World: Turbulent Fragment

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Strong as the nationalist feeling may be in Baluchistan, it could probably be defused by concessions of greater autonomy from Pakistan's central government and the judicious use of funds to develop the region. But General Zia's military government has neither restored the assembly that Bhutto suppressed nor made many moves to integrate the Baluch into the predominantly Punjabi administration of the province. Fumes the Khan of Kalat, whose title was taken by his family in 1666, predating the British imperial administration in Baluchistan by a hefty margin: "When will the government realize that all we want is a quarter of the national cake?" Adds one of the few high-ranking Baluch bureaucrats in Quetta: "The government's policy is reactionary. Our salvation lies in the hope that the Soviets will be equally incompetent."

So far, that has proved to be true. When the Taraki regime took power last April, it botched dealings with its own Pathan tribesmen, whose relatives make up 40% of the population of Baluchistan and occupy much of Pakistan's North-West Frontier province. Many Afghan Pathans have since fled across the border to Pakistan. That experience, however, is no guarantee of perpetual Afghan and Soviet ineptitude. The Khan of Kalat offers a warning: "People are quiet, but God knows what will happen in six months."