Balochistan SOS

The fact of the matter is that Balochistan presents a far graver problem than FATA in terms of Pakistan’s future security and integrity. Because the terrorism and militancy in Balochistan is more targeted, and focused on security personnel, strategic plants and those seen as government collaborators, national focus remains diverted to the more sensational nondiscriminatory and more lethal killings through suicide bombings and bomb blasts that are thought to emanate from the Taliban militants of FATA. But the fast-paced alienation of the Baloch from the state of Pakistan requires a rapid politico-economic response from the state. By allowing ourselves to be diverted to FATA under the usual pressure from the US, we are tending to ignore the Balochistan problem even as external forces are busy exploiting this situation and giving ample succour to the militants who they hope will ignite the fissiparous tendencies within the province. It is time the state offered to welcome back the Prodigal Balochs who are prepared to accept the state and negotiate with it. It is time the green and white crescent and star flew all over Pakistani Balochistan again and was raised across the province by the people of the land itself.