Baluchistan in Pain

How would you feel if your life was uncertain? If you did not know whether you would be alive or dead the next minute? If you did not know what fate awaited your loved ones or your whole city? Would you like to live such a life? I am sure that the normal answer to the last question is ‘no’.

                 But that is exactly the life that the people living in Baluchistan and particularly Waziristan are faced with. Thousands of civilians have probably been killed in the drone attacks which are aimed to kill the “terrorists” whose existence is somewhat questionable.

                 The instability is Baluchistan is not only caused due to the drone attacks but in fact also due to poor governance that has existed in the country. The issue of the Sui gas is the oldest dispute. Sui gas was discovered in 1952 and its commercial exploitation began in 1955. Despite of the fact that Sui gas is extracted from Baluchistan, the province is the one which has the least access to it. The reason is that the government has not put proper pipelines to provide the gas to the people of that province.

                The other major dispute arose in August 2005 when Gen. Pervez Musharraf, the then president of Pakistan, ordered the arrest of Akbar Khan Bugti, one of the tribal leaders in Baluchistan. He was allegedly killed when he caused an explosion in the cave he was hiding when cornered by the officials. His only crime perhaps was that he demanded rights for the people of Baluchistan.

                Then another setback to the relations with Baluchistan came when Gen. Musharraf allowed the Bush administration to carry out drone attacks to kill the so called terrorists. These attacks have caused the deaths of hundreds of civilians and rendered many more homeless, childless or orphan.

Independence Day 2010, a Wake Up Call perhaps?

“True independence and freedom can only exist in doing what's right.” Brigham Young

The 14^th of August each year is celebrated with great fervor and gusto in our part of the world.  And why shouldn’t it be, it marks one more year of independence for the people of Pakistan. This year however it was decided that the day would not be celebrated as a show of moral support to those who have been affected by the devastating floods that hit Pakistan mid July this year.

And yet we heard guns go off, celebrating wildly what sadly few of us seem to really value. In times like these we should look to remember those who have left us and to come together and help those whose homes have been destroyed. Why do we time and again fail to act rationally? Why do we continue being insensitive? Why blame corrupt and incompetent leaders then, are they all that different from me and you? 

You and I should be looking to look to help the affected in every way possible. These are Pakistanis, who need our help, are they not? As it becomes more and more apparent that each new disaster will catch us off guard and unprepared we should be more proactive in our approach, knowing full well that the response of the government machinery at times is sluggish and disorganized.

Let this day be a day where we make a promise to ourselves to bridge distances and to reach out to help the people who need our help the most. Then and only then can we truly be ‘Independent’