Analysis: Balochistan demands fairness, no power politics

Nawaz Sharif has the chance to heal the wounds of Balochistan, but is he up to the task?

Nawaz Sharif did well to acknowledge the PTI’s mandate in KP, but unlike KP, things in Balochistan are still murky and mired in typical power games. The PML-N has nominated Sardar Sanaullah Zehri for the chief ministership following an influx of independents.

The issue at hand is whether Nawaz Sharif will fill his party with remnants of the Raisani government and the Musharraf era. All of them acted as robber barons, adding billions to their personal kitties.

Will the Sharifs gloss over the role of those who plundered Balochistan’s resources? Will they opt for a strong chief minister who can conduct across-the-board accountability or will they leave the province to the vultures?

What the Sharifs and their allies need to realise is that the Raisani government lorded over massive funds in five years – from 45 billion in 2008 to 172 billion earmarked during 2012-13 from the central pool. Where did the quadrupled amount of funds go?

Do they want to co-opt people into the government who are remnants of the past or do they really mean business? If the latter then they need to put in place a government that enjoys public confidence and has the vigour and will to take Balochistan’s multiple crises head-on.

One hopes that the PML-N leadership realises that Balochistan has long been plagued by conflict, neglect, and political expedience. The latest election, too, reflects the state of neglect and political opportunism.

Successive federal governments made things worse by refusing to grant Balochistan the economic and political rights it deserves. It made matters worse by overlooking the brazen appropriation of state resources by Raisani and co, which increased disparity. The fiercely independent Baloch Sardars have a tradition of resisting state interference in order to protect their own advantages, while the mass of the population expresses their grievances by a growing support for nationalism and separatism. The absence of quick and inexpensive dispute-resolution mechanisms, the continued neglect of the welfare of the general public, poor governance, and growing religious extremism all add to the tensions, as does the persistent mishandling of these issues by governments and the military.



The grievances of the Baloch people are legitimate and manifold, with their principal complaint being the non-fulfillment of the promise of provincial autonomy granted by the 1973 Constitution.

Islamabad’s martial handling of outbreaks of insurgency added fuel to the fire, increasing Baloch disaffection. Action against Baloch nationalists is increasingly seen as imperialism, especially since the boycott of the elections by mainstream Baloch nationalists in February 2008. Most Baloch are resentful of the presence of the military and tend to see the army as a tool of suppression.

Election 2013 also has thrown up the issue of representation; in PB-41 (Awaran), for instance, the turnout was hardly 1.18 per cent, giving Abdul Judoos Bizenjo of the Pakistan Muslim League the victory with only 544 votes. Total votes cast in a constituency of 57,666 registered votes stood at 672. Surprisingly, the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) announced the unofficial results, instead of deciding to order a re-polling.

This raises an extremely serious question on the legitimacy of the winner. Can a person with less than one percent of the registered votes represent that constituency? One would hope that the Sharifs forego personal or party interests in favour of a broad-based government comprising persons of integrity and also ensure fair representation in the provincial assembly by taking a critical look at, at least, some of the constituencies.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.