War On Terror - Balochistan De-Focused?
Balochistan, of late has been in a grip of foreign sponsored sporadic acts of terror. Most active in the province has been the Indian intelligence agency ‘RAW' which wanted to open a second front in a bid to divert the government focus from FATA where it has invested hugely in fanning the militancy. There are other foreign agencies operating in Balochistan besides the Indian one. There unequivocal support to the failed and irrelevant militant Baloch leaders, who enjoy draconian authority over Balochis, has been immense. These agencies thrive in Balochistan by exploiting the colonial mind sets of these leaders to destabilize the province. The hype that is created in the international electronic and print media every now and then over Balochistan, which is an essential part of sovereign Pakistan, only expose their vested interests in this Pakistan territory.
The strategic location of Pakistan is very significant. It is significant for it links the northern hemisphere of the world with warm waters of the Arabian Sea for trade reasons. It is significant for having nuclear ambitious Iran as its neighbour and also for being connected with troubled Afghanistan through common borders. Balochistan, the largest province in terms of area, houses the all important port of Gawadar and as such offers the shortest possible routes for Chinese and Afghan trade to the Middle East and Europe and vice versa. US is however, averse to see Chinese trade taking place through the port of Gawadar and the presence of Chinese navy in the area for it puts America's planned Trans Afghanistan Pipeline from the Central Asian States through Balochistan to the South, at risk.
The active involvement of foreign agencies in Pakistan's province of Balochistan has been sufficiently proved.
Pakistan's Senate Committee on Defence in June, 2006 had accused British Intelligence of "abetting the insurgency in the province bordering Iran".
Also, as per Press Trust of India's press release dated 9 August 2006, Ten British MPs were found involved by the Senate Committee in its closed door session on alleged links of British Secret Service with the Baluch separatists. The British interests in Balochistan were again made conspicuous when its Foreign Policy Centre, sponsored a preposterous one sided propaganda against Pakistan by holding a controversial Seminar in the House of Commons on 27 June 2006. The Centre had collaborated with the so-called Baluchistan Rights Movement then and had invited only anti-Pakistan and self styled activists who only advocated terrorism in the province. No Pakistani scholar or elected representatives from either the central government or the Balochistan province itself, were invited for the seminar.
For India, Balochistan has been another soft target in its bid to destabilize Pakistan. Whereas
India fuels the militancy in Pakistan's North Western and FATA through a series of Consulates along the Pakistan borders, it sponsors Balochistan Liberation Front, Balochistan Republican Army and Balochistan National Army through its Consulates located at Zahedan and Mazar in Iran. Not only these Consulates provide funding and guidance to the insurgents in Balochistan they also provide explosives and weapons for terror activities inside the province. A former Rand Scholar Christine Fair, who had visited the Indian Consulate in Zahedan, has also revealed in one of her articles on India's active involvement in destabilisation of Balochistan. This fact was accepted too by a large variety of speakers at a round table conference held in Washington in the first half of this year on the subject. American analysts have also acknowledged Indian funding to the Taliban in Foreign Affairs journal published by the Council for Foreign Relations in Washington.
The root causes for occasional violence that one sees in Balochistan has never been internal poverty or lack of development therein the province but the covert operations of foreign agencies. The involvement in Balochistan affairs by RAW, MI-6 and CIA tantamount to deliberate infringement on the integrity of Pakistan by these respective countries. They greatest pawn in Balochistan being toyed by these agencies is none other than Afghanistan based Brahamdagh Bugti, the proclaimed leader of a militant group ‘Balochistan Liberation Army' to fan out violence in Balochistan. In one of the interviews telecast by ‘Aaj' TV, Bugti made his intentions very clear when he said that he will attack and kill non Baloch population in Balochistan. He also asked India and other powers to help him support his efforts in Balochistan.
The on-going activities of RAW in FATA and Balochistan have also been supported as a recommendation in a 72 page white paper titled, "War on Terror: The Agenda for Action". This white paper was prepared after the 26/11 Mumbai incident by civil society's representatives and presented to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in January this year. One of the recommendations of this white paper read, "Exploit the divisions within Pakistan and expose its weaknesses in Baluchistan, FATA and Azad Kashmir......Mount a sustained diplomatic campaign to build international pressure, especially from the US, with the message that if such efforts fail, India is ready for war. Set a timeline for Pakistan to dismantle terror infrastructure". In fact India has never reconciled with existence of Pakistan as an independent and sovereign nation on its west. As per Captain (Retd) Bharat Verma of Indian Defence Review, "....the foremost threat to the Union (and for centuries before) materialized on the western periphery, continuously. To defend this key threat to the Union,
New Delhi should extend its influence through export of both, soft and hard power towards Central Asia from where invasions have been mounted over centuries. Cessation of Pakistan as a state facilitates furtherance of this pivotal national objective..."
Pakistan has sailed through many storms within its short history of existence however; with every incident it has become only more robust, mature and resolute for the right reasons. The State of Pakistan was created to stay and stay it will.
