Old Baloch`s advice

A NATION`S fate rests in the hands of an individual, says Allama Iqbal in his poem, `Budhay Baloch ki Naseehat` `An Old Baloch`s Advice`. Tragically, individuals who can help find a solution to the problems of bleeding Balochistan are a rare species. From among the few who could help, most, such as Sardar Ataullah Mengal, believe things may have gone beyond redemption. In a meeting in May last year, Sardar Mengal told Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani he had nothing to offer the government on Balochistan. The veteran nationalist expressed a similar sentiment in the company of Nawaz Sharif in Karachi on Monday. The only change is that his tone has intensified and his complaints are no longer complaints but rather caustic indictments of a so-called campaign for peace that has accelerated Balochistan`s advance towards total alienation from Pakistan. Sardar Mengal spoke with a sense of loss about the Baloch youth who have been pushed into the mountains. He spoke of Interior Minister Rehman Malik`s threats, said the government`s much flaunted Balochistan package is empty and,most significantly, pointed the finger at the `Punjabi army` Sardar Mengal was as gloomy as gloomy can be which makes it even more incumbent upon everyone else to urgently look for rays of hope. It may have taken time, but the Sardar now had by his side a politician representing the Punjabi heartland. Mr Sharif called the Baloch leader`s concerns `legitimate` and promised his party would talk to the angry Baloch youth. He has no time to waste, just as the leadership of the government and the army must immediately heed the Sardar`s words: `If one last effort is made with sincerity, Baloch youth might agree to discuss their grievances with Islamabad. But if atrocities continue the Baloch will never accept a united Pakistan.` Pakistan has no choice but to take Sardar Mengal limiting himself to a debunking of the interior minister as a positive sign. Let us assume that, deep down, he still wishes that the responsible men sitting above Mr Malik the politicians and the military will make an earnest attempt to rescue Balochistan, and work from there. That is the only option.