Devil Soul
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Bugti’s invitation to separatists
EDITORIAL — UPDATED ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO
The state has to demonstrate the capacity to concede the legitimate grievances of the Baloch.—Facebook page
Any development towards resolving the long-running insurgency in Balochistan is cause for cautious optimism
In a statement issued from Geneva on Sunday, Brahmdagh Bugti — president of the Baloch Republican Party — invited a number of Baloch leaders, including those heading banned pro-independence groups, for negotiations to sort out their differences.
He emphasised the importance of forging unity in their ranks in order to better represent the cause of the Baloch. While requesting that such a meeting be held within a month in Switzerland, where he currently resides in self-exile, the Baloch leader expressed his willingness to participate in the talks via video link if they were held in any other European country.
Also read: Brahamdagh invites all insurgent groups for talks
Mr Bugti’s suggestion is a sound one: it is by now well known there are serious divisions in the hitherto unified insurgency, both over resources and strategy.
When the BRP leader in August said he was prepared to give up his demand for an independent Balochistan if the people so desired, and engage in dialogue with the government provided the military operation was halted and the forces withdrawn, some separatist leaders voiced their displeasure at his about-turn.
For the provincial government though, it was a vindication of their attempts to bring the ‘angry Baloch’ to the negotiating table.
After all, Mr Bugti — given his antecedents as the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti whose death at the hands of the military exacerbated the current insurgency — was regarded as being the most recalcitrant of them all.
However, forward movement on that score hinges upon the Bugti scion’s ability to convince his compatriots to forgo their armed struggle in favour of a political settlement, and this appears to be a step in that direction.
At the same time, the factors underlying recent developments should be noted. Mr Bugti’s volte-face is believed to be linked in no small measure to the sustained security operations in his ancestral lands, home to the Sui gas field and where new, potentially yet more lucrative energy resources are waiting to be tapped.
Where the government is concerned — not to mention the military with its heavy footprint in Balochistan — the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been the catalyst for a different strategy: no longer is it enough to merely contain the violence in Balochistan, mostly through brute force that has led to more alienation and reprisals.
That realisation explains the amnesty offered to insurgents renouncing violence, the tactic of playing up the spectacle of hundreds of purported rebels laying down their arms in response, as well as the approach to separatist leaders abroad.
For a viable peace, however, the state has to demonstrate the capacity to concede the legitimate grievances of the Baloch, not strong-arm its leaders into a humiliating surrender.
The question is: does it have the vision, or indeed the ability, to finesse a lasting solution from this moment?
Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2015
EDITORIAL — UPDATED ABOUT 5 HOURS AGO
Any development towards resolving the long-running insurgency in Balochistan is cause for cautious optimism
In a statement issued from Geneva on Sunday, Brahmdagh Bugti — president of the Baloch Republican Party — invited a number of Baloch leaders, including those heading banned pro-independence groups, for negotiations to sort out their differences.
He emphasised the importance of forging unity in their ranks in order to better represent the cause of the Baloch. While requesting that such a meeting be held within a month in Switzerland, where he currently resides in self-exile, the Baloch leader expressed his willingness to participate in the talks via video link if they were held in any other European country.
Also read: Brahamdagh invites all insurgent groups for talks
Mr Bugti’s suggestion is a sound one: it is by now well known there are serious divisions in the hitherto unified insurgency, both over resources and strategy.
When the BRP leader in August said he was prepared to give up his demand for an independent Balochistan if the people so desired, and engage in dialogue with the government provided the military operation was halted and the forces withdrawn, some separatist leaders voiced their displeasure at his about-turn.
For the provincial government though, it was a vindication of their attempts to bring the ‘angry Baloch’ to the negotiating table.
After all, Mr Bugti — given his antecedents as the grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti whose death at the hands of the military exacerbated the current insurgency — was regarded as being the most recalcitrant of them all.
However, forward movement on that score hinges upon the Bugti scion’s ability to convince his compatriots to forgo their armed struggle in favour of a political settlement, and this appears to be a step in that direction.
At the same time, the factors underlying recent developments should be noted. Mr Bugti’s volte-face is believed to be linked in no small measure to the sustained security operations in his ancestral lands, home to the Sui gas field and where new, potentially yet more lucrative energy resources are waiting to be tapped.
Where the government is concerned — not to mention the military with its heavy footprint in Balochistan — the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor has been the catalyst for a different strategy: no longer is it enough to merely contain the violence in Balochistan, mostly through brute force that has led to more alienation and reprisals.
That realisation explains the amnesty offered to insurgents renouncing violence, the tactic of playing up the spectacle of hundreds of purported rebels laying down their arms in response, as well as the approach to separatist leaders abroad.
For a viable peace, however, the state has to demonstrate the capacity to concede the legitimate grievances of the Baloch, not strong-arm its leaders into a humiliating surrender.
The question is: does it have the vision, or indeed the ability, to finesse a lasting solution from this moment?
Published in Dawn, November 17th, 2015
