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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| The deepening crisis in Balochistan |
| 2004-07-09 |
| EFL In the latest round of violence and sabotage, one of the major natural gas pipelines was blown up near the town of Ouch close to southern Punjabâs Bhawalpur district bordering on the south-western Pakistani province of Balochistan. Although nobody has yet accepted responsibility for the disrupting attack and investigations are underway, this incident follows a series of bomb blasts, waves of rocket attacks and targeting of key government and military installations in Balochistan where a low level insurgency for the last two years might now be threatening to enter a heightened phase. The events in Balochistan signify the intensification of a political crisis there. With a territory of more than 300,000 sq km, the dry, desolate and mountainous Balochistan has a population of up to seven million. Inhabited by mostly tribal ethnic groups such as the Baloch, the Brahuis and the Pashtuns, Balochistan is one of the most heterogeneous regions of Pakistan. It is home to some eight ethnic groups while 10 different languages or dialects are spoken here. The major bone of contention between the government and the Baloch nationalists has been the development of the Gwadar deep-sea port in southern Pakistan on the Arabian Sea shore. The post is being constructed with Chinese assistance. While the establishment sees it as a much-needed mega development project with a potential to transform the countryâs economy as it is expected to become the main seaport catering for the needs of the landlocked Afghanistan and Central Asian states, the Baloch fear the swift demographic changes accompanying the development of such a port will convert them into a minority in their own historic homeland. In the larger picture, Gwadar is a part of the longstanding Baloch nationalist demands, which centre on greater provincial autonomy, increased share in the vast natural resources of their province including well-established natural gas reservoirs, gold and copper mines, mineral resources and potential huge petroleum reserves. Over the past two months Balochistan has witnessed much violence often claimed by a little known group, the Baloch Liberation Army. In a late night attack on June 19 the part of the Sui airport building was blown up. On June 2 a landmine blew up a paramilitary jeep wounding five soldiers near the Uch gas field some 400 km southwest of Quetta. In another rocket attack on the FC fort in Kohlu, the administrative headquarters of Marri tribal region, at least one soldier was killed on June 29. Earlier, in May, three Chinese construction workers were killed in a bomb attack in Gwadar. Although Baloch nationalists deny any involvement in such militant activities, they point at their grievances and maintain that popular discontent can fuel large-scale instability. âThe feeling of being exploited has recently grown to an extent that people are resorting to violence,â Sanaullah Baloch said. In recent developments more than a dozen Baloch nationalist political groups have merged into four principal political parties representing different tribes and regions within the province. Most of the Marris are with Haqthawar led by Sardar Khair Baksh Marri, who led a five-year-long insurgency against the Pakistani military in 1970s. Another powerful tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti leads his Jamhoori Watan Party and is in alliance with the Brahui tribal chieftain Attaullah Mengal who heads the Balochistan National Party. The non-tribal Baloch in the coastal regions are united under the National Party of Dr. Abdul Hayee Baloch. All these political parties have closed ranks on the contentious issues. They are planning to hold a joint conference on August 1 to protest for their rights. According to Fazl-e Rahim Marwat, a regional expert at Peshawar Universityâs Pakistan Studies Centre, Balochistan has been the countryâs backwater for a long time. He says it is high time to focus and address the pressing development and political issues in the impoverished region. âFormation of an independent commission to assess that demands of Balochistanâs population will be the first step in the right direction,â he told TFT. âBalochistan needs a healing touch,â Marwat added. |
| Posted by:Paul Moloney |