The February 8 general elections continue to be marred by widespread and serious allegations of rigging and post-poll manipulations that have disenfranchised people and communities. One blatant example is in Balochistan, where a local community - which votes for candidates from within the community - has been denied all representation in the provincial assembly due to the meticulous manicuring of election results in favour of the chosen few.
The general elections saw a significant voter turnout of 60.6 million voters, or 47.6% of all registered voters in the country. In Balochistan, however, the turnout was far below the national average at 42.5%, and it varied in different areas of the province. In Quetta and its surrounding areas, the turnout was relatively high.
Balochistan, not unlike the rest of Pakistan, consists of multiple ethnic and religious communities. The major ethnic groups in the province include the Baloch, the Pashtun, and the Hazara, who are somewhat geographically demarcated.
Known for its gorgeous ethnic diversity, the province is also home to several political parties, including secular nationalist groups such as the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal), the National Party (NP) and the Hazara Democratic Party (HDP), some traditionalist parties such as the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), and many others. Thus, It was no surprise that several political parties contested the elections, reflecting the diverse political landscape of the province and the country.
Given the geographical distribution of different ethnic groups in Balochistan, it is common for voters to gravitate towards candidates from their own ethnic backgrounds.
On election day, like the rest of the country, the people in Balochistan exercised their constitutional right to franchise and eagerly awaited the results. The television channels provided breathless live coverage from outside polling stations as votes were counted.
And like the rest of Pakistan, voters and candidates alike saw substantial leads get eroded, and the results flipped overnight.
In Quetta, initial results indicated by Form-45s issued by respective polling stations showed Hazara candidate Qadir Ali Nayel victorious from PB-40 Hazara Town and its adjoining areas. Abdul Khalique Hazara was said to be winning from PB-42 - a constituency that includes the historic Alamdar Road and its surrounding areas.
For the first time in recent decades the Hazaras have been totally denied representation in the provincial assembly
However, on the morning of February 9, the Form-47 issued for the constituencies showed that Samad Khan of the PPP had clinched PB-40 with 9,225 votes compared to Nayel's 5,588 votes, while PML-N's Zarak Khan had scooped up PB-42 with 10,423 votes compared to Khalique's 8,520 votes. In these two constituencies, the ultimate winners were not even close to being the runners-up, let alone winners, in the provisional results.
To complicate matters, neither Samad Khan nor Zarak Khan hail from the constituencies they now purportedly represent. Prior to the announcement of the election results, they were totally unknown to residents of these constituencies.
These sudden overnight changes in the election results lead to widespread allegations of rigging and post-poll manipulation.
The initial winners allege that the favour of some , while others blame the establishment for orchestrating rigging to ensure certain candidates win.
When the Form-45s and Form-47s from these constituencies are compared, the evidence and scale of rigging become apparent. The vote counts for Samad Khan drastically differ between the two forms, indicating foul play. For instance, the forms show the disparities in multiple polling stations where inscriptions in the 'votes received' columns as '02' on a Form-45 magically became '502' on Form-47. Similarly, '05' changed to '605', '09' to 609' etc. In some polling stations, the votes cast in favour of one candidate grew many folds afterwards. Or, the turnout has been shown as 99.6% at some polling stations.
In some polling stations, the total votes shown to have been cast for a provincial assembly candidate is far more than those cast for a national assembly candidate from the same station. There are many more such lazy fabrications which clearly show post-poll manipulations.
This was also one of the first elections in Balochistan, where major nationalist parties of the province were systemically sidelined. For the first time in recent decades the Hazaras have been totally denied representation in the provincial assembly. Therefore, they formed a four-party alliance comprising the BNP, the HDP, PkMAP and the NP. These parties have been staging protest demonstrations across the province ever since February 9.
The exclusion of Hazaras from the provincial assembly has sparked outrage and disappointment within the community. They see it as the next stage in their continuous persecution, targeted attacks, and mass killings over the past two decades, which have resulted in their marginalisation and displacement. In recent years, many ethnic Hazaras have lost their jobs and businesses and even fled the region or the country altogether due to targeted killings.
It is also a well-known fact that the Hazaras have been forced to live in ghettos with limited interaction with other communities. Therefore, they have relied solely on their elected representatives to ensure development works in their areas. It is unfortunate that neither the provincial government nor the non-Hazara lawmakers are interested in initiating and completing development works in Hazara-populated areas.
Depriving the Hazaras of any representation whatsoever in the assembly of a multi-ethnic province comes as a great shock, not just for the affected party, HDP, but for the entire Hazara community.
This is why the HDP has staged large protest demonstrations in Hazara-populated areas. Regardless of political affiliations, HDP activists and Hazara community members have attended and supported the protests staged by the four-party alliance outside the deputy commissioner's office. This reflects the deep-seated sense of persecution and marginalisation felt by the community. They perceive the usurpation of their seats as a continuation of systemic discrimination and scapegoating. The common perception among community members is that their mandates have been stolen by the powers that be simply because they are weak and vulnerable.
Despite lodging complaints with the Election Commission and seeking legal recourse, the Hazaras can't shake this nagging feeling of hopelessness and see prospects of being able to reclaim their rights dwindle.
If the elected MPA is not a resident of a particular constituency or does not know the people of the constituency, it will be very difficult for people to get their papers attested
The blatant nature of the rigging has undermined the faith Hazaras had in the democratic process, signalling that participation in future elections may be futile if votes and mandates are not respected.
As Sardar Akhtar Mengal articulated in his recent interviews, snatching the mandate of Hazaras by outsiders is unfair and will only sow discontent and disharmony amongst communities and excluding an entire community from parliamentary politics can have far-reaching, negative consequences that can prove to be detrimental to Balochistan's stability and development. Similar concerns have been expressed by PkMAP Chairman Mahmoud Khan Achakzai during his speech at the sit-in protest.
The elections are not just about political representation. In Balochistan, development funds are allocated through the respective MPAs, thus making parliamentary representation crucial for developmental initiatives in Hazara-populated constituencies.
In a normal country, the government allocates development funds and executes development projects in all areas equally. This is not the case in Pakistan, especially not so in Balochistan, where, unfortunately, ethnic and tribal affiliations play an important role in fund allocations and development works. Not only that, the lack of Hazara representation in the provincial assembly also exacerbates documentation issues for them. People often require signatures and attestations of forms from their elected representatives to obtain official documents such as computerised national identity cards (CNIC) and passports.
If the elected MPA is not a resident of a particular constituency or does not know the people of the constituency, it will be very difficult for people to get their papers attested without having to travel long distances for a simple attestation.
The media, politicians, and civil society should not consider the total exclusion of Hazaras from the parliamentary representation as a simple case of corruption or rigging; rather, it must be seen as the continuation of systematic discrimination, deprivation and persecution.
The beneficiaries of this rigging, namely the PPP and the PML-N, should understand the sensitivity of the issue and return the mandate of the people for the betterment of the situation in Balochistan.
Pakistanis at large should raise their voices against the flagrant rigging and compel the authorities to restore the mandate of the Hazara candidates to the rightful winners. Failure to address these grievances risks exacerbating tensions and further marginalising vulnerable communities in Balochistan.