Protecting the CPEC workforce

It may seem a tad premature to blame last week’s back-to-back terror attacks in Balochistan’s Gwadar and Mastung districts on India in view of that country’s open hostility to the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and its refusal to be part of it, despite the goodwill shown by Beijing. Such contentions — as made by Defence Minister Khawaja Asif before media representatives on Sunday — usually miss the mark, because historical records indicate that there are several locally-based outlawed groups working to sabotage not just CPEC but everything remotely connected to development in the province. Whether these groups are linked to India or not, we must first satisfactorily determine who executed the 10 ethnic Sindhi labourers in Gwadar as well as the suicide attack earlier on a convoy of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl in Mastung that targeted the deputy chairman of the Senate. And if the investigations and evidence prove the defence minister’s suspicions right, Islamabad would be well within its rights to point the finger at New Delhi and take up the case at international forums. Until then, however, it would be advisable to tamp down any suggestion of foreign involvement — a tactic more suited to a political constituency than a diplomatic platform. It is critical for Pakistan to be seen as a credible and responsible state that would only make claims about its hostile neighbours if the same were verifiable.

Much has to be done about the safety of workers, both local and foreign, in Balochistan especially those engaged in CPEC-related projects. The head of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research has recommended that the provincial authorities in Sindh and Balochistan work out an agreement in conjunction with nationalist groups so as to ensure no harm comes to migrant workers as they perform duties in other provinces. The law-enforcing agencies will have to play their part and their job description will have to be expanded to cover life and property protection of the CPEC workforce. The labourers slain in Gwadar were working on a road project linked with CPEC. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has vowed to foil all conspiracies against the economic corridor and provide foolproof security to the Chinese personnel working in Pakistan. A similar pledge should also be made for local workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2017.

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