Warning to Baloch militants In his speech on the occasion of the inauguration of Gwadar port, President Musharraf launched his usual tirade against the Baloch ‘militants’. In a thundering tone, he warned them to ‘surrender’ or face ‘elimination’ for opposing the development of Balochistan. The president’s fist-waving is reminiscent of his similar posturing after a missile attack on him in Kohlu, which led to an incessant military operation against putative Baloch militants, culminating in the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Bugti’s death however, could not end the so-called Baloch militancy. The danger is that by swearing to take out the Baloch militants, President Musharraf, desperate as he may be, may have further stoked the inflamed emotions in Balochistan. He could have curbed his urge to demonstrate his tough guy demeanour and used the occasion to invite the protagonists of Baloch rights to the negotiating table to address their grievances. But then all that requires statesmanship. It would be an irredeemable mistake to quarantine the nationalists in Balochistan. From 1973-77, the Centre used vehement power to crush the insurgency in Balochistan and consequently sowed the seeds of simmering Baloch disquiet. From 1977 onwards the Baloch nationalist parties joined the political mainstream in the hope that their voice would be heard and their complaints addressed. The period from 1977 to 2002 witnessed Balochistan’s nationalist parties adopting the platform of parliamentary democracy to advance their causes. The result was the presence of many nationalist stalwarts in the Senate, the National Assembly and the Balochistan Assembly. But all their efforts to transform their parliamentary presence into an opportunity to solve some of the genuine problems of Balochistan foundered on the rocks of the Centre’s obstinacy not to grant constitutional rights to the province. From the issue of removal of the concurrent list from the 1973 Constitution, to redefining the criteria for the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, to establishment of mega projects in Balochistan and negligible employment of local citizens in those projects, to meagre resources for development in the areas of education, water, etc, to the dispute over Sui gas royalty, Balochistan’s main concerns could not be assuaged. The present militancy in Balochistan is generally believed to be led by the younger generation of Baloch nationalists who feel frustrated over the Centre’s propensity to ignore their complaints and use a ham-fisted approach to deal with them. The militancy has now extended to Balochistan’s urban areas, which shows that the government has failed to restrain it. It is plain that by levelling allegations of a foreign hand behind the situation in Balochistan, or by holding Sardars responsible for this, despite the fact that almost 90 percent sardars are with the government, the government cannot resolve this problem. The kernel of the problem is Balochistan’s misgivings and its people’s lack of faith in the Centre. Unless these are addressed, no amount of development packages or military operations could pave the ground for the working of such important projects as Gwadar. While dwelling on the advantages of the Gwadar port, President Musharraf declared the intention to construct a port at Sonmiani, the second port in Balochistan. He also talked about giving scholarships and technical training to Baloch youth. These measures were negated by reports that the 30 jobs handed out by Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz to ‘local’ youth turned out to be for candidates from Sindh, leaving unemployed local youths frustrated again and agitating against the injustice. Such sleight of hand is unlikely to endear already alienated nationalists to the government, and arguably is the best way to ensure they will increasingly turn to support for the insurgency. The Post Editorial 22.3.07