Daily Times

While speaking at a conference of Chiefs of Staffs of the Armed Forces being held under auspices of US CENTCOM BERLIN in Germany, Chief of Army Staff General Raheel Sharif has accused the Indian intelligence Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) of spilling blood of innocent people through indirect strategy as he highlighted the challenges posed by the porous border that Pakistan shares with war-ravaged Afghanistan. India and its intelligence agency have been directly held responsible for all the prevailing ills in Pakistan while ignoring the fact that not a great deal of effort has been made on governmental level to mitigate the sense of deprivation among a large number of countrymen. Blaming others alone will not solve the issue. Pakistani authorities need to put their own house in order to deal with the scourge of militancy, anarchy and terrorism in Pakistan.

Pause and ponder on the issue with a different outlook. Why does resentment exist in volatile regions of Pakistan particularly in Balochistan? Why do external forces win local support? Why do certain sections in the Baloch nation talk about freedom and provincial autonomy? The answers of to these questions are not very difficult. There is a history of abuse of rights in Balochistan. The sense of deprivation prompts them to stand up against the state and wage a war for their rights. While all disturbances and revolts are attributed to ‘foreign’ hands’, the centre never ventures to ponder on what makes Balochistan a hotbed for such anarchy. A cursory look instantly reveals that it has been an acute state of injustice, provincial inequality and continuous military repression that has pushed Pakistan’s largest province to the brink of rebellion. An average Baloch only calls for provision of basic rights. The average Baloch wants schools, hospitals and infrastructure development. Above everything else, the Baloch want the Center to grant provincial autonomy and stop meddling with local politics.

Despite the fact that Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province with untapped resources of mineral wealth like copper and natural gas deposits, yet it is the most backward province in the country. The sad fact is that while the entire country benefits from these resources, the Baloch themselves are deprived of incentives related to these minerals. Out of Balochistan’s 26 districts, only four are supplied with natural gas.

In these lines, the mentioning of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) will not be out of context. As a result of discriminatory policies of the state, the formation of BLA was inevitable, which is now orchestrating a murder campaign against Punjabis who incidentally enter Balochistan for job or other purposes.

Unless the establishment and the Centre review their policies, there will be no end to hostilities in the region. Self-correction is the need of the hour. If Pakistani authorities themselves take action against the abuse of rights, no external force can do anything to exploit local people. Pakistan has witnessed the Dhaka debacle while turmoil in Karachi has not ended yet due to discriminatory policies of the state towards its people. In order to avert future national tragedies, the state has to do deep introspection and self-analyses for rectifying all faults that caused crises in the past. *