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'If the government sincerely addressed the issue of missing persons, it would alleviate 80% of the grievances in Balochistan.'
'No matter how many development projects Islamabad announces for the region, the people will remain upset as long as their loved ones are missing.'
"The issue of enforced disappearances has severely damaged the relationship between Balochistan and the central government more so than any other grievance."
"For years, the Pakistani intelligence services have been repeatedly accused of abducting citizens with complete impunity."
"Why has the State allowed this to continue for so many years? Hundreds of Baloch have been killed after being disappeared, with no punishment for the officials involved," says journalist Malik Siraj Akbar from Balochistan who lives in exile in the United States.
Akbar's journalism has exposed human rights violations by the Pakistani agencies and was the reason for seeking political asylum.
A well-known political analyst, he is the only male Pakistani to be awarded the Madanjeet Singh South Asia Foundation scholarship to pursue journalism at the Asian College of Journalism in Chennai. He also holds a master's degree in public administration from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government in Boston.
A leading commentator on Balochistan, he explains what lies behind the recent deadly rampage in the province that has been fighting for independence from Pakistan.
The first part of a must-read e-mail interview with Rediff.com's Archana Masih.
Were the flawed election results earlier this year a catalyst for the aggravated disconnect between the Baloch people and the government in Islamabad?
This year's elections were a disappointment for the Baloch people.
The Pakistan People's Party (PPP), generally known for its liberal credentials and as one of the country's largest political parties, chose to align with the staunchest supporters of the Pakistani military in Balochistan, Sarfaraz Bugti, the current chief minister.
Bugti is a well-known advocate of the military and a vocal critic of Baloch nationalists. His nomination by the PPP as the chief minister candidate and his subsequent unopposed election as Balochistan's chief minister led to speculation that the PPP was siding with the military on its Balochistan policy and had little interest in easing tensions in the province.
This was a sharp departure from the PPP's approach in 2008, when the party, after winning the general elections, sought to reconcile with Balochistan by offering economic relief, releasing some missing persons, and supporting greater provincial autonomy through the 18th constitutional amendment.
Now, however, the PPP appears to be acting as a surrogate for the military establishment. Bugti, in particular, has been a poor choice for chief minister, who has repeatedly antagonised the Baloch population by defending the military's policies rather than highlighting and addressing their grievances.
Furthermore, it is widely believed that the military establishment groomed Bugti due to his antagonism toward the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, whose death in 2006 triggered a new wave of resistance in Balochistan that persists to this day.
This outcome underscores that elections often reflect the power of the establishment rather than the will of the people.
Who is in charge in Balochistan? Is it the Pakistan army and its many clandestine agencies?
How many Balochis have disappeared since the new century began? How much have these disappearances and State repression provoked a new rebel leadership?
The issue of enforced disappearances has severely damaged the relationship between Balochistan and the central government more so than any other grievance.
For years, the Pakistani intelligence services have been repeatedly accused by human rights organisations, think-tanks, and even civilian government officials of abducting citizens with complete impunity.
Police officers cannot register cases against those responsible, and judges are powerless to summon or punish them, leading to the conclusion that the military intelligence agencies effectively control the province.
The problem of enforced disappearances is widespread, yet the government tries to divert public attention by downplaying the number of missing persons. However, the real issue is not the exact number of people who have disappeared, but rather why even one citizen should be illegally detained and killed in custody.
Why has the State allowed this to continue for so many years? Hundreds of Baloch have been killed after being disappeared, with no punishment for the officials involved.
As a result, many of the relatives of missing persons -- children, women, and other family members -- have joined the Baloch nationalist movement. Their initial actions were peaceful, involving protests, press conferences, and legal petitions to seek the release of their loved ones.
However, as they waited in vain, they became increasingly aware of the country's politics and the state's policies toward the Baloch people. Now, they have become integral to the Baloch nationalist movement.
In a dramatic shift, while some Baloch women engage in peaceful protests, others have decided to join the armed groups as suicide bombers.
Moreover, the intelligence agencies wield significant power over Balochistan's politics, engineering elections, determining who becomes a local leader, and deciding who can run for office or become a minister in the provincial cabinet.
Politicians, aware of this influence, often try to ingratiate themselves with the agencies to advance their own careers.
The agencies also control the local media, deciding which stories are published and which are censored, punishing newspapers by cutting off advertisements if they publish anything critical of the security establishment while rewarding those that attack the Baloch nationalists and promote conspiracy theories that India and Afghanistan are behind all the mess in Balochistan.
If the government sincerely addressed the issue of missing persons, it would alleviate 80% of the grievances in Balochistan. No matter how many development projects Islamabad announces for the region, or how many schools, colleges, and roads it builds, the people will still remain disillusioned and upset as long as their loved ones are missing.
I believe the leader of the Baloch Liberation Front is a gold medal winning doctor, Dr Allah Nazar, who was tortured by intelligence agencies and whose brother was 'killed in illegal custody', according to Zahid Hussain in the Dawn newspaper.
Are individuals like Dr Nazar at the helm of the current insurgency unlike the feudal lords earlier?
The current head of the Baloch insurgent group, the Baloch Liberation Front, Dr Allah Nazar, then a medical student, was, in fact, whisked away by intelligence agencies in Karachi in March 2005 after he and other members of the Baloch Students Organisation protested against Pakistan's military operation targeting the late Nawab Akbar Bugti.
He disappeared for several months afterward. During an interview at the Bolan Medical College in Quetta, I spoke with another student leader, Dr Imdad Baloch, one of Dr Nazar's companions who was also subjected to forced disappearance and torture.
The stories about the treatment they endured in military custody were heartbreaking. He described how they were kept hungry and deprived of sleep for several nights. While listening to his horrific story, I asked myself, 'What kind of country subjects its educated youth to such inhumane treatment?'
This harrowing experience deeply affected Dr Allah Nazar. After his release, he decided to join the Baloch armed resistance and eventually emerged as the most influential commander of the Baloch liberation movement.
His involvement in the movement inspired a new generation of young Baloch to join the resistance.
However, Dr Nazar's legacy is not without flaws. He had a significant opportunity to instil discipline among his fighters, particularly to ensure that they did not target unarmed civilians.
Unfortunately, he became a stubborn leader who viewed fellow Baloch who supported parliamentary politics within the Pakistani system as traitors and collaborators.
His inability to teach his followers that differences of opinion and approach are normal in politics has led to actions that contradict the very principles that motivated their struggle.
While Dr Nazar was part of the first generation of the educated Baloch middle class to lead the insurgency, he also played a significant role in dividing and polarising Baloch society, labeling some as patriots and others as traitors.
His narrow approach to these issues will have a lasting impact on Baloch society. I fear that the divide between those in Balochistan who seek independence from Pakistan and those who wish to pursue a peaceful, parliamentary struggle within Pakistan will not be easily bridged in the near future.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com