Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan which is seeking stability for years. It has remained underdeveloped in all major dimensions which include; socio-political, economic, and security.
Balochistan desperately needs an eye that deeply investigates its bruised body. An eye that observes keenly and can suggest a humanitarian-based treatment for the fragile soul of the province which is also the guarantor of the golden fate of the country for the future.
Balochistan has been under the shadow of calamities in the form of insurgencies, natural disasters (floods, heatwaves, earthquakes, rain disasters, and water crises), and the victim of terrorism, law and order issues, sectarian violence, missing person issues, and a strong foothold of regional and international proxy wars. The largest province ruled by feudal lords is on a ‘no-lift’ policy by the political parties and is a backward area of a nuclear-armed state in a globalized world.
This scenario then develops a feeling of relative deprivation where people then become the aid of foreign agenda, insurgents, militants, and a threat to peace and security of the state. And they challenge the power and authority of the state.
Currently, Balochistan is facing a huge flood disaster caused by climate change in Pakistan. In South Asia, Pakistan and India recorded a heatwave at 49 degrees Celsius in April. As a result, spring was replaced by summer. The continued heatwave set the jungle of pine nuts on fire in Balochistan in May 2022.
Read More: Flooding in Pakistan is More Than What It Seems
This wave of climate change caused the early Monsoons in the country. In July, Balochistan was under a great spell of rain which destroyed houses, life, and infrastructure of the province such as bridges, roads, and electricity. The recent phase of the rains caused flooding where the rainwater entered the houses, houses sunk in rainwater, the larger part of Balochistan has been disconnected from the provincial capital and the major portion of the provincial population live in mud houses. For instance, in Noshki the mud houses had flown away in a flood caused by rain.
According to Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA), from June to August 216 people died in the floods in Balochistan whereas, 30,000 houses have been damaged during this disaster. The rescue operation is continued in Balochistan by the Pakistan Army, FC, and PDMA. The local and international NGOs including UNICEF are also playing their role in providing rations, tents, and other reliefs to the flood victims.
Balochistan has been ignored for decades, every disaster exposes the fragile structure of the province. It seems like those bones which are without skin. An orphan child in the winter on the empty roads of Pakistan at the night. The inner issues of Balochistan are the call for the consequences for the whole country in the future. Although Pakistan has formulated a citizen-centric national policy there is no implication for this. For temporary relief from the pain, NGOs and Pakistan Army do the relief operations but those operations do not cure the disease of the entire province.
The province of Balochistan needs political attention, it needs an eye to look at it through the lens of peacemaking, and it needs the hands who can work for peacebuilding through education, health provision, disaster management, it needs the just division of resources. Furthermore, a strong local government system is needed in a long term but for the short-term government can formulate committees that can plan how to rebuild the devastated areas and how they can be turned into safe cities. Climate change is a global call for emergency planning, and the protection management of the people and government needs to be competent. A quick response force is also needed for such disaster management because a stitch in time saves the nine.
Among all other issues media also needs to play a vigilant role in the progress and development of the province. Since March, Pakistan is facing political turmoil and the media’s whole attention is on political coverage. However, it needs to report and share the facts transparently on this natural disaster in the country. The media shares this responsibility equally with all other institutions.
Read More: Pakistan’s flash floods kill hundreds in last two months
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