PAKISTAN: More anti-government violence in Balochistan

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ISLAMABAD, 7 Feb 2005 (IRIN) - In a fresh upsurge of attacks on government installations in the troubled southwestern Pakistani province of Balochistan, several electricity transmission lines, communication masts and railway tracks have been blown up in the last week.

"Unrest in Balochistan is potentially at a very dangerous point. Government and the tribesmen both need to reduce confrontation before the situation becomes explosive," Irshad Hussain Haqqani, a political analyst, told IRIN from the eastern city of Lahore on Friday.

Almost two-thirds of the vast province was plunged into darkness last Tuesday night when two towers carrying vital high-tension electricity transmission lines were blown up, allegedly by angry local tribal groups. In the aftermath of the blast, 17 of the 26 districts of Balochistan suffered power losses for two days, according to the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESC0.

Balochistan is an impoverished province which is home to Pakistan's main oil and gas resources. An attack in mid-January on a key gas installation left much of the country without natural gas for days. A prominent Baloch leader and national parliamentarian, Sanaullah Baloch, attributed recent unrest in the province to lack of regional democracy and devlopment.

"The main problem with Balochistan is that of political empowerment and strengthening of the democratic and political institutions. No sustainable development is possible without that," said Baloch. "The underlying issue is about the centralisation of power. All decision making power lies with the federal government in Islamabad and the provinces have no real say in social development and other issues of basic concern," he added.

Balochi nationalists demanding greater political rights, autonomy and control over their natural resources led four insurgencies, in 1948, 1958-59, 1962-63 and 1973-77. These uprisings were brutally suppressed by the army. Observers say Islamabad has reacted to the recent upsurge in violence in the
province in a heavy-handed way. Local people outside the provincial capital, Quetta, complain there are now more than 600 road-blocks manned by paramilitary forces in the region, with arrest being commonplace.

In recent years, the government has started a number of large-scale development projects in Balochistan, partly designed to generate local employment. The most prestigious of these is the Gawadar deep-sea port, some 470 km west of the country's main port city of Karachi. The US $248 million Chinese-built dock is expected to be opened in February.

Haqqani described the situation in Balochistan as an uneasy standoff.

"However, in the long run, the authorities do need to address the demands of the Baloch people and nationalist leaders which are by [and] large genuine," Haqqani added.

[ENDS]