Balochistan conundrum| Translate into Urdu IDAWN Article 28-08-2024|

IT was a well-coordinated wave of terrorist attacks across the troubled province that shook the country. The militants not only targeted security installations but also massacred bus passengers after checking their identity. It was one of bloodiest days in insurgency-hit Balochistan, leaving scores of people, including several security personnel, dead.

An outlawed Baloch separatist group has claimed responsibility. While the latest surge in violence demonstrates the growing capacity of the separatist groups to carry out high-profile terrorist attacks, it also raises questions about the state’s failure to deal with the serious security challenge extending from KP to Balochistan.

Both strategically located provinces have become battlegrounds for diverse militant groups challenging the writ of the state. While the security forces are fighting the group that seeks to enforce retrogressive Taliban rule in parts of KP, the Baloch separatist organisations have expanded their operations in restive Balochistan. The latest surge in violence has exposed the vulnerability of an increasingly fragmented state. The large toll of casualties suffered by the security forces underscores the gravity of the situation.

It is apparent that the Baloch militants are now better organised and seem to have a stronger support base that allows them to operate effectively. Unsurprisingly, all the attacks have taken place in a region that has long been the epicentre of political discontent. The low-intensity insurgency that has gripped the province for the past two decades is fast turning into a full-blown insurrection with the growing alienation of the local population. The latest high-profile militant attacks took place after weeks-long mass protests in southern Balochistan.

There is a need to look at the roots of the political unrest that is feeding into the rising insurgency.

There were not only targeted terrorist attacks, the militants reportedly also clashed with the security forces and blocked the highways connecting the province with other parts of the country. Some unconfirmed footage showed gunmen roaming the streets of Turbat, the second-largest town of the province. Government officials were also targeted. There was complete mayhem with the administration’s collapse in the troubled districts.

Most worrisome is the report of passengers being offloaded from buses on the main highway linking the province with Punjab and being shot in cold blood. This was not the first time; but it was the most heinous incident. The militants are increasingly targeting non-locals, most of them workers. Such incidents have given a horrific turn to the separatist militancy.

Indeed, no state can tolerate such acts of violence and challenge to its writ. There can be no two views about the state’s right to the use of force to fight off the menace of terrorism. But there is also a need to look at the roots of the political unrest that is feeding into the rising insurgency in the province. Despite its resort to kinetic measures, the state has failed to contain the insurgency. In fact, it has gained ground with the increasing alienation of the population that has been deprived of its democratic and economic rights.

The use of force to suppress protests and growing incidents of enforced disappearances has fuelled anger, particularly among the youth, providing the separatist groups with an increasing supply of recruits. What happened this week must not be seen in isolation. The responsibility of the tragic incident also lies with the state’s failure to address the genuine demands of the people.

The latest wave of terrorist attacks also marked the death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti, a former governor and chief minister of Balochistan, and one of the most powerful tribal chieftains. He was killed in a military operation on Aug 26, 2006. His death contributed to what is described as the third (and longest) insurgency in the province.

Unlike the previous two, the nucleus of the current insurgency is not the region dominated by tribal chiefs. Most of the leaders of the separatist groups come from a middle-class, educated background rather than a tribal one. Writing in this space on Balochistan recently, Tariq Khosa described how state atrocities turned Dr Allah Nazar, a gold medallist from Bolan Medical College, into a dissident.

The leader of the Baloch Liberation Front, Allah Nazar had earlier been picked up by intelligence agencies in 2005. His brother was killed in illegal custody. The story of other dissidents is not very different. The continuing enforced disappearances and the dumping of tortured dead bodies are pushing many of the victims’ family members towards militancy. Even those who have been peacefully protesting against the state excesses are branded traitors.

It is the flawed approach of the security apparatus that has largely been responsible for the present state of affairs in the province. I remember being at a media briefing given by a top security official in Quetta in January 2017. He described “sub-nationalism” as a major problem. According to him, the main task before the security agencies was to turn it into nationalism. There was no answer when I asked why it was wrong to be a Baloch nationalist and how it clashed with one being a Pakistani at the same time.

This colonial mindset has also been the reason for the growing alienation of the Baloch nationalist leaders who chose to participate in mainstream politics. Every effort is made to keep the nationalist leaders out of power. The way political parties are created and installed in power in the province has made a mockery of the democratic process. The Feb 8 election was perhaps the worst example of the way the system is being manipulated in the province.

But the government, with its questionable legitimacy, is now being challenged by people’s power, as demonstrated by the recent protest marches in Gwadar and Turbat. The protesters are not separatist or terrorists but are being pushed to the wall by the state’s actions. No country can fight terrorism by alienating its population. There is no denying that some external forces are involved in supporting separatist groups in carrying out terrorist attacks. But outside forces can only fish in troubled waters.