Sparsely populated Balochistan comprises almost 45 per cent of Pakistan’s land mass. For miles around, the landscape can be desolate with little greenery or any habitations. The province is abjectly poor, with facilities for medical treatment and education few and far between. All this has provided fertile ground for social unrest which is becoming more widespread.
The authorities, egged on by the Federal government, have now decided to shut down three major universities in the province indefinitely. The decision to shut down universities was enforced on Tuesday (March 18). The trigger for this decision was apparently the spurt in attacks on Pakistani security forces, including its Army, Frontier Corps (FC) personnel and the police.
These universities are the University of Balochistan, Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University and the University of Turbat. Most academic activities have ground to a halt, though authorities have said that online teaching can continue at some places. This has been done to force students to leave campus hostels and return to their homes.
The closure of three universities in the province has been done due to rising security concerns. Two universities in the provincial capital, Quetta, were shut indefinitely last week, while a third switched to virtual learning on Tuesday.
Dawn quoted University of Balochistan Vice Chancellor Zahoor Ahmad Bazai as saying that the classes have been moved online as students from remote areas were unable to reach campuses. This was happening because of the blockade on many roads enforced by the rebels, putting the blame on the nationalists fighting for the cause of a free Balochistan.
The decision to temporarily close the universities was made after a thorough review of the security situation, an unnamed official said. “It was decided to switch to virtual learning until further notice due to security concerns,” he said. Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti and his official spokesman Shahid Rind have not said a word about shutting down the universities as it is apparently a hugely unpopular decision. Bugti belongs to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) and is a much-hated figure all over the province because of his proximity to the Army, which is considered the fountainhead of all atrocities being done to Baloch people.
It bears mention here that with the spread of education, discontent has also become wider all over Balochistan. For the past few decades, parents who can afford to educate their wards have been sending them to places such as Islamabad, Lahore, and Karachi. Closer home, Quetta, the capital of Balochistan and its biggest city, is a big educational hub for the Baloch, which belongs to different tribes. However, the Federal government is not keen to allow students to gather and discuss the state of Balochistan in a united manner.
As such, the campuses will remain closed until at least two weeks after Eidul Fitr, when a decision to reopen or continue the shutdown imposed on the universities can be made. In response to the escalating violence, security in Quetta has been intensified, with additional security forces deployed and extra checkpoints set up across the city.
Incidentally, the decision to shut down universities in Balochistan came a week after the attack on the Jaffar Express train going from Quetta to Peshawar. Baloch nationalist rebels had launched another attack a couple of days ago on a military convoy in Noshki. Besides these two major attacks, the Baloch nationalists, who are fighting for a sovereign, independent Balochistan free from Pakistan’s yoke, also carried out smaller attacks all over the province.
These attacks greatly unnerved the Federal government headed by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif. As a result, the government organised an all-party meeting in Parliament on Tuesday which was attended by Pakistan Army chief General Asim Munir. He said that the security forces had to make sacrifices because there was a “gap in governance’’. By this gap, General Munir meant deficiencies in the government machinery, be it ministers or the bureaucrats.
