The Balochi Sardars are again making news. This time again they are threatening an insurgency. Balochistan has a troubled history since independence. The Khan of Kalat delayed accession to Pakistan till the last. Then again in early 60's the army had to be used to put down a rebellion in Kalat. The most prolonged period of unrest was in 1970s when the army had to fight an insurgency for over 3 years before it was crushed. During this period Mr. Bhutto announced the abolition of Sardari system. The system had numerous demerits, but it was a system that the common people were used to. They had their decisions made for them, their cases decided and so on. While it was a good step to abolish the system, we failed to provide an alternative that could function in the peculiar environments. Considering the vastness of the province, the paucity of communication means the common man was deprived of simple decision making process. A vacum was thus created. We should have moved swiftly to fill that vacum with a system that took into account the remoteness of the area, its backwardness and lack of education. In this vacum the Sardars continued to operate in one form or the other. A lot of development activity also took place in the province during this period, but it was not enough to make up for years of neglect. While the Pushtoon doimated part of Balochistan has developed to an extent, the remaining province still lags far behind. In other provinces there exists a disparity between urban and rural areas, but within limits. In Balochistan this disparity is huge and is the main cause of grieviance. This disparity has to be swiftly addressed or else we would be fighting another insurgency.
The second point is about the role of Baloch sardars. Successive governemnts and rulers (without exception) have encouraged them to shun nationalist tendencies and tried to bring them into the mainstream of national politics. The carrot and stick policy to win them over has given them a sort of nusiance value. As the situation stands they are still a political force and it is not going to be easy to bypass them. We cannot dismantle a centuires old system overnight. It is a gradual process that will take a few generations to complete, unless of course you have a sort of revolution like the French or the Communist take over of Russia for which conditions do not exist. The Sardars continue to enjoy influence in the absence of any meaningful alternative. The situation thus requires to be dealt with in a tactful manner. We need to be patient for the benefits of mega projects to start flowing in and also show magnanimity .