In an appearance before the Supreme Court which attracted huge attention, Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal, the former chief minister of Balochistan and head of the Balochistan National Party, minced no words. Mengal, who has been in self-exile in London for a long period of imprisonment, which began under the Musharraf tenure — when he was held in fetters — came in from London to attend the hearing by the SC on the law and order situation in his native province. The suggestion he made startled many. Mengal asked whether an amicable divorce was not preferable to a bloody parting if dead bodies continued to be handed to Balochistan.
His words indicate just how deep the idea of Baloch autonomy, even a decisive parting of ways, has sunk into the Baloch psyche. Mengal is a leader of national status. Yet, he clearly believes there may be no other way out. In a clearly thought-out but hard-hitting speech, Mengal spoke of death squads operating in Balochistan and the need for the central government to put operations there to a halt. This makes sense, but in a new report placed before the Court, agencies and the federal government have denied that any military action is underway. To this end, Mengal presented six recommendations before the Court, which focused on building trust in Balochistan. It would augur well for the Government of Pakistan to closely examine these recommendations in order to assuage the people of Balochistan.
This is a line few Baloch will be willing to believe. In their eyes at least, and in the eyes of human rights groups, the enforced disappearances in Balochistan are clearly the work of agencies. The way things are looking, it seems no one has the power to stop them. Putting forward the voice of the Baloch openly for the first time during the hearing, Mengal also made it clear that the issue of disappearances was a key one. We have known for some time that this is the case. The fact is that too little has been done to tackle the matter.
Things have worsened to a point where solutions seem difficult or perhaps, impossible. Mengal’s talk of divorce is alarming. We must now very seriously consider if there is any way at all of salvaging a marriage in which one partner is clearly unwilling to accept more abuse that has been meted out for far too long.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 29th, 2012.
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@Veteran Soldier:
I assume you already know that Judiciary is there for interpretation of law/constitution that is passed by the parliament .. before doing the usual blame game please also ask yourself why was General (ret) Pervez Musharraf who rules Pakistan Mil and was ultimate ruler of this country for around one decade, unable to pass strict laws so that no criminal can walk free? If any one it should be your own ex general responsible for the loss of his soldiers as it is them who were unable to arrest any of anti state leaders whether from Swat, SWA or any where else. The day the Khakhis stop acting like rulers of civilians, will be the beginning of progressive Pakistan until then we will keep on blaming each other for our failures while the country disintegrate like before. We were rules solidly by Generals each time for tenure of decades, I ask why didn't they solve these problems like integration of FATA, repatriation of refugees, implementation of single curriculum, population control, Why could not they develop Balochistan despite the fact they claim to have better economy during their tenures and they're the most under developed people in the country. Had we invested in education, this tribal and feudal system could have been changed, It is this illiteracy coupled with over population that is the root cause of current conditions in this country where general people have been easily misled and lied by all leaders be it politicians, generals or tribal & feudal chiefs.
Indeed a good piece of writing. 41 years ago sh.mujib gave his 6 points and now we have it from a baloch leader. it means there is no change in the mind-set of establishment since then. isn't it alarming in itself? too much blood has been shed. i beg those who are sitting in Islamabad, don't let history repeat itself.
I agree with the balanced editorial about the burning situation in Baluchistan. There is a consensus on the demands of Mengal and most Pakistani political leaders. These are the min points that Mengal has presented to have any progress toward the improvement in Baluchistan. Anything less than this would be a non starter. The deep state has to back off and let the people of the province decide their future.
no doubt ,the suggestions given by Akhter Mengal is Voice of Whole Nation but its difficult to predict what will be the end of this marriage ,divorce or peaceful settlement ? because when despite of human slaughter and abduction, establishment and government claims that All is well and no military operation is going on in province it would be only our wishful thinking that The largest but poorest province will remain with us forever . we should not forget that no one had ever dreamed for split of East & West Pakistan but our deeds leads us towards breakup of state . unfortunately ,today once again we are stepping towards point of NO RETURN .
Media raise its Voice temporarily due to its priority ,agendas and obviously Rating race . SC is ordering issues but when concerned institutions are not interested to solve the problem how can we take hope for Happy End?
We announce Aghaz-e-Haqooke Balochistan after 6 decades but where is its implementation ? we think that if US committeemen discuss Balochistan its interference in our internal matter and parrel to attack on our sovereignty but if the state is unable to protect citizens ,when it is unable to tell citizen THE TRUTH ,when it doesn't takes any clear plan to get rid of this multidimensional challenge .how can that state claim sovereignty and why expects that citizen would obey its principles of peace??
Mengal is out of touch with reality. Understandable since he's been stuck in London. He doesn't represent the people of Balochistan, who according to ET's own editorial are pro-Pakistan. Mengals and Bugtis of the world represent their myopic vision of a backwards Balochistan ruled by their tribes. Talk of "separation" is fantasy and alarmist views should be discarded in favor of a progressive and realistic vision. However, this should not stop legally prosecuting Baloch terrorists in a court of law instead of ditches, nor should it stop the proper allocation of Balochistan's resources to the people of Balochistan. No need to curry favors with these self-interested and self-appointed 'leaders'. Go straight to the people of Balochistan as they are willing to do the hard work in making their futures brighter as Pakistanis.
The World cannot afford to see another Bangladesh happening with a toll of almost a million lives. Problems cannot be solved by making people disappear as learnt form 1970/71. Problem cannot be solved by bringing in settlers and changing the states demographics and dynamics either nor can it be solved by giving sectarian outfits a free run in the state. The first step in arresting the slide will be to pull out the Military, FC and Agencies from the State. Parliament is too weak to pass any such orders and the Judiciary is a lover of Military coups which it always sanctified, so who will bell the cat ?
Pakistan must divorce all tribal chiefs, politicians, thieves/ politicians; be it Punjab, KP, Sindh, Baluchistan.