The situation in Balochistan is now so grim that its seems as if all sides have decided that they have little option but to pursue wanton violence as a primary tactic. The massacre of 18 people — most of whom were from Punjab — in Turbat as they were trying to make their way through Iran to Europe, reflects similar incidents where ethnic Baloch and Hazara Shias have been attacked for no reason other than their ethnicity or sect. It is unfortunate that the Baloch have been made to feel so unwelcome at home that they are now trying to intimidate, murder and drive out those they consider ‘settlers’. A little-known group called the Baloch Liberation Tigers claimed responsibility for the attack, which follows a steady build-up of rhetoric against Punjabis in the province that was invariably going to turn bloody.
The most unfortunate aspect of such attacks is that it ends up blaming civilians for problems not of their making. The fact is that the province is being run not by the elected provincial government, but by the military and the FC, whose head is a senior military officer. Historically, too, the grievances of the Baloch date back to previous military operations. Blaming all Punjabis, several of whom have lived in Balochistan for decades, for a situation many blame on the Punjabi-dominated military is counterproductive and unlikely to win any new converts to the Baloch cause. Essentially, those who carry out and condone such attacks are guilty of the same mistake as the oppressors of the Baloch: they group all people according to their ethnicity and then hold them collectively responsible for their woes.
Saner minds need to prevail. The military’s role in Balochistan needs to be curtailed and replaced with a policy of negotiation by the civilian government. Baloch groups that employ violence need to be cast aside. Keeping Balochistan a part of the federation must be the centre’s primary objective. However, if the Baloch continue to feel like strangers in their own land, separatist sentiments will continue to rise and lead to further violence. The government has shown a distinct lack of urgency to even begin implementing its four-year-old Balochistan package. The violence in Turbat should finally catalyse their efforts and prompt a change in this state of affairs.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 8th, 2012.
COMMENTS (11)
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It must be the handy work of RAW or some other Sarabjit Singh. If not them, it must be someone from Tel Aviv. Damn it, if nothing else, it gotta be an angrez.
@Rahim
Whats stopping them from resigning? If they cant run the government then they should resign.
Better sense must prevail, and quickly too. A negotiated settlement of Baloch problems is the best solution.
@Basit: The provincial government openly admits that they have no say in the affairs and the FC runs a parallel government in Balochistan.
Governor Zulfiqar Magsi recently whined about neglect at hands of the federation; he lamented the federation’s denial of due rights to Balochistan and warned that such policies would make it difficult for people there to adopt moderate ways of mounting protests. He overlooked the fact that people are already doing just that and that the federation in reprisal had launched a systematic ‘dirty war’ against them. Unfortunately, all he and the chief minister are interested in is the release of funds and do nothing about the organised assault on the rights and resources of Baloch people. Unconcerned about the problems that Baloch already face due to the unnecessary and inordinate presence of the FC, army, the coastguards etc, which results in harassment and travails for people, the pathetic Balochistan government has demanded deployment of 30 platoons of the FC to protect NATO vehicles’ Hub to Chamman movement.
Words cannot act as salve and balm for the real wounds inflicted by numerous military operations and active discrimination against Baloch people. The hollow, oft-repeated offers of talks have no credence and neither does the forming of commissions on missing persons have any palliative effect on the inflamed Baloch feelings at the atrocities that have been perpetrated in the name of ‘national interest’. The unaddressed demands and grievances have forced the Baloch to actively oppose the injustices and seek redress with all means at their disposal.
A natural result of Pakistan kill and dump policy in Balochistan!
" ... The punjabi civilians are also human beings,those who refuse to condemn this genocide are only providing a reflection of their evil,sadistic mentality. ... "
Events in history define standards of acceptable behaviour. Direct Action in Bengal, Rawalpindi Massacre are some of the precedent setting events I can think of.
Having said that, the folks whose lives were cut short were in no way connected to what is happening in Baluchistan; the act must be condemned UNEQUIVOCALLY.
"The fact is that the province is being run not by the elected provincial government, but by the military and the FC, whose head is a senior military officer. "
How is that at all a fact? Provide some proof the the provincial government is not the running the affairs of the province before claiming this.
Ethnic violence can not be an outcome of any rave against govt. However it seems that this action is to put more pressure on the govt. to agree to already stated terms which what I think is to get their cut in all the natural resource exploration being done in this sector.
With this incident of ultimate ethnic discrimination one thing thst is clear is that shia blood is probably the most cheapest in the world, it can be brutally shed without any tension. This is not the first time this kind of incident has taken place (even in receny times) I doubt if it wud be the last. Nobody even cares about what has happened and about the families that are impacted. the govt. Officials are totally busy in cqpatalizing in the oppertunity to grab ... While the nation goes down the drain ....
What a terrible loss of life! but there were people in the media and on social media who were justifying the massacre of punjabi civilians,who were providing excuses for the killers who killed poor labourers in cold blood. Those who try to justify the deliberate killings of unarmed civilians are of the same mentality as the Nazis.The punjabi civilians are also human beings,those who refuse to condemn this genocide are only providing a reflection of their evil,sadistic mentality.
This terrorist attack seemed like the ones in bosnia in the nineties,when serbs checked identity papers of muslims and then shot them dead.This was particularly savage,these punjabi civilians were trying to go to foreign countries to make a better future for themselves,instead their families have received the dead bodies of their sons and brothers from balochistan.Hundredsd of Thousands of punjabi settlers in balochistan have been forced to flee their homes and jobs inorder to save their lives.Their systematic ethnic genocide has gone largely uncondemned and unwept in pakistani media. Balochistan must stop sending back dead bodies of punjabis.
It's sad the way the genocide of punjabis in Balochistan has gone unreported by the news channels.Taking people off buses and shooting them after checking their NIC's is barbaric.What was the crime of these men,that they were punjabis? Is being a Punjabi such a big sin in today's Pakistan,that you have to be shot dead for it? This genocide of punjabis must end.