Pre-Poll Rigging in Balochistan
Qambar Malik Baloch
The Balochistan Post
Once again 2013 election scenario is taking place! Our workers are been threatened and harassed to resign from the party by Khalai Makhlooq and forced join a party that just came into existence by their blessings! 1/3
Asserts Akhtar Mengal in one of his tweets – (Khalai Makhooq is commonly referred to intelligence agencies of the state).
It is not only the president of Balochistan National Party – BNP who raised ‘serious questions’ about the transparency of the upcoming general elections in Balochistan but by and large every political analyst is expressing doubt about a fair and transparent election process in the province.
Manipulation of elections in Pakistan is a common knowledge, however, Balochistan represents a grisly case when it comes to the pursuit of scheming objectives of country’s single most powerful establishment there. Accusations about the manipulation of electoral processes and bodies is not a recent development, instead, it has a historical context marked with mutual friction and distrust.
During the past many years, the largest and most popular nationalist party, Balochistan National Party (BNP) had to face the brunt of death squads operating under various nomenclatures in Balochistan resulting in the targeted killing of many of its high profile leaders and activists on different pretexts. It boycotted the elections in 2008 on the grounds of appalling human rights violations in Balochistan. In the elections of 2013 in Balochistan, the public mandate was blatantly stolen and BNP was robbed off of its majority seats against the predictions of various independent poll surveys in 2013, showing its popularity index at the highest. The Election Commission of Pakistan – ECP took more than 20 days to announce the poll results of BNP’s head Akhtar Mengal’s constituency, which raised a serious question of what happened to the popular mandate.
The present political scenario is not much different from the one observed during 2013 general elections. According to various local sources and recent developments, organised strategies are underway to keep BNP out of the legislative bodies once again. The recent endeavour is the formation of a new political party Balochistan Awami Party (BAP) to counter the nationalist narrative in Balochistan, its sudden creation and rise to prominence is being seen as a brain-child of the Khalai Makhlooq. Definitively substantiating or disproving such accusations is not easy, given the covert nature of the alleged modus-operandi, although the country’s establishment has an acknowledged history of creating parties, assembling coalitions and breaking up political parties as it did in 1972, 1987 and in 1998 by overthrowing governments in Balochistan.
It is laughable yet tragic to note that it involves a laborious intellectual and physical journey to mature an ideology into a political party, the founders of BAP did the magic in a blink of an eye. Majority of BAP’s founders and those it attracts are turncoats without any ideological commitments and have remained in power in almost every government formed or installed in Balochistan, like the Balochi proverb, “Jou ay Sare Mach”, “trees on the canal bank, always getting free nourishment” explains that. Without surprise, the leaders of BAP proudly share panels with individuals with numerous cases of murder and theft filed against them including notorious drug traffickers some of them are on the US list of most wanted.
Notables in various constituencies where it is believed that the BNP candidates have dominant positions are being summoned and pressurised to vote for BAP candidates. For the BNP candidates and prominent party activists, obstacles are being created on various pretexts in order to limit their visits or to contact the masses. Many voters have been enlisted to the polling stations outside of their permanent residencies, resulting in many being registered elsewhere and unable to vote in their actual location of residence. In Khuzdar and Kech supporters of BNP are being summoned by the authorities and asked to join BAP or face severe consequences. Various polling stations are being grouped as one in order to facilitate the polling staff who have been carefully selected by the authorities for their loyalties in order to fill the ballot boxes for BAP candidates. All these together have led the analysts in believing that the upcoming elections will be rigged massively and BNP might not be allowed to represent the masses.
The establishment with prodigious powers and a considerable presence in Balochistan, are alleged by the nationalists of having various economic and political interests at stake that compel it to retain its presence there, override its constitutional rights and resort for measures outside the lawful processes. Auditor General of Pakistan found the FC a paramilitary force in Balochistan, commanded by an “inspector general,” a post that since 1950 has been occupied by an army brigadier or major general, being involved in irregularities worth over Rs: 570 million in 2014. National Accountability Bureau also unearthed widespread corruption, involving expensive smuggled cars, and alleged drug trafficking, in 2014. Whopping Rs: 20 to 30 million per month are spent on FC by the government of Balochistan and much more than that on the military operations.
BNP despite its concerns about the manipulation of the electoral process, believes that years of absence from the Parliament has allowed the undemocratic forces installed in the assemblies to facilitate the plunder of the resources of Balochistan and it is its duty to resist further encroachments of such elements in the social and political arena. These manufactured representative are hand in gloves with all sorts of financial robbery in Balochistan with powerful forces. Record cases of corruptions were unearthed against the members of the parliament while the budget documents from the previous government in Balochistan show a deficit worth of billions of Rupees in comparison to low development in infrastructure, education and health. Thousands of Jobs were lost due to the incompetence of the previous governments. These non-political entities with no stacks involved in the Baloch society and with no emotional attachment to the people of Balochistan have brought the economy and social fabric of Balochistan to the verge of destruction. No serious voice was raised in the legislative bodies against the human rights situation in Balochistan.
With over 70 years of indirect rule on Balochistan, the security establishment’s control runs deep in the governing bodies and has significantly influenced the socio-political, economic and cultural spheres of Balochistan. With the overnight creation of Balochistan Awami Party, the security establishment of Pakistan is asserting that it continues to be the key actor in shaping the socio-political dynamics of Balochistan.
It is the responsibility of the concerned authorities to uphold their constitutional obligations in accord to, “Covenant on Civil and Political rights” to which Pakistan is a signatory, and provide the people of Balochistan with the freedom to choose their own representatives and other rights. ECP and related authorities must probe into Mengal’s accusations. In the light of economic stagnation, and tense relations with regional neighbours, the consequences of stealing the public mandate for the Baloch and Pakistan will be disastrous. It is not only Balochistan where the political and economic situation will deteriorate but with other considerable challenges facing the country, the maligning of democratic forces and institutions can prove disastrous to the God given country’s internal unity and its standing in the International community.
References:
https://www.sdpi.org/publications/files/Political%20Barometer%20II%20Final-%20(Phase%202).pdf
SDPI Poll Survey, 2013
Frontier Coprs Irregularities, https://tribune.com.pk/story/672417/vacant-posts-wanted-officers-to-command-fc-in-balochistan/
NAB inquiry against FC https://nation.com.pk/09-Mar-2018/nab-orders-inquiry-against-fc-balochistan-ex-ig
https://www.dawn.com/news/1253660
https://epaper.dawn.com/DetailNews.php?StoryText=07_05_2016_008_001
The writer is a UK based Baloch socio-political activist who hails from Panjgur, Balochistan. He was the Ex chairperson of Baloch Students Action Committee, BUITEMS and Baloch Students and Youth Association UK. He can be reached at qambermbaloch@gmail.com
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Balochistan Post or any of its editors.