EDITORIAL: There is no let-up in bad news coming from the restive Balochistan province. Last Friday, in a horrific attack at a coalmining area in Dukki 21 colliers were brutally murdered and another seven left injured.
Some of them were killed inside their rooms, while others were lined up outside and shot dead.
Private security guards at the place did put up resistance, but were no match for the invaders, around 35 to 40 in number and laced with rockets and hand grenades that they used to destroy 10 mines.
All of the victims except for three Afghans were from the Dukki district, populated mostly by Pashtuns. So far, no militant group has claimed responsibility for the carnage (Balochistan Liberation Army, for example, has denied involvement in the massacre).
This is not the first attack on poor people working in mines or construction projects.
Although in some previous incidents religious extremists have targeted miners belonging to the hapless Shia Hazara community, Baloch insurgents remain focused on hitting Chinese interests and killing guest workers from other provinces, particularly Punjab, for the policies of its ruling elites.
Just last month, gunmen barged into an under-construction house in Panjgur, and killed in cold blood seven Punjabi labourers.
Weeks before that, a large group of militants offloaded passengers and drivers from buses and trucks at the inter-provincial highway, and after checking their identities executed 23 people hailing from Punjab.
Following the appalling atrocity in Dukki, a complete strike was observed. All commercial activities in and around the district came to a halt whilst the miners refused to resume work, rightly demanding foolproof security.
Speaking to reporters the next day at the Civil Hospital in Quetta where he had gone to see the injured miners, Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti ruled out the need for a military operation – an unnecessary assertion anyway considering the existing state of affairs.
He also said a meeting of the provincial apex committee had been called to review the security plan. It needs to be revaluated. The methods used thus far to control insurgency have failed to deliver the desired results. In fact, there have been a series of violent events in recent weeks and months.
A major issue feeding trouble is that of enforced disappearances. It must be resolved in a satisfactory manner. If there is any relevance of South Africa-like Truth and Reconciliation exercise to our situation, as frequently advocated by some politicians within the wider political context, it is to Balochistan. That though is expecting the impossible.
The security forces have to carry out intelligence-based operations against the militants, but that alone will not eradicate the problem.
The quarters concerned need to rethink heavy reliance on the use of force to deal with the insurgency, which derives sustenance from the Baloch people’s sense of political and economic deprivation further execrated by enforced disappearances.
It is imperative, therefore, that the powers that be pay heed to sane voices that call for addressing the causes of unrest through dialogue with genuine leadership of that troubled part of the federation.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024