Into thin air

We must quickly & methodically act to save Balochistan before it disintegrates into further disarray before our eyes.

The possibility of going missing, and suddenly vanishing into thin air in Balochistan, seems to be increasing. We now learn that the top prosecutor of the province, Wasay Tareen, has joined the list of those who are missing. According to reports, he was last heard from while travelling through the  Zhob district on his way from Islamabad to Quetta several days ago. His family says that nothing has been heard of him since.

The Balochistan High Court Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Essa, has taken suo-motu notice of the matter and expressed concern over the issue as have organisations of lawyers across the province. Given the situation that prevails there, it is difficult to say what the motives behind the disappearance may be. Mr Tareen could have been picked up for criminal motives or for others linked to the general unrest in Balochistan. The lawlessness that exists there is shocking and is having a wider and wider impact on the lives of the people.

This incident has caught the attention of many in the country. The reality is that people continue to go missing in Balochistan with little notice taken of this. Their stories have now been told by prominent novelists, as well as newspersons and rights activists. But despite this, nothing has changed. The question is, how this change will come. It can happen only if, at both the central and provincial levels, a full-fledged strategy for the future of Balochistan is put in place, with the concerns of its people given greatest priority rather than any other game of power being played out in the area. The ethnic, nationalist, sectarian and political tensions which travel across Balochistan have now come close to destroying it. The latest act of crime just shows that those behind such acts are gaining greater and greater confidence. There is no longer any time to wait. We must quickly and methodically act to save the province before it disintegrates into further disarray before our eyes. This is what is happening right now.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2013.