Balochistan: Hidden Treasure Wallowing In Neglect Sonya Fatah

The logic of Pakistan's battle with the Balochis beats conventional or unconventional wisdom. It doesn't matter who rules Pakistan - every leader seems to have been blind to the basic logic of collective development and integration.

 If you want to build a state you've got to at least try to include the largest province into the equation . And Balochistan, occupying 45% of Pakistan's landmass , is hardly dismissable. Quite apart from the fact that just above eight million people live there, Baluchistan is home to a vast array of valuable natural resources - gas, copper, hydrocarbon and gold among them.
It is alleged that the Prophet Zarathustra roamed the vast lands in search of converts to Zoroastrianism. The remains of one of the oldest agricultural societies were excavated here in Mehergarh in 1974; they date back to a period as far back as 7000 BC.
None of this history bears any resemblance to the fate of Balochis today. Quetta, once a proud and powerful garrison city, has the unsettling feeling of being the location of a spy thriller sans the excitement. Oddly the tribal leaders have marched in sync with the establishment by not promoting development opportunities for their people.
But even they are helpless today. Ataullah Mengal, the head of the Mengal tribe, has called PM Gilani's Aghaz-e-Haqooq package - an alleged effort to rehabilitate Balochistan - a joke.
Historically, Pakistanis haven't known much about Balochistan apart from reading newspaper reports about separatists bombing gas distribution lines or providing further roadblocks for foreign investment in the energy sector , including the once much sought after IPI pipeline.
But I digress. The reality of Balochistan is this: It is a land of special rugged attractions . If you travel west from Karachi and cross over into the province you find yourself in Hub. In Karachi where the Arabian Sea licks the shore, a muddy greenbrown liquid spreads across a sandy expanse. Here the water turns a rich, pure, azure, the sand, soft, almost white.
Some 40 km south off the coast of Pasni, a fishing spot, is Astola Island, a stunning craggy spot in the centre of the ocean that sometimes hosts off-the-beaten-track campers and budding astronomers . Off the Makran Coast there is still a coastal culture of fishing and boatbuilding.