Every day a couple of bombs go off somewhere in Balochistan destroying a bridge, a culvert, a railway track, an electricity tower or a gas pipeline. The insurgents have become so audacious that even the chief minister’s house isn’t safe from mortar attacks anymore. Every day army convoys and outposts in Waziristan are attacked and the death toll of soldiers and local collaborators is rising. Even the interior minister has conceded that Al-Qaeda/Taliban have spread “trouble” in the neighbouring districts of Bannu, Dera Ismail Khan and Tank. So what’s the Musharraf regime doing about this?Its strategy in Balochistan is simplistic. Since the insurgents don’t have a visible face or front, and since the Balochistan puppet provincial parliament isn’t too pushed about the issues of rights raised by the insurgents, there is no one with whom the federal government can negotiate the problem. Meanwhile, Sardar Ataullah Mengal is always ready to denounce the “army action” in Balochistan but refuses to act as a spokesman of the Baloch Liberation Army, or whatever. Nawab Khair Bux Marri is 80+ and still as silent and intransigent as ever. And Nawab Akbar Bugti, the trade unionist from Dera Bugti, is languishing in his “secret” cave hideout and giving interviews to foreigners reclaiming his rights as a Baloch “nationalist” after having spent the last thirty five years slamming Messrs Mengal and Marri. Under the circumstances, the federal government, governor, corps commander and IG-FC have jointly determined to run the show with the advice of Military Intelligence. This is based on trying to “win hearts and minds” with “development projects” and promising employment prospects (30,000 new jobs will come online, says the prime minister) and propping up political and tribal opponents of the three rebellious sardars and nawabs (thousands of Kalpar Bugtis ousted by Akbar Bugti from their homelands years ago have been encouraged to return, dig their heels in and lend a helping hand against the insurgents).
In Waziristan, too, steps are being taken to reclaim the initiative. Along with resolute military action, the government is developing plans to buy off and disarm the rebels. The US has pledged money for suitable “development projects” so that strong pro-government vested interests are created. At the same time, the government intends to call a “grand jirga” in the tribal areas consisting of elders, clerics, local councilors and government officials and entrust it with the job of identifying “anti-state elements” and persuading rebellious tribesmen not to shelter foreign militants.