Baluchistan Needs Immediate Attention

By:  Dr.Maqsood Jafri New York

The other day, I watched the interview of Dr.Tahir Qazi, a Pakistani- American neurologist and political analyst on Rawal TV of Toronto, Canada. The anchorperson  Ms. Rubina Faisal  interviewed him on the issue of Baluchistan. He stood for the secession of Baluchistan and argued for his stance. The pertinent and pricking questions of the chairperson baffled and bewildered him as he had no solid proofs to buttress his stance. In my opinion, there are two types of Baluchis who raise hue and cry on the issue of Baluchistan.  First; the patriots who only want the economic development of Baluchistan and demand social justice and economic advancement.  These people talk of their rights as people from some other provinces talk of their rights. It is no crime. It is a genuine way and reasonable demand. The grievances of the Baluchis must be met with positive approach. Second; there are some groups who are anti-Pakistan and are secessionists. They have dirty mission. They are being provided arms and money by the enemies of Pakistan. This element should also be contacted and the people with soft views can be reverted from their ill intentions. But, the hard liners and the foreign agents must be crushed with might. No country can afford any kind of convenience and softness with the miscreants and traitors. Such people have to be dealt with iron hands. The Americans after the tragedy of 9/11 passed the Patriot Law to crush the terrorists. India brutally crushed the Sikh secessionist movement. Their Golden Temple was desecrated and demolished. Even in Kashmir, India did not spare the genuine freedom movement of the Kashmiris and bestially crushed it under the cover of Tada Law. The Palestinians are daily being shot dead by the Israeli army and no so called civilized and democratic country protests or stops India and Israel on committing unprecedented brutalities on the docile and defenseless Kashmiris and Palestinians.

The recent resolution presented in the US congress to grant the right of self-determination to the Baluchis has created furor and fury in Pakistanis. It is the conspiracy of a few pro-Indian congressmen. The American congressmen and senators are very wise people and understand that the majority of the Baluchis are patriots and only a pack of Baluchis is foreign sponsored who are secessionists. Such unsubstantial and baseless bills will find no support in American congress. This is not the issue of the right of self-determination. It is the issue of the economic and social development of the Baluchis that must be addressed. In February 1948, the Khan of Qalat had willing decided and declared to join Pakistan. The founder of Pakistan Quaid-e-Azam had written him a letter and suggested to join Pakistan which he happily did. The opponents of Pakistan claim that the Khan of Qallat was threatened by Quaid-e-Azam to join Pakistan. So under du rest he joined Pakistan. It is absolutely a false and fake plea of these miscreants. Quaid-e-Azam was a democrat and law-abiding person. He was not a fascist or aggressor. His mind set and life style was of a peace lover. The claimants of such a plea have no proof to justify their claim. Besides, a few days ago, the grand son of the Khan of Qalat  in an TV interview given to Mubashir Luqman of Dunya TV said that his grand father Khan of Qalat had told his son that he had seen the holy prophet Muhammad in dream who instructed him to join Pakistan. It is a family secret that hailed from the horses' mouth. There was no military action to annex Baluchistan with Pakistan. It was done with the sweet consent of the Khan of Baluchistan. The Soviet Union and India had been providing finance and armistice to the miscreants to dismember Pakistan. But now, India and Israel have joined to harm Pakistan.

The population of Baluchistan is only 5% of the total population of Pakistan. Out of 180 million Pakistanis, 10 million are Baluchis. But it is the largest province of Pakistan in territory. It is 43% of the total area of Pakistan. Hence, it is a province with the largest territory and the least population. What is the democratic or legal justification to separate 5% from 95% of the population? Baluchistan is full of minerals. It has gas, oil, uranium, gold and emeralds. Some of the lords of Baluchistan want to separate Baluchistan from Pakistan to grind the axe. They want to loot the natural resources of Baluchistan. Hence, it is incumbent to eliminate feudalism and lordship from Baluchistan and promote democratic culture. The secessionists criticize Pakistan for exploiting the natural resources of Baluchistan. They exploit the situation and demand the royalty of Sui gas. They say that Baluchistan is getting 1/5 of the royalty and the other provinces get full royalty. This demand should be considered accordingly. The people of Azad Kashmir also demand for the royalty of electricity produced by Mangla Dam of Mir Pur.They have been never given the royalty. According to the Pakistan constitution, the natural resources belong to the Federation. The Federal government owns the propriety rights to avoid provincial rifts. No province can claim the rights of propriety. Similar was the demand of Mujeeb-ur-Rehan. He demanded the royalty of jute for East Pakistan. This demand was a lame excuse to dismember Pakistan. Under the circumstance,the federal government must take steps to provide more budget to Baluchistan for the economic improvement of the Baluchis. We must not provide opportunities to the secessionists to exploit the situation. During the government of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, with the connivance of the fascist Iraqi regime of Saddam Hussain, the government of Baluchistan had maneuvered secession. The Soviet uninion also supported this plan. The Iraqi embassy in Islamabad was raided and ammunition was found there that was being supplied to the miscreants. Mr. Bhutto finished the government of Wali Khan and put Mr. Mangle and Wali khan in jail. He made Ali Akbar Bhugti the governor of Baluchistan who had informed Mr. Bhutto about the conspiracy of the secessionists. This patriot  was killed by the regime of General Pervez Musharraf which was a national tragedy. Such patriots are our national asset and must be honored and protected. The foreign powers want to make Greater Baluchistan. The Iranian territory Sistan and some other parts of Iran come within the fold of Baluchistan. If the Pakistani part of Baluchistan is segregated from Pakistan, then a new issue will arise about the Iranian Baluchistan. This move of secession is to disturb Pakistan and Iran. Some strategic analysts have commented that there was a time when India with the collaboration of the Soviet Union collaborated to create  Greater Baluchistan but now India is lobbying in the American circles to dismember Pakistan.

What is the simple and straight solution of the issue of Baluchistan? The present government of the Pakistan Peoples Party has allocated special funds for the economic development of Baluchistan. President Asif Ali Zardari is a Baluch. He has publicly apologized from the Baluchis for being neglected by the previous governments.It is suggested that pilot projects be initiated for the economic development in Baluchistan. The political dialogue be initiated at all levels. A commission be made and all important persons from all sections of society be engaged and involved to seek the solution. The lords  and eminent political persons like Hasil Bexanjo,Mehmoud Achakzai, Akther Mangal and Talal Bhugti be made the members of the commission. Besides, the representatives of Ulama, lawyers, professors, journalists, peasants, laborers, women and youth be included and their opinions be sought on national issues. We must apply and imply democratic modes and methods  to resolve this issue. But it must be kept in mind that the foreign agents who are involved in the activities of sabotage and terrorism must be crushed with iron hand. The laws to handle them must be immediately made in the parliament and no illegal method should be used in this process. It is a serious issue and needs our immediate attention.