Targeting
Development and Progress: The Notorious Strategy of Baloch Militant Organizations
(BMOs)
Baloch Militant Groups (BMOs) like Baloch
Liberation Army and Baloch Liberation Front have long claimed to fight and
resist in the name of nationalism. Their alleged pledge and brand of
nationalism, however, becomes highly dubious and suspicious when we consider
their primary targets and modus operandi. BMOs are amongst the only terrorist/insurgent
groups in Pakistan that specifically target developmental projects and vital
infrastructures, especially in the very province they allegedly claim to represent.
This raises serious questions about both their real intentions and professed
ideology.
While one may ideologically oppose an
individual or an entity, targeting developmental projects and infrastructures
that bring benefit and respite to local people, is difficult to synthesize and
comprehend. A legitimate rational actor, no matter how disgruntled or
aggrieved, would not target developmental projects that would benefit its own
community. A group cannot claim to be loyal to its people if it categorically
sets out to destroy the very community’s prospects of development and progress.
“A legitimate
rational actor, no matter how disgruntled or aggrieved, would not target
developmental projects that would benefit its own community”
BMOs would typically argue that the main reason
why they target developmental projects in Balochistan is because they feel it
will bring in a huge influx of migrants, especially from Punjab, which would
overwhelm the fragile demography of the province.
While it is true that the Baloch ethnicity has
a very slim majority in a very thinly populated province, claims about it being
replaced or overwhelmed by a migrant majority are largely erroneous and
unwarranted.
Admittedly, amidst a migration, it is indeed
crucial is to protect the local population and indigenous values with prudent
and sensible long-term policies. What is crucial and must be duly acknowledged
is that development of a region and protection of its people, are not exclusive
values, as BMOs would have us believe. Instead, they go hand in hand and
mutually reinforce one another.
It is a rule of thumb that development and
progress anywhere in the world attracts migrants from within and outside the
country. Influx of voluntary migration is in fact directly proportional to
development and progress. All developed countries of the world, from the Middle
East to Western Europe and North America, attract immigrants from all over the
world. Such migratory patterns have not only further enriched all such
societies but have also added value to indigenous customs and traditions of the
respective regions.
In other words, a healthy and sustained inflow
of migrants, especially from within a country, brings in diversity, expertise
and skilled labor, which consequently boosts the local economy and commerce.
Opposing development in anticipation of
subsequent migration is therefore a baseless and unfounded assumption that
deprives a region of much-needed growth and progress. Any group or party that
opposes development over the pretext of migration is in fact masking its own
inherent bigotry, prejudice and xenophobia. For the benefit of a region and its
people, it is necessary to expose all such groups that hinder progress and
development over false pretexts.
“Opposing
development in anticipation of subsequent migration is therefore a baseless and
unfounded assumption that deprives a region of much-needed growth and progress”
In light of this analysis, BMOs relentless
campaign against development and construction projects in Balochistan becomes indefensible.
It is clear that they can foresee that development would bring jobs and
prosperity to the locals, which would diminish the support and sympathy for the
BMOs. This explains why they are so strongly opposed to any kind of development
in the province and effectively seek to derail all such projects and initiatives.
As opposed to their stated reasons, it is crucial therefore to critically
analyze and breakdown the deceptive and self-contradictory narrative of the
Baloch militant groups.
Deliberately hindering and stagnating growth
and development over false and misguided pretexts is a travesty against the
people of that region. Self-proclaimed nationalism and alleged loyalty of
individuals and groups that profess otherwise, is unmistakably selfish and disingenuous
and must therefore be resisted and exposed unreservedly.