TERROR stalks the land again. Baluchistan is in the line of fire and the province of Baluchistan is bleeding profusely. The dark and sinister forces of obscurantism and extremism are striking with a vengeance all over the provinces of KPK and Baluchistan. On Saturday 9th of November the railway station in Quetta became a scene of carnage, death and destruction when a suicide bomber blew himself up as the Peshawar bound Jaffar Express was about to leave the platform leaving 29 dead and over 50 injured. The Baluchistan Liberation Army or the BLA an ethnic Baluch nationalist party has claimed responsibility for this latest act of terrorism. The BLA has been banned and declared a terrorist organization by the Govt. of Pakistan. The BLA has a long list of grievances against the federal Govt. they believe that the Federal Govt. is exploiting the resources of Baluchistan and is guilty of neglecting the development of the province.
The Federal Govt. denies and refutes all these accusations and claims that some foreign powers are pulling the strings to manipulate some disgruntled Baluchi youth with the objective of creating unrest in the province and to damage Pak China relations and to derail the infrastructural projects under construction as part of the CPEC.Whatever the reasons for this senseless killings the brutal carnage at the railway station in Quetta is a vivid reminder that terrorism is getting out of control once again and this time it is not only the religiously motivated obscurantist groups like the TTP and Al-Qaeda but also the well trained and established nationalist groups like the BLA. The Majeed Brigade of the BLA has is said to be behind this latest carnage in Quetta. This faction of the BLA has been responsible for numerous atrocities taking the lives of hundreds of innocent citizens that includes members of security agencies and the armed forces and so far this bloodthirsty entity has remained out of range of our law enforcement agencies. So far all official channels have just issued statements in condemning the BLA and promising to deal with them with an iron hand.
It appears that the BLA is now targeting Chinese nationals working on the CPEC projects and this poses a grave threat to the Chinese assisted development projects and Pakistan China relations. Baluchistan is now the most sensitive and restive area of the country and along with the KPK areas it is now evident that terror activities have increased to alarming levels because during the last one year there have been over 1500 terror attacks by the TTP and the BLA. Baluchistan is in the vicious grip of political security problems and the way it is being addressed does not seem to be working and needs a complete overhaul to destroy the cancer of terrorism that is destroying the very foundations of the restive provinces of Baluchistan and KPK. Our Southwestern province of Baluchistan the biggest province of the country lies in close proximity to Iran and Afghanistan has seen a great spike in terrorist attacks since the beginning of this year. The army and security agencies have been targeted by extremist religious groups like the ISIS, TTP, and Baluch secessionist factions like the BLA. Very recently nine people lost their lives who became victims of an IED explosion on a police van tasked with guarding a polio vaccination team in Mastung a small town about 32 miles from Quetta.The outlawed BLA is quick to claim responsibility for all terrorist attacks in Baluchistan but the spin doctors on the official pay roll just concoct fairy tales about some mysterious foreign hands or blame RAW Mossad and others but the fail to acknowledge that these are our own indigenous monsters and extremists running amok and running circles around our security agencies and law enforcement departments.
The most recent action of the BLA in the Quetta railway station shows the capacity of the terror machine to launch multiple attacks at the time and place of their choosing. This latest atrocity of the BLA is also a huge question mark on the abilities of the security forces in the province to deal with the terrorist groups like the BLA and the TTP in Baluchistan and KPK that happen to be the chosen targets of the terror machines.The problem haunting Baluchistan is about political and civic rights of the Baluchi people who are demanding their rightful share in the economic pie of the state and their sense of belonging to the federation of Pakistan. Baluchi youth are beset with problems of unemployment and they are angry and frustrated.Their anger cannot be assuaged by armed actions.
The province today is reminiscent of East Pakistan in the 70s The Bengali youth were not satisfied with the treatment they were getting from the federation and after the 1970 elections they launched a movement for their legitimate rights and the “Operation Searchlight” launched by the military Govt. proved to be the last nail in the coffin of a united Pakistan. Today the powers that be have to understand that Baluchistan is a political problem and not a terrorism problem. The Govt. failed to recognize the seriousness and requirement of the political problem in East Pakistan and the result was a bloody civil war culminating in secession of the province from Pakistan.
The problem of Baluchistan has to be tackled politically by a genuine political process. According to veteran Baluchi leader Mir Hasil Bizenjo Baluch leaders demanding rights for the Baluch people with in the Federation of Pakistan are being ignored and thus more and more space is being created for the militant separatist groups. This is how he put it (words to that effect): “We are losing traction. The separatists target us while the federation is not prepared to take us seriously. Many in my party have been killed by the groups. If we cannot be effective for the Baluch, there will be no one left to find a non-violent solution.”
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
