Waqas ur Rehman
Ethnic conflict arises, if ethnic groups compete for power, access to resources, or group’s identity. The Baloch and the Pashtun tribes have been living peacefully in Balochistan for decades, but now few foreign elements are highlighting the ethnic issue mainly due to their devilish political motives. Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, is a home to diverse communities. The demographic composition of the province is highly polarized ethnically as well as linguistically. The majority of the province’s population is the Baloch (52%), seconded by the ethnic Pashtuns (36%). The once neglected Balochistan is now the focus of the Federal and Provincial developmental projects. Many misconceptions regarding ethnic conflicts in Balochistan have been propagated by the foreign media, especially India. Balochistan is demographically and ethnically divided into five major ethnic groups: Baloch/Brahvi, Pashtuns, Hazaras, settlers and minorities. The Baloch people fear of becoming a minority in their own province due to demographic changes in the past three decades, and this fear has been instigated by the Indian media.The Pashtuns are mostly concentrated in the northern parts of Balochistan. Their size nevertheless has increased after the influx of the Afghan refugees in 1979 and subsequently after 9/11. These demographic trends have emerged more by accident than deliberate design, but the Baloch sub-nationals blamed the Pashtun nationalist groups for absorbing the Afghan refugees intentionally, so as to dominate the province. They believe that the Pashtuns have been planning to grab a bigger slice of the resources, and increase their share in the number of seats in Provincial and National legislatures. The Baloch parties also put the blame on the State agencies for pursuing a systematic policy of turning the ethnic Baloch into a minority. As a matter of fact, Pakistan has borne huge economic losses for hosting these refugees, and now the government of Pakistan has started the repatriation process of the Afghans back to their country in a phased manner. The Afghan refugees acquired Pakistan’s Computerized National Identity Cards (CNICs) in Balochistan through unfair means, and expanded their control over local business markets. The Baloch sub-nationals believe that the Afghan refugees did this under the patronage of Pakistani State. However, this is not the case. These misconceptions have been instilled among the Baloch people by the Indian RAW, in order to create instability in Pakistan. The officials of the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) have blocked 45,000 illegal ID cards of the Afghan refugees from Quetta and Qilla Abdullah only. Similarly, 90,000 fake CNICs have been blocked by the Interior Ministry for similar reasons.The mega project of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is designed to guarantee the development of the province especially the Baloch community. The Gwadar Port will serve as a nerve center for the economic activity. Industrial zones are being established in the backward areas of the province, and the local Baloch will be given preference during recruitment. Unfortunately, the Indian media have termed this Chinese investment as having “Imperial Designs” to control the resources of Balochistan. The Indian RAW has been misguiding the Baloch by subverting their leaders. Fortunately, most of the Baloch community has realized the ill political motives of India.Due to low literacy rate, the Baloch are not represented well in the armed forces. In order to create awareness among the Baloch youth, the armed forces have started a massive awareness campaign and concession package all over the province. This campaign met overwhelming successes. Thousands of the Baloch youth are now appearing for the recruitment in various armed forces. This bulk induction of the officers and soldiers from the far-flung and remote areas of Balochistan will help improve the socio-economic conditions of the province. This trend will strengthen the federation, and frustrate the evil designs of enemies of the country. They also have understood that the real resistance to their goal of prosperity is not the Pashtuns or the Punjabis, but the interference of the Indian RAW, whose ultimate aim is to mislead the Baloch youth, and destabilize Pakistan.The government of Pakistan has been striving in its drive to promote national integration by working out a strategy to encourage the youth from Balochistan to join all fields of life, thus giving them equal opportunities to grow. The process of national integration indeed includes; achieving national cohesion, stability, prosperity, strength, and feelings of being united as a Nation. Together we have to tackle the evil designs of our adversaries, which have been aimed at dividing us by exploiting ethnic and religious fault lines.
