Daily Times

Pakistan owes Egypt a few trends. Both General Ziaul Haq and General Pervez Musharraf were inspired by an Air Chief-turned-President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt and consequently, they introduced a controlled parliament in Pakistan. In the same vein, Pakistan should also own the fate of Hosni Mubarak, who ruled Egypt for 30 odd years, but was ousted by an uprising in February 2011. On June 02, 2012, Mubarak was sentenced to life imprisonment for his role in killing protestors who wanted to oust him to end his despotic rule.

Mubarak must have his own version of ‘national security’ that prompted him to commit atrocities. He must have declared people’s revolt a ‘conspiracy’ against the state and ordered their killings. Similarly, he must have branded people as ‘foreign elements’ (who were asking for their rights) and condemned them to death. The ruses of national security, conspiracy and foreign elements are what dictators are habitual of using to usurp rights of people and muffling their voices.

The Balochistan of today is also under a kind of dictatorship. Here, the FC dominates. The provincial assembly is a puppet. At a press conference on June 02, 2012, the IG FC Maj-Gen Obaidullah Khattak said that the FC was being demoralised through a propaganda campaign. He also said that a tit-for-tat action would be taken against the perpetrators of the propaganda. The IG FC has brought forth the phrases the ‘morale of the FC’ and a ‘propaganda campaign’ against the state institutions, including the FC, arrogating the meaning of these phrases to himself. Henceforth, it will be his sole prerogative to declare whether the morale of the FC is up or down. Similarly, only he will describe whether any written piece or a talk show is a propaganda campaign or not to merit a matching response from the state’s security institutions under the heading tit-for-tat. In simple words, in future, whosoever criticises the role of the FC is actually conspiring against the state and will be punished is the simple point he has tried to put across. Is the IG FC authorised to declare so? Under what law a government servant (who is subordinate to the ministry of defence) can speak like this. Can the morale of the FC overwhelm democratic rights of people?

The misperception is that only men in uniform are loyal to the country while the loyalty of all others is doubtful. This is the sickness ravaging Pakistan. One with the force of gun assumes the authority of declaring himself loyal to the country while the rest are relegated to the level of being disloyal. For the disloyal, the orders are issued by the loyal to abduct, kill and dump. That is how Pakistan is being transformed into a ‘Nazi-istan.’

A few days ago, on May 29, in the high level meeting at the prime minister house, attended by the governor and chief Minister of Balochistan, besides the COAS, DG ISI, DG IB and IG Balochistan, it was decided that the FC would work under the chief minister of Balochistan. On the other hand, at his press conference, the IG FC declared that the FC was ‘cooperating with the chief minister.’ What is the meaning of cooperation? To work under an authority, and to work in cooperation are two different themes. By law, the FC is to work under the authority of the chief minister. Secondly, the statement coming from the PM’s house also meant that the FC was not working under the chief minister in the past but independent of it.

It is not known what motivated the IG FC to hold a press conference. He did not tell the audience why there was no Ferrari (rebel) camp in Balochistan before 1999. Why did he not attend the Supreme Court (SC) to present his point of view on June 01? He could have provided proofs to the SC and waited for its decision.

How the Balochistan Declaration passed by the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) along with political parties of all hues can cause a demoralising effect on the morale of the FC? The IG FC should have met the advocate Asma Jehangir, on her visit to Balochistan and apprised her of his findings and reservations. He shied away from meeting her, and now he thinks that a well-orchestrated campaign is going on against the FC.

What about the dead bodies of the three missing Baloch whose relatives have been attending the SC for their recovery? The surfacing of the dead bodies has undermined the efforts of the SC busy in resolving the Balochistan crisis. The relatives of the missing persons claimed at the SC that the FC had kidnapped them. Apparently, the kidnappers are responsible for conspiring against the state and undermining the efforts of the SC in addressing the Balochistan issue. Prima facie, the incident made the IG FC stay away from the SC to avoid humiliation.

Nevertheless, the press conference of the IG FC has taken place in the wake of three important events. First, the SC is hearing the Balochistan case; secondly, the SCBA has passed a 15-point Balochistan Declaration; and thirdly, the prime minister held a high-level meeting and figured out a method of providing an enabling environment for dialogue with the Baloch leadership. The IG FC is not supposed to do anything that spoils the efforts of all three. Perceivably, he conducted the press conference to save face before he is supposed to appear before the SC on June 04.

There is an urgent need of putting the FC on the backburner and initiating a dialogue in Balochistan. The election time is approaching fast and the incumbent central government has to do a lot of political work in Balochistan to bring all the estranged elements back to the mainstream. It should be ensured that all nationalist Baloch parties also take part in the next elections and the elections are held free and fair.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo.com