An APC on Balochistan

Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani is never short of good intentions and optimistic promises. The only problem is these hardly get fulfilled. His announcement to convene an All-Party Conference (APC) on Balochistan is one more such an undertaking; but with a profound difference that it is being organised to discuss a far more critical situation in the province than ever before. According to him, his move follows consultations with Foreign Minister Khar, Army Chief General Kayani and ISI chief Lieutenant General Pasha. His mention of these three officials obviously gives his move the colour of a perception that there is an unmistakable dimension of foreign interference in the troubled waters of Balochistan. Although, the province with a 600-mile plus coastline on the Arabian Sea has all along been Pakistan's soft under-belly but with growing tension in the region tends to bring this aspect to the fore. That foreign powers, both regional and international, have had strategic interests in this area for more than half a century is a historically well-established fact. And that the local insurgencies, often quelled with brute force, never cease to attract outside interference that is also true. To the question whether Pakistan will take up the issue with the United States, India and Afghanistan, three main foreign countries largely perceived to be promoting insurgency in Balochistan Prime Minister Gilani said "no", arguing that "it is our internal matter." But he hasn't ruled out "India's involvement in stoking Balochistan insurgency." According to him, the issue is being discussed at "appropriate forums" with New Delhi. The prime minister's comment is not very different from the one that he made some three years ago after meeting his Indian counterpart Dr Manmohan Singh at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheikh, on the sidelines of the Non-Aligned Movement's Summit earning the latter stiff rebuke on his return to New Delhi. Indications that India is deeply engaged in political instability in Balochistan in active connivance with the Kabul administration through an effective use of its Pak-Afghan border-based "consulates" were always there. Given the seriousness of the problem of foreign interference the government has to steer clear of its henceforth observed diplomatic ambivalence on the issue of foreign interference and place its case before the international community in an effective and meaningful manner. That said, yet one cannot be oblivious to the intensity of pain that the people of Balochistan have suffered over the decades as a federating unit of Pakistan; some of it inflicted on them by their own leadership, hereditary or elected but much of it caused by the highhandedness of forces tasked to ensure security in the troubled areas. Of course, the sense of deprivation and powerlessness has been a lingering issue but what has now added to their frustrations and disappointments is the gross violation of human rights. People are picked up by faces often shrouded in obscurity never to return home, devastating their families. And these cases are in thousands. May be some quarters still believe that such Gestapo measures are justified in the name of security. But that is no more the case in the world of today, for securing unqualified respect of human rights takes preference over a government's responsibility to obtain conditions of national security. The issue of human rights violations has moved to the centre stage of world public opinion, directly impacting the state policies. How its international dimension operates, we saw it first hand recently when a US congressional sub-committee brought the widely reported human rights violations under a sharp focus. It is hoped the APC, if and when it meets, would go into the myriad dimensions of the current phase of insurgency in Balochistan, particularly the issue of 'foreign hand' and rampant violation of human rights in the province. The sad coda is that all such earlier moots failed, but that is no reason this too should meet the same fate. Given that the push for the APC has apparently come from the military and the foreign ministry the effort has the positive prospects - unless the civilian setup takes the whole exercise not as a public show but works earnestly to see it succeeds. For that it will have to engage proactively with India and the Karzai government. Till then we would keep our fingers crossed. Copyright Business Recorder, 2012