The Baluchistan problem

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

This interview just shows how much still needs to be done for the people of Baluchistan. I am just pasting excerpts of it, anyone interested in the full article will have to register with the TFT:

During a recent visit to Quetta and other parts of Balochistan, TFT spoke with various people including the nationalist leader, Senator Moheem Khan Baloch (Balochistan National Party-Awami) to ascertain his views on what the nationalists describe as ‘the discrimination being meted out to Balochistan’. ** Although an ally of the ruling PML-Q **, Moheem Khan spoke from the heart about what he called ‘pressing socio-economic problems of the province’. Excerpts:

The Friday Times: You have been very critical of the role of Frontier Corps (FC) in Balochistan.

Moheem Khan Baloch: The FC has become the biggest problem for the common man in Balochistan. In the name of anti-smuggling and anti-drugs drive, the FC extorts money from the poor. And this extortion has reached unbelievable proportions. The FC personnel have become so brazen about money that they tell people that while they could disgrace them and their uniform, they cannot pass through a check post without paying up. The 342 FC check posts are used for minting money. [At this point, Senator Khan said that his response must be printed as it stands: “I insist that this be published, even if I am hanged or imprisoned for making this statement,” he said.]

How would you characterize the situation in Balochistan? What are the problems?

The major problem is the poor literacy rate. Illiteracy has enabled the tribal sardars to dominate provincial politics. We have never been given government jobs and representation proportionate to our population. There are other burning issues, the Gwadar Port is just one of them, though it now looms large. Although I am part of the treasury benches in parliament, I have serious reservations on the Gwadar project. Similarly, Saindak and Hub power projects as well as the issue of supply of natural gas to all the areas of the provinces need to be given priority.

What are the reservations?

** In the Saindak project, for example, around 1, 200 Balochi youth were initially given jobs. The number is now down to 150 and the project managers are importing manpower from other provinces. In Hubco, out of 325 posts, only 37 low-cadre posts have been given to the people from Balochistan while 288 personnel from other provinces have been inducted. ** Some people argue that Balochistan lacks skilled manpower. That may not be entirely wrong but for a large part is a convenient argument to hide the reality. My demand is that a high powered committee be formed to look into the matter and ascertain whether people, who may qualify for these posts, are available in Balochistan or not; even whether those qualified are indeed given the jobs.

What are your objections to the Gwadar project? It is a big project and has much promise for Balochistan?

Look at the foundation of this project. ** The 22-member supervisory Gwadar Port Authority does not have a single person from Balochistan. Its headquarters are in Defence, Karachi. Similarly, the six-member Gwadar Port Trust does not have a single person from Balochistan and is headquartered in Islamabad. Why this blatant discrimination, we ask. How can this project be useful to Balochistan if at the end of the day it does not involve the people of the province? ** I am afraid our people will continue to be ignored when the project begins to be executed. That might even force us to part ways with the government if Islamabad fails to rectify the situation.

Why are your complaints not being redressed? Prime Minister Jamali hails from Balochistan. You have your own chief minister in the province but you are still complaining?

When 342 members of the national assembly cannot do any legislation and are unable to come up with a single cross-provincial welfare-oriented policy, you can forget about an individual, even a prime minister. The whole system is flawed. One person, however well-meaning, cannot do much.

Do you think it is because of disregard for the constitution?

Yes. We have never followed the constitution in its letter and spirit. Look at the situation now. The current national assembly has not been able to carry out any legislation in the last one-year. It is because we don’t have a system in place. There is actually no rule of law.

link

2

I find it strange that so many self proclaimed nationalist leaders feel it is ok to ally with the the ruling junta when it suits them.

Politics truly make strange bedfellows

3

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Imdad Ali: *
I find it strange that so many self proclaimed nationalist leaders feel it is ok to ally with the the ruling junta when it suits them.

Politics truly make strange bedfellows
[/QUOTE]

Exactly... Its a dirty game

4

The whole Balouchistan is rather unfortunate. I mean how can you expect them to be happy with Pakistan's current situation if youdo things like import people to work on projects in their province when they have massive unemployment already. That is obviously unfair.

5

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by elahi: *
That is obviously unfair.
[/QUOTE]
Your observation is based on common sense, something people in Islamabad lack.

6

elahi

the same feeling of depravation is in other areas too, rural sindh ppl would say the same, and ppl in metropolitan centers like Karachi would say the same. The high costs of everything and the high unemployment in skilled, unskileld and educated ppl alike.

7

[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by Fraudz: *
elahi

the same feeling of depravation is in other areas too, rural sindh ppl would say the same, and ppl in metropolitan centers like Karachi would say the same. The high costs of everything and the high unemployment in skilled, unskileld and educated ppl alike.
[/QUOTE]
The people of tribal areas, the people of southern punjab, the people of northern areas would all say the same. And they would all be right to one degree or another.

Regional differences are not going to mend themslves. They need proper development by the government.

8

Frauz you are right about rural Sindh, and Imdad is right about Southern Punjab and the Northern areas as well.. but if you go district wise, Baluchistan and the Baloch in particular have the highest proportion of poverty though, and the least representation in the power structure, politically comparable only to the Northern areas.

In the group of top 31 districts of Pakistan in terms of their HDI (Human Development index), Baluchistan with the smallest share at 9%. Conversely in the group of bottom 30 districts of Pakistan (in terms of HDI) Baluchistan as much as 47% and NWFP 34%. In the group of middle 30 districts (in terms of HDI), both Punjab and Sindh have relatively high shares, 32% and 29% respectively, while NWFP has 21% and Baluchistan 18%.

Out of the 10 poorest districts in Pakistan, 5 ( or 25% of all Baluchistan districts districts)are from Baluchistan and in Baloch dominated districts, 4 are from NWFP and mostly Pashtun dominates areas and only one from Sindh. *

To add to that, Baluch representation in power structures like the Civil Service and Army is minimal, , they are also poorly represented in the Senate because of the way the provinces borders have been drawn out…so the Baluch problem is a serious one.

9

What's happening in Southern Punjab..? Can the experts shed some light.

10

**Senator Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), asked about development schemes in his own province, said that Balochistan is Pakistan’s poorest area, about 6.5 million people and with more than 60 percent of the population living in poverty. The literacy rate is about 12 percent, only 2 percent of them women. From 1999 to 2001, Baloch said, more than 3,000 died of in a long-running drought.

However, Baloch said, poverty-reduction programs are strategic in nature and don’t appear to favor the individual poor. The federal government, Baloch complained, devotes the biggest part of its budget to law and order although the province is largely peaceful. If the amount devoted to Balochistan were to be divided by total provincial population, each individual would get about 2 US cents annually.

Infant mortality, Baloch said, is 120 per 1000 births ( For example Sweden is 3 per 1000, and Iran is 36 per thousand). Similarly, he continued, the situation in education and lack of educational facilities has resulted in the mushrooming growth of madrassas that are producing religious fundamentalists and Jihadis and supplementing sectarianism.

Baloch described privatization as illegal and unconstitutional. National assets that are being privatized, he complained, were joint property of all of Pakistan’s four federated units, but were sold off without the approval of the provinces, which were given no share of the proceeds.

Baloch says that no significant foreign direct investment has appeared in his province over the last six years, and that the small amount that has come has not affected the poor. The Gawadar Mega Project, a new mega port project that was signed on May 12, 2001 with the Chinese government, was also done without consultation with the Balochistan government, he said, nor was the government a party or witness to the agreement.

Baloch said the memorandum of understanding signed by the two countries regarding the project has also not yet been made public. The project is designed to promote the interest of few and the people of Balochistan are not given any employment in the project, Baloch charged, saying that even the labor force is coming from outside the province.

The IMF report is thus complex, complicated and conditioned in jargon. All loans are extended on extremely complex terms and conditions that are acceptable to policymakers in theory but are not feasible for the practical victims who are the majority of Pakistan's poverty-stricken.

Loans are given by the consortium in mixed currencies but are taken back in US dollars only. To alleviate poverty, the IMF has told the government to impose more taxes, impractical at best as these taxes pose an increased burden on the economy of an already deprived majority. Poverty cannot be alleviated at the cost of further increasing debts at compound interest/mark-up.

In sum, it appears there is a need to establish a proactive approach towards communication arrangements for the donor agencies’ programs and their projects. Their plans also need to be devised in view of the existing realities. The IMF's report doesn’t seem to reflect that reality.**

11

Outlaw: In proportion to population of the country, the highest numbers of those living in poverty Nationally in Pakistan would ** probably** be from South Punjab. Spending in Punjab provincially and Nationally tends to focus more on Northern Punjab, especially during the 90's almost all the big projects were North Punjab focussed (that have more to do with nawaz Sharif though). Regional disparities within provinces are very raraely researched in depth, so in NWFP, most development work focuses around the Peshawar valley. While in Sindh it's focused in the South, towards Karachi, while In Baluchistan it again focuses around quetta.

12
  • There is also a wide variation in the human development indices within each province. For example in the Punjab, while Jhelum has the highest HDI (0.703), Muzzafargarh has the lowest (0.459). The size and overall development of a district also affects its HDI rank due to intra district variations in income and social infrastructure. Thus for example Lahore has an HDI rank of 0.558 compared to 0.703 for Jhelum because of the much greater inequality of incomes and level of social infrastructure available to the poor and rich parts of Lahore district respectively.*

Just to add to the previous post,...this is taken from the UN report I posted.

13

[QUOTE]
Originally posted by Zakk: *
Outlaw: In proportion to population of the country, the highest numbers of those living in poverty Nationally in Pakistan would * probably** be from South Punjab. Spending in Punjab provincially and Nationally tends to focus more on Northern Punjab, especially during the 90's almost all the big projects were North Punjab focussed (that have more to do with nawaz Sharif though). Regional disparities within provinces are very raraely researched in depth, so in NWFP, most development work focuses around the Peshawar valley. While in Sindh it's focused in the South, towards Karachi, while In Baluchistan it again focuses around quetta.
[/QUOTE]

I beg to disagree with the fact that Southern Punjab has some of the highest level of poverty in Pakistan. I think there are areas in Central parts of Sind, Baluchistan, and bordering areas of these three provinces where the situation is much worst.

However, poverty is a major problem in the rural areas of Southern Punjab like any other part of Pakistan. But again, these areas form the most fertile part of Pakistan and yield the highest output of cotton and other crops. There is a great functional irrigations system, and people have access to basic amenities such as power, highways, and some form of health care. I would like to point towards social inequality and feudal system more than anything for some of the problems that exist. Plus, the poor choices on behalf of political parties for granting party tickets to the most inept, corrupt, and callous people from the area.

No doubt the Sharifs diverted most of the developmental funds in Northern Punjab, but this thing has been happening ever since the partition. Surprisingly, there’s lesser degree of revulsion amongst the masses towards the government. It has sort of become an accepted fact.

If you travel to areas such as Kashmore, DG Khan, and the adjacent areas of Baluchistan, the situation is horrendous. The part of road which connects Multan with Quetta is mostly unpaved in Baluchistan, and for the stretch of at least 1200 kms there’ isn’t a single major hospital. One has to go to either Quetta or Multan for treatment. I think if there is sense of depravation and injustice, to a larger extent it’s understandable and justified. But, at the same time, the feudal and tribal landlords have made things much more worst through repression on the local level. I seem to think of it as a major contributing factor towards the backwardness of these areas more than anything.

We need to change that, and the only way this can be accomplished is through spreading education, and providing people with a basic sense of relief. The money from the huge mining projects should be spent on these areas, the revenues from the new ports, huge natural gas reserves ought to be spent locally. I know that it’s a long struggle, but there are lots of positive things happening recently in Pakistan, and I believe the change is on the horizon.

14

Outlaw you misunderstood what I said, in %age of ethnic group and on provicnial and district poverty levels Baluchistan is the poorest. My point was since Southern Punjabs population is quite large..if you combine the whole population of the poor people in Pakistan, it is possible Southern Punjab maybe one of the larger groups. Even so in real terms of access to health care, water, food and education the Baluchis have suffered to the extreme, in the whole province you only have one major Hospital in Quetta, and for far flung areas that is extremely fara way (after all baluchistan is the biggest province)

15

Baluchistan is not a problem, its a challenge...:)

16

Every comment here was constructive and correct thus far. There are major issues faced in Baluchistan. The sense of alienation, economic deprivation and the lack of representation all contribute to this problem.

Here we have an entire province that has been historically neglected, and when there has been spending, it is concentrated in the Pashtun dominated Northern Districts. The interesting side note is that there are more Baluchis outside of the Baluchistan province than within. However, it should never be an excuse to exclude the Baluchis.

17

Balochistan problem

It was nice to read the thoughts of two senators from Balochistan highlighting some of the causes of Balochistan's backwardness and the problems faced by the people of that province. But what I fail to understand is if the so-called nationalists themselves can't unite on a single platform to fight for the rights of their people, then how on earth they expect others to pay heed to their rhetoric!

Balochistan has been neglected for a long time. When the leaders of NAP tried to fight for the rights of their people they were imprisoned and charges of treason were instituted against them. It's another matter that most of them betrayed their cause and instead opted for luxurious lifestyles. And that's the case with the present breed of Baloch politicians.

But it has been happening all along. The people of Balochistan have not only been deprived of their legitimate rights by the Centre but also by the so-called Baloch leaders and bureaucrats themselves. These leaders and bureaucrats have looted and plundered Balochistan's resources with each other's connivance under the patronage of the federal government. And today they talk about the rights of Balochistan. What a shame!

Only a sincere and committed leadership, united on a single platform, can take Balochistan out of deprivation and lead it towards the path of development. There is no other way.

18

^ I agree, but again the peculiar make up of Baluchistan comes to the fore. Even if all the Baluchis votes for one party, theyd still be a bare majority in the provincial assembly ebcause of the rpovinces ethnic make up. Secondly you you have certain Baluch groups who will always side with the Federal government because they are the beneficiaries of the federal governments largesse, in particular the Zehri's and Jams of lasbela. Secondly if a single Baluch party won every National Assemblt seat from ethnic Baluch seats, they'd barely represent 5% of the National Assembly and 10% of the senate. Again with such a limited representation how do they make their voice felt?

19

When I say "united on a single platform" that means not only Baloch but Pakthtoon leaders as well. The problems of Baloch and Pakhtoon areas of Balochistan are quite similar --- underdevelopment, illiteracy, unemployment, etc. Only a joint struggle could lead to their resolutions.

As far as the number of seats in assemblies are concerned, I believe they do not count much. Look at the PML(Q) for example. It has a majority in parliament today, but has it been effective? No. Because they are non-committed people sitting in assemblies for their own selfish interests. I believe even a single member, with commitment, dedication and political will, can turn the tides and bring revolutionary changes.

So my friend the number of seats in the assembly doesn't guarantee security for your rights. It's your commitment to the cause that counts.