Two wrongs never make a right

02.05.2010	Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur The state and media in Pakistan seem to suffer from the ‘Gaza syndrome’, in which a single homemade rocket fired by the Palestinians has to be brought to world attention while the bombing of Gaza is glossed over The killing of non-combatants in any conflict is reprehensible and deserves to be unequivocally condemned; the condemnation, however, has to be even-handed. You cannot condemn infringements of the rights of one group and neglect the travails of others. At the risk of being misunderstood, I have ventured to write about the sad and unnecessary killing of Assistant Professor Nazima Talib and condemn it. I, however, want to make it clear that my sympathies have always been and will always be with the struggle for Baloch rights. Who is to blame for this killing? Naturally, those who planned and carried out this killing come to our mind, but the responsibility does not end here. Those responsible, i.e. the ruling political, military and bureaucratic hierarchy, commonly known as the ‘establishment’, for the entire 63-year span of political, social, economic and military repression of the Baloch people are equally to blame. Complicit in this crime is the mainstream media, which chooses to be very selective in its condemnation, highlighting and sidelining of incidents. A brutal crackdown in Baloch localities in Quetta on April 20 resulted in the death of Shahnaz Mengal. It was conveniently glossed over like a normal everyday occurrence and given insignificant coverage. Was her life dispensable or of lesser importance? In contrast, there have been editorials in all major dailies regarding the sad killing of Nazima Talib. The media needs to reappraise its selectivity of highlighting what it thinks is important and neglecting the woes of those with whom it finds difficult to identify. As long as this biased media approach persists, those responsible for brutalities against the Baloch will continue. The state and the media seem to suffer from the ‘Gaza syndrome’, in which a single homemade rocket fired by the Palestinians has to be brought to world attention, while the bombing of Gaza is glossed over. This attitude has led to the deterioration of the situation and unless the will to listen and heed the problems is shown, the spree of senseless killings will continue to escalate, taking its toll of innocent lives. In Baloch society, women and children are never targeted in revenge killings, however intense and deep-rooted the enmity may be. In the Baloch tradition, if a woman intervenes in a fight, the opponents back off. So why are the Baloch provoked into acts which are contrary to their code of conduct and traditions? I do not attempt to justify the act of killing Nazima Talib, who did a lot of good by turning out many good Baloch journalists and should not have been targeted, but would like to say the provocations are of a grave nature. The law enforcement agencies involved in crackdowns and operations are extremely rough and coarse in their approach and attitudes. They do not respect the sensibilities of the people they come to ‘fix up’. Disproportionate use of force is the standard procedure and gender is no bar to the treatment meted out. It was this approach that resulted in the death of Shahnaz Mengal. The security personnel, like colonialists, are simply clueless about the sensibilities of the people they are sent to deal with and not bothered about the pain and suffering they cause. Baloch women have been at the receiving end for a long time. Professor Naela Qadri Baloch used to teach at Balochistan University and her husband Ghulam Mustafa Qadri was a librarian. They were hounded due to their activism against the 1998 nuclear tests and had to go underground; her present whereabouts are not known. No one has even bothered to raise a voice in their favour. Women protestors are not spared and no one bothers. There is too much bias about whose woes are advocated and whose are conveniently disregarded. The government has been actively promoting Talibanisation of minds by affording facilities to religious institutions in an effort to neutralise the secular Baloch people’s demands for their rights. Unsurprisingly, acid attacks against girls who venture out to bazaars are being carried out. Three sisters were seriously injured in Kalat on Friday and on April 13, two sisters were similarly injured by acid-throwing motorcyclists in Dalbandin. Such attacks can only be carried out by warped minds. An unknown ‘Baloch Ghairat Mand Group’ has claimed responsibility. The local press is muzzled, threatened and restrained from voicing the demands of the people. A group calling itself ‘Baloch Musalla Difa Tanzeem’ threatened Khuzdar Press Club against coverage of Baloch nationalist parties or face consequences. This group had claimed responsibility for a grenade attack on students in Khuzdar during a cultural event celebration in March. Witnesses however blamed the Frontier Corps (FC). Asaap was the most popular Urdu daily, which expressed the sentiments of the people of Balochistan. Its offices were besieged in August 2009 by the FC for two weeks and eventually stationing of a tank outside its offices sealed its fate. Abid Amin, the Bureau Chief of Balochi language satellite channel, ‘Sabz Bath Balochistan’ (SBB) in District Turbat, was picked up by the FC as retribution for covering the first death anniversary of Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir and Sher Mohammad — who were allegedly kidnapped and subsequently killed by the FC personnel last year. Munir Mengal’s story is too well known to need repeating. Instances of intimidation are too numerous to detail. When people are denied their rights for decades with no hope of redress and meaningless packages are presented as a panacea, when brutal crackdowns and military operations on unarmed people are considered the best solution to demands for justice, when the local media is repressed and severely constrained and the mainstream media is biased and selective, when government-sponsored groups attack peaceful Baloch rallies and Talibanisation is promoted to thwart the struggle for just demands, then, though unjustified, reprisals against innocents occur. A torturous history of repression widens the chasm of trust to the extent that retaliating in kind becomes the only option for some. However, I feel that two wrongs never make a right for the simple reason that by stooping to the level of the enemy, one loses the high moral ground and legitimacy, which in the first place justifies struggles. Revolutionaries need to remember that there is a very thin red line distinguishing revolution from terrorism and the danger is that once the threshold is crossed, return becomes difficult and all good work may be lost as a result. Retaliation decisions should not be made lightly, as soft target options may become a habit, as it has with the state. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com