For months and months now we have been reading about how the beautiful province of Balochistan is being mishandled and how it is about to blow up in our faces any minute.
Analyst after analyst has opined that we ought to carry a collective guilt for neglecting the province. The fruits, the embroideries, the-oh-such-good-looking men, the minerals and resources etc all want to get out from the federation, is the general gist.
It is all so removed from the reality of the wonderful province that anyone, who has been an army brat and has spent some growing-up years in Quetta can recall from the last few decades before the new century. The Balochistan we hear and read about now sounds like an altogether another place, unsafe for man and beast.
There is a crying need to establish that not all the people, who live in Balochistan, want independence. From among the roughly eight million population of the province, 40 percent are Pashtuns and 20 percent Brahvi-speaking Baloch, who are very different from the tribal Baloch.
There is a common perception that the military is the main culprit responsible for the chaotic mayhem that prevails, as if all the problems of Balochistan have been created by them. The missing persons issue is made out to be the main issue of the province, but no real heed is paid to the ethnic killings, lawlessness, poverty, deprivation and lack of development that exists, as it also does all along the Saraiki belt and parts of Sindh.
The present provincial government of Balochistan was given the most funds for development compared to elected representatives of other provinces, but there is no development on ground to show for it - while the aeroplane that the Chief Minister recently purchased is there for all to see.
The confusion that remains in Pakistani minds about the roles of the military and the elected representatives is the most evident in the Balochistan context. While it is agreed that it is the people of a place who have to elect whoever they please to govern them, the sight of a 65-member Assembly, in which all but one member are ministers and advisors is quite comical.
The sole opposition member is currently under arrest and the age-old tribal feud between the Rinds and Raisanis has a role to play in that also. It is the people of Balochistan who need to be rescued from these practices of yore and brought into the mainstream with opportunities and education.
That there is an insurgency that is being propped up by foreign elements in the province is a fact that cannot be denied. If that is the case, then who else but the faujis can play a role to counter such an effort? While no sane person who will expect or invite the military to take over the government, the right of defending the country is theirs and they have to be allowed to do their duty.
The deliberate, multipronged effort at demoralising the army so that it cannot perform its basic duties to the best of its abilities is something that has to be avoided. It cannot overcome unless it is supported by the people and government both like it was in Swat.
It is also very well known that it is a few tribal sardars, who believe they can keep all powers in their hands by keeping their tribes backward and under subjugation. These tribal followers are the ones resorting to militancy and killing our army personnel at every opportunity.
As it is unlikely that the tribal heads or their followers are going to respond favourably to overtures and promises of reconciliation, the catch 22 is which policy to adopt towards them - if one tries to appease them, then these separatists and militants run wild and suppress the pro-Pakistan population, which is in vast majority.
The city of Quetta that one can recall was one where, apart from a few good Parsi and Christian families, there were many Punjabi and Sindhi families, too, who had settled there well before partition and continued to live in harmony for years afterwards. Quite a few members of these families taught at the local schools and colleges and there was never any question of not being accepted.
The Command and Staff College, Quetta, was always and still is a most prestigious posting - whether as a student or as a Directing Staff. It is the same wonderful city and the beautiful province that has to be revived - because it is what the overwhelming majority desires. And we believe and practise democracy, don’t we?
We should be speaking and listening to the common man of Balochistan, instead of the self-proclaimed leaders, who are cruel and selfish both by instinct and training.
The only reply that comes to mind when listening to all the bad mouthing that the separatists do about our faujis can be summed up thus:
Aap bhi apni adaaon pai zara ghor kerain,
Hum agar arz karien gai tau shikait ho gi.
Postscript: Of late, the loadshedding situation has been better. It is not only due to the fact that people have switched off their air conditioners. It has, it has been reported, something to do with the Secretary of the relevant ministry, Nargis Sethi, spending a lot of her time in the control room in her ministry from where the electricity supply to the country can be monitored. She is focused and determined and a role model for how to go about a job. That she is a woman to boot is something that all Pakistani women can take pride in. In fact, I would suggest, give more such daunting responsibilities to women. Chances are they will do better than men and may even pull us out of our multiple problems!

The writer is a public relations and event management professional based in Islamabad.

Email: tallatazim@yahoo.com