No alternative to dialogue

THE guns reportedly fell silent in Balochistan on Sunday. Given the fact that no truce has been agreed upon formally by the two sides, one cannot be sure that the fighting will not start again. The province has been in the grip of an on-again-off-again civil war for over a year, but since December, when the conflict intensified, hostilities have been uninterrupted. This came in the wake of a rocket attack on the president in Kohlu after which the army decided to retaliate. According to the Baloch version, 72 people have been killed in the last few weeks, many of them women and children. If Sunday’s unofficial ceasefire is not followed up with negotiations between the two sides for an agreement on stopping hostilities and this is not underpinned with a political settlement, the Balochistan problem will continue to trouble the country. In 2004, the government in Islamabad saw the wisdom of seeking a political dialogue with the Baloch leadership. A parliamentary committee was set up to look into the problems and grievances of the province. Its sub-committee headed by Mushahid Hussain visited Balochistan and negotiated a ceasefire with the Baloch sardars. It also prepared a report making many recommendations to give the province a better deal in the country’s politics and economy.

It is a pity that this dialogue was not followed up with practical measures. No move was made to begin implementation of the report even though the four nationalist parties that are grouped together in an alliance did not welcome the Mushahid Hussain recommendations. As a result, an impression was created that the stalemate could continue indefinitely. Unsurprisingly the hardliners became impatient and the province lapsed back into turbulence. Today the country faces a dangerous situation. The underlying causes that have created so much unrest in Pakistan’s largest but most sparsely populated province have not so far been seriously addressed. Since the rocket attacks resumed and the Frontier Corps began attacking the so-called “miscreants”, the two sides have come to be locked in a confrontation that could prove to be devastating and also make a dialogue even more difficult to initiate and conduct. Nevertheless, this is something that has to be done because problems of this nature cannot be resolved at gun point.

As has been suggested by the HRCP, the government must rethink its strategy and opt for a dialogue. The immediate goal must be to negotiate a ceasefire, even if it is a temporary one. By holding fire, the two sides will at least gain a respite, necessary to start talking to each other again. If the confrontation has gone so far as to make it difficult for the government to take the initiative and extend the olive branch, it should enlist the help of a few elder statesmen and senior politicians who are no longer active in politics but continue to considerable influence because of their maturity and wisdom. They would be acceptable to the Baloch and could be requested to act as mediators to help re-start the dialogue. It is also important that the government addresses the grievances of the Baloch in all sincerity so that the economic and political backwardness of the province is removed expeditiously. There is also a need to take up other issues relating to the distribution of power in the federation. If no long-term solutions are found to these problems, fighting in the province will erupt once again.