QUETTA - The evolution of the ongoing conflict in Balochistan, its overt causes and the anticipated repercussions on the future relationship between the countrys largest province of Balochistan and the Centre have been analysed in a freshly released book on the raging Baloch nationalist movement. Renowned Baloch journalist Malik Siraj Akbars book 'The Redefined Dimensions of Baloch Nationalist Movement has attracted considerable debate in Balochistan about the rapidly changing dynamics of the nationalist movement in the province. According to the book, the situation in Balochistan could be peacefully resolved when all Baloch leaders, including those from the Marri, Mengal and Bugti tribes, had agreed in 2004 to cooperate with the two parliamentary committees formed by the caretaker Prime Minister Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain. Delay in the implementation of the recommendations proposed by the parliamentary committees led by Senator Wasim Sajjad and Mushahid Hussain Syed and the assassination of former Balochistan governor and chief minister Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti totally derailed the peace process in the resource-rich province. Siraj Akbar, who is presently a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at Arizona State Universitys prestigious Walter Cronkite School of Journalism, has argued in his 365-page book that delay in finding out a solution to the Balochistan problem has paved the way for separatist armed groups that seek independence rather than sufficing with mere provincial autonomy. A demand which was once politically advanced on the floor of the elected assemblies is now being vociferously asserted from Balochistans mountains in retaliation to the operation.