THE targeted killing of Balochistan's Minister for Education was a deadly reminder of the ongoing terrorism in that province. It is unfortunate that the federal government, apart from declaratory platitudes expressing support and good intent, has failed to move substantively to resolve the problems in that deprived part of Pakistan. The irony is that on Balochistan everyone knows what should be done - that is political and economic solutions to resolve the feeling of discrimination and neglect that are harboured there. With each passing day, the hatred and suspicions mount on all sides and increasing polarisation is becoming ever more evident. After all, the targeted Minister, Shafiq Ahmed Khan, was a strong opponent of the use of military force in the province and a strong proponent apparently of Baloch rights. Yet, because he was in the provincial government, he became a target for the terrorists.
Worse still, our enemies outside are feeding this terrorism in Balochistan and exploiting the people's resentment towards the state. Kabul continues to house the militant leadership. A critical question our leaders should pose to the US is why it, as the major occupation force in Afghanistan, is unable or unwilling to prevent the militants from using Afghanistan for launching of operations against Pakistan? Or is it a deliberate policy of the US to keep Balochistan destabilised, so as to hinder cooperative ventures like the Iran-Pakistan pipeline to be operationalised; and also to allow themselves space for launching terrorism through Jundullah into Iran's Sistan province?
The fact of the matter is that Balochistan presents a far graver problem than FATA in terms of Pakistan's future security and integrity. Because the terrorism and militancy in Balochistan is more targeted, and focused on security personnel, strategic plants and those seen as government collaborators, national focus remains diverted to the more sensational nondiscriminatory and more lethal killings through suicide bombings and bomb blasts that are thought to emanate from the Taliban militants of FATA. But the fast-paced alienation of the Baloch from the state of Pakistan requires a rapid politico-economic response from the state. By allowing ourselves to be diverted to FATA under the usual pressure from the US, we are tending to ignore the Balochistan problem even as external forces are busy exploiting this situation and giving ample succour to the militants who they hope will ignite the fissiparous tendencies within the province. It is time the state offered to welcome back the Prodigal Balochs who are prepared to accept the state and negotiate with it. It is time the green and white crescent and star flew all over Pakistani Balochistan again and was raised across the province by the people of the land itself.
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