Opinion - Editorials   

The Bugti fallout

The continuing unrest in Balochistan following the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti is a demonstration of the depth of anger against Islamabad's prolonged neglect of the province even as it unceasingly exploited its rich natural resources. Nawab Bugti had emerged as a spokesman for Baloch resentment. His killing does not mean the grievances have disappeared or that the insurgency has been finished off. However, before getting carried away by prophesies of `Free Balochistan' and a 1971-like situation, it would be good to remember a few facts. When East Pakistan broke away to become Bangladesh, the Bengalis were the numerically dominant group. The Baloch are a small, scattered minority, comprising not more than five per cent of the total population. Baloch militants run a small-scale operation on vast territory and are pitted against one of the most powerful militaries in the world. An insurgency in the 1970s did manage to last out four years against 80,000 troops but now, as then, it lacks resources and the capacity to control territory or carry out big strikes against the security forces. Above all, the Baloch demand is not for secession. It is for a due place for the province within Pakistan.

Can a military regime, with its tendency for authoritarian centralism, address this just demand? Much to the dismay of the Musharraf regime, the Bugti killing has become a question of democracy versus military rule. President Pervez Musharraf was completely off in his calculations, believing, against the best advice of senior politicians in the government who wanted to strike a deal with Nawab Bugti, that a stiff dose of military action would do the trick. No matter what the Government says now, it has not succeeded in clearing the impression that it took out a senior politician in a targeted military operation. The Government's support for a Bill to give more powers to provinces introduced by Opposition members two days ago in the National Assembly has not served to improve its image. In two short weeks, the Bugti killing has weakened President Musharraf politically. It has driven home what democratic elements in the country have been saying — a military regime is by its nature more comfortable with the use of force, and therefore, incapable of finding peaceful political solutions to the country's internal problems. It has reinvigorated the Opposition call for the restoration of democracy through free and fair elections in 2007, and for the President-General to shed his uniform if he wants to contest another term. Although the Government sailed past an Opposition no-confidence motion days after the Bugti killing, in reality the regime's political space has shrunk considerably. Depending on the United States' reaction to the new peace deal between the Government and militants in North Waziristan on the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, President Musharraf's corner could get tighter.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

The Bugti fallout
Right up there
National employment guarantee inaction
Corrections and clarifications
Not a good time for advocates of peace in Sri Lanka
Game is up for U.S. hegemony
Malegaon blasts
Targeting a group
On 9/11
Digital newspaper

Copyright © 2006, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu