Interview with Muhammad Khan Achakzai Governor Balochistan

By Salman Masood –

Muhammad Khan Achakzai became the governor of Balochistan in June, 2013. He is the eldest son of late nationalist leader Khan Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai and brother of veteran politician Mehmood Khan Achakzai.

How do you assess the current situation in Balochistan?

The first army action in Pakistan took place against Qalat State in 1948 in the life of Quaid-e-Azam himself. After that, it has been a continuous saga of struggle and even today the problems exist. The Baloch have a very strict tribal structure, which is called the Sardari structure. That society is very restrictive in which the place of each person is known, where he stands, where his status is and all that. That system is now breaking. It is not fully broken but breaking. Because of that there is a lot of uncertainty; some people are reluctant, some are not. And in the last few years, some avoidable incidents took place, like the murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti, and have added to the problem. All these are settling down and will settle.

How do you plan to bring Baloch separatists to the national fold?

I am glad our coalition partners include Baloch parties. It’s a good feature. And because they are Baloch and the so called dissidents are also Baloch, so we hope that we are able to open some kind of dialogue with them. And, dialogue, of course, can only be in one direction: you have to accept the sovereignty of the state, and within that any differences can be settled.

Separatists, of course, have very extreme positions

I think they would know their limitations very soon. My hope is that this (insurgency) is not sustainable for a long time. Nor is it any more possible for small splinters to break states. States cannot be made every now and then. We do hope that maybe some sense will prevail.

Have you sent any messages to the separatists that they should come on the negotiating table or start this whole dialogue?

There cannot be a very formal dialogue of any sort. You see the recent Doha dialogue in Qatar, between the US and Kabul, broke  down because Taliban came with their own flag which means you accept them as an identity and Afghanistan refused to do so. So here, we would be following the same pattern. Nobody can accept them as a force to be negotiated with. They’d have to agree to be within the constitution and then within that if there are any grievances, they can only be solved through the parliament. The parliament means going to the people and getting elected.

So, your message to the separatists is to become a part of the political process?

Yes, that is the only way. They have to come and join the political process. Again the reference goes to Afghanistan, where the red lines include that the Taliban, or whatever you may call them, they will have to accept those lines– law and order, the equality of people, the freedom for women and so on and so forth–and then they come and play as anybody else. And play through the electoral process. That is the pattern that we hope these people will follow. I think the coming in of Akhtar Mengal back to Pakistan is really the initiation of that. His party did not do well in of politics because Mengal was not here and the extreme line he took, it was refused.

There is a fear that once the Americans leave the region there will be a very bloody civil war in Afghanistan and the spill over effect will affect all the areas which are alongside our border.

Yes, but I think the Americans are very responsible people. They cannot afford to do that. We are a very important country and we cannot let that happen either. Because in the whole region, ours is the longest relationship with the US. Otherwise not just the region but also the whole of Middle East and beyond, they will be all in turmoil. And no responsible country, whether it is the US or anyone else, can afford it.

And I’m sure we are mature enough to realize that as well. Afghanistan is our natural friend, a natural ally. Somehow, we are still reluctant to realize that. What we should’ve done long ago is that we should’ve amalgamated the tribal areas into the then North West Frontier Province, just like we have created Gilgit-Baltistan now. We should have done that back then. We should’ve expanded Pakistan. We have created Gilgit Baltistan now. Why can’t we create a full-fledged tribal province with its own jurisdiction, whether be it a small one. It can still be joined together with Khyber Pakhtunkwa, and better still why can’t we include the Pashtuns of Balochistan in it and let the Baloch have their own province. So that they can go through the changing process by themselves rather than involving other people in it.

Coming specifically to Quetta, there are so many killings of the Hazaras and the blame falls on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. Why  is government  unable to do anything ?

In Balochistan, some Hindus live in Pashtun and Baloch regions.  They maintain normal relationships at every level.  Hindus can live very peacefully in some parts of Balochistan. Why cant Shiites live? The Hazara issue is alien to Balochistan. It comes from organizations that did not originally originate in Balochistan, like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. They are from somewhere else. The idea of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi is from outside. Even if they have recruited local people, I know that they are not Pashtuns. And, if they are recruiting people from the Balochi areas, it is a recruitment by a foreign ideology, in a foreign organization and a foreign thought.

Are you hopeful that violence against Hazaras will come down? Are you taking any steps to ensure this?

This is exactly what I did as the governor in the first instance. I told the security forces that Hazaras are a small community and it is not a big area. Even if you have to be there in every street, you should be there. But then the whole system has gone astray. There used to be crime investigation, special police, crime collection so on and so forth. All these systems have changed or collapsed and perhaps have to be renewed. Also, our forces are not quick enough or organized enough for urban areas.

There seems to be a breakdown in the whole security apparatus. The ISI does not coordinate with Frontier Corps (FC), the FC does not coordinate with the police. So its like everything is in a free-fall

We working towards having better coordination between security agencies. There has been better information sharing and the situation has improved. When Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came here last, he also stressed that information sharing must be strengthened.

F.C is blamed for human rights violations in Balochistan. How do you plan to fix this issue?

This is a very important question that you asked. It is a very big concern. I thought there would be some kind of laws here like those in the occupied Kashmir. But when I asked, I was told that there were no such law here. Occupied Kashmir laws are very draconian laws and I am glad that those laws aren’t here. We have discussed this with the Chief Secretary and will be coming up with some kind of a law, not very strict, and keeping in view the rights of the people arrested and the needs of the security agencies.