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Balochistan: who will bell the cat?
By Saeed Minhas
ISLAMABAD: When Jan Jamali is presiding over an Upper House session, Balochistan is bound to become the talking point, and so was the case on Monday, as our languishing seniors from across the board brought their bedroom conversations out in the open with only a couple of ministers, a handful of colleagues and a few press folks to listen to.
Each one, as per their understanding of the matter and their share of the tilt – even the MQM and the PPP – tried to raise alarms about the worsening situation in an economically and socially-deprived province, with a wish that if ministers were not available, then at least the federal secretaries concerned should have taken a note of their speeches.
But since the ministers had to cut the birthday cake of President Asif Ali Zardari’s 55th spring, the secretaries also preferred to stick to their nine-to-five routine instead of listening to all the hue and cry our wise-guys thought they were making.
Adviser to the PM Raza Rabbani’s emotional outburst and warning to the oligarchs of the country that “the have-nots are about to bring a revolution” sounded so rudimentary that hardly anyone raised an eyebrow – except the few concerned ones sitting in the hall and waiting for their turn to deliver their speeches. But one cannot ignore the fact that Balochistan is reeling under lots of miseries and all that our seniors were trying to do was paint a grim picture with their words.
Out in the newly-built cafeteria, some old guards shed some light on the gory details of the volatile province, where the provincial chief minister is either on a leave, or even if he is in Quetta, is considered on leave, due to his ‘healthy habits of dozing – or day-dreaming about the Rinds’. You listen to Mir Hasil Bazinjo, Maulana Sheerani, Jan Jamali or people such as Khattak, Manzoor Ghichki, Rauf Sasoli, the simple picture emerging about Balochistan is that it is slipping out of the hands like dry sand from clenched fist.
Elimination of moderates and total indifference of the provincial government is making even the few steps announced by the federal government in the form of the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package look so marginal that separatists and ultra-secessionists are fast establishing no-go-areas outside all cantonments in the province.
An old guard, who has seen the late 40s, mid 70s and Musharraf’s iron-fist military operations, believes that “it’s better to do something even so late now than to cut a sorry figure later”. He said that when 60 percent of the province is not allowed to teach or study anything about the father of the nation, Pakistan’s history, and where children are not allowed to sing the national anthem at their schools or even the Pakistani flag is not hoisted at government buildings, how can we agree with the federal bureaucrats and the khakis that “the situation is under control”.
As if Balochistan was not enough, a senior lot from Pakhtunkhawa started questioning the federal bureaucracy for misleading the rulers of Islamabad about the real issues of the masses in their insurgency-torn areas. When all this was going on, how could one stop the MQM and even Sindhi nationalists from raising their voices about the never-ending target killings in Karachi?
To be honest, it was nothing but paint-a-gloomy-day contest in the Senate, where Jan Jamali made sure that a few ministers present in the House – they too petered out perhaps knowing Jamali’s intent – do not interrupt the members from venting their anger and grievances. Jamali, however, allowed his old comrade Rabbani to calm down the nerves of the seniors by playing on both sides of the wicket. Rabbani was furious over the previous regimes, but was hopeful that the present government would bring some structural changes to save the situation. But as some seniors opined, while leaving the House, Rabbani’s suggestion is akin to putting old wine in a new bottle, which according to them is not going to work.
Some companions of Talha, however, were of the view that instead of reviving the bureaucracy, it would be much wiser to reshuffle the political administration of Balochistan. This was a view shared by many hailing from Balochistan and was further strengthened by a JUI Maulana who said that what should we expect from these bureaucrats, who are fighting for their grades by showing only rosy pictures to the president and the prime minister. He recalled that the senior bureaucrat in charge of the Interior Ministry doesn’t even have the courage to seek an inquiry report from the Balochistan FC IG – who happens to be a serving general.
As he startled everyone by disclosing about the ‘daring’ federal bureaucrats, another one asked us “isn’t this the same babu who used to be the ADC of Ziaul Haq and once was dubbed a Grade 66 officer in Islamabad because he was holding three Grade 22 positions at the same time”. The answer was a big yes from the Maulana, who added that “he is the same one who is boasting around these days that finally after playing golf with Zia, cricket with Sharif and spin-doctoring with Malik, he will be retiring in peace with his amassed properties”.
Anyway, he is not the only one in Islamabad, there are others, who, either by playing the regional card or gender card, get close to the highest political offices and thus get so powerful that even people such as Latif Khosa can only complain about them to the media after getting a kick out of the stadium.
Other than bureaucrats, one wonders that despite having a huge presence in the Upper House, why can the Pakhtuns not unite to get things moving in the right direction, not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, but also in Balochistan? Look at the configuration of the Senate, be it the political expediencies or the power of money, the fact remains that more Pakhtuns represent Balochistan than the Baloch themselves, and if combined with the Pakhtuns from KP and even the few from Punjab and Sindh, they are a force to reckon with. But why they are so fragmented, we will try to find out in our next column.
By Saeed Minhas
ISLAMABAD: When Jan Jamali is presiding over an Upper House session, Balochistan is bound to become the talking point, and so was the case on Monday, as our languishing seniors from across the board brought their bedroom conversations out in the open with only a couple of ministers, a handful of colleagues and a few press folks to listen to.
Each one, as per their understanding of the matter and their share of the tilt – even the MQM and the PPP – tried to raise alarms about the worsening situation in an economically and socially-deprived province, with a wish that if ministers were not available, then at least the federal secretaries concerned should have taken a note of their speeches.
But since the ministers had to cut the birthday cake of President Asif Ali Zardari’s 55th spring, the secretaries also preferred to stick to their nine-to-five routine instead of listening to all the hue and cry our wise-guys thought they were making.
Adviser to the PM Raza Rabbani’s emotional outburst and warning to the oligarchs of the country that “the have-nots are about to bring a revolution” sounded so rudimentary that hardly anyone raised an eyebrow – except the few concerned ones sitting in the hall and waiting for their turn to deliver their speeches. But one cannot ignore the fact that Balochistan is reeling under lots of miseries and all that our seniors were trying to do was paint a grim picture with their words.
Out in the newly-built cafeteria, some old guards shed some light on the gory details of the volatile province, where the provincial chief minister is either on a leave, or even if he is in Quetta, is considered on leave, due to his ‘healthy habits of dozing – or day-dreaming about the Rinds’. You listen to Mir Hasil Bazinjo, Maulana Sheerani, Jan Jamali or people such as Khattak, Manzoor Ghichki, Rauf Sasoli, the simple picture emerging about Balochistan is that it is slipping out of the hands like dry sand from clenched fist.
Elimination of moderates and total indifference of the provincial government is making even the few steps announced by the federal government in the form of the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package look so marginal that separatists and ultra-secessionists are fast establishing no-go-areas outside all cantonments in the province.
An old guard, who has seen the late 40s, mid 70s and Musharraf’s iron-fist military operations, believes that “it’s better to do something even so late now than to cut a sorry figure later”. He said that when 60 percent of the province is not allowed to teach or study anything about the father of the nation, Pakistan’s history, and where children are not allowed to sing the national anthem at their schools or even the Pakistani flag is not hoisted at government buildings, how can we agree with the federal bureaucrats and the khakis that “the situation is under control”.
As if Balochistan was not enough, a senior lot from Pakhtunkhawa started questioning the federal bureaucracy for misleading the rulers of Islamabad about the real issues of the masses in their insurgency-torn areas. When all this was going on, how could one stop the MQM and even Sindhi nationalists from raising their voices about the never-ending target killings in Karachi?
To be honest, it was nothing but paint-a-gloomy-day contest in the Senate, where Jan Jamali made sure that a few ministers present in the House – they too petered out perhaps knowing Jamali’s intent – do not interrupt the members from venting their anger and grievances. Jamali, however, allowed his old comrade Rabbani to calm down the nerves of the seniors by playing on both sides of the wicket. Rabbani was furious over the previous regimes, but was hopeful that the present government would bring some structural changes to save the situation. But as some seniors opined, while leaving the House, Rabbani’s suggestion is akin to putting old wine in a new bottle, which according to them is not going to work.
Some companions of Talha, however, were of the view that instead of reviving the bureaucracy, it would be much wiser to reshuffle the political administration of Balochistan. This was a view shared by many hailing from Balochistan and was further strengthened by a JUI Maulana who said that what should we expect from these bureaucrats, who are fighting for their grades by showing only rosy pictures to the president and the prime minister. He recalled that the senior bureaucrat in charge of the Interior Ministry doesn’t even have the courage to seek an inquiry report from the Balochistan FC IG – who happens to be a serving general.
As he startled everyone by disclosing about the ‘daring’ federal bureaucrats, another one asked us “isn’t this the same babu who used to be the ADC of Ziaul Haq and once was dubbed a Grade 66 officer in Islamabad because he was holding three Grade 22 positions at the same time”. The answer was a big yes from the Maulana, who added that “he is the same one who is boasting around these days that finally after playing golf with Zia, cricket with Sharif and spin-doctoring with Malik, he will be retiring in peace with his amassed properties”.
Anyway, he is not the only one in Islamabad, there are others, who, either by playing the regional card or gender card, get close to the highest political offices and thus get so powerful that even people such as Latif Khosa can only complain about them to the media after getting a kick out of the stadium.
Other than bureaucrats, one wonders that despite having a huge presence in the Upper House, why can the Pakhtuns not unite to get things moving in the right direction, not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhawa, but also in Balochistan? Look at the configuration of the Senate, be it the political expediencies or the power of money, the fact remains that more Pakhtuns represent Balochistan than the Baloch themselves, and if combined with the Pakhtuns from KP and even the few from Punjab and Sindh, they are a force to reckon with. But why they are so fragmented, we will try to find out in our next column.
