J K News Today Special
Pakistan is going to fence Gwadar port city in Baluchistan for security reasons overriding all the objections and concerns of the local population . It is going to be the first of its kind experiment in “ preserving national security” with the sole purpose of enslaving the people .
There is no doubt that Gwadar is very important place for Pakistan , and more than that for China that has invested billions of dollars to reach and occupy the port and the city to enrich its economy through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor . In practical terms, China owns the land and the waters of Gwadar , and Pakistan that has helped Beijing to colonise the port city , is now doing the dirty job , denying the people of Baluchistan their right to waters and the land .
Gwadar is a port city from where China will control its maritime activities . It has reached there by building Karakorum highway , that passes through Gilgit Baltistan and Pakistan occupied Kashmir to ship its products. It has a deep strategic value for China . Not that it has spent billions of dollars in reaching there as part of the CPEC , but this also opens its ways to supplement and showcase its commitment to the One Belt Road Initiative . The strategic assets are to be guarded and secured. There is no doubt about it , but the question is secured from whom ?
Pakistan fears , rather it amplifies the fears of Beijing that the people of Baluchistan, and in particular that of Gwadar will rise in revolt . The Baloch nationalists are active against the loot of their resources by Pakistan , and now by China , while their own people have been denied access to waters and fishing rights . They have been pushed into poverty and a state of deprivation .
So, Pakistan is trying to secure assets of Baluchistan from its own people . The theory of security threat is groundless .The people will not rise in revolt if they believe that their ownership rights to the land and the water are secure . But , when they have been pushed out of the scene by the use of force , and now fence is being erected to kill all their human rights , they will have the right to agitate .
Pakistan is afraid of the agitation by the people . It has an added reason to fear fury of the people of Baluchistan . Islamabad has used all the resources of the province to benefit the mainland , and perhaps never treated the province more than a colony.
Pakistani Parliamentarians , and intellectuals have warned the government against fencing the city of Gwadar . This will add fuel to fire to the anger of the people of Baluchistan who have already started their movement against Pakistan and its establishment . Instead of seeking any political reconciliation , Pakistan’s establishment is going I for harsh measures .
Islamabad- Rawalpindi combine present an example of duplicity, while it is quite vocal about the alleged human rights elsewhere, but what it is doing to the people of Baluchistan is quite contrary to its claim . of being champion of human rights.
