Amicable agreement?

Mengal's words indicate just how deep the idea of Baloch autonomy has sunk into the Baloch psyche.

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 29^th, 2012.