In his op-ed for Arab News, Dr Syed Kaleem Imam, a former federal secretary and inspector general of police, makes three critical observations on Balochistan's simmering crisis.

"In my years of service, I saw again and again that the officials answerable for outcomes in Balochistan were seldom the ones who had made the decisions, and those who made the decisions were rarely held accountable for the consequences.

"Over the years, I saw capable civil servants and police officers hesitate to offer honest professional advice because agreement was rewarded while candor was treated as disloyalty.

"I recall a senior police officer proudly saying that his primary duty was to represent the state. I respectfully disagree. The police represent the state best when they protect people's rights, dignity, and security. At the same time, they require capable administration."

These observations testify to Balochistan's crisis of political imagination, not merely a policy failure. It is a failure to: a) comprehend the relationship between the public servant and state institutions, which primarily demands loyalty to the state and not to individuals; and b) critically assess the socio-political relationship between the state and the........

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