The situation in Balochistan is disappointing; if not alarming. People live in panic and fear. It is fear and insecurity which rules the day in large number of cities, particularly Quetta with bomb blasts, target killing, kidnapping and threats. The settlers, having come from different parts of the country and living there before or since partition, may be the immediate sufferers, but the indigenous Baloch is equally suffering. Many of them have lost lives in bomb blasts, target killing and counted as missing people. One can witness a frequent scene of protests where Baloch women and children are demonstrating in front of the city press club with banners in their hands for their loved ones. The day to day shutter down and wheel jam strikes in Quetta and other cities have not only made the lives of the masses miserable but also inflicted great losses on the economy of the province already in poor state due to the lack of industrial and agricultural infrastructure. The crisis of penetration is growing without a remedy in sight. No matter whatever devices of the remedy may be in offing, there is a need of the diagnosis of the problem. What are the fault lines? There is a declining testimony of the trust building of Baloch leaders and people. Trust building is very important for the viability of a system based on representation and welfare. Moreover a system based on representation was neither allowed nor encouraged to take root in the country. The growing crises of political development at the cost of military coups against civilian rules and disruption of democratic process have confirmed their beliefs that democracy in Pakistan has neither been allowed nor encouraged. The displacement of a civilian government at the end of the day by the 'might' have been taken as a dim hope for better future, but the hope is no longer cherished. The praetorian ruler type role in Pakistan with its civilian authoritarian outlook where popular political parties and leadership was purged and bribed in favour of a crown political party, particularly the one from 1999 to 2008 is accountable for today's woos of Balochistan. Had dialogue been held between Nawab Bugti and the then government the situation would have been different. Undoubtedly the incident had a negative impact on the Baloch Nationalist parties which led them to boycott the elections 2008. The alienation of Baloch nationalists from the system was the major fault line with foreseen political instability of the system. Nationalists have played a positive role in the legislative politics of Balochistan. They have always raised their voice for their rights under the constitutional framework of federation. But they had the least feeling of spring from the changing political weathers in this country. Therefore the alienation and ouster of nationalists from parliamentary debates is also one of the reasons for the situation we are facing presently. The Baloch are nice people and can well be taken together with respect. The British ruled the area and supported their Forward Policy under the carrot and stick policy by evaluating and respecting their values and traditions. The fact unfortunately has been ignored by our rulers for which they are paying the price. The situation in Balochistan is deplorable and pathetic due to the lack of respect it needed. Moreover, the agonising internal situation with growing involvement of external factors would not have been a disturbing factor in Balochistan had the people and their leaders been taken into confidence. We talk about conspiracy theories but not the conspiracies hatched against us due to our inabilities. The situation in Balochistan is imploring and alarming and it is largely due to the fault lines our rulers have tried to understand. The writer is an academic