ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has pledged to rein in human rights abuses by security forces in the resource-rich Baluchistan province as a first step towards starting talks to end a long-running insurgency waged by rebels seeking an independent homeland.
The new chief minister of the province bordering Afghanistan and Iran urged security forces, who deny wrongdoing, to end a campaign of forced disappearances to support his hopes of kindling dialogue.
On Sunday, when Abdul Malik took oath, five bullet-riddled bodies were found in the province. The discoveries were interpreted by many as a signal that forces were intent on continuing what rights groups have dubbed a systematic campaign of “kill-and-dump.” “We have to create an environment in which we are in a position to invite insurgents for talks. Before I go to them, we have to take measures to prove that we want change.”
But many Baluch doubt he can deliver. A low turnout in many areas and widespread alleged irregularities in the province during the May 11 general election underscored the depths of alienation from the state.
Conflicts between separatist fighters and forces in Baluchistan receive scant attention within Pakistan, though they have implications for the rest of the country and the region.
Rich but largely unexploited reserves of copper and gold, Baluchistan also supplies much of the natural gas, feeding Pakistan’s lifeline textile industry in eastern Punjab province, and is home to a deepwater port at Gwadar. But the chronic instability in the province, which has experienced waves of revolt by Baluch nationalists since being incorporated into Pakistan in 1948, has served as a reminder of the broader fragility of the state.
A 40-year veteran of Baluch politics and an ex-senator, Malik is the first chief minister to emerge from the province’s educated middle-class rather than the ranks of tribal overlords the army has traditionally co-opted to maintain control.
He pledged to introduce “confidence-building measures” during the first 100 days of his government, including persuading the military to return missing persons believed to be held by forces.
The main separatist leaders Malik plans to approach for talks include Allah Nazar Baloch, the leader of the Baluchistan Liberation Front, Brahamdagh Bugti, the Swiss-based chief of the Baluch Republican Party, and Harbiyar Marri, an exiled nationalist who leads the Baluchistan Liberation Army.
But Malik is regarded as a traitor by many separatists, who say he welcomed Imam Bheel, a Baluch businessmen designated by the US government as a heroin trafficker, into his National Party at a public meeting in 2010.
Most believe there is little chance of change in Baluchistan unless Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who has a history of clashes with the army, can become the first civilian leader to wrest control of the Baluchistan policy from the security establishment and curb rights violations by forces. “I cannot do this alone,” Malik said. “We will all together, Nawaz Sharif and I, tell the security establishment that these things have to end.”
Hundreds of bodies bearing gunshot wounds have been found across the province in recent years. The military denies committing abuses. Separatist fighters have also been accused of killing civilians, including teachers.
They have also killed several senior members of Malik’s party and tried to kill him twice during the muted poll campaign in Baluchistan. “I may succeed, I may fail,” Malik said. “But this is the first time that Pakistan’s public at large is thinking that, maybe, Baluchistan might just be fixed.”
Reuters
