Balochistan: Why The Balochs Have Stopped Voting

The Baloch Hal

By MALIK SIRAJ AKBAR

Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Malik Baloch has asked the Baloch separatists and everyone else to “enjoy” the 21st century by giving up arms and joining the “democratic process”. He was speaking in the backdrop of the recent local government elections in which the National Party, of which Dr. Baloch is the president, has done relatively well. Balochistan was the first among the four provinces to hold local government elections. As compared to the general elections of May 2013, the local bodies elections witnessed less violence and confrontation. Pakistani newspaper Dawn instantly jumped into a conclusion to appreciate the provincial government because the “polls went ahead and citizens participated.”

When 2,776 polling stations are declared “highly sensitive” and another 1,581 “sensitive” out of 5,718 polling stations in Balochistan, that simply means we, contrary to the Chief Minister’s recommendation, do not live in perfect times to “enjoy” the 21st century. When we have 50,000 policemen, F.C. personnel and 5,325 army soldiers guard us on an election day, that means we are not strengthening democracy but voting on gunpoint. When nine districts, including the provincial capital, are declared “sensitive”, we should safely assume that our problems are not “local”. There is the entire province that has descended into chaos where the public trust in Pakistani democracy has significantly declined. People no longer feel enthusiastic about voting because they see no benefits from Pakistan’s failed democratic system where military remains superior to civilian institutions.

Baloch separatists have virtually become so powerful in the province that each appeal they make to the public to boycott Pakistani initiatives, such as the elections, the masses respond positively to those calls. (The reason for positive public response is both because of their support for the armed Baloch groups as well as because of their widespread fear).

Discontent among the people has increased to such an alarming extent that not a single candidate contested elections in the entire district of Awaran. This is the same place where the Frontier Corps (F.C.) has been conducting military operations after operations. When a catastrophic earthquake hit the district in October, the Pakistani government did not even allow international relief workers to help the Baloch victims. In an op-ed published in Dawn, Chris Lockyear, the Pakistan operations manager for Médecins sans Frontières or Doctors Without Borders, publicly complained about Islamabad’s denial of access to the earthquake-hit area. Ultimately, the people of Awaran gave their verdict in the form of complete boycott of the local government polls last week.

Public participation in the polls was so lackluster that 3000 candidates were elected unopposed on different seats because there were not enough people willing to participate in the elections.

Islamabad is too desperate to convince the world that things are hunky-dory in Balochistan. The state-controlled and private news channels, for example, magnify and project isolated events on the eve of Pakistan’s Independence Day to tell everyone how Balochistan also celebrated the nation’s independence. The State routinely finances and stages fake events in which people are paid to say how much they love Pakistan. Citizens do not have to be paid or tortured to say they love their country. You can’t purchase or impose patriotism on people. Balochistan is in fact not the ideal land to exercise such bizarre ideas. Hence, it is understandable while newspapers like Dawn get so excited about even minor things such as the arrangement of elections in Balochistan. That shows that we have kept the bar too low to assess progress in Balochistan. Even after the elections, we are left with the same question: are these polls a panacea to Balochistan’s ills.

There is always a dark side of such state-sponsored political dramas like these elections. The Baloch society is utterly polarized where nationalists like Dr. Malik Baloch, the chief minister, symbolize Islamabad’s policy of divide and rule. It is good that elections remained largely peaceful but the writ of the State has shrunk to such a level that we are uncertain if the new local governments will ever be able to function smoothly. Local government elections should not have been organized until the state of affairs improved in the province. Now, this is what is likely to happen: Once the security contingent departs, the elected local government officials and separatists end up in a new battle against each other.

For example, the Baloch Liberation Front (B.L.F.) was blamed by Dr. Baloch’s National Party for killing the former Nazim (mayor) of Kech district, Maula Baksh Dashti. Although the B.L.F. denied the charges, it did not condemn the killing. So, the question now is how much can the State protect all those school teachers who performed duty on the election day and the candidates who risked their lives and participated in the elections. After all, they were already warned by the armed groups not to be a part of the election process.Arranging elections should not be the benchmark to decide how smoothly Balochistan is heading toward normalization. The actual question is whether or not the local governments enjoy the confidence of the Baloch people. It is also pertinent to know whether or not the local governments will enjoy sufficient administrative and financial authority to perform well to win the trust of the common man. Consider: If a district mayor fails to protect a citizen from being unlawfully arrested by the Frontier Corps, such a head of the local government should prepare for public backlash. It is good to elect people to democratic institutions but it is too dangerous to send them to institutions whose stability and performance is starkly shaky and uncertain.