have been disgruntled for decades for not being given their due share from the national kitty. And there is the sectarian nightmare. The Shi’a, especially the helpless Hazara, have been killed by the thousands.

None of these problems are the doing of any outside force. And not many of these found mention in the new direction-setting sermons of our leaders. It is encouraging that a concerted effort seems in the offing to negotiate political differences to an end. It is also about time that foreign irritants are barred from our land once and for all. But the leadership must also tackle other, more routine problems of the province with equal vigour. The people, as everybody rightly noted, are the most precious commodity, and must be invested in more seriously for the uplift effort to have a lasting effect.