The Hindu : International : Military solution is outdated, say Baloch leaders

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Military solution is outdated, say Baloch leaders

Nirupama Subramanian

Demand that the PPP lay out a “roadmap”
Want formal apology in Parliament

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan leaders have reacted angrily to President Pervez Musharraf’s statements about the nationalist movement in the province, and called on the Pakistan People’s Party-led government to assert its independence by spelling out its own roadmap for resolving the Baloch issue swiftly.

Retired General Musharraf said at a press conference on Saturday that Balochistan, where separatists are waging a low-level insurgency, and nationalists want maximum political autonomy within the federation of Pakistan, presented a “tough situation that has to be dealt with in tough manner.”

“Never show weakness in the face of terrorism,” he said, adding that the issue of missing persons in Balochistan, reportedly picked up by intelligence agencies, was “nothing.”

He talked about camps with trained mercenaries who were blowing up railway tracks and other installations, and said his decision to begin a military operation there was not his alone, but take in consultation “with all the stakeholders.”

“Force is only used when everything else fails, and when you use force, make sure its wins,” said General Musharraf.

During his eight-year-rule, he said, Balochistan had seen more development than at any other time. “We were spending more money there than in Punjab,” he added.

But Baloch leaders said a military solution was “an outdated” solution, and said it was on account of it that the people of the province had reached a point where sections were supporting the separatists.

Sanaullah Baloch, information secretary of the Balochistan National Party, who returned to Pakistan after 18 months of self exile, said it proved that the “establishment” — the military-civil security apparatus — still had the upper hand over the democratic government.

Old policy prevails

“It’s a disturbing view from a President who is a former general. Such a view will not help. But it is the predominant view in the establishment. Through Musharraf, the establishment is still controlling Balochistan policy,” said Mr. Baloch, who resigned from the Senate a day after rejoining it following his return to Pakistan, in protest against the troubled situation in his province.

“We thought the new government will articulate a new policy on Balochistan. But we think it is not allowed to speak its mind,” he told The Hindu, demanding that the PPP lay out a “roadmap” for the resolution of the Baloch issue.

Mr. Baloch’s resignation from the Senate stunned political circles, particularly as one of the first acts of the PPP after emerging as the single largest party in the February 18 elections was to apologise for the “injustices” done to the Baloch people through the decades.

But the BNP Senator said what was required was a more formal apology, “like the one given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of Australia” to the indigenous aboriginal population of the country in Parliament. “I resigned because as a member of parliament, I failed to convince the powers-that-be of the need to treat the Baloch people as equal citizens,” he said.

Abdul Hayee Baloch, central president of the National Party, said unless Pakistan’s rulers accepted that Pakistan was a “multinational state”, the “Baloch national question” would remain unresolved.

Like the BNP, the NP also boycotted the February 18 elections. Dr. Baloch said the new government in Islamabad had made no difference to the situation of the province “because the army and establishment do not want to solve the problem” and the parliament had not yet been able to establish its supremacy or sovereignty from the President.

“Balochistan is the same in the present regime as it was in the past,” he said, adding that his party was now focusing on mobilizing and uniting the people and all the nationalist parties on a single platform in order to project the grievances of the province.

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