THE province of Balochistan needs educational academies, not military garrisons. Instead of strategists and military operations it needs educationists and economic activism. Most importantly, it needs peace, not silence about its predicament.

If the status quo in Balochistan changes, peace will follow. And the status quo in this least-developed and insurgency-hit province can only change with education.

Credible surveys place the province in the lowest rank in terms of the male and the female literacy rates, as well as in the Gender Parity Index. It lags behind the other three provinces in improvements in the net enrolment rate performance in the area of education, an index that can yield great returns in terms of development.

more…

WITH Iran’s threat to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to economic sanctions by the West, the new ‘great game’ has come into play.

Whereas, the closure of the Strait of Hormuz — the crucial energy conduit through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil passes — could cause a big jolt in global oil markets, it could also engage America, China, Iran, India and Pakistan. Gwadar port in Balochistan is likely to emerge as the key node in this.

The strait is one of the most strategically important chokepoints through which some 14 tankers loaded with 15.5 million barrels of crude pass in one day. The US that maintains a naval presence in the Gulf is currently trying to contain Iran’s influence in the strategically important chokepoint, while Iran is fully prepared to defy the US.

more…

THE military handling of Balochistan is pushing Baloch nationalists into the separatist camp. All the apparent `kill and dump` policy is achieving is to kill any possibility of reconciliation and dump any chance of peace.

The real problem lies in the mindset underpinning the approach to handling the Balochistan crisis the frame of mind created by the national security paradigm that gives the security and intelligence agencies a greater role. Only if this mindset is changed can the disgruntled youth of Balochistan be brought back into the national mainstream.

Balochistan has always remained on the country`s political periphery. Over-centralism, a unitary type of governance and the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process in Islamabad have alienated the young of Balochistan. A province, already at the receiving end, is now receiving the bullet-riddled bodies of its people. The `mysterious kidnappings of political activists and extra-judicial killings are only fanning anti-federation flames.

more…

OF late in a retaliatory mood, Pakistan has been playing the ‘no more’ song to Washington’s ‘do more’ mantra. After blocking Nato supply lines through its territory and getting the Shamsi airbase vacated, Pakistan has mulled barring US aircraft from using its airspace.

After 10 years of the US-led war on terror Islamabad is seriously considering revisiting its national security paradigm. This period of a decade has been replete with incidents that have constituted a breach of Pakistan’s sovereignty including last November’s deadly Nato attack on Pakistani military outposts that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. Islamabad in retaliation cut Nato supply lines, boycotted the Bonn conference on Afghanistan and ordered the US to vacate the Shamsi airbase. This is for the first time in 10 years that the country reacted to such an attack so vehemently.

There is so much fuss about the violation of sovereignty today. But the fact is that Pakistan itself allowed the US to violate the country’s sovereignty under covert and clandestine ‘deals’ and ‘understandings’ regarding the security situation after 9/11.

more…

REKO Diq, a world-class copper and gold mine in district Chagai of Balochistan estimated at a value of between $250bn to $500bn, is a commercially mouth-watering prospect for international mining giants.

American, Chinese, Australian, Chilean and Canadian firms have been in the race for wining a mining lease contract for the Reko Diq project. Will international interest in Balochistan’s huge copper deposits push the province to an era of copper politics? Chagai has huge copper-gold deposits at Saindak and Reko Diq. Will it be the next Chile that witnessed an era of copper politics under socialist president Salvador Allende?

Copper politics involves corporate greed and shenanigans to activate state actors in tug-of war games. There are indications that copper politics is brewing in Balochistan. Chagai is poised to appear soon on the world’s copper-producing map after it first attracted the world’s attention in May 1998 when Pakistan conducted nuclear tests.

more…