52
Chairman Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf Imran Khan – Photo by Online
So, the “PTI revolution” is heading toward Balochistan. What is the pitch in Quetta going to look like on March 23? At this point, one hears mixed opinions. One thing is common in people’s responses: They represent two extremes. The pro-PTI section, backed by Imran’s recent apology to Balochistan during the Karachi rally, argues that someone as uncontroversial as Imran can at least mediate in, if not entirely resolve, the Balochistan puzzle. The pessimists frown, “Balochistan is just like medicine,” they warn, “Keep it away from children’s reach.”
Both opinions are valid but not absolutely uncontestable. We oftentimes tend to forget that Balochistan, besides its gradually subsiding secessionist movement, also has a considerable segment of permanent members of the establishment who have historically wasted no opportunity to become a part of the revolution-in-making.
The opportunist politicians’ club in Balochistan is divided into two groups. The first one abruptly smells political change and jumps on the victory truck much before others can even see it. This is primarily a self-proclaimed “pragmatic” group which joins the ‘future ruling party’ ahead of time so that it gets ample time in advance to develop necessary connections inside the party prior to the formation of the future government.
Classic examples of politicians belonging to the above mentioned segment are Retd. General Abdul Qadir Baloch, former Corps Commander and the governor of Balochistan and Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, a leading tribal chief and an ex-interior minister. Both of them joined the PML-Nawaz almost a year ago hoping that a little hard work and well done homework will land them on key positions in the future dispensation.
The second school of opportunist politicians comprises of enraged leaders who have either been ignored in their own parties or who grumble about not receiving sufficient ‘benefits’ from their incumbent parties. You may wonder why these leaders are not respected and patronised in their own parties. Very simple: They have switched so many political parties in the past that their faces are now barely familiar to the senior or junior cadre of their new/current parties.
Thus, the first group, which is shrewdly mindful of the significance of benefits an early bird receives, will suffice with joining the PTI if it gets live coverage on news channels and makes front page headlines. Former president of the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Awami) Moheem Khan, ex-Jamori Watan Party senators Khuda-e-Noor and (who had later on defected to the PML-N), Amanullah Kanrani, a former information secretary of the JWP and Anwar-ul-Haq Kakar, a former PML-Q electoral candidate with little popularity among Quetta’s educated urban class, are some of the likely candidates who may join the PTI to resuscitate their political careers.
As far as the second section of leaders is concerned, it, besides the enraged leaders of ruling parties, also includes those who lead one-man shows locally known as political parties. Don’t get surprised if PTI floods Talal Bugti’s shabby Jamori Watan Party and Zarak Zheri’s PML- Zehri Group (Has anyone ever heard of it?). Senator Lashkari Raisani and Sadiq Umrani, the former and current chiefs of the PPP respectively, are both either discontented with their own parties or with the chief minister. Who knows if Imran is looking to get one of these two precious wickets!
Regarding the JWP, what is still undecided who, between the PTI and the PML-N, will make the first and solid move to influence Talal Bugti to either incorporate the JWP with one of these future ruling parties or at least form an ‘alliance plus’. Although the JWP is unlikely to win a sizeable number of seats in the provincial and the national assemblies, Talal Bugti isn’t as insignificant as his detractors smugly consider him. Let’s not forget, he resides in Quetta’s symbolic Bugti House where most government and opposition leaders go to pay respects to late Nawab Akbar Bugti, Talal’s father, or simply to express solidarity with the disenchanted Balochs.
Imran may not be able to fully win the hearts of the Marri, Mengal and (the pro-Brahamdagh section of) Bugti tribes who stand in the forefront of the Baloch nationalist movement at this juncture. It, nonetheless, does not minimize PTI’s chances of bringing on its side Balochistan’s Pashtun voters who are weary of America’s drone policies in spite of not being fond of the Talibanized version of Sharia which is staunchly championed by the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI).
The PTI may upset the JUI if it uses “my name is Khan” card to woo the Pashtun voters. Thus, this move will possibly bring the PTI some Pashtun leaders from the PML-Q, such as Jaffar Khan Mandokhel and Raheela Hameed Durrani, without alerting the ANP (Awami National Party) and the PKmP (Pashtunkhwai Milli Awami Party).
In some Baloch districts, old loyalists of General Musharraf such as former ministers Zubaida Jalal, Shoaib Nosherwani, Balochistan Assembly’s current Speaker Aslam Bhootani and Rubina Irfan are all shaky wickets. Let’s wait and see what transpires after one hundred days of net practice ahead of the Quetta rally. Critics who consider Balochistan a tough pitch will probably have to watch another major upset from the visitors’ gallery.
The writer is a freelance journalist based in Washington DC
Baluchistan solution cannot be done by force or military action and should valuable like other provinces because in the past Baluchistan was ignored several time but we should do not make this mistake in future and we hope that imran khan will not make these mistakes in future and will equally treat like other provinces because pakistan peoples do not completely satisfied from current govt NFC award for baluchistan and baluchistan need a lot of care concentration and incentive and another main problem is the rejection of army and finish the angriness of baluch qomparast leaders and akhter mengal,talal akbar bugti etc are most important goals of imran khan.
Imran is one of the strongest leader in pakistan and person's they come to PTI from various political partiese they cannot effect the imran politics and imran policy in the captaincy of imran these persons will change itself and they cannot change the imran so i request to people don't be worry if any body come to PTI because imran khan politics is very clean and i hope these persons will also be employer of justice as imran.
If Imran manages to get support of Akhter Mengal, 23rd March 2012 will write another history. Its can be far easier for Imran to convince Barahamdagh Bugti and Harbyar Marri if he has Mr Mengal on his side. Again its also fact that Imran is the only person who can resolve Balochistan issue.
The biggest Jalsa that was held in Karachi was of Asghar Khan, Imran Khan is the best leader but now all Lotas are trying to get in his party now.
I AM SHAHID NAWAZ KHAN NIAZI MY CONTACT NUMBER IS 923033191295 I WANT TO SAY THAT IMRAN IS GREAT LEADER I LOVE KHAN SAHIB SHAHID NIAZI MIRPURKHAS SINDH POLICE I LOVE IMRAN KHAN SAHIB GREAT PERSONALITY AND GREAT MAN WHO SOLVED THE PAKISTANI PROBLEMS I LOVE KHAN
i think balochistan issues are not too much complex imran khan can handle… balocho ko haqoq dene ho ga..
yes, PASHTOON AND BALOCH ARE BROTHERS. they have been neglected for a long time. this is the time and a glorious chance to get their rights. Inshallah, Imran is the person to give them rights and cick the corrupt leaders.
Imran is a sincere person, but i would advise him to be a touch careful in regards to the Q-league and turncoats n co. One more thing, he should come up with solutions now, rather than pointing out the problems, we all are aware of the problems, but time has come that someone come up with solutions.
Go imran Go.
Imran khan can do a lot of work for Baluchistan so for this he should present a bride future policy to a people of Baluchistan both phustons and balouch and should promise the rejection of army when imran's govt come because according to him the solution of Baluchistan problem is politically not military.
Everyone, everyone, everyone has suffered for these 60 years in their own way… when the Lion of Pakistan will reach out the people of Baluchistan he will be followed by one million supporters on March 23rd '12 InshAllah… everyone needs liberation at this point of time. The Balouch people should be given first right of use and investment of their resources, and a right to share it with the other provinces. Each province has a right and Imran Khan must promise this. That day will come…
Good luck to Imran khan
Honest and Sincere leader is required to turn the Wheel around in Pakistan's Politics. I think Imran has both these qualities. Lets give him a chance and turn the wheel around and fulfil Quaid's dream. Its not easy but not impossible with the true patriotic, sincere and honest leadership we can achieve.
If Imran is really worried about Balouchs than he should go to the leaders of separatist movements & parties who are just on brink of breaking ties with Pakistan…. Rally in Quetta will not bring sunami in Balouchistan it wil only bring Pashtuns closer to Imran…. If he wants Balouchs with him he should shake hands with Hir Bayar Marri, Talal Bughti, Akhter Mengal & others because they are the people who are the victims…. They can resolve this issue….
Imran Khan will be able to take a fresh pledge from Balochi people to join the the march to make Jinnah's Pakistan, and that too on 23rd March 2012.
The choice of the date (23rd March) and the venue Quetta, is well thought out.
MAV
BTW, the people of Balochistan are “Baloch”, and not “Balochi” (which is the language).
Perhaps this is just a minor matter, but I think this is a symptom of our lack of awareness of the Baloch people and their concerns.
Imran Khan is Pakistan's Hope. Good Luck.
Imran has rightly decided to stage a gathering in Quetta and it was needed. Though I am bit concerned if Imran will be able to gather a big crowd? I suppose he has 3 months to prepare for it.
I dont think crowd will matter this time. What really matters is the gesture. A Major jalsa being held in Balochistan by higher leadership and not just a BTW jalsa. All in all a good gesture by Imran.
If your intentions are neat and clean then nothing is tough. Imran will play in his style and success.
Yes, for Khan Balochistan will be a tough pitch keeping in view its current situation. To bring the angry Baloch youth back to national political sphere, continuous efforts need to be concentrated mainly on them. I would rank Imran's statement a step in the right direction.
I think Imran Khan has done the right thing in his Karachi sppech by apologizing from Baloch people. Baloch need respect and compensation for what has been done with them so far. Imran's recent move is a step in the righ direction. we should pray and work for Imran's success, so that besides Balochistan issue, other national issues may also be resolved.
I think Imran Khan is our only ray of hope so please everyone try not to obstruct him if you love Pakistan. I think however he needs to make sure he keeps a good balance in his team.For every Qureshi he needs to have a Hashimi as he needs both types a little bit of spin and bit of speed and then he can bat Pakistan out of the troubles for all of us. May Allah help Imran Khan…,,,
Imran Khan is a fake hope! People of Pakistan are very ignorant, nothing will improve but worse. Pakistan is the corrupt society. This is plight of democracy
SHAHID KHAN
PEOPLE LIKE YOU WITH NEGATIVE ATTITUDE ABOUT SOMEONE WHO IS SINCERE IS DESTROYING PAKISTAN
WAKE UP TO REALITY OF CHANGE
I think Imran Khan is our only ray of hope so please everyone try not to obstruct him if you love Pakistan. I think however he needs to make sure he keeps a good balance in his team.For every Qureshi he needs to have a Hashimi as he needs both types a little bit of spin and bit of speed and then he can bat Pakistan out of the troubles for all of us. May Allah help Imran Khan..
Mr. Khan will face the same destiny as Zardari and other previous civilian governments. Pakistan military does not have the stomach for a democratic future. I hope I am wrong.
I find your equating of Zardari with Imran quite strange, but I agree with the spirit of your message.
Baluchistan is part of Pakistan. it should not be treated any different from other provinces. Same as part of the body, if one part of the body is bad it need to be treated for the whole body to be healthy
Sad. But true!
@Obaid
There is critical thinking , pessimist and optimistic. I think you are in pessimist. this is time to be optimistic and strive for change. I think Imran can bring that
Mr Imran Khan does not qualify from any angle to be a leader of any nation, he can only deliver speeches that are filled with emotional black mail. He has no sense of dealing the political intricacies, neither has a sense how to handle domestic, and International affairs in a sharp and diplomatic manner——
@ayesha200bc. You mean the amazing way the PPP and PML N has handled the situation since 1988? For some reason people in Pakistan think that political intrigue and "chalaki" are what make a politician a "good" politician. A politician should strive to represent the people and serve them. Not get elected to be served. By them.
Unfortunately true!
In addition to Imran's inexperience, his political hypocrisy is worrying me.
What many of Imran's naive idealist supporters don't realize is, even in the unlikely case that Imran does come to power, the deals he has made with less savory types in Pak politics will come to haunt him. Much has been discussed about his understanding with military and corrupt career politicians, but hardly anybody talks about his successful 'jalsa' in Karachi, which would not have been possible without tacit approval of MQM, an organization he was taking to court in England a couple of years back!
I really would like to see an alternative to current crop of mostly corrupt and weak politians, but unfortunately Imran doesn't seem to be the answer. Imran 2012 is much like Obama 08 to me.
Balochistan pitch is very tough,this match is not easy to win,but Imran khan is good captain,he knows how to handle tuff match and he carring his tesm on a victory truck,goodluck for Imran to win PAKISTAN for the peoples of Pakistan.
Very good article, and very detailed analysis for what lies ahead for Imran in Baluchistan. I would have loved a map which showed the distribution of pathans and baluchs in the province and which leaders control which parts of the province.
As far as Imran and Baluchistan, I think he is the first leader who sincerely feels that Baluchistan has not just been neglected but to the point of criminality. His apology seemed very genuine. I think he can do some good for the Baluch people by coming into power… Like every one else, they should know they have tried everything and nothing has worked. Why not give Imran a shot?
It would definitely be interesting to see how Imran Khan handles the Quetta pitch? Personally, I was surprised by his announcement but given the current political scenario, it does make sense to cater to the Balouchistan issue. Nevertheless, the stakes couldn’t be higher for PTI after the announcement for Quetta rally.
Imran ended his Karachi jalsa speech in a perfect and most beautiful way by apologizing to our Balochi brothers. After meeting a number of Bangladeshi's in the last 10 years that I have lived outside of Pak I have realized that we (West Pakistan) were at fault. If we don't learn from our mistakes and end up repeating the tragedy of 1971 then as a nation how can we justify that we deserve the freedom we got as a present from our forefathers? IK has a tough job ahead as far as Balochistan is concerned but somebody has got to do it, somebody has to extend a hand of friendship to the Balochi's and make sure that they walk hand in hand with the rest of Pakistan. We should support IK and pray for him that may he Inshallah bring our nation together as Pakistanis.
Interesting article, however I think Baluchistan should be thought more of than just a chessboard with different players sitting on it and who Imran khan be able to pocket. The Baluchistan unlike the other provinces has a great grievance that needs to be addressed by PTI in its jalsa on 23rd march. So PTI needs to target the root cause of baloch grievance. PTI needs to convince the baloch that not only baloch rights but also the rights of Punjabi, Sindhi and pathan people have been denied to them, and they're battling the same power group that the balochis are fighting…just in different ways. PTI has to make common cause with our baloch brothers and sisters and make every effort to make them feel that they are still part of the same Pakistan dream that Iqbal dream't and Jinnah strove to fulfill. PTI has to make them believe in unity and faith in the nation once more….and the politicians would automatically follow.
perhaps the Baluchis dont see any leader with the same zeal, courage, honesty in efforts of mend fenses with them, Imran Khan has so far both the charisma and courage to achieve that. We need to bring the Baluchi brothers concerns to lime light and actually solve them, promises are not they want, thier skepticism removed, action NOW is the solution
Its not baluchi , It is Baluch..
Imran Khan seems to be approaching from far above the petty politics, as perhaps Jinnah must have done. However, we do need a leader could and would do just that, but it is too early to say if Imran Khan is that leader. One thing is certain, such a leader has to be different and he would claim to be able to do what ordinary politician would laugh at. In my final analysis, Imran Khan is either too naive, immature politician, one who has become overconfident after what he experienced so far, or he is the leader Pakistan needs! Only time will tell.
I don't think it will be tough pitch for Mr;Khan.As he is holding a very easy issue “Doran Attacks” so not only our pakhtoon brothers with him,I am sure there will be many Madersa’s Talib are also part of khan’s team too, even I heard that many Red Madersa’s Talib no matter baloch or pakhtoon are willing to join PTI .
Well said althought the PTI well wishers tend to avoid/ignore this issue.
To Tania,
If the Taliban can follow Imran Khan then, I am very happy,as they are Muslims and Pakistanis. Most of them were not taliban before we sent our Army and used even F16 against our own people.
I live in USA.I know majority of the Pakistanies will vote for Imran Khan in the upcoming election because he is honest,devoted,educated and has a vision. Look at our neighbors. where they are heading and where we are after 64 years. Our peoples are dying of hunger and diseases while corrupt politicians have nothing else to do except watching their bank balances grow. Sure they know how to feed the hungry masses with empty slogans and pull each other’s legs Do not take my words just check any politician ‘s past and present. Check his bank balance abroad. You will find out the truth.
How did we get here? We have been fooled by these corrupt politicians for too long. Wake up or our next generation will never forgive us.
For some reason ,we people, living abroad feel little extra pain for our beloved country which gave us everything. Now it is our turn to do something in return to make this country a better place for our children and their children.
WHOULD YOU?
PAKISTAN ZINDABAD
I agree 100 percent
Nice analysis of Baluchistan politics by the writer. Imran Khan is a seasoned cricketer hopefully he will be able to play well in Quetta. He has already shown his care and love for the neglected Baluch people by offering apology in Karachi at Quaid's mausoleum. Let’s see how generous the Baluch people are by giving him the support he needs to rectify all the wrong doings of the past.
Let's not forget the Balochs of Makran (TURBAT,PANJGUR,GWADAR) Khusdar, Awaran, Kalat, Mastung, Kharan Washuk, and the other Baloch dominated districts where the baloch sepratist movement is on it's peak…. Why to forget that in the last elections the turnout in entire Balochistan was less than 25%…. Imran Khan who claims to the leader of the youth, I'm afraid it would be quite difficult to spot a lot of Baloch youth in his program (Not talking about Pashtun youth), i think in order to make this match interesting Imran Khan needs to convince the Baloch Youth, and it would be just like asking the Team of U.S.A or Hong Kong to defeat Australia or South Africa in the current situation. Not to forget that out of 28 districts of Balochistan only 8 are Pashtun dominated areas, if the turnout is 80 to 90% Pashtuns, than it should be understood that Imran Khan is being support only by Pashtuns not Balochs (The real owners and the Angry PPL of Balochistan)
As being a Baloch and meeting so many Balochs daily one thing is clear the Balochs r not flattered with the apology coz first thing which Zardari did when he came in power " He apologised from Balochistan"..so these apologies r not going to work…secondly every single youth said that Balochistan is not just Quetta..y every politicians only talks about Quetta does Imran Khan has courage to come to Turbat and Kech district and Imran Khan has nothing to offer Balochs he is only concerned abt Pashtoons and thats his vote bank…
Good article. Sound analysis. Whatever can be done to address Balochistan's concerns should be our highest priority as a nation. I think Akbar S Babar on core PTI leadership team is a development specialist from Quetta whose insight will provide very helpful in the long run for infrastructure development that the province so badly needs.
Off course the Baluchistan pitch is tough for Khan. He has a opportunity to attract the Pakhtun of Baluchistan which shares half of the population in the province. Good luck Khan…
Good article…correct analysis…loved it..writer has made it like one of a thrilling world cup cricket match.