EDITORIAL: As if people living in Balochistan didn’t have enough problems already. Now, a blood feud between rival groups of the powerful Mengal tribe there, who gladly broke the ceasefire arranged by tribal elders last week, has erupted afresh; killing some and leaving others injured in the Wadh area of Khuzdar district. Such fights are so important for these gangs and their leaders that they have no qualms about shedding innocent blood, shutting down the whole place, and forcing poor, wretched people, especially minorities, to leave everything behind and move to safe areas of the province.
The first question that begs an urgent answer is why, after all the precedents, was the state still absent from the scene and the same old tribal elders, who accept and advocate such disputes and an essential part of the area’s fabric, were left to arbitrate not just this clash but, effectively, the fate of the people there. Even if we assume, for argument’s sake, that these jirgas can play a helping hand, it must still be to assist and facilitate the state as it establishes its writ over the whole place, not, under any circumstances, in isolation.
Yet here we didn’t only have an official vacuum, but authorities actually played down the gravity of the situation. News reports have been crying out loud for days that the whole area is shut down because of the fight, bringing bazaars, trade, businesses, even schools, to a standstill and forcing people to run for their lives with only the clothes on their backs; which, in some cases, accounts for almost all of their belongings. Those that remain now face food shortage because even though some people are fleeing the fighting, there’s not much transport into the place. But officials have simply brushed aside such concerns and said that they’ve received no reports of food shortage, only limited migration.
Whenever or however this ugly fight ends, and whoever comes out on top, it’s very safe to say that there will be similar episodes down the road, with the same elders making the same gestures and, mostly, rival groups ignoring their pleas. This is because the state has never put its foot down and established its authority like the rulebook demands. This is nothing short of incredible. Because Balochistan is already overflowing with every type of agency that litters the country’s security landscape. From police to rangers to proper military to intelligence agencies and special forces; everybody has a solid presence in the troubled province.
That gangs and jirgas are still able to dictate events, almost always for the worse, is therefore a serious indictment of the state machinery. This state of affairs is all the more shocking because of the central position of Balochistan in CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor), which is the country’s best chance to upgrade its infrastructure and improve the lives of its people. Incidents like the Mengal tribe infighting not only hurt the people and the country, but also that important factor that is central to the wellbeing of all modern states – investor confidence.
All this goes to show all over again, like most recent developments in this Islamic republic, that the political elite is not really interested in the real affairs and problems of the people. It’s for a reason that headlines are dominated by trivialities that have no impact whatsoever on the lives of most Pakistanis. And even as the nation remains fixated with which political party holds the constitution dearer, the poor, suffering people of Wadh are left wondering what’s next for them with the jirga having failed and the state still nowhere to be seen.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2023
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