Deteriorating Balochistan

The government will not have to miss the fact that the situation in Balochistan has reached grievous levels.

The issue of Balochistan has been in the media across the globe and also has been taken up by the US House of Representatives.

In what appeared to be a critical phase, the government decided to move ahead in the face of growing pressure and after a series of top-level meetings.

In the first good-will gesture, Interior Minister Rehman Malik made an offer of amnesty to Baloch leaders including Brahamdagh Bugti and Hyrbyair Marri, who are living overseas.

The government quite clearly feels it is running out of options after a meeting on the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package, which was tabled many months ago.

Despite the tall claims that the incumbent had made over and over again, of standing up for Baloch rights, a few steps had become imperative to control the situation.

The premier, the interior minister and others involved in the high high-level talks are anticipating the voluntary return of key Baloch leaders for negotiations.

They were of the view the nationalist leaders can go for new and a fresh start to be made in the effort to stem the situation in Balochistan. However, the things are not as simple as they look.

The Baloch leaders living in exile in Dubai, London or Switzerland have not been demonstrated any reassurance. Akthar Mengal, the former Balochistan chief minister has declared that the government was non-serious while others talk of a trust deficit especially where Rehman Malik is concerned.

Given the institution that actually builds the federation‘s policy for the region, possibly, the Baloch leaders are looking to see if this announcement has the blessings of the military establishment.

It would be fantabulous if that were the case because unless we want to be abashed further by lawmakers in the US tabling resolutions on Balochistan, it is definitely about time that the federation changed its track completely on the province and got serious about redressing Baloch grievances.

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Posted by Faisal Farooq on Feb 25 2012. Filed under National, Opinion, Pakistan, Politics, Society. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.