In a special joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate, the government today unveiled its promised “Baluchistan conciliation package” (synopsis of provisions and full text, below). This marks a small but important step forward in what one certainly hopes is a trend towards full integration of all Pakistanis into Pakistan. The package follows reform packages announced for FATA and for Gilgit-Baltistan, where elections were recently held. The contents of the package – yet to be discussed in to approved by parliament – are by no means comprehensive, and some Baluch leaders are already opposing it.
They have good reason to be be skeptical – not only because of what is not in the package but also because there is a long history of such steps being taken for political appeasement rather than as real triggers of systemic change in the structures and distributions of power. One certainly hopes that this time things are different and that Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gillani’s offer of trying to “heal broken hearts” is a heartfelt sentiment and not just political theatrics.
The real test of this sincerity will be in how the government benches deals with the emotional debates that will ensue, how additional measures are undertaken to fully integrate the legitimate concerns of the province, and – most of all – in how sincerely the provisions that are agreed are implemented. None of this will be easy. But all of this will also be impossible without the Baluch leadership also demonstrating a willingness to make conciliation work. Many of their apprehensions are legitimate but so is the need for national integration to become national purpose. That is the test not only of the government and of the Baluch leadership, but also of other mainstream political parties.
That is, if you count from the year the idea of the college first sprouted in the minds of its founders, in 1909. The work on the building started in 1912 and, within a short period of time, the main college building along with a high school and three hostels was completed. The college was elevated to a university in 2007.
When one looks at the faded, old black-and-white pictures of the college taken at the time, one can’t help noticing the stark contrast between this amazingly beautiful building, built in copper-colored bricks, in British-colonial-“Mughal†style, and the surrounding empty area – almost wilderness – stretching right up to the mouth of the Khyber Pass. It is as if the building was delivered, overnight, by a genie to grant a boy’s wish in a fairy tale.
Who was the boy in this fairy tale and who the genie? It is difficult to separate the two.
The list of beneficiaries of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) was released yesterday amidst more pomp than it deserved – since, the list verifies what we knew rather than tell us too much new information. There are, however, details that are new and potentially important in the volatile politics of Pakistan. At a time when the country is facing a whole cascade of existential problems, from terrorism to economic collapse to political fragility and more, the NRO has – unsurprisingly become a lightening rod, especially for the mainstream media.
The politics of NRO and of the NRO list is clearly going to continue to consume it. It is not clear what will come out of it, but whatever comes is likely to be consequential. At least four thoughts about this politics are worth highlighting:
While All Things Pakistan has remained alive and online, it has been dormant since June 11, 2011 - when, on the blog's 5th anniversary, we decided that it was time to move on. We have been heartened by your messages and the fact that a steady traffic has continued to enjoy the archived content on ATP.
While the blog itself will remain dormant, we are now beginning to add occasional (but infrequent) new material by the original authors of the blog, mostly to archive what they may now publish elsewhere. We will also be updating older posts to make sure that new readers who stumble onto this site still find it useful.
We hope you will continue to find ATP a useful venue to reflect upon and express your Pakistaniat. - Editors
In a special joint session of the National Assembly and the Senate, the government today unveiled its promised “Baluchistan conciliation package” (synopsis of provisions and full text, below). This marks a small but important step forward in what one certainly hopes is a trend towards full integration of all Pakistanis into Pakistan. The package follows reform packages announced for FATA and for Gilgit-Baltistan, where elections were recently held. The contents of the package – yet to be discussed in to approved by parliament – are by no means comprehensive, and some Baluch leaders are already opposing it.
