Re: Pakistan and India…Western Repute & Image…
This thread is starting to go off topic, but the article below will help some understand why the people of Balochistan feel so aggrieved.
By a retired Brig, finally an Army officer who realizes shooting all Balchis is not the solution
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\04\08\story_8-4-2006_pg3_4
*While the quantity of gas produced in Balochistan is only 30 percent of the country’s total production, its superior quality means that it accounts for nearly 70 percent of the gas-energy. Had they been paid royalty in accordance with the retail price and the calorific value it would be possible to provide gas throughout the province
*Dr Hassan Askari Rizvi’s article ‘The challenge of Balochistan’, (Daily Times, April 2, 2006), is as comprehensive an academic expose as can be. Those who choose to read my effort should therefore consider it a supplementary piece.
About two months ago I heard a senior Baloch politician saying that “we have Musharraf to thank for throwing our educated liberals to the Sardars, whom they always opposed, and ensuring that the illiterate join the Mullahs”. In view of the appalling implications of the statement I thought it the usual exaggeration our politicians are guilty of. However, it caused me considerable anxiety.
I have waited to talk to a considerably wide cross-section of our Baloch citizens before broaching the subject here. I have heard the same observation repeated again and again in different words.
Seven years of my uniformed service were spent in Balochistan — mostly in Quetta. I have travelled fairly extensively through most of the province and for two years during the 1970s was part of the counter-insurgency operations in and around Khuzdar. I was present when Zulfikar Ali Bhutto announced the end of the Sardari system while Doda Khan, the hunch-backed Sardar of the area and the most tyrannical of them all, was sitting besides him. I heard Mr Bhutto make the announcement and saw him place his hand on the mike, turn towards Doda Khan and say, “except you Doda Khan”! I was aware that the insurgency was politically orchestrated and that while a Baloch nationalist undercurrent has always existed, it has never threatened the federation — until perhaps now.
**While the government is essentially correct in stating that the trouble is being caused by three Sardars of the Bugti, Marri, and Mengal tribes, its statement is an over simplification. For the first time the Sardars have raised populist issues, winning the support of the educated youth, their traditional opponents. What is more, the sense of isolation and victimisation is increasing both horizontally and vertically i.e. both the number of people experiencing it and its intensity are increasing.
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**This is why there could be a genuine threat to the federation, which the government is either consciously playing down or failing to appreciate. Whatever the case, the fact that their sentiments are being misrepresented (or under-represented) is causing greater alienation among the Baloch.
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The sense of injustice comes primarily from the fact that over the years Balochistan has not received its rightful share of funds. It is also the most under-developed of our provinces. I have seen areas where people share water with animals — from a slime-covered pond. Indeed, because my thirst was so compelling, I have drunk that water because I could not wait for it to be boiled.
Unlike the other three provinces, where agriculture forms a major part of the economy, the bulk of the resources in Balochistan are sub-surface, though it does have some orchards. According to the constitution, all sub-surface resources belong to the centre. The Baloch contend that the constitution is not a sacred text, particularly since successive governments have amended it.
Natural gas from Sui was first taken to Sindh and Punjab. Many years later was it supplied to Quetta. It is still not available in most of Balochistan. Considering the gas is being produced in Balochistan, even if the centre owns it and pays a 12 percent royalty to the province in accordance with the constitution, the people of the province should, at least have the first right to its use. Admittedly laying pipelines to Quetta and beyond was technically challenging but the Baloch no longer accept the excuse or the observation that in view of the sparse population laying a network for interior Balochistan is uneconomical.
The Baloch complain that the 12 percent royalty they receive is calculated at the well-head price and not the consumer price. They also contend that while the quantity of gas produced in Balochistan is only 30 percent of the country’s total production, its superior quality means that it accounts for nearly 70 percent of the gas-energy. Had they been paid royalty in accordance with the retail price and the calorific value it would be possible to provide gas throughout the province.
The Baloch also cite incidents that might appear insignificant to others but which they believe reveal the arrogance of national leaders. President Pervez Musharaf, for example, sported a pistol on his hip when he visited Balochistan. I have often related the truism that “perceptions are more important than realities”.
**There is little doubt that the present government is diverting unprecedented sums of money towards the development of Balochistan, but as Dr Rizvi explained in his article, even that is considered exploitative. The Baloch feel that the bulk of development spending is on projects that benefit the centre and not the province.
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It is time to redress the Baloch grievances of economic ill usage. Any attempt at this point to convince them through argument that their perceptions are incorrect will be futile. Like Dr Rizvi, I believe that the only solution now lies in participatory development. The Baloch people have to be part of development planning and projects so that they can benefit directly from the funds being poured in and be party to the development that they wish to see. I submit that we cannot risk delaying this in the face of a rising Baloch nationalism and the threat it represents for the federation.
The author is a retired brigadier. He is also former vice president and founder of the Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI)