Attack on Quaid-e-Azam Residency: '''The End of Jinnah?'''

Editorial:BALOCH HAL

By:MALIK SIRAJ AKBAR

In the most unprecedented assault on a Pakistani national monument in Balochistan, unidentified persons on Saturday night attacked the Quaid-e-Azam Residency in Ziarat, the last resting place of Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the country’s founder. Most parts of the historic building, the furniture, historic photographs and other important items were also destroyed.

The Residency was located at an altitude of 7,200 feet above sea level in Ziarat,133 kilometers away from Quetta, the Baloch capital. The British spent Rs 39,012 in 1891-92 to construct what was then known as the Ziarat Residency. In 1975, the Pakistani government declared it as a national heritage while in 1978 it was renamed as the Quaid-e-Azam Residency as a mark of respect for the nation’s founder. The Baloch Liberation Army (B.L.A.) claimed responsibility for the attack. Officials in Ziarat say the attack, in which one security guard was killed, could have been more catastrophic if they had failed to recover six other bombs which they suspect the attackers allegedly wanted to use to blow up the national monument. Since Pakistan’s independence in 1947, the Ziarat Residency has remained the most visited national building in the insurgency-stricken province’s summer resort town of Ziarat. The structure was the official sign of Balochistan’s connection with Pakistan as it regularly featured on postal stamps and other official documents to represent Balochistan in the federation of Pakistan. In a nutshell, the Residency was the first impression for most Pakistanis living outside Balochistan whenever they thought of the province. The attack has shocked the entire Pakistani nation, if not everyone in Balochistan. For most Baloch, the monument did not mean much because Mr. Jinnah’s successors never treated Balochistan with respect. During the past few years, the Baloch separatist movement had intensified to such an extent that had become nearly impossible for the Pakistani government to display the national flag on official buildings or play the national anthem at schools. There had also been sporadic attacks on “national assets” such as gas-pipelines, railway tracks by Baloch nationalists. Among all of these, the attack on the Residency in Ziarat is biggest attack on a Pakistani symbol in Balochistan which shows the increasing disillusionment among the Baloch people against the federation. The attack is significant for two reasons. First, the Residency is located in an entirely Pashtun-populated part of the province. Never in the history have anti-Pakistan attacks, that too on such a grand scale, have taken place in the Pashtun areas of Balochistan. The attack shows expansion of the Baloch insurgency beyond the Baloch-majority districts. Islamabad should truly worry but most not overreact. Second, the attack took place a week after the appointment of a Baloch nationalist, Dr. Malik Baloch, as the chief minister. Dr. Baloch’s appointment has raised extraordinary expectations across the country about reconciliation between the Baloch people and the Pakistani state. Since the armed groups asked the Baloch people to stay away from last month’s general elections and the latter responded positively, the new government does not have the power and the mandate to influence the Baloch armed groups. Such attacks are only going to increase the government’s challenges. The initial reactions across Pakistan to the incident have been that of enormous anger and calls for the government to take action against those responsible for demolishing the Residency. However, we caution the Pakistan army and the government not to respond to this event with more dead bullet-riddled dead bodies of Baloch youths. That will only worsen the situation. The government should not act in haste and respond to violence with more violence against the civil population. There are genuine Baloch complaints and the state has to provide an answer for its failures in Balochistan. A missing part of the post-election story is the dramatic increase in the number of dead bodies of the Baloch missing persons. For instance, as many as five bullet-riddled dead bodies of political activists were found on the day when Dr. Baloch was sworn-in as the chief minister. The attack on the Residency seems to be a reaction to the Pakistani state’s unabated violence against the Baloch civilians. Until the state stops its repressive anti-Baloch policies, more such radical attacks could take place again in the future. Attacks on national monuments take place because they symbolize the authority of the unaccountable State authorities. Dr. Baloch, the Chief Minister, has promised to rebuild the Residency whereas we believe no monument is more important than the lives of those Balochs who have been subjected to extra-judicial killings, torture and disappearance in the past ten years. The reconstruction of the residency is unhelpful in healing the Baloch wounds. The government should instead build a new monument to commemorate the Baloch youths, political activists, journalists and professors who have lost their lives in the conflict. It is meaningless to live in the past and snub the present and the future. If the central government wants to politically address the conflict, it should make sure that the Residency attack is not taken as an opportunity to launch fresh operations in Balochistan or justify the kill and dump operations. In order to deal with the new situation prudently, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif should make sure that the Pakistan army stays away and the political leadership addresses the matter.