The solution to Baluchistan’s problems is not in the gun. It is not violent. It lies in dialogue with the state. This is the core message of Gulzar Imam Shambay, a former militant commander who abandoned the path of insurgency and urged others to do the same. His words deserve serious attention from anyone who claims to care about Baluchistan’s future.
The ongoing insurgency in the province has been sustained not just by weapons or external support but by a carefully constructed narrative. This narrative convinces ordinary people that justice, prosperity, and dignity are impossible within the federation, and that rights can only be claimed through rebellion. For decades, this rhetoric has been the lifeline of militant groups. It has provided them with recruits, funding, and a moral cover for violence.
Dialogue, negotiation, and political struggle are the only avenues that can advance the genuine concerns of the people.
Yet the evidence is overwhelming. Violence has brought Baluchistan nothing but destruction, displacement, and despair. Militancy has not delivered rights or recognition. It has burned schools, destroyed infrastructure, and left families mourning their dead. If anything, armed conflict has deepened deprivation by making investment, governance, and progress nearly impossible.
This is why Gulzar Imam Shambay’s shift is so significant. His testimony from within the insurgency exposes a hard truth: militancy yields nothing. Dialogue, negotiation, and political struggle are the only avenues that can advance the genuine concerns of the people. Those who ignore this lesson are not the friends of Baluchistan. They are exploiting its pain for their own ends.
Ending the cycle of violence requires cutting off the insurgents’ real supply line: belief. Guns and money can be intercepted, but so long as young people are persuaded that rebellion is noble, recruitment will continue. To break this chain, two steps are crucial.
First, politics must step up. Baluchistan cannot be treated as a remote problem to be managed by military operations alone. Security forces are essential to defend the state and protect civilians, but sustainable peace depends on political outreach and governance. Elected representatives must engage directly with local communities, especially the youth, and respond to their sense of deprivation with tangible action. Development projects, schools, health care, and jobs must not remain promises on paper. They must become visible realities in people’s lives.
Second, the ideological narrative of rebellion must be countered with a stronger narrative of inclusion. The state, civil society, religious scholars, and political parties must work together to show that rights can be achieved through constitutional and democratic means. People must see that their grievances have remedies in law, courts, and assemblies, not in guns. The romance of insurgency must be replaced with the dignity of political struggle and the hope of economic opportunity.
Former fighters who renounce violence can play an important role here. Their stories are more powerful than any government statement. They can testify that militancy offered only misery, and that reconciliation with the state opens real doors to progress. Pakistan should build credible rehabilitation and amnesty programs to encourage this shift and give militants a safe, dignified path back to society.
At the same time, governance must become more local and accountable. Development schemes should be designed and managed with the active involvement of provincial and community institutions. When people feel ownership over their future, they no longer fall for the false promises of those who thrive on violence. A transparent, participatory model of governance will cut the ground from under the insurgents.
Pakistan must also remain vigilant against external actors who exploit Baluchistan’s troubles for strategic gain. Foreign patrons of militancy are not interested in Baluch rights. They are interested in destabilising Pakistan. Real friends of the province will reject such interference and work for solutions within the framework of the federation.
The choice before Pakistan is stark. Either continue to let Baluchistan fester as a theatre of violence or invest the political will and resources to transform it into a model of national inclusion. The second path is more difficult, but it is also the only one that honours the sacrifices of those who have suffered and secures a future of peace and prosperity.
If there is any sincerity in the claim of being a well-wisher of Baluchistan, then Gulzar Imam Shambay’s call must be heard. Guns have only multiplied wounds. Dialogue offers the only real chance of healing. The time to embrace that truth is now, before another generation pays the price of indifference.
The writer is a lawyer and author based in Islamabad. He tweets @m_asifmahmood.