The Pakistani cabinet led by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has approved the deployment of the Pakistani Army in Balochistan in view of the deteriorating security situation in the country’s south-west province. This is the first time that Pakistan has formally acknowledged the deployment of the army in the war-torn province that seeks independence from Pakistan.
The cabinet also approved sending Rangers, the paramilitary force that had illegally arrested former prime minister Imran Khan, to the vital Punjab province.
The additional movement of armed forces to Balochistan, which is in the throes of a full-fledged conflict, has raised fears among the poverty-stricken community about increase in human rights abuse and “enforced disappearances” under the watch of the Pakistani army. A Baloch analyst told India Narrative that such massive military deployment indicates that there will be an acceleration in the genocide of the ethnic Baloch community.
The Baloch have already started appealing to the global community including the UN to save them from the “oncoming onslaught”.
Geopolitical analyst Mark Kinra says: “Balochistan has always seen army operations but with the army coming officially, it means the security situation has really deteriorated. I think one of the major reasons for enhanced army deployment is the attack on Pakistani Army installations”.
The Baloch analyst said that the decision to deploy the army publicly might have its roots in Pakistani Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Asim Munir’s visit to China recently where Beijing would have insisted on providing the maximum security to Chinese officials and the strategic China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). “With the poor financial situation, Islamabad desperately needs money and by fulfilling a long-pending security demand from China, Pakistan will get the much-needed funds,” says the Baloch analyst.
He added that, “the Pakistani Army has remained stationed in Balochistan since 1948, after it had forcibly occupied the kingdom of Kalat and its adjoining states, now Balochistan. However, this is the first time that an official notification about the army’s presence in this region is being issued”.