Roadmap of disintegration of Balochistan!

Saturday, August 04, 2012 - IN his most elaborate statement made both on the floor of the Senate on Thursday and later outside the parliament house, Interior Minister Rehman Malik made startling revelations about the conspiracy being hatched by internal and external forces to destabilize Pakistan by engineering unrest in the largest province of the country ie Balochistan. In a very shocking disclosure, he told lawmakers that Balochistan is epicenter of world game and a roadmap has been prepared by forces inimical to Pakistan to destabilize and disintegrate Balochistan.

One can also realize the seriousness of the situation from remarks of the Minister that the situation was similar to that of East Pakistan in 1971 and that foreign aggression could not be ruled out. He also talked about terrorist activities of BLA, huge finances being provided to the terrorist outfit by some foreign powers, Indian link and New Delhi’s clout over BLA. His assertion that the Kunar province of Afghanistan from where most of the infiltration into Pakistan were taking place was under control of the US and NATO forces also confirms external dimension of the problem besides attempts made at the instance of Washington to internationalize Balochistan issue. We have been hearing about foreign hand in Balochistan but it is, perhaps, for the first time that such alarming disclosures have been made by the man directly responsible for security and law and order in the country. It is quite obvious that the statement of the Minister was based on the information he might have got from intelligence sources and therefore, it should serve as an eye-opener for all concerned to get their acts together to resolve the issue on priority basis. Luckily, the Cabinet Committee on Balochistan is also seized with the issue these days and is expected to visit Quetta next week for consultations with different stakeholders. We hope that the Committee would be able to firm up comprehensive but implementable recommendations and these would be taken care of by provincial and federal governments on urgent basis.