Pakistan - Troubled Balochistan

FOLLOWING close on the heels of a similar weapons haul made public some weeks ago, authorities in Balochistan claimed on Monday to have once more seized arms, ammunition and some 5,000kg of explosives in raids over the past month or so.

Considering that the province is home to various strands of militancy and terrorism, the news is both welcome and alarming. There is, it seems, a greater effort by intelligence units to intercept these deadly consignments, while the mere thought of the consequences of not detecting and seizing the weapons and explosives is chilling.

Once again, the finger of blame has pointed towards Afghan and Indian agencies who have been accused by the provincial home minister, Mir Sarfaraz Ahmed Bugti, of indulging in ‘subversive actions’ in Balochistan.

That assertion may well be true, considering that the province is not well-policed and is a fertile ground for all manner of operators.

Similar concerns have been previously voiced before by high-ranking government officials. And even if solid proof is required to corroborate these claims, the tense relations Pakistan has had with some of its neighbours and the fact that an insurgency, even if riven by internal dissensions, has been ongoing in the province for several years, should be enough reason for greater vigilance.

At the same time, it is also true that the state needs to look beyond such facile finger-pointing and take stock of its own performance in determining what can be done to rescue Balochistan from the abyss.

For decades, the province has been deeply unhappy with the centre and its neglect of development there. Devolution has so far not had the intended effect, and Balochistan continues to record abysmal socio-economic indicators, some of the worst in the entire country.

For years, it has faced the security establishment’s wrath which gave impetus to the nationalist insurgency. To this day, the bodies of ‘missing Baloch’ turn up in various spots, despite the active interest the Supreme Court had taken in the issue under former chief justice Iftikhar Chaudhry.

To top it all, the state has also been accused of turning a blind eye to religious extremists who have added a new dimension to fear in the province.

Extreme poverty combined with ethnic cleansing, religious terrorism and intimidatory tactics by the security agencies are fast narrowing all options for salvaging the situation. In this combustible situation, which enemy agent, foreign or local, would not determinedly push on with its agenda? The state has only itself to blame.