The need to act fast

The unresolved issue of provincial autonomy has a way of stirring up passions in parliamentary debates and discussions. So it was on Thursday during the Senate debate on the Finance Bill, 2009. Senator Dr Abdul Malik said that Baloch rights have been usurped, and that urgent measures are needed to repair the damage.
He urged the government to allocate more funds to the education sector in Balochistan and also construct small dams to help the province overcome water shortage. Senator Syed Javed Ali Shah stressed the need for ensuring provincial autonomy.
It hardly needs saying that the Baloch sense of deprivation and lack of say in the management of the province's resources are at the heart of the ongoing insurgency in that least developed unit of the federation. There has been recognition of the problem but reluctance to redress it. When General Pervez Musharraf took over power nearly ten years ago, one of the first things he did was to announce a seven-point agenda that included removal of inter-provincial disharmony. Yet it was under his watch that the simmering Baloch discontent turned into a raging insurgency. As a consequence, what would have possibly calmed down the Baloch anger has become irrelevant now.
Creditably for it, President Zardari's government seems to be seized of the gravity of the situation, and has said it would be willing to bow to the Baloch wishes, even if that meant making constitutional amendments. A committee headed by Senator Mian Raza Rabbani is already working to make recommendations in consultation with the stakeholders, also taking into consideration the suggestions of the previous two parliamentary committees.
Earlier this month, ie, on June 10, Prime Minister Gilani made a brief visit to Quetta where he may have eased some of the tension in the air when he said, "the government is fully cognisant of the deprivation and injustice done to the province in the past." More importantly, he announced a plan for the purpose. The Prime Minister said the government would host an All Parties' Conference and hold discussions in the light of the special committee's recommendations so as to arrive at resolution.
The situation in the province being as explosive as it is in the aftermath of the killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders last April, the government must act sooner rather than later to settle the autonomy issue, which has created disaffection against the federation in general and Punjab in particular.