Crux of Amir Mateen Articles series on Baluchistan Published in The News (From 29 May to 24th May 2012)
1. An article, “Baluchistan will stay if people stop leaving” pub on 29 May 2012 highlights that to say Baluchistan was deteriorating towards becoming a dysfunctional governance mechanism would be an understatement. In the peoples perspective it has already become absolutely dysfunctional. The government existing only as a mere nomenclature.
2. An article, “Stop blaming others, start changing yourself” pub on 28 May 2012 highlights that It goes without saying that Baluchistan needs all the help and attention from Islamabad, and the rest of the country for that matter, to deal with its peculiar predicaments. But do the others responsibilities sanction the provincial leadership’s habit of abdicating its own? Hardly.
3. An article, “CM Raisani spends hours gazing at shoes as Baluchistan burns” pub on 27 May 2012 highlights that Baluchistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani is a paradox. His admirers will tell you that he is a happy-go-lucky person “who will not say ‘no’ to you for anything that you might ask.”
4. An article, “When knowledge can become a life threat” pub on 26 May 2012 highlights that there is genuine concern among the hapless families of the missing persons that their kith and kin will be killed just because they ‘know too much or have seen too much’.
5. An article, “Kill and dump, never again” pub on 25 May 2012 highlights that as details of the ‘kill and dump’ policy pour in before the Supreme Court, the atrocities in Baluchistan seem much graver than realized earlier.
6. An article, “Dead can wait, first find the ‘live’ missing” pub on 24 May 2012 highlights that with the political leadership having abdicated its responsibility, state’s security establishment failing to perform, everyone responsible turning their back on the crisis with impunity, is it at all surprising that all eyes are set on the Supreme Court to find a meaningful resolution to this provincial crisis with unimaginable national level ramifications?
Previous articles series on Baluchistan (From 21st Nov to 6 Nov 2011)
1. An article, “My cabinet is my assembly, says Raisani” pub on 21 Nov 2011 highlights that The old mantra of blaming Islamabad for everything that goes wrong in Balochistan may not be valid any more, not after the 18th Amendment in the Constitution and the last National Finance Commission Award that returned most of the powers to the provinces.
2. An article, “A drive through troubled Balochistan” pub on 20 Nov 2011 highlights that As Balochistan continues to face multiple challenges of disturbed borders, the ever increasing crime, smuggling, religious extremism and a virtual insurgency, the buck stops at one remedy which should be more essential than others — governance.
3. An article, “A drive through troubled Balochistan” pub on 16 Nov 2011 highlights that politics in Balochistan seems like a smokescreen that hides the hidden mafias involved in drugs, arms-running, oil, goods and vehicles smuggling, dubious mine licenses and construction contracts, you name it.
4. An article, “A drive through troubled Balochistan” pub on 15 Nov 2011 highlights that the Frontier Corps (FC) is under increasing scrutiny for its changing role as the guardians of Balochistan frontiers to becoming top cops and ‘guardian angels’ of politics and business, provoking serious questions about its integrity and utility. The issue now is whether the FC is part of the Balochistan problem or its solution.
5. An article, “This epicentre of trouble can turn into a peace model” pub on 12 Nov 2011 highlights that, “The current phase of violence in Balochistan was triggered from this small but key power centre when Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed. And it might just be in Dera Bugti that the seeds of peace can be sowed.
6. An article, “A drive through troubled Balochistan-4” pub on 12 Nov 2011 highlights that who will benefit from the massive new gas reserves said to have been discovered here, bigger at least 10 times than the original Sui deposits, now that the new Nawab Aali Bugti has left his ancestral lands and the rest of the family is fighting over the legacy of Nawab Akbar Bugti.
7. An article, “A drive through troubled Balochistan—3” pub on 11 Nov 2011 highlights that Nawab Akbari Bugti was perhaps the last of the old-style Baloch Sardars who maintained a near totalitarian control over Dera Bugti for over half a century.
8. An aticle, “Ghost of Nawab Bugti still haunts Dera” pub on 7 Nov 2011 highlights that the late Nawab Akbar Bugti matters even more in death than alive.
9. An article, “Safe, dangerous or on the insurgency trail?” pub on 6 Nov 2011 highlights that the political and security crisis in Balochistan swings between two opposite narratives.
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