The armed struggle in Balochistan is between the haves and have-nots of Pakistan. On one hand are the Baloch tribesmen who belong to the most impoverished parts of Pakistan and on the other hand are the Pakistan's armed forces that come from the most developed parts of Pakistan.

The contrast between the Baloch tribesmen and the armed forces from Punjab is not merely metaphorical. The UNDP sponsored Pakistan National Human Development Report in 2003 ranked Dera Bugti in Balochistan as the least developed district in Pakistan with a human development index (HDI) of 0.285. On the other hand, Jhelum, a district in Punjab known as army's primary catchment, was ranked first in human development (HDI=0.703) in Pakistan. The socio-economic disparities in Pakistan are quite evident from theUNDP report, which revealed that despite being only 8.0 million strong; almost half of the bottom 30 districts in human development were located in Balochistan. In comparison, 60% of the top 31 districts in human development were located in Punjab. These disparities certainly do not bode well for Pakistan’s federation.

The past six decades of neglect have resulted in a large gap in human development between Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan. A 2002 report by the planning and development department of the Government of Balochistan (GoB) put the literacy rate in the province at a dismal 26.6% compared to 47% in the rest of Pakistan. Since its inception, the University of Balochistan has awarded fewer than 50 doctoral degrees. Universities of Punjab and Karachi, in comparison, have awarded over 1500 doctoral degrees each. Furthermore, only 25% villages in Balochistan are electrified compared to 75% in the rest of Pakistan.

Adding insult to injury is the breakout of violence in Balochistan where Baloch youth are kidnapped and later their mutilated bodies are found dumped in remote parts of the province. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) sees Balochistan smouldering. According to the HRCP, mutilated bodies of 225 missing persons were discovered between July 2010 and November 2011. In 2011 alone, another 107 additional cases of disappearances have been reported in Balochistan.

Pakistan's armed forces have repeatedly denied any involvement in the atrocities committed against the Baloch tribesmen. However, media reports suggest to the contrary. Writing in the Guardian in March 2011, Declan Walsh reported about Kachkol Ali, a lawyer, who fled Balochistan and took refuge in a small Norwegian town after he spoke about how security forces removed three persons from his office in April 2009 who were found dead five days later. And what about the submission by Balochistan’s advocate general, Salahuddin Mengal, to the Supreme Court in which he held Frontier Corps (FC) responsible for disappearances in the province. “We are recovering dead bodies day in and day out as the FC and police are lifting people in broad daylight at will, but we are helpless. Who can check the FC,” the frustrated advocate general was quoted in March 2011 in Dawn.

The armed forces also have to explain their involvement in the murder of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. General Pervez Musharraf in a televised interview declared that the army’s action against Nawab Akbar Bugtiwas “absolutely 500% justified.” The veteran politician was killed by the armed forces when he took refuge in mountains after being forced out of his ancestral town, Dera Bugti. Nawab Akbar Bugti, the 19thTumundar of the Bugti tribe, had the honour of serving Balochistan as its 13th governor and its fifth chief minister. Balochs and many others wonder if the elderly Bugti was indeed guilty of crimes against the opposing tribes, why was he not brought to justice decades earlier when these allegations first emerged, and how can the State justify extra-judicial killing of its own people?

Nawab Akbar Bugti greeting Quiad-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah

Ethnic Baloch are not the only victims in the violence-stricken province. Balochistan has also seen targeted killings of its intellectuals, professors, professionals, non-Baloch workers and other minorities. HRCP reported that in 2011 alone 80 members of the Shia Hazara community were killed in Balochistan. Five academics (mostly non-Baloch) at Balochistan University, province’s oldest institution of higher learning, have been killed since 2008 including the pro-vice chancellor, Professor Safdar Ali Kiyani,who was gunned down near his home in Quetta. Later BBC reported that Baloch separatists claimed responsibility for murdering the academic who originally hailed from Jhelum in Punjab.

Earlier in November Professor Danish Alam, a Shia hailing from Gilgit, was shot dead on his way to the University. Other murdered academics include Professor Saba Dashtiari (a Baloch intellectual whose real name was Ghulam Hussain), Professor Nazma Talib, and Professor Khurshid Ansari. Media reports put the number of additional school and college teachers killed in targeted killings at 14. To date, no one has been brought to justice for killing professors and teachers in Balochistan. At the same time, those responsible for the extra-judicial murders of Baloch nationalists have also remained free from any prosecution.

Given the unfair treatment of Balochis over the past six decades, it is no surprise that Balochs may not seem welcoming to the non-Baloch immigrants from other parts of Pakistan, especially Punjab. However, given the sorry state of Balochistan’s human capital it may not be possible for the province, at least in the short-run, to provide a highly skilled workforce to run its hospitals, universities, colleges, and other public sector institutions. Similarly, the demand for highly qualified professionals in the private sector to manage the mineral wealth of the province will largely remain unmet unless trained professionals from other parts of Pakistan are inducted in Balochistan to accelerate the development of human capital.

The armed struggle by the Baloch tribesmen against Pakistan's armed and security forces is not the only challenge facing the province. Also vying for Balochistan's riches are the global conglomerates who have been busy exploring in the resource rich, yet poverty-stricken province.  In this game of international intrigue, which has pitched western corporations against each other as well as against the Chinese state-owned firms, the truth about the extent of Balochistan's resources has become a matter of debate. The international firms that are awarded mining leases try to underreport the size of gold and copper reserves to limit payment of royalties to the people of Balochistan. Those who fail to win mining rights exaggerate the extent of reserves made by others in the hope that the existing contracts will be breached and re-awarded to the companies that lost initially.

Consider the dispute over Reko Diq between GoB and Tethyan Copper Co. Pakistan Ltd., (TCC), which is a subsidiary of Barrick Gold of Canada and Antofagasta Minerals of Chile. After the Supreme Court of Pakistan established Balochistan government’s dominion on mining in Balochistan, the province refused TCC’s application for a mining license. TCC has filed for international mediation in the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington and at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

According to the feasibility report prepared by TTC,GoB would have received $13 billion in royalties over a 56-year period amounting to fewer than $235 million per year. It is not clear why GoB with only 25% of the shares would receive 52% of the after-tax profits and TTC, despite being a 75% shareholder, would receive only 48% of the profits.

Such disputes require highly trained professionals to first determine the extent of mineable reserves and their quality and then to devise a financial and legal strategy to gain the most out of the project for the benefit of the people of Balochistan. As the GoB prepares to defend its decision in Washington and Paris, it relies on the expert advice of the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA).  However, BDA’s claim for fame is not its highly skilled technical workforce. Instead, BDA is known for its chairman, Sadat Anwar Kambrani, who recently extended his own contract as chairman for an additional three years! The chief secretary of Balochistan has reportedly termed his extension “illegal”.

With such self-serving executives in place, one wonders who will guard the interests of the people of Balochistan. One may think that provincial legislators in Balochistan can be trusted with the task of safeguarding Balochistan’s interests. After all, the people of Balochistan have elected the members of the Balochistan Assembly for the very purpose of looking after their welfare.

It appears that such a trust in provincial legislators will be rather misplaced. According to the reports by the Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN), provincial legislators in Balochistan could not be bothered even to attend sessions in Balochistan Assembly. On December 26, 2011, only two legislators showed up for the ongoing session of the sixth sitting of Balochistan Assembly. The session was adjourned after only 10 minutes for the lack of quorum. On December 23, the session lasted for only 30 minutes and was again adjourned with only 12 members of assembly present. On December 20, the session was adjourned after 52 minutes again for the lack of quorum with only 13 members present. On December 17, the session was adjourned after only 20 minutes for the lack of quorum with only 14 members of the provincial assembly present. December 15 was slightly better when the session lasted for over an hour with 15 members present in the assembly.

With provincial civil servants busy extending their own tenures and the provincial legislators missing from the legislature, it appears that the people of Balochistan are increasingly vulnerable to unwelcome interventions from Islamabad, Lahore, and now Paris and Washington.

For Balochistan to prosper it needs much more than gold and copper reserves, which remain buried underground. Balochistan is in desperate need to improve its human capital. It needs indigenous expertise in engineering, mining, economics, international and business law, and social sciences, to name a few, to be able to realize the full potential of its natural endowments. Without the indigenous expertise the province stands little chance of getting a fair deal for the riches that lie under the feet of Balochis.

In a 2007 doctoral dissertation defended at the University of Karachi, Dr. Jan Mohammed highlighted the need for improving human capital in the public sector in Balochistan. “All other resources can affect development initiative to some extent, but under developed and low quality human resources has [sic] greatly impeded the development process in Baluchistan,” wrote Dr. Muhammad. The “mineral wealth of the province can only be harnessed if its human resources are developed,” he further added. I couldn’t agree more with him.

---- * Mohammed, Jan (2007). Training, development and supervision of human resources in the public sector of Baluchistan (a case study ). University of Karachi, Department of Public Administration.

Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto.  He can be reached by email at murtaza.haider@ryerson.ca

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