The Balochistan cauldron

Akhtar Ali produced an excellent write-up on Balochistan, particularly on its economic potential for future development, carried by Business Recorder in two parts on March 1 and 2. I am not challenging his right as an economist. The main complaint of the Baloch nationalists is not economic exploitation of Balochistan.
It is oppression and suppression denying the Baloch their basic and fundamental rights using brute force. No writer, particularly the super Pakistani patriot, is condemning the oppression and suppression of the people for the past six decades. Unfortunately, they all support the brutal action against the Baloch for six decades.
The Baloch conflict is around political and constitutional rights denied to this date. Instead, brute force has been used to suppress the political opponents of the government of the day. There is a continuity of the 'Closed Door' policy of the British colonial rulers who successfully implemented it in suppressing Baloch aspirations for freedom. The Baloch struggle was legitimate against the British colonial rulers as they came as invaders and occupied Balochistan. Rather, it was the criminal mind of the Britons that had destroyed an independent and sovereign state of Balochistan in the neighbourhood of Iran and Afghanistan.
The Britons were opposed to the development of Balochistan. They did not exploit the resources of Balochistan. Rather they did not allow anyone to develop the resources. This is to inform Akhtar Ali that there is still a ban on all foreigners in Balochistan from the British colonial days. The government of Pakistan had recently arrested a foreign national interested in making some substantial investment in Gwadar, the most prestigious project of the state of Pakistan. I ask Akhtar Ali how he will bring the needed FDI for the exploitation of the mineral wealth of Balochistan, when the entry of all foreign nationals is banned to this date.
The Britons were afraid that exploiting the resources for development would create consciousness among the Baloch people intensifying the struggle for independence and seeking an early overthrow of British colonial rule. It was the policy of the Britons not to open schools, educational institutions or hospitals or build roads for the benefit of the communities in all parts of Balochistan. Even oil and gas found were capped and the details were never transferred to the successor government of Pakistan.
The prime complaint was that both the British and Pakistan opposed the development of Balochistan and all efforts were sabotaged that were meant to develop Balochistan. First, Balochistan was denied provincial status till the revival of the historic provinces of West Pakistan following the dismemberment of Pakistan or the forced expulsion of Bangladesh.
To be very brief, almost all the mega-projects in Balochistan were completed in three decades and not years. The pace of economic development had been kept very low for strategic reasons. The State of Pakistan ensured zero inflow of resources for the development of various regions. It is the people who made their lives sustainable using local resources and the state of Pakistan had no role in improving the lot of the people. Sui gas was a gift from God to develop Punjab and Sindh with a multiplier effect.
Even the state chased out foreign donors and friendly countries from making investment in the social sector. Strangely the outgoing Iranian Ambassador to Pakistan complained to newsmen that the Iranian government was not allowed to distribute relief goods among the flood-affected people of Balochistan. During the prolonged drought spread over a decade, the Government disallowed foreign donors helping the drought-affected people. Only overseas Pakistanis, not the United States, Saudi Arabia, Gulf countries and Iran, were asked to help their Baloch brethren!
Thus there is no issue of economic exploitation of the Baloch people and their resources. Thus Akhtar Ali's parallel to the African states is totally misplaced. In case of representative democracy, all the chosen representatives are handpicked and are being used to advance the policy of the security agencies. They are allowed to usurp the funds and misappropriate it safely and it should not be used for developing the infrastructure or benefiting the people or their own political constituents. They are asked to use the resources for personal or family use and not for the people. It is by order.
The issue is to stop the State from using brute force against unarmed civilians, all non-combatants, mostly intellectuals, writers, poets, teachers, doctors, musicians, artists, students and political opponents without any discrimination. Baloch society is a highly politicised society.
Thus the Baloch conflict is political and the government should find only a political and constitutional solution. Baloch should not be considered or treated as backward tribesmen of the primitive age. It is a modern society. Thus our humble suggestion is that Baloch should not be brought at par with the Africans as Baloch are part and parcel of Pakistan and Iran, two developed and nuclear countries of the region, to say the least.