Balochistan beckons

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has released a report on “Balochistan: Blinkered slide into chaos”. The report provides evidence of the chaotic conditions of law and order in the province. The Chairperson of the Commission has strongly criticised the government’s apathy and neglect of the worsening situation in the province where “civilian authority is practically non-existent and everything is run by the security forces.” While presenting the report it was stated that the agents of state, insurgents and extremists operating in Balochistan shared a common disregard of citizens’ rights.
Disappearances and target killings continue. The provincial government has practically left it to the military or para-military outfits to deal with the situation. The Human Rights Commission Report provides details of 140 missing persons whose mutilated bodies were found during the last one year, on roadsides with torture marks.
The violence is perpetrated not only by insurgents or separatists, but also by extremists. The victims include members of ethnic and religious minorities. Scores of settlers – mostly Punjabis – have been killed. According to one estimate, 200,000 “settlers” have left the province and moved to Punjab and other places. (Some are said to have returned to Balochistan.) Amongst those killed were politicians, professors, doctors, students, businessmen and skilled workers. Many non-Punjabis too have been gunned down, including lecturers, teachers and government servants.
The insurgency picked up with the killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in August 2006, giving rise to a movement for independence. No serious and sustained effort has been made to address the grievances of the politically active elements. Akhtar Mengal, who himself held the office of the Chief Minister of the province, now refuses to talk with the Pakistani authorities. He is keen to bring in interlocutors from the UN or other international agencies to negotiate a settlement. Some Bugti and Marri radicals also operate from outside Pakistan. They openly talk of receiving assistance from foreign countries, including India. Off and on there is, in the media and amongst government circles, talk of Indian involvement in the insurgency, but no concrete evidence is provided. The Interior Minister once said that there was ample proof of India’s support to the separatists. Later, however, he appeared less certain.