A resolution to the issue of missing persons and bullet-riddled bodies in Balochistan should be set as a precondition for talks between the government and the Baloch people, leaders of the Baloch community suggested on Tuesday.
The views were expressed during a dialogue forum titled ‘Balochistan: Objective Dialogue’, organised by Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development and Transparency (Pildat).
A number of politicians, analysts and media persons spoke at the event. The speakers also suggested free and fair general elections in the province as a means to uplift morale in the troubled province.
“If the government and agencies can resolve the issue of missing persons and bullet-ridden bodies, things can improve. This is a pre-condition for dialogue,” said Baloch Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo.
The senator was optimistic, and believed that youth in Balochistan could still be taken on board to resolve the issues in the restive province, adding that the prevalent mindset that the Baloch people were still a ‘tribal society’ was deeply flawed.
Central Information Secretary of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Qamar Zaman Kaira, also present at the event, said that Punjab also needed to be respected as a province and it should not be blamed for all the problems plaguing the country.
Senior analyst and column writer Mujeebur Rehman Shami believed that the dominant discourse on Balochistan was one that blamed the military and security agencies for making things worse in the province.
“There is a complete and total absence of a counter narrative from the federal government and the establishment,” Shami said, adding that even the people of Balochistan shy away from presenting their views openly.
On the other hand, former interior minister Lt Gen (retd) Moinuddin Haider believed that the provincial government and assembly in Balochistan were not taking responsibility for resolving the issues of the province.
“The real issue facing the province is more a case of efficient management of resources rather than the inadequacy of them. There is infiltration in the province and the FC has got to do its job,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2012.
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This debate is appreciated having had read a more precise report on another site on the recommendations there is a big HOWEVER; two important and significantly instrumental bits are missing without which this consultation and similar ones like it don't hold much value. One is that there was no representative from Balochistan CSOs despite that many very good CSOs are working in Balochistan who should have been a part of the group of CSOs that organized this event; even the key note presentation should have been made by Balochistan. Secondly in recommendations the heart is missing i.e. the dialogue with Baloch leaders. Are the covil society actors naive to propose measures during this surmounting crisis of increased seats in assemblies when the actual problem is political and can only be resolved on the table.I don't know what was the participation level of Balochistan ( except for Hasil Bizenjo) in this discussion but the erroneous exclusion of dialogue with Baloch leaders makes one wonder if the civil society of Islamabad is, if at all aware of the actual issues and why they chose to exclude this important parameter of the debate. Hasil Bizenjos statement that kill and dump of Baloch activists should be first stopped is fine but one has to walk that extra mile to start a parallel process of dialogue, particularly when the federal govt itself is withdrawing cases against Baloch leaders the civil society shying away from including them as stakeholders doesn't make any sense. This dialogue may result in more problems for the govt due to the conflict between certain baloch groups which also has to be sorted out and this seminar didn't seem to have discussed that either. The comments by Punjab journo and Kaira and an ex general sound pretty outdated and one wonder if people sitting in Islamabad even bother to analyze the situation before proposing how peace can be restored in Balochistan.