Pakistan's 'secret' war in Baluchistan

[Abu Zolfiqar]

@Omar1984



Lol yeah right, no thanks Punjabis don't need to be protected 24 hours a day, there not that important. Such a thing isn't even practical at this stage.

Punjabis who are responsible for the bulk of corruption in Pakistan need to understand Balochistanis have real grievances that need to be addressed. Invest in schools, hospitals, develop markets there, employment, etc. Balochistan is need of this more than any other province. Balochistanis have been very patient with Punjabis who use Balochistan's resources for their gain meanwhile local Balochistanis receive little benefit of their provincial resources.

Gwadar has to be developed rapidly! That will restore hope in Balochistan and Pakistan.

i dont know if my Sprite was spiked with some single malt whisky because I can't believe im reading this from you bro; are you okay today??

has nothing to do with Punjabi or Baloch peoples; its a purely political problem which requires effort of all groups in Pakistan. By the way, didnt the brainwashed terrorists murder a Sindhi (lady) professor a few months back?

where's the honour in that?

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

agha we wont lose anything.....It is 2011. Things have changed. The assholes sitting over there in Islamabad are still assholes but territorily we shall remain intact, every square millimeter is ours.

you cant really compare EPak to Bstan coz one is physically connected and the other we were under impression was spiritually connected --with thousands km of enemy territory conveniently located chock right in the middle




relax and dont get so excited

 

[Omar1984]

@Omar1984



Lol yeah right, no thanks Punjabis don't need to be protected 24 hours a day, there not that important. Such a thing isn't even practical at this stage.

Punjabis who are responsible for the bulk of corruption in Pakistan need to understand Balochistanis have real grievances that need to be addressed. Invest in schools, hospitals, develop markets there, employment, etc. Balochistan is need of this more than any other province. Balochistanis have been very patient with Punjabis who use Balochistan's resources for their gain meanwhile local Balochistanis receive little benefit of their provincial resources.

Gwadar has to be rapidly developed! That will restore hope in Balochistan and Pakistan.

Punjabis are not that interested in Balochistan as you think. We are more than happy with our Lahore, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Rawalpindi, Muree, etcc We are hard working intelligent people that is the reason why Punjab is the most developed province of Pakistan. We are the ones who built our province from scratch and we keep building our villages, towns, cities each day unlike the tribal backward sardars/politicians of Balochistan who do nothing for their province and defend criminals who follow ancient tribal inhumane traditions like bury their women alive if the women chose their own grooms.

Since Pakistan got independence in 1947, there has been only ONE Punjabi leader and he was General Zia ul Haq, who was the reason the Soviets are not our neighbours today. If you want to blame any ethnic groups because you think they are ruling Pakistan (including Balochistan province) then blame the PPP Sindhis, the Urdu speaking Mohajir Generals, and the Kashmiri Sharif PML-N brothers who have ruled Pakistan for most of Pakistan's history.

If Punjabis keep getting targeted in Balochistan because of their ethnic groups then they need security. When was the last time you heard of a Pakistani being killed in Punjab because of the ethnic group he belongs to? Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the only provinces of Pakistan that does not have any target killings based on ethnic groups.

Baloch nationalists should fix their backwards mentality before they can even think of progressing.

 

[Abu Zolfiqar]

both of you get out of your cuckoons and quit this garbled cross-chatter

in case you didnt notice, there is insecurity in other parts of Pakistan even the folks in Karachi or Lahore werent spared.


propose solutions; dont tell people what they either already know and most importantly dont resort to sensationalism


yes?

 

[Pak_Sher]

lol wat is punjabistan. are punjabis in pakistan also working towards an independent state?

Yes we are working towards it. The Punjab now in Pakistan will also include the Indian Punjab upto New Delhi and the new Punjab will still be part of our beloved Pakistan.

 

[Mech]

What happened to the mallu land cause?

 

[53fd]

both of you get out of your cuckoons and quit this garbled cross-chatter

in case you didnt notice, there is insecurity in other parts of Pakistan even the folks in Karachi or Lahore werent spared.


propose solutions; dont tell people what they either already know and most importantly dont resort to sensationalism


yes?

Brother, the solution is already put into action. The Baloch representation will be increased in all fields of life as is happening right now, infrastructure in the province has improved drastically. The 'rats' in Balochistan will be put to their eventual downfall. Pakistan doesn't need to do anything extra, actions such as adding the military there is certainly not needed & will further aggravate the situation there.

 

[twoplustwoisfour]

Yes we are working towards it. The Punjab now in Pakistan will also include the Indian Punjab upto New Delhi and the new Punjab will still be part of our beloved Pakistan.

On these forums, one can never be sure if someone else is serious or joking

 

[RabzonKhan]

EDITORIAL: Stand up for Balochistan

Daily Times
April 14, 2011

The PPP government’s initiatives and promises to alleviate the pain of the Baloch people owing to the treatment meted out to them over decades since the creation of Pakistan and more recently by a military operation launched by General Musharraf, have done little to alter ground realities in Balochistan. Instead of improving, the situation has fast deteriorated recently. However, the Supreme Court’s (SC) persistence in hearing of missing persons’ case and now the petition of Balochistan High Court Bar Association (BHCBA) president on targeted killings and worsening law and order situation in Balochistan has kept this issue on the national agenda.

In the latest hearing of the BHCBA president’s petition, the SC has dismissed the request of the advocate general of Balochistan for an in-camera briefing on the reasons and elements behind this situation with the contempt that it deserved. It is an open secret that the provincial government has very little role in policy making or maintaining the law and order situation in Balochistan. The real arbiters are the intelligence agencies, military and Frontier Corp (FC). There is so much fear of these institutions that nobody dares question them openly, hence the advocate general’s request. Its dismissal suggests that the SC has now become impatient with the lack of action on the part of the federal of provincial authorities to provide security to the people of Balochistan. However, the court’s remark that if the government is unable to perform its constitutional duties, the court would hold it responsible and might pass orders to make it go, do not take into account the fact that the government’s hands are tied. It is the duty of the government’s lawyers to explain the position without attempting to cover up through elliptical arguments such as the one presented by the additional advocate general that there is no coordination between institutions responsible for maintaining law and order. Dismissal of the government would not change the ground realities. The real issue is the impunity with which the military, FC and intelligence agencies are operating outside the law. Extra-judicial killings, internment and torture have become an everyday reality of Balochistan, as the discovery of dumped bodies of missing Baloch activists show. This is an extreme case of human rights violation that will worsen the situation even further. The security agencies would not change their ways, but if the public of the rest of the country raise a voice for their Baloch brothers and sisters, it will build political pressure that might stay their bloody hand.

 

[RabzonKhan]

Thanks Gen Kayani, wise decision!



Good for Balochistan

By Editorial
The Express Tribune, April 20th, 2011.

The announcement by the army chief that the last of the military battalions posted in the troubled Balochistan district of Sui will be withdrawn within two months is news that will be welcomed by the people of the province. So will General Kayani’s assertion that there will be no further intervention in the province by troops, except with the permission of the provincial government. The deployment of troops in Balochistan has, over many decades, added to the anger and angst which runs through the territory and is added to each time a civilian is stopped at a barricade manned by uniformed personnel. The realisation of the problem had come some months ago, when the central government had ordered the cancellation of new barracks planned for Balochistan. The army chief’s decision takes this further — though he still seems to be somewhat out of step with reality when he speaks of the part played by the army in the development of Balochistan, and especially the educational institutions set up there. This is not a role everyone in the province welcomes.

The issue of Balochistan is not only that of development, but also of the manner in which resources to it are allocated and utilised. It is important for the people of the province to be treated as decision-makers in the process. Had this role been granted to them earlier and greater wisdom exercised by both the military and political leadership in the handling of affairs in the province, we may have averted the crisis we see there now. Of course, much more still needs to be done to redress the grievances of the poeple of the province. That said, the gesture of the troop pullout is a significant one. The expanded recruitment of Baloch youth in the army may also help address the unemployment crisis in the region. But these actions are not enough on their own. There are many complications in the Balochistan situation; positions have become more and more entrenched over the years. Some nationalists are unwilling to consider anything less than complete autonomy. Political dialogue is essential to resolve these issues, and, alongside the military withdrawal, move towards finding lasting peace in a province where chaos prevails for now.

 

[ejaz007]

BA speaker resigns

QUETTA: Balochistan Assembly speaker, Aslam Bhootani, has tendered his resignation to the Balochistan governor because of differences with Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani. According to sources, Bhootani had dispatched his resignation to the Balochistan governor on Friday, after returning from a foreign trip. Sources close to the BA speaker claimed that he was on a foreign tour and the provincial government had made changes in the district administration at the behest of Bhootani’s opponents. There was no official confirmation of this claim as Bhootani was not in the country and on a foreign tour. staff report

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[ejaz007]

Balochistan CM sacks Umrani

QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani after depriving Mir Sadiq Umrani of the ministry also took back his post as the deputy parliamentary leader of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Balochistan chapter. Addressing a news conference on Friday, PPP ministers Ali Madad Jatak and Agha Irfan Karim announced that Umrani was removed from the position of deputy parliamentary leader in Balochistan and was replaced by Jatak as the new leader. They said all the PPP members expressed confidence in the leadership of Chief Minister Raisani and after a consensus Jatak was appointed as the deputy parliamentary leader. Jatak said he and other ministers would not be part of any conspiracies against the chief minister. “Minor difference will be overcome through a consensus with leaders,” he said. Since Sadiq used to stay outside the provincial capital and was not in contact with other PPP leaders, it was decided by all the PPP leaders to replace him, Jatak added. mohammad zafar

Daily Times - Leading News Resource of Pakistan

 

[Xeric]

Associated Press Of Pakistan ( Pakistan's Premier NEWS Agency )

Gilani reiterates resolve to remove Balochs’ sense of deprivation

QUETTA, June 6 (APP): Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Monday reiterated his government’s resolve to remove the sense of deprivation of Baloch people by giving them rights and bringing them into the mainstream politics. Speaking at a press conference at Quetta Airport before his departure to Islamabad after a two-day visit of Balochistan, the Prime Minister said the government was ready for dialogue with the estranged leaders of Balochistan in the larger national interest.

The Prime Minister said the government was concentrating on improving the law and order situation in Balochistan and his present visit was aimed at to the same. He said the long-standing demand of the people of Balochistan was being fulfilled by replacing the Army with Frontier Constabulary in various areas of the province.

He said the government was fully committed to implement the resolution passed by the Parliament regarding the Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan package and under this package 20,000 jobs would be given to the Baloch youth in various federal departments, including law enforcement agencies.

He said all the federal ministers would also visit the province and resolve the issues related to their ministries.
To a question about contractual employees of NADRA, PTV and Radio in Balochistan, the Prime Minister directed Interior Minister Rehman Malik, who was also present in the press conference, to issue regularization orders of the contractual employees of NADRA. He said that Rs 10 billion extra amount was being given to Balochistan under the 7th NFC Award.

He said under the Balochistan package, now the Frontier Constabulary was replacing the Army in various areas of Balochistan.
He said that law and order and electricity were the two major issues of Balochistan, adding, the duration of load-shedding would be minimized and there would be no unscheduled load-shedding in Balochistan.
The Prime Minister said that he himself would visit Balochistan every month to the development and security situation in the province while the next meeting of the Cabinet would also be held in Quetta.

About the missing persons in Balochistan, the Prime Minister said two commissions had bee set up to probe the issue. He said earlier the number of missing persons in Balochistan had been exaggerated to 6,000. The progress on the issue was quite satisfactory. However, actual number of missing persons was just 38 and efforts should be made to trace them out.

About Gwader Port, the Prime Minister said that the issue is close to his heart and a plan has been discussed to link the Port with Ratodero.
He said that during his China visit, he had asked the Chinese Prime Minister that Korakorum Highway was a symbol of friendship of Pakistan and China while investment in Ratodero and Karachi-Faisalabad Motorway would be another great project of China after the KKH.
He said Chinese investors agreed to start the project on Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) basis.

The Prime Minister assured that all available resources would be utilized for the development of Balochistan. He said the government put the economy on the right track with a comprehensive strategy despite the effects of global recession. The reason for increase in oil prices was the conditions in the global marketplace, he added.

About the foreign policy, the Prime Minister said the government would follow the foreign policy which is in the interest of the country.
“The government wants to maintain excellent relations with its neighbours - Afghanistan, Iran and India while our relationships with US and other world community is based on mutual respect and mutual interest”, he said.

About terrorism, the Prime Minister said it is a global issue and it should be tackled globally. “We are united against the war on terror and we will be successful in it but terrorism is not a normal war, rather it is a guerrilla war.”

Prime Minister Gilani was confident that there is no political prisoner in his tenure as the PPP-led government believes in the politics of reconciliation and wanted to resolve all the issue with talks.
He said that “today the media and court are free, and the protection to journalists is our prime responsibility”. A fund has been set up for the welfare of the victim journalist and both the federal and provincial governments would jointly work on it, he added.

To a question about the Abbottabad incident and drone attacks, the Prime Minister said that he had asked US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton during her visit that giving respect to the resolution passed by Joint Parliament regarding the drone attacks is morally binding on US.
He said the US Secretary of States was informed that the government was under pressure regarding the drone attacks and it would be better to transfer drone technology to Pakistan.

He said “the government is convincing the US through diplomatic channels and we would be successful in it”.
About Ilyas Kashmiri’s death, the Prime Minister said that US government has confirmed his killing in drone attack.

To a question about list of most wanted terrorists, the Prime Minister said that terrorism is a joint concern of both the US and Pakistan.” We will not allow anyone to use our land for their nefarious design of terrorism as it is unconstitutional and immoral,” he said. There is also intelligence sharing between the US and Pakistan in this regard, he added.

About the killing of Osama bin Laden, he said, it was not a proper way that the foreigners used our land to carry out terrorist activities.
He said the entire society including media, should play a vital role to discourage the blacksheep as their negative activities are giving a bad name to the country. “Our religion teaches principles of love and harmony”, he added.

To a question about PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, the Prime Minister said that it was a democratic right of Nawaz Sharif to express his differences with the government and there was no reservation about his role in the politics.

About price-hike and inflation, he said, world inflation and
rising oil prices had caused price-hike in the entire world including Pakistan.He, however, said that power crisis, and the floods las year, had compounded the situation and assured that the government would very soon control the situation.

The Prime Minister also announced that a grade 20 officer would replace the grade 18 PID Director in provincial capital Quetta.

About subsidy on electricity bills of agricultural tubewells in Balochistan, the Prime Minister said that the federal government would provide Rs four billion in respect of subsidy while the provincial government would provide Rs three billion

 

[Shak_ed]

Pakistan's 'secret' war

Armed groups of Balochs in southwest Pakistan are gaining momentum at a critical point for the country's future. Deutsche Welle looks at the phenomenon which presents yet another problem in the troubled region.
Pakistan's 'secret' war | World | Deutsche Welle | 10.06.2011

A province marked by floods and images of burned-out NATO tankers, Balochistan is the land of the Baloch, who today see their country in southwest Asia divided by the borders of Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.

Balochistan is the size of France and boasts enormous reserves of gas, gold and copper, as well as untapped sources of oil and uranium. The exploitation of these natural resources in combination with repressive and discriminatory state-run policies have led to armed uprisings in the region.

In his book "Descent into Chaos," best-selling writer and renowned Afghanistan commentator, Ahmed Rashid, says that the Baloch have instigated five insurgent uprisings to date. These insurgents take shelter in the rugged mountains of southern Pakistan and across the border, in Afghanistan.

The Baloch insurgents in Pakistan are fragmented into several groups: the BLA (Baloch Liberation Army), the BRA (Baloch Republican Army), the BLF (Baloch Liberation Front) and Lashkar-e Balochistan (Balochistan's army). Several analysts say this fragmentation reflects the tribal element among the Baloch. Accordingly, the BLA, BRA and Lashkar-e Balochistan are led by the local main clans of the Marris, the Bugtis and the Mengals respectively, while the BLF is a more heterogeneous movement.

Despite the apparent fracture, all these groups are markedly secular movements - at odds with the Taliban - who share a common agenda focusing on the independence of Balochistan. They organize their actions around guerrilla attacks, primarily against military targets and government infrastructures like gas pipelines.


Growing discontent

"Given that parliamentary politics is a fake option for us, we are forced to make politics with weapons. Since the partition of India in 1947, we have had to chose between slavery and death," Khair Bux Marri told Deutsche Welle from his residence in Karachi. The 90-year old Marri is the leader of the biggest Baloch tribe. His life-long struggle against Pakistan has taken him from years of exile in Afghanistan to terms in Pakistani prisons.

His son, Balaach Marri, led the BLA and was killed in 2007 by the Pakistani army. The portrait of this guerrilla leader, wearing a Baloch cap and holding an assault rifle, is almost ubiquitous in Pakistani-controlled Balochistan and can often be spotted alongside Hayrbyar's, his younger brother, also considered to be a "national hero" by many Baloch.

From his London exile, Hayrbyar Marri calls for the independence of Balochistan and defends the right of "self defence" by his people. When asked about a possible dialogue with Islamabad, he is categorical. "There's only one thing to negotiate with Islamabad and that's the immediate pull-out of their occupation troops," he told Deutsche Welle from his house in London.

A major cause of discontent among the Baloch are the low revenues generated by the province's vast natural resources. Although Balochistan is the largest source of Pakistan's energy reserves, Baloch groups claim that these resources disproportionately benefit other provinces.

The gas field in Sui district produces around 45 percent of Pakistan's total gas but only a fraction reaches the Baloch. Moreover, many local families are still cooking with wood or dung despite living on top of Pakistan's biggest gas reserve.

Islamabad blames the tribal leaders for the underdevelopment of the region but Balochistan is also experiencing a number of military operations against the civilian population (often coordinated with Tehran) in recent times. There are also an ever-increasing number of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch dissidents.

Earlier this month, Amnesty International called on the Pakistan government to take "urgent steps to end killings and abductions in Balochistan, which have increased at an alarming rate during the past year, resulting in the deaths of over 150 political activists, journalists, lawyers and students."

Last October, the organization had expressed its concern over the "kill and dump policy" adopted by Islamabad. The Obama administration has also said it is alarmed by the apparent disappearance of thousands of political Baloch activists.

Some Baloch groups are campaigning peacefully and some contest local, provincial and federal elections, something that has not prevented the Baloch insurgency from targeting civilians whom they often accuse of "spying for Islamabad."

"The Baloch insurgency has picked up steam considerably and has taken on a more bloody and vicious tone than ever before. Baloch young men are gunning down not only members of the Pakistan security forces but also non-Baloch residents in Quetta and other cities such as teachers and shop keepers," Ahmed Rashid told Deutsche Welle.


Fear of 'deep waters'

Many experts point to the "fragile demographic balance" as the main reason behind the killing of Pakistani civilians. Also called "settlers" by the local Baloch, they're often seen as the biggest threat to their sparsely populated region of between eight and 10 million inhabitants.

The deep water port project in the southern city of Gwadar is the clearest example of that "demographic threat." Native Baloch fear that once the place enjoys the benefits of a new infrastructure, it will attract a massive migration movement from other parts of the country, especially from Punjab region, something which may end up shifting the demographic balance in Balochistan province.

"Baloch do not want Gwadar to become another Karachi. Whether Balochistan will remain true to its name depends largely on whether Gwadar will remain a Baloch city or not," Ahmar Mustikhan, journalist and founder of the Washington DC-based American Friends of Balochistan, told Deutsche Welle.

Gwadar seems to be of the biggest concern for the local Baloch. Attaullah Mengal, leader of the Mengal tribe, has been very critical of the Baloch insurgent movements but he still calls for a "solid response" against the development of the Gwadar port.

"The killing of Punjabi civilians in the hands of Baloch fighters is one of the most shameful episodes of our national struggle. Nonetheless, we should fight against Gwadar by any means necessary," he told Deutsche Welle.

With the experience of over five decades in the region, American journalist and writer Selig Harrison has denounced a "slow-motion genocide being inflicted on Baloch tribesmen in the mountains and deserts of south western Pakistan."

Harrison also said that the Baloch insurgency in Pakistan enjoys sympathies in the neighboring Sindh province which, according to the journalist, "has brought back the ancient dream of a state or a Sindhi-Balochistan federation extending along the Arabian Sea, from Iran to India."

 

[Last Hope]

Not believed by all but some rebeles. Balochis are Pakistanis just like all others are. NATO and US is behind Baloch cause of the Oil, Diamond and Gold reserves. Copper and gemstones may also be present.