The residents of Balochistan are in trouble again, and one of the leaders of the Baloch resistance, Dr Allah Nazar, is currently a hunted man. While systemic oppression by paramilitary forces, the Frontier Corps (FC) in particular, and disappearances and torture of citizens at the hands of intelligence agencies, has pretty much become the norm in Balochistan, Pakistan's military has now initiated a direct 'operation' in many areas of the province. The direct target of state ire this time around is former BSO chairman Dr Allah Nazar, who, the military claims, is heading an armed resistance movement for the independence of Balochistan.
Ironically, this new-found belief comes only weeks after Dr Nazar publicly declared that he would ultimately prefer a book over a gun to achieve his ideals. The military, it appears, was not concerned back when the former BSO chairman used to claim that a gun was his second love. Now that he has decided to take the path of peaceful resistance, however, a military operation has been launched in his hometown – Mashkay in Awaran district – and the houses of dozens of political workers have been razed, Baloch nationalists say. According to a spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), the militant organisation thought to be headed by Dr Nazar, troops have ransacked and set fire to the houses of people who are considered sympathetic to the Baloch cause. A number of people have also been picked up over the span of a week and have now gone 'missing'. Dr Nazar's relatives have been harassed by paramilitary personnel and their properties have been destroyed, according to reports appearing in local newspapers. Similar treatment has been meted out to Dr Nazar's friend, Akhtar Nadeem, who is suspected [by the state] of being a 'rebel' who has accompanied Dr Nazar 'to the mountains' (in the Baloch national struggle, 'taking to the mountains' is an euphemism for joining the ranks of the freedom fighters or Sarmachar).
It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan's federal interior minister Rehman Malik had said last month that his government would 'use full force' when dealing with those who had taken up arms to find a solution to the Balochistan problem. The military action in Mashkay, within a month of the interior minister's rhetoric, perhaps indicates that the government has chosen Dr Nazar to be the first among Baloch leaders who have to be 'removed'. Meanwhile, the federal government denies any military action in the province (as usual, one might add).
Unlike past military operations in Balochistan, however, the one in Mashkay seems to have attracted the attention of some ministers in the Balochistan government. Agriculture Minister Mir Asadullah Baloch, who is also the central secretary general of the Balochistan National Party (BNP)-Awami, insisted during a recent Balochistan Assembly session that the military operation was illegal and devoid of the provincial government's approval. Ironically, this resistance from mainstream political parties in the province was only reported by The Baloch Hal, an online English language newspaper run by a group of Baloch journalists. According the website, Asadullah Baloch's views were endorsed by provincial social welfare minister Mir Asghar Rind, who added that the centre of the military operation was not only confined to Mashkay, but had been expanded to some other parts of Mekran as well.