The “Balochistan Package” seems to have turned the heat on rather than meeting the aimed target of diffusing it. Newly empowered media provided the platform to spread the sentiments of Baloch nationalist leaders sparking a debate, which would further raise the mercury. The resolution of issues seems to have become more complicated, especially after the elimination of the Bugti tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti. The nationalist leadership has slipped down in to the hands of explosively charged youths who have been brought up amid stories of exploitation of Balochistan’s resources, alleged excesses of the center, and the alleged highhandedness of law enforcement organizations in the country. This will all fuel the spewing volcano of Baloch nationalism.

Struggling Baloch nationalist leaders have come up with over half a dozen issues to be resolved to their satisfaction. The most sensitive of these include a permanent cap on the planned military cantonments in Balochistan; the issue of missing persons; compensation and rehabilitation of Baloch Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s); the removal of allegedly government installed tribal chiefs, particularly in the Dera Bugti area.

The elected government acted swiftly announcing amnesty to most of Baloch leaders by dropping charges against them, which seems to have put a lid over the fuming Balochs or perhaps, this is  the lull before the storm. However, a temporary “un-guaranteed” halt over the planned cantonments in Balochistan, is not acceptable to Baloch nationalist leaders in the backdrop of a consistent history of betrayal by the center. The missing persons issue, allegedly arrested by law enforcers appears to be beyond the parameters of the government to resolve.    

The Balochistan Package aid that was announced without consulting all stakes holders is perceived as alms. It has repeated the mistakes of the past rather than correcting them. Placing two prominent Baloch tribal chiefs, Zulfiqar Magsi and Aslam Raisani as the governor and chief minister respectively, it was probably thought to have been enough in this hush-hush affair.

An effective resolution of the nagging issues in Balochistan does not lie in the hastily prepared aid packages that lack due homework but in arresting the root cause of Baloch grievances. Over the decades, an earlier nonexistent enlightened middle class has emerged in the province where the tribal system is still intact in its pure form; any further ignoring of this phenomenon in any policy making process on Balochistan would be disastrous. An amicable resolution of issues lies in narrowing the gulf of an ever present and consistently consolidating trust deficit, and building the required trust by taking certain concrete measures as mentioned by Nawab Akbar Bugti.
 
“Whatever is under our lands will still be there even after 50 years. If not now, the oil and gas and minerals in our lands would be exploited in future, and if not me, my grand children or great grand children would benefit,” late Nawab Akber Bugti sharply replied to senior foreign diplomats in a private meeting organized in October 1997. “Our life is going on in the same manner for centuries and would continue to go on,” sitting on a simple Baloch rug the Bugti tribal chief roared.

 

Almost a decade ago, in his heavily cordoned the off-Jinnah road residence in the provincial capital Quetta, sitting cross-legged with an arrow-straight back unusual for someone in his 70s, the Nawab continued to bulldoze his honorable guests while generously serving a huge variety of fresh and dry fruits. He said, “why should there be any exploitation of natural resources, if the owner of the land doesn’t get the due share in profits.” The natural gas from Sui in the Bugti tribal area alone provides more than 50 per cent of the natural gas of the country.

The Nawab hurled a counter argument towards the senior diplomats feasting on the best fruits in Balochistan saying, “Who owns what’s on and under the ground in the United States, of course, the owner of the land. But, here government takes all.” Identifying the bone-of-contention that “there’s a serious need to have a constitutional amendment to go further on this matter,” the Bugti tribal chief authoritatively concluded discussion on the subject.