If Arsalan Iftikhar did not deserve the post on the newly-formed Board of Investment of Balochistan (BoI) he should not have been appointed. But if he did deserve on merit he should not have been sacked under political pressure of Imran Khan or anyone else. In democratic ambience political opponents and detractors keep raising pressure on governments, but the elected government leaders exhibit flexibility and accommodation only when dictated by larger national interest. It's pity that Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch had to come all the way to Islamabad and explain his position on the Arsalan appointment at a press conference with his party boss nodding his head in acquiescence. In the eyes of Imran Khan nothing has been right from general election to military operation in North Waziristan to appointments by his adversaries' governments. Once given in under pressure one won't be surprised Chief Minister Dr Malik subjected to more pressure. Had his predecessor Nawab Aslam Raisani been in his place such a confessional ritual was just not possible. No one asked Raisani, not even his party bosses, why he stayed put incommunicado in London when hundreds of Hazara Shia men, women and children spent night after night in sub-zero temperatures of Quetta by the side of their dear-ones killed by terrorists. Dr Malik may commit more such 'sins' as irregular appointment of Arsalan Iftikhar and may publicly seek atonement - because he comes from the masses and not from a powerful tribal background. That is the change at the grassroots; it must be pampered and patronised for the people of Balochistan to bring down the high walls of tribalism. The ongoing insurgency in the province is not the first of its kind - it is the fifth since national independence - but this is the first time a non-feudal politician is the chief executive of Balochistan and open to public accountability.
Rightly then what he told media men about the tempo of insurgency in his province and if his government's attempts to reconcile the nationalists have made any progress merits serious attention - for, not he alone but all of us, wherever we are, in government or out of it, owe it to the people of Balochistan that they break out of their socio-political backwardness and economic underdevelopment. "We [and the nationalists] come from two different schools of thought. They talk about independence through the use of force and we are democratic people... . We will continue our efforts, whether they accept them or not". It will be a crass naivety to believe that Dr Malik, heading a shaky coalition government that he does, would have turned the tables on the insurgents just in one year. It was not going to be, and it has not happened. But one important difference between now and before is the fairly generous forgive-and-forget offer, pedalled by a civilian administration, to the errant insurgents. But for the sectarian violence, which too has foreign-based promoters like clandestine help reaching insurgents, the Malik government had a better chance of initiating a dialogue with disgruntled nationalists. So now that chaos and anarchy obtain in Balochistan the nationalists find reconciliation a much less attractive option. One would think there are prospects of positive contacts with radical nationalists if and when sectarian-based violence abates.
That said one is still quite sceptic of the Chief Minister's claim that during the last one year law and order situation in Balochistan has improved so much so that peace has been established in 90 percent of the province. The insurgents like any other guerrilla force are never expected to be interested in holding the area; their activity is hit and run, for which they would always need a larger landscape. If rest of 10 percent is still in their control then it is still a big enough place for them to rest, recover and resume their disruptive operations and certainly a huge challenge for the government. The present provincial government has the right credentials to engage them; but it is also under an obligation to restore normality across entire Balochistan, including foreign-funded projects especially infrastructure link Gwadar with rest of the country and beyond. No doubt, the challenges his government confronts are massive, but no less positively placed is Chief Minister Dr Malik who is bold enough to admit his mistakes. He is, therefore, Islamabad's best bet on the table for a constructive dialogue with angry and dissatisfied nationalists.
Comments
Comments are closed.