Quetta, Balochistan – A wave of attacks has rocked Pakistan’s restive southwest, illuminating not just security woes but a ticking political time bomb rooted in historical grievances.
This mineral-rich province boasts natural gas, precious metals like copper and gold, coal deposits, bountiful fisheries, and a key maritime frontier. Tragically, it ranks dead last in Pakistan’s human development index, per a compelling new analysis.
Balochistan’s energy has electrified the nation for decades, yet its own villages grapple with power cuts, unsafe water, deficient education, and inadequate medical care.
The cocktail of mass unemployment—youthful and educated—scant prospects, governance exclusion, and eroded national identity has turned frustration volcanic.
Extractive industries thrive, security sweeps continue, but transformative projects? Nowhere in sight.
In Tarkeen-e-Watan, Alamdar Hussain Malik delivers a sobering verdict: ‘These strikes are fresh symptoms of an enduring, unresolved political confrontation between the province and the state.’
From Pakistan’s birth, Balochistan’s uprisings have pulsed with themes of betrayed political compacts, contested self-rule, and rights deprivation.
Militants are now rebranding violence as a tool for extracting political gains, economic equity, and reforms—a narrative sharpening into focus.
Condemning brutality is non-negotiable, but pigeonholing it as mere crime overlooks Balochistan’s definitional political fault lines.
Islamabad’s playbook—escalating forces, fortifying controls post-attack—treats symptoms, not the disease.
A paradigm shift is imperative: from militarization to political reconciliation, equitable resource distribution, and empowerment to defuse this powder keg.