The Baloch House

Contours of the Baloch militant groups

2010-11-21T03:01:00.000-08:00

http://news.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/all-baloch-shouldnt-be-tarred-with-same-brush-570

even mapping the groups involved in the violence in Balochistan is fraught with danger.

“Please be very careful. These are merciless people,” a senior Quetta-based journalist who requested anonymity to talk about the radical groups urged. “It’s very difficult for us to work here.”

Reliable information on the insurgent groups is difficult to come by and even harder to corroborate. Nevertheless, the contours of the groups involved in the violence can be established to some extent.

A handful of groups dominate the insurgency, of which the Balochistan Liberation Army is perhaps the most well-known.

The BLA appeared in its present incarnation soon after the arrest of Khair Bakhsh Marri in January 2000. The powerful Marri chief was accused of having a hand in the murder of a Balochistan High Court judge.

Originally a rural phenomenon and limiting its operations to Dera Bugti and Kohlu, the BLA is believed to have expanded its attacks into the cities following the breakdown of a unilateral ceasefire declared in September 2008.

An affiliate of the BLA is the Balochistan Liberation United Front, a smaller organisation thought to be ‘more sophisticated’ and considerably more hard-line.

The other high-profile radical group is the Baloch Republican Army, the militant wing of the Balochistan Republican Party, a rechristened arm of Akbar Bugti’s Jamhoori Watan Party.

The BRA came into existence after Bugti’s death in August 2006 and is believed to be controlled by his grandson, Brahmdagh.

Its area of operations appears to be in relatively remote areas such as Dera Bugti, Jaffarabad and Naseerabad.

A third major group is the Balochistan Liberation Front, another name resurrected from the last insurgency in the 1970s. The present-day version operates mostly in the Mekran area and is also linked to Khair Bakhsh Marri.

Beyond that, drilling down into the specifics invariably throws up a confusing set of claims and counter-claims. Take the killing of Habib Jalib, the BNP-M secretary general.

Senior army officers point a finger at the BLUF, the affiliate of the BLA, for the killing. “BNP-M is in real trouble. Khair Bakhsh (Marri) has them in his sights,” a high-ranking officer claimed.

However, some among the Baloch have focussed on the alleged claim of responsibility made by the Baloch Armed Defence Organisation (Baloch Musallah Defai Tanzeem). It is a relatively new ‘anti-Baloch-nationalist’ group about which little is known, though the Baloch claim it is a front for the intelligence agencies.

That is denied by the army and some moderate Baloch leaders wonder whether the Tanzeem is also sponsored by the radicals.

Asma Jahangir, former chairperson of the HRCP, however, is not convinced: “The cleansing of the Baloch intelligentsia can only be the work of the agencies.”

Other things are easier to speculate about, though. Why the alphabet soup of insurgent groups, when the majority are linked to Khair Bakhsh Marri?

“Perhaps they don’t want to put all their eggs in one basket,” according to Malik Siraj Akbar, editor of the Baloch Hal.

“If one group is dismantled, at least the others will still exist.” Akbar also suggested unfamiliarity with the terrain in sprawling Balochistan leads to the recruitment of locals.

Saleem Shahid, Dawn’s Quetta bureau chief, ventured that the reason could be rooted in the tribal system: “Tribal society does not accept outside leadership, so they create their own groups.”

More than the proliferation of radical groups, however, what worries observers is the widening scope of targets. Attacks on security forces, state installations and government offices are all standard fare in Baloch insurgencies.

In addition, killings of ‘settlers’ (groups considered non-Baloch because they trace their ancestry to outside the province, even though in many instances they have been residing in Balochistan for generations) have occurred in the past. This time, however, it is the breadth and intensity of such killings that is alarming.

The senior journalist in Quetta claimed: “The target killings started in 2003, but they were sectarian in nature. The radical groups started their killings post-Bugti, initially in Quetta. Now, though, it has spread. Nushki, Khuzdar, Mastung, Gwadar, Turbat, Kech, the target killings are happening everywhere.”

According to the Balochistan government’s most recent figures, more than 125 people have been killed and nearly 200 injured in the last 18 months alone in settler-related violence.

One particular murder in Quetta last April sent shockwaves through conservative Balochistan: the killing of Nazima Talib, a female assistant professor at the University of Balochistan.

The targeting of women was previously considered a taboo, but the BLA, which claimed responsibility for the killing, was defiant and claimed the murder was revenge for the alleged killing and harassment of Baloch women by the security forces.

Another worrying trend this year: the killing of fellow Baloch by the insurgent groups. The victims have been accused of spying and working as agents of the Pakistani state.

A senior journalist said, “Even Pathans have been killed, and businessmen too. The impact is enormous. There is an exodus of teachers, doctors, businessmen.”

The killings by Baloch radicals are of course not occurring in a vacuum. Entrenched attitudes in the army towards Balochistan and the Baloch may be sustaining the cycle of violence.

“The army thinks of the Baloch as lazy, that they don’t want to work,” according to Zahid Husain, a respected analyst.

“They believe all Baloch are suspect, that they are against Pakistan,” said Senator Hasil Bizenjo. The senator recalled an incident where an entire area was sealed off by security forces in order to pull down a BSO flag hoisted atop a school.

A senior army officer admitted that sometimes the security forces need to show restraint. “They see this (the Baloch flags) as an affront to Pakistan, but I tell them not to react to small provocations.”

In present times, however, what may be impacting most directly on the army’s tough line against the insurgent groups is the foreign connection — the insistently whispered claims that Balochistan has become a stamping ground for foreign intelligence agencies

BNP reduced Baluch to a mere puppets of history

2010-05-11T03:46:00.000-07:00

M Sarjov

Baluchistan national, national party, ppp reduce the Baluch to a mere puppet of history, and portray the Baluch as a masses which has become integrated into Punjabi dominated society through the influence of Pakistani television.

The Baluch culture is depicted as a force binding the Baluch to the Pakistan order and incapable of sustaining any real opposition to the existing system except on the individual and small groups level.

Self contained culture built around the tribal culture has a limited potential, for it is a culture in which the Baluch remains a subordinated seemingly unable to develop beyond the autonomy.

The progressive Baluch are saying, the Baluch are not the abject, defeated, but a nation in full hope and energy relatively educated and defended by a strong Baluch unity for independent Baluchistan. The young educated progressive are preparing to challenge the Sardars and Punjabi domination on Baluch culture only accepts the legitimacy of reform within the Baluch political framework of democracy.

This is not to argue that the Baluch are a passive, only that there is no other alternative to political and economic and that negotiation necessary takes place within framework of Pakistan and therefore takes on a peaceful but dogged issue for independent.

These political parties failed to understand the aspect of the modern Baluch struggle, and it is against the apparent obedience of their fellow Baluch, rebellious and violent acts have their meaning.

“Mango diplomacy” will further divide the Balochs

2010-05-11T03:44:00.001-07:00

“Mango diplomacy” will further divide the Balochs

By Malik Siraj Akbar

http://thebalochhal.com/2010/05/news-analysis-“mango-diplomacy”-will-further-divide-the-balochs/

This scribe was a part of a so-called peace delegation from Balochistan in August 2008 that visited Islamabad to meet people from different walks of life in order to inform them about the actual situation in Balochistan. Organized by a western non-governmental organization, the delegation comprised of representatives of political parties, civil society and the media from Balochistan to hold multiple sessions of debate with different organizations and their representatives to let them know what the Balochs actually wanted and how the government was responding to their demands.

Among others, our delegation comprised of former leader of the opposition in Balochistan Assembly, Kachkol Ali Baloch, secretary general of the Balochistan National Party, Habib Jalib Baloch, secretary general of Hazara Democratic Party (HDP) Abdul Khaliq Hazara, Baloch Students’ Organization (BSO-Pajar) central president Abdul Wahid Raheem Baloch and several other leaders. Subsequently, we were joined by other leaders, including Rafiq Khoso of Baloch Republican Party (BRP) and Bismillah Khan Kakar of the Pakistan People’s Party.

One of the best interactions with the Islamabad’s bright minds took place at Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) where we did not only get a chance to put our point of view but it also exposed us to sharp questions from political, social and economic spectrum of society. Over all, everyone in the interaction at SDPI concord that Balochistan had not been properly treated and if timely measures were not take for damage control, the situation in the aggrieved province would get out of control.

Deadlock among the participants of the peace delegation and the organizers reached when we were informed by our hosts that as a part of the trip to Islamabad, we would also be required to meet with one representative of the government of Pakistan to put Balochistan’s case before him. All delegates protested. The most vocal members of the delegation who clearly refused to meet any government official in Islamabad were Habib Jalib Baloch of BNP and Kachkol Ali Baloch.

“What if tomorrow the government issues a press statement claiming to have initiated contacts with the Baloch leaders,” feared Jalib, “We cannot take such risks to talk to the government of Pakistan formally or informally. If you (the organizers) further insist upon us to meet the government representative, we will walk out of this delegation and go back to Balochistan in protest.” The Baloch leaders clearly stated that they did not have the confidence of their nation to enter into any kind of conversation with the government authorities.

When all political members of the delegation refused to attend the informal chat with a high-ranking official of the Ministry of Law and Justice, the organizers feared they would be embarrassed for not making up for an appointment they had earlier sought with the government official. On the mutual consultation of the group members as to not offend the hosts and undermine the Baloch cause at the same time, all members of the delegation nominated this writer to be accompanied with one representative of the organizing NGO to meet the high government official because I was not a part of any political party. Therefore, there was no harm for a journalist to hear the government point of view. Thus, I went along with the organizers to see the senior official at the Law and Justice Department to hold a two-hour long discussion on the issue of the missing persons of Balochistan.

The reason for narrating this succinct anecdote is to indicate how much offensive Baloch leaders felt while communicating with a secretary-level officer two years ago. They had the courage to say openly inside Islamabad that they would not talk to the government on gun-point until Islamabad reviewed its approach towards the province.

Balochistan National Party, the largest Baloch nationalist group, has once again flabbergasted everyone in Balochistan by suddenly establishing contacts with the government of Pakistan. A meeting between Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani and BNP patron-in-chief Sardar Attaullah Mengal on Saturday has left no room for BNP spokesmen to deny any kind of contacts with the government.

One may not solely be criticizing BNP for its contacts with the government. The unanticipated and unilateral move has pained those who wish to form a single united Baloch party. Smaller parties, such as the National Party, which comprises of the middle class educated youth, whines that BNP’s decisions are highly influenced by its chiefs who prefer to assert their tribal status than their position in a democratic political party. Historically, a similar attitude of the tribal sardars has been the main cause of rifts in Baloch political alliances.

Many nationalist political parities in Balochistan complained that they were not taken into confidence by BNP while deciding to resign from the parliament on the wake of Nawab Bugti’s killing. They allege that the BNP went on a solo flight to cash Bugti’s killing. BNP has once again made a disastrous effort to present itself as the sole representative of Balochistan. If the Baloch leaders really wanted to hold talks, they should have communicated with the government on the platform of their erstwhile Four Party Baloch Alliance.

Sardar Mengal’s meeting with Gilani will further widen the divisions among Baloch parties. It will distance NP and Jamori Watan Party from the BNP. Baloch National Front (BNF) and Baloch Republican Party (BRP) would surely take this as a pretext to criticize BNP for an alleged ‘sell-out’ of the Baloch case in return of the ‘mango diplomacy’ initiated by Primer Gilani. With Islamabad always trying to pursue a policy of divide and rule, this is another occasion where Baloch leadership has unwisely fallen in the trap of Islamabad’s treacherous policy of mitigating the Baloch movement with void promises. This will tremendously shatter Nawab Bugit’s dream of a single Baloch party.

(The writer is the editor of The Baloch Hal)

Recovery of missing JI leader demanded

2010-04-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=236417

Wednesday, April 28, 2010
By Our Correspondent

LAHORE

JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI Secretary General Liaquat Baloch has demanded of the government to immediately recover missing JI Gawadar leader Saeed Ahmed Baloch, who was believed to be kidnapped by agencies on April 21 for raising voice against the illegal allotment of Gawadar lands and for rights of local people.

Addressing a press conference at Lahore Press Club on Tuesday, Baloch also urged upon the Supreme Court to take a suo motu notice of the abduction of the JI leader from Gawadar.

He announced that JI would give a call for wheel jam strike on May 1 against the abduction of Saeed Ahmed Baloch.

Baloch said locals and family members of the missing JI leader apprehended that Saeed Ahmed Baloch was abducted by government agencies.

He said there was strong resentment and a revolt- like situation in Balochistan due to the attitude of the government, the armed forces, agencies, Frontier Constabulary and Coast Guards, etc. he said the entire responsibility of this rested with the authorities in Islamabad.

Liaquat Baloch also demanded trial of former military dictator Pervez Musharraf under article 6 of the Constitution for breaching the Constitution and other heinous crimes like assassination of Sardar Akbar Bugti, Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, massacre of hundreds of innocent girl students of Jamia Hafsa, bloodshed at Lal Masjid and abducting thousands of patriot Pakistanis and handing them over to Washington for the sake of dollars.

Commenting on the designs of MQM for Punjab, Liaquat Baloch remarked that MQM was fast losing in Karachi and it could not gain ground in Punjab. He said MQM chief while sitting in London could only befool the people of Karachi, but the people of Punjab won’t be taken in by him. He hoped that JI would soon regain its lost position in Karachi.

Balochistan to collect highway toll

2010-04-27T21:34:00.001-07:00

Web posted at: 4/27/2010 4:22:27
Source ::: AGENCIES
QUETTA: Pakistan’s National Highway Authority (NHA) has decided to introduce a road toll collection regime in Balochistan province and to make all its toll collection centres in the province operational.

Official sources said yesterday that for this purpose, bids have been invited for 102 toll collection centres which will be auctioned in a transparent manner. The roadside tax collection centres will be run by local contractors. A decision to this effect was made at a recent meeting of the authority’s executive board.

About 37 per cent of the road network controlled by the NHA is located in Balochistan. There are 102 toll centres, but all of them are non-functional. The NHA does not get any revenue in the form of toll from the province because people there are not used to paying road taxes. Notwithstanding this, maintenance of the road network is being done on a regular basis.

NHA Chairman Altaf Ahmad told the meeting that the operation and management of toll centres in Balochistan would be awarded to local contractors keeping in view cultural constraints and peculiar law and order situation in the province.

The bidding rates were deliberately kept low in order to attract local contractors, he said. “Though the bids are low, our purpose should be to introduce a toll regime in Balochistan to get revenue,” he added.

Targeted killings undermine legitimate Baloch cause: Imran

2010-04-27T21:05:00.000-07:00

Published: April 28, 2010

ISLAMABAD – Chairman Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Imran khan has said that targeted killings of settlers in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan undermine the legitimate cause of the people of Balochistan.

Imran Khan condemned the killing of a lady Professor in Quetta on Tuesday. He said the Provincial Government has failed to provide security to the people of the province. He said it was the responsibility of all the political forces, particularly those fighting for the rights of the people of Balochistan, to categorically condemn the killing of innocent settlers who had every right to live and work in any part of Balochistan.

The PTI chief said that the ruling PPP coalition government in Balochistan was merely paying lip service to the cause of the people of the province. By championing the cause of Balochistan, they are only demanding greater resources to siphon off, he added. “How else can the Government justify that all except one member of the provincial assembly are ministers or holding equivalent status at taxpayers’ expense. If the Provincial Government was committed to the cause of Balochistan, they would reduce the size of the provincial cabinet to around 10 and the rest of the MPAs would work for the betterment of the people,” he further said.

The PTI Chairman called for fresh elections in Balochistan as the real representatives of the people of the province boycotted the last elections. Only the genuine representatives of the people could improve the worsening security situation in Balochistan and implement development projects which would improve the livelihood of the people of the province irrespective of their ethnicity, Imran added.

Scholarships for Balochistan, FATA students in jeopardy

2010-04-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\27\story_27-4-2010_pg7_1

* Hundreds of students on govt scholarship await release of funds
* Many students quitting institutions due to non-payment of fees

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: The government’s claims of extending special incentives for students of FATA and Balochistan – as part of its strategy to turn the tide against extremism – seem mere rhetoric as projects initiated in this regard are in jeopardy due to mismanagement and bureaucratic hurdles.

The “Quality Education Opportunities for Students of FATA and Balochistan Project”, under which hundreds of students are enrolled in elite schools across the country, is a case in point.

The project’s fate seems to be in the doldrums due to squabbling within the Ministry of Education.

Official record available with Daily Times shows that wrangling within the ministry and officials aspiring for benefits attached with the project have been hitting the enrolled students hard.

Under the Rs 481.38 million, nine-year project initiated in 2007, 330 scholarships are awarded to students from FATA and Balochistan each year for studying in cadet and technical colleges across the country.

Those selected for cadet colleges receive Rs 106,000 a year, while those selected for technical colleges get Rs 40,000 in scholarship each year.

Students quitting: So far, funds for the 2009-10 session have not been released due to the ongoing tussle between two wings of the Education Ministry.

The record of internal communication of ministry officials shows that the situation has compelled a number of students to quit studies, while others fear that they might not be able to sit for their annual exams next month if the ministry did not pay their pending dues to the institutions.

The record shows that although the ministry has funds available for immediate release, bureaucratic bickering is hindering their release to the institutions.

Earlier, officials of the Education Ministry’s Training Wing objected to cheques issued to various institutions by the project’s deputy director.

A notification was issued on February 20 this year that two officials of the Training Wing would also be co-signatories to every cheque along with the project deputy director.

The project officials have objected to the inclusion of training officials in their sphere, calling it in violation of rules and PC1 of the project.

Trans-parency in the Education Ministry’s affairs can be judged from the fact that a section officer issued a notification on April 3 notifying the additional charge of the post of project director to a female official with effect from December 7, 2009, in an apparent attempt to secure financial benefits from back dates.

Female university professor shot dead in Quetta

2010-04-27T20:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\28\story_28-4-2010_pg1_2
QUETTA: Unidentified assailants riding a bike gunned down a University of Balochistan assistant professor of media and journalism on Tuesday. Nazima Talib was shot thrice from behind near the private residence of the Balochistan governor on Saryab Road as she was travelling in a rickshaw to Radio Pakistan for participation in a programme. The governor’s security guards – who called in an ambulance – said they heard no gunshots. The body was initially taken to Civil Hospital, and later sent to the professor’s hometown of Karachi. A case has been registered against unidentified attackers and an investigation launched. Police described the attack as a target killing. mohammad zafar

Another settler gunned down

2010-04-25T23:16:00.001-07:00

Published: April 25, 2010
QUETTA - One person was killed and 10 others wounded in two separate incidents of target killing and bomb blast in Panjgur and Sibi towns of Balochistan on Saturday.
According to police sources, unknown militants had planted an explosive device near a sweet shop in Sibi town, some 160 kilometers, Southeast of Quetta City. The sources said that device was planted at Masjid Road of Sibi town.

The device exploded with a big bang, causing injuries to 10 people including the owner of the shop Malik Shaukat. The injured were rushed to Civil Hospital Sibi for medical treatment. Name of some injured were identified as Fahad Hussain, Deep Chand, Abdul Wahab, Ghulam Ali, Abdul Nabi, Abdul Rasheed, Najeebullah and Lal Muhammad. Condition of some injured is stated to be serious.

The blast smashed the glasses of nearby shops and sent a wave of panic among the people of the area.Police and other law-enforcers reached the spot and started investigations into the incident. No group has accepted responsibility for the bomb blast till filing of this story. According to reports from Panjgur, a laboratory assistant was gunned down in the City.

Unidentified armed assailants opened indiscriminate firing on Khalid Mehmood, a laboratory assistant, at Sachkan Bazaar of Panjgour town.As a result, he sustained serious injuries and succumbed to his injuries on the way to hospital.

Police reached the site after being informed and shifted the body to hospital.
Police sources termed the incident as target killing and said that the victim belonged to Punjab.Police has registered a case and started investigations.

42 suspects arrested in Quetta raids

2010-04-25T23:10:00.001-07:00

QUETTA: Police launched a search operation in the Sariab Road area of Quetta on Sunday, rounding up 42 people for alleged involvement in target killings, bomb explosions, thefts, acts of terrorism and other offences. Police said personnel of the Balochistan Constabulary and the Anti-Terrorist Force conducted raids in Musa Colony, Satellite Town and other areas, arresting 42 suspects. They said pistols, shotguns and other weapons were recovered from the suspects possession.

staff report

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\26\story_26-4-2010_pg7_10

Quetta police arrest, release 20 media men

2010-04-25T23:08:00.000-07:00

LAHORE: Police in Quetta arrested and later released 20 people, including journalists and staff of a TV channel, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. The people were protesting in front of the Balochistan Chief Minister’s House against the manhandling of a journalist, Mustafa Tareen, at the hands of the police, the channel said. The police also seized Tareen’s car, which has not been returned so far, the channel added. The channel said three policemen were suspended for torturing Tareen and arresting the 20 people. daily times monitor

Police arrest 20 newsmen in Quetta

QUETTA, (SANA): Police Sunday arrested 20 newsmen including a private TV channel staffers who were protesting in front of the Chief Minister House here against police manhandling of a newsman.

Quetta bureau chief of private TV channel was subjected to violence by the policemen three days ago.

The protesters from journalists’ organizations were Sunday demanding government action against the policemen involved in manhandling of the newsman.

The protest rally when reached before the Chief Minister House in Quetta today, police arrested 20 newsmen.

Seminar discusses impact of conflict on Balochistan’s politics and economy

2010-04-21T21:37:00.000-07:00

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: Speakers at a one-day seminar on Tuesday stressed the need for granting more control to the provinces on their natural resources by initiating a process of complete decentralization of powers to permanently end the outbreak of rifts between the federal government and the provinces.

Speaking at a seminar on “ Lack of peace and its impact on the socio-political situation of Balochistan” organized by Human Development Organization (HDO) at the Quetta Press Club, Abdul Rahim Ziaratwal, former parliamentary leader of the Pakhtunwa Milli Awami Party, said the passage of the 18th Amendment Bill had come as a bacon of hope towards provincial autonomy. The government had finally met the same demands in the amendments which had been put forward by nationalist forces several decades ago because they always believed that a strong federation would survive when all the provinces were given maximum autonomy.

“ The 18 Amendment Bill has come very late but still provides some hope for the improvement of relations between the province and the center,” he said, “ had a similar initiative been taken much earlier, confrontation between the federal government and the provinces could have been avoided. Some people are still viewing the constitutional package with skepticism saying that it is too little being offered too late. If the government fails to truly work on empowering the provinces, the country would experience another epoch of dismemberment.”

He said the Pashtun population fully backed the Baloch demand of absolute control over their natural resources and the coast. However, the Pashtuns also expected the Balochs to respect their democratic and genuine rights as the equal citizens of the province. Some elements were trying to exploit the situation in Balochistan to create differences between the two major nationalities living in Balochistan.
“Pashtuns and Balochs have to vigilantly observe these conspiracies and wisely strive to thwart plans that divide these two brotherly people living together in harmony over many centuries,” he pleaded.

The PKMP leader regretted the longstanding policy of the Establishment to promote religious extremism in Balochistan. This policy had previously radicalized the Pashutn areas of the province but not it had also expanded to the Bravi-speaking belt of Balochistan where scores of young people were being inclined towards sectarian militancy and violence, he pointed out.

Describing the current Balochistan government a composition of apolitical and corrupt people, he said the government in Quetta did not represent the genuine political parties of the province because all the major political parties in Balochistan had boycotted the general elections held in February 2008.

“Islamabad has had a policy of replacing the real democratic forces in Balochistan with illiterate, apolitical and subservient religious and centrist leaders so that they keep their voice very low inside the parliament. These are the people who do not have the capability to run the administration in the province. Many of the ministers dictate the local police to give exemption to the criminals operating in the province to kidnap civilians, loot buses and trucks on the highways. The Balochistan government is taking the province, with the help of the establishment, towards complete chaos and lawlessness,” he charged.

Former district nazim of Awaran and central leader of the National Party, Khair Jan Baloch, said Balochistan’s social and economic backwardness was an outcome of strict federal structure of the country which discouraged the provinces to have a share in the decision-making process over the years. Balochistan’s control over its resources was never conceded by Islamabad.

“Balochistan can emerge with a wonderful development model once it is given complete ownership on its natural resources. Economically autonomous provinces do not pose a threat to the federation but they strengthen it. Rulers in Islamabad have to take a leaf out of strong federations in the world. Islamabad should stop branding the respected local leaders foreign agents for the crime of seeking more autonomy and control on their natural resources,” he said.

Malik Siraj Akbar, editor of The Baloch Hal, said the intense confrontation between Balochistan and the federal government had developed a situation in the province where the armed groups and the government equally believed in the use of brute force to resolve issues. “ There is a continuous struggle by the establishment to perpetuate the role of the Frontier Corps by assigning it multiple tasks, including that of victimizing the political opponents and muzzling the local media while more new armed groups have started to join the insurgency,” he said.

Senior journalist Yar Mohammad Badini said Balochistan had been “rewarded” with five military operations over the past sixty years in return of the massive resources it had provided to the whole country in energy sector. He called for an end to the economic exploitation of Balochistan which he insisted was the biggest source of discontent and disillusionment in the volatile province.
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Baloch Woman killed, 200+ activists detained in massive search operation in Quetta

2010-04-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

The Baloch Hal News

QUETTA: Security forces unleashed a massive search operation in Baloch-populated localities of Quetta city throughout Tuesday, killing the mother of a
Baloch political activist and rounding up around two hundred people hailing from assorted domains of life.

The crack down has opened floodgates of criticism of Baloch nationalist parties which have called for widespread protest rallies to condemn the door-
to-door search operation at Baloch households.

According to the details, security forces arrested around three hundred Balochs in search operations in Qili Ismail, Kechi Baig,Qili Qambarani, Sariab,
and Kili Sarday, Wali Jet localities of Quetta city. Eyewitnesses said personnel of police, Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) and the Frontier Corps (FC) entered
into the houses and beat up different people before taking them into custody. The search operation, according to the officials, was intended to arrest
suspects involved in Friday’s suicide bomb blast, kidnappings, target killings and other violent cases that are taking place in Quetta.

The whole day witnessed clashes between the government functionaries and the civilians who were beaten up, blindfolded and taken to unknown
locations by the government. In one similar search operation, the mother of an activist from the Balochistan National Party (BNP), Sanaullah Mengal,
was killed by the forces allegedly by applying violent means.

Habib Jalib Baloch, the central secretary general of the BNP, told Baloch Hal that the forces tortured the old lady which caused her death. The mother of
the BNP activist was identified as Shahnaz Bibi.

The Baloch National Front (BNF) has strongly condemned the search operation and pledged to avenge the killing of Shahnaz Bibi saying that the
Baloch traditions encouraged taking revenge for the killing of one person.

The BNF, led by professor Saba Dashthayari and Shahzaib Baloch, took out a protest rally in front of Quetta Press Club in the afternoon to protest
against the arrest of hundreds of political workers and common civilians in the freshly launched search operation against the Baloch population.

The BNF announced to observe a complete strike throughout Balochistan on April 26 against the killing of Shahnaz Bibi and the arrests, saying that
protest rallies would be taken outside press clubs in Turbat on April 22, Noshki (24 April) and Panjgur (25 April) to lodge a democratic protest against
the grave violation of human rights in Balochistan by the security forces under the pretext of maintaining law and order.

Speaking in the protest rally, the BNF leaders said the Balochistan Package and the recent 18th Amendment Bill did not mean anything for Balochs, nor
would it deter the Baloch national struggle in any form. The Baloch people do have a history of taking revenge for its martyrs rather than shedding tears
over such instances when its brave sons are killed, they said.

“We will not tolerate people like Mushahid Hussain Syed to step on the Baloch land,” said one of the speakers. Balochs have become very conscious
about their national rights and the exploitation they have come under over the past many years.

The BNF leaders severely castigated the media for taking the government’s side and not reporting the widespread arrest of Balochs in the search
operation.

Chief of the Balochistan National Party and former chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal has also strongly condemned the crack down on
the Baloch people in Quetta by terming it as a continuity of the previous government’s policies against the Baloch people. He described the arrests as
the harbinger of a new military operation being launched in Balochistan.

He said the current governments in Islamabad and Balochistan were totally powerless and the real power still rested with the establishment which did
not intentionally want the improvement of the situation in Balochistan. The establishment is working on a policy of genocide against the Baloch people
while the Sariab Road operation has violated and disfigured the Baloch code of honor as the forces entered people’s homes and humiliated women
and children.

The Mengal Sardar said the 18th amendment was totally meaningless for the Baloch people as no change had taken place in Balochistan even after
the signing of the 18th amendment bill by the president of Pakistan. “There is no let-up in repression of the Baloch people. The democratic rulers are
powerless. The military establishment wants to keep the Balochs as slaves in Pakistan but history clearly shows that we have never bowed on
gunpoint and we will no surrender this time too,” he said.

A spokesman for the National Party (NP) also strongly condemned the operation against the Baloch people on Tuesday saying that the deployment of
the FC was not meant to eliminate lawlessness but to eliminate the Baloch nation.

The Baloch National Front (BNF) is going to protest against the operation in Karachi today (Wednesday) while Baloch students studying in Islamabad
have also decided to take up the issue and demonstrate in the federal capital against the latest developments in Balochistan.

Related Link: >> URDU NEWS

100 arrested in massive crackdown

2010-04-20T22:08:00.000-07:00

By: Bari Baloch | Published: April 21, 2010

QUETTA - Police have arrested around 100 persons in a massive crackdown in Baloch populated areas in the provincial capital here on Tuesday.

According to police sources, following rise in incidents of target killings and bomb blasts in Quetta, police backed by personnel of Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) and Balochistan Constabulary (BC) launched a massive crack down in different parts of Sariab including Killi Kamaloo, Killi Brauo and Village Aid and during operation arrested around 100 persons in connection with the incidents of target killings and bomb blasts.

‘Police has taken about 100 people into its custody and has also recovered arms during search operation’, a police officer told The Nation and ,added, that after investigation innocent people would be released soon. Some reports suggest that during search operation a woman identified as Ganj Bibi died when police stormed into her house to arrest her sons.

However, spokesman of police in a statement has strongly refuted the notion that wife of late Gul M and mother of Sanaullah Mengal died because of torture of police.
He said that she had died of natural death and her heirs could conduct her postmortem. Meanwhile, Baloch National Front (BNF), Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) and different groups of BSO staged separate demos against the search operation outside Quetta Press Club.

They had also brought the body of woman alleging that she died due to heart attack because of fear of search operation and torture of personnel of law-enforcing agencies.

Three killed in Balochistan

2010-04-19T21:23:00.001-07:00

Published: April 19, 2010
QUETTA - Three persons were shot dead in two separate incidents in Sibbi and Qilla Saifullah districts of Balochistan on Sunday.
In the first incident, unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on Qadir Bakhsh and Ali Nawaz at Railway Colony in Sibbi town and escaped the scene after committing the crime. As a result, they died on the spot after receiving serious multiple wounds. Police have handed over the bodies to the heirs after completing legal formalities and started investigation into the incident.
The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained.
On the other hand, another person was gunned down as unknown assailants sprayed a volley of bullets on him at Koza Adda area of Qilla Saifullah.
The dead body has been shifted to a local hospital for an autopsy.
However, victim’s identity and the cause of incident could not be known immediately.

Raisani for practical approach to overcoming power crisis

2010-04-19T21:22:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\20\story_20-4-2010_pg7_2

ISLAMABAD: Balochistan Chief Minister Aslam Raisani on Monday called upon the top management of the power sector to come up with viable solutions to get the country out of the present electricity crisis. Raisani said all companies involved in the production and distribution of energy must perform under one authority for effective management and delivery system. Calling the closing of the shops earlier than usual or cutting power supply to tube wells for agricultural purposes futile efforts, the Balochistan chief minister said no shortcuts could overcome the present energy crisis. He also urged policy makers to expedite agreements with the government of Iran for getting electricity immediately. He said he would soon lead a delegation to Iran on the invitation of the Iranian government to work out modalities for the supply of electricity through Iranian transmission system. He put forward a few options that he believed could provide a sustainable power supply to the people across the country with special reference to meeting power needs in Balochistan. These included alternate energy sources such as wind, tidal waves, solar, coal and thermal energy. staff report

Two sisters injured in acid attack

2010-04-17T06:55:00.001-07:00

http://thenews.jang.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=234246

Thursday, April 15, 2010
By Urooj Zia

Karachi

Two young girls, both sisters, aged 11 and 13, were severely injured on Tuesday evening in an acid attack while they were on their way home from a shopping centre in Dalbandin City, district Chaghai, Balochistan. They were rushed to a local hospital for initial medical aid, after which they were referred to the Civil Hospital Quetta, around seven hours away by road.

The victims’ parents are extremely poor, so much so that the local community had to contribute money and gather enough funds to send the sisters to the Civil Hospital Quetta by road, where they are currently under treatment.

While the acid-throwers remained unidentified, residents of the area believe that this attack was carried out by the shadowy ‘Baloch Ghaeratmand Group’.

A few days ago, the group, whose members remain unknown even in the close-knit community of Dalbandin city, which has a population of approximately 25,000 people, had distributed flyers in the area, warning women and young girls to remain indoors.

The pamphlet, which is in Urdu, declared that development did not mean that the local population went against the “Baloch culture of Chaddor and Char-Deewari” for women. It also clearly warned women and girls against stepping out of their houses with their faces uncovered, or even going to a doctor unaccompanied by a man. “Acid will be thrown on the faces of women and girls who step out of their houses without covering their faces,” the flyer says. It ends with a chilling warning: “People who fail to comply with these orders will themselves be responsible for the consequences.”

The local police, meanwhile, claim to have no idea about the perpetrators, or whether it was in any way related to the pamphlet issued by the “Baloch Ghaeratmand Group.” They did, however, say that further investigation was under way, and it was too early to pin responsibility on anyone.

“We have never heard of this group; we don’t even know who’s part of it, nor are they associated with the nationalists,” residents of the area told The News on the condition of anonymity. “We don’t know where they came from, or whose orders they’re working on. The police and the Frontier Constabulary (FC) claim to be helpless as well. If they, with all their powers, can’t do anything either, who are we supposed to turn to for assistance?”

Threats from relatively unknown groups, however, are not a new phenomenon in the region. Earlier this month, the Khuzdar Press Club had received threats from another new gang, the ‘Baloch Musallah Difa Tanzeem’, warning them against covering events organised by nationalist parties and groups.

Kyrgyzstan-like agitation feared

2010-04-17T06:47:00.002-07:00

Friday, April 16, 2010
By By Mumtaz Alvi

ISLAMABAD: A veteran politician and former governor of Balochistan and the NWFP, Miangul Aurangzeb, takes pride in appointing Iftikhar Chaudhry as the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court, but is totally upset over what he bills the royal way of the PPP-led coalition governance.

Defying pressures, Aurangzeb had made Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry the Chief Justice of the Balochistan High Court this month 11 years back in 1999. He also recalls having requested then prime minister Nawaz Sharif not to ignore two senior generals to appoint Pervez Musharraf as the chief of the Army staff.

Miangul, at the start of an interview with The News at his two-storeyed old-styled residence, adjacent to the Afghan Embassy in G-6/3, warned of what recently happened in Kyrgyzstan, in case the ruling elite persisted with indifference to the compounding miseries of the common man.

Leader of opposition in Kyrgyzstan did what people desired in the face of corruption and nepotism. “The situation in Pakistan is also rapidly turning ugly. People are unhappy, upset and disappointed with the rulers. And, this can trigger countrywide agitation...rulers may find refuge in exile,” he cautioned.

He asked Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, to learn a lesson from Kyrgyzstan opposition leader Roza Otunbayeva and stop playing monkey tricks. The former governor strongly objected to the massive strength of the federal cabinet and advocated its immediate trimming in the face of poor national economy. The lifestyle of rulers is in total contrast to the alarming ground realities, he charged.

“The President’s House and the Prime Minister’s House may be suitable for receiving and holding meetings with foreign heads of states and dignitaries, but maintaining a royal way of living and needless paraphernalia at the expense of poor taxpayer’s money is regrettable. The president and prime minister may live in small accommodations within the two palace-like buildings,” he said.

He called on the ruling class to adopt a simple way of living and recalled how he used to eat the food prepared in the afternoon for dinner. “My cook would daily ask me for separate lunch and dinner menu, but I would eat simple food and also made guests do so,” he recalls when he was the governor of Balochistan and then the NWFP.

The veteran politician insists the lavish style of rulers was against the basic teachings and logic, as well over 40 per cent people lived below the poverty line. Miangul wondered for how long, the ruling coalition would follow stop-gap economic policies instead of thrashing out long-term strategy to provide relief to Pakistan’s majority that is poor and could hardly afford two-time bread. “It is a matter of shame that we have elected 442 parliamentarians yet again, but none of them is capable of handling our economic affairs.”

Balochistan: Self- determination more crucial than ever.

2010-04-17T06:47:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, 14 April 2010

The end to Pakistan's repression of Balochistan could be the answer to peace in the region and the 'war on terror'
Below is an article published by The Independent.co.uk

Ever since its annexation by Pakistan in 1948, Baluchistan has been subjected to a quadruple whammy of military occupation, political domination, economic exploitation and cultural hegemony. Just like Israel's settlement programme on the West Bank, Islamabad has a settler scheme to colonise Baluchistan. It is encouraging Punjabis to move to the region. The aim is to make the Baluch people a minority in their own homeland.

Punjabi supremacists have imposed an alien language, Urdu, on Baluchi-speaking people. Borrowing from the tactics of apartheid in South Africa, which forced black children to be schooled in Afrikaans, Islamabad has dictated that Urdu is the compulsory language of instruction in Baluch educational institutions. The cultural conquest also involves the radical Islamification of the traditionally more secular Baluch nation. Large numbers of religious schools have been funded by Islamabad with a view to imposing Pakistan's harsher, more narrow-minded interpretation of Islam. This is fuelling fundamentalism.

The West's attitude towards the plight of the Baluch people is less than honourable. Because Britain and the US want Pakistan as an ally in the "war on terror", they have armed Pakistan and acquiesced with its suppression of the Baluch people. Pakistan's war against Baluchistan is strengthening the position of the Taliban, who have exploited the unstable, strife-ridden situation to establish bases to terrorise the... Baluch people and enforce the Talibanisation of Baluchistan. The Pakistani military... bases in Baluchistan are also hideouts from where Taliban fighters mount military operations in Afghanistan.

If the nations of the world want to strike a blow against the Taliban and fundamentalism, they should seek an end to Pakistan's repression in Baluchistan and support the Baluch people's right to self-determination. Baluch secular nationalism could act as a powerful bulwark against the Talibanisation of the country, which ultimately threatens all the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan – and the wider region.

The best way to resolve this issue would be a UN-supervised and monitored referendum to allow the people of Baluchistan to freely and democratically determine their own future. If tiny East Timor can be an independent nation, why not Baluchistan?

This is an excerpt from a speech given at the United Nations last month, at an event organized by the Unrepresented Nations and People's Organization.

Punjab unaware of Baloch culture: Raisani

2010-04-17T06:46:00.000-07:00

* PPP senator addresses two-day national conference on Balochistan

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Punjab, which has always been at the forefront of governing Pakistan, is completely unaware of the Baloch culture, Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) Senator Lashkari Raisani said on Wednesday.

The senator made these remarks while addressing the concluding ceremony of a two-day national conference on “Balochistan: Rationalisation of Centre-Province Relations”, organised by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) in collaboration with the Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF). Raisani, who is also the PPP Balochistan president, said he condemned the incidents of target killing, which were happening in different areas of the country. “Colonial treatment of the establishment is a major cause of the preset unrest in Balochistan. Its genuine leadership was eliminated so corrupt people, smugglers and drug mafia came forward to fill the vacuum. Consequently, Balochistan is being ruined by those who have no sympathy with the Baloch people”, he lamented. Senator Raisani appealed to all the intellectuals and think tanks to stress upon the need for educating the youth of Pakistan.

A representative of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) said the organisation had conducted a survey in Balochistan and found out that the people of the province were hostile towards Pakistan. “The crux of the problem is the Baloch identity and their struggle for its recognition, just as now the Pakhtuns are struggling for Pakhtunkhwa and the people of Hazara are fighting for Hindko in order to prove their identity”, he said

Balochistan Intellectual Forum President Abdul Wadood said that all local government elections were held during military rule, so that they could replace the political parties and the parliamentary system by introducing party-less rule of individuals and caste politics.

Former provincial minister Fazila Aliani held the provincial government responsible for bad governance and lack of development in the province. “This was due to the establishment’s role in elections, which sent those people to assemblies who did not represent the Baloch masses”, she said.

National Conference on ways to end woes of Balochistan started

2010-04-17T06:44:00.001-07:00

By Saad Saud

ISLAMABAD—The national conference on the problems of Balochistan organized by Islamabad Policy Research Institute (IPRI) and Hanns Seidel Foundation (HSF) was inaugurated by Mir Baz Khan Khetran, member PPPP CEC and senior vice President.
After words of welcome by Dr Maqsudul Hassan Nuri, Acting President IPRI, Dr Martin Axmann, Resident Representative HSF, in his opening remarks welcomed the wind of change that was visible in the shape of the NFC Award, Aghaz-e-Balochistan Package and the ongoing discussion centering on Balochistan and the 18th Constitutional Amendment. He said that though elements in Balochistan were suspicious about the implementation of these important steps it can easily be seen that things were changing for the better.

Mr Baz Khan Khetran in his presidential address blamed the centre for maltreatment of the Province since independence. Conspiracies were made against the province from the centre he maintained.

The alleged London Plan and the military operation that the Balochistan governor Bugti asked Mr Bhutto to launch were some of these. He said that the Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package launched by the PPP will face problems of implementation and in this connection mentioned the machinations of same hidden hands which he did not identify. He suspected that the wave of target killings that was going on was not the work of the BLA, neither Baloch dissidents, but the work of the hidden hands. He said most people who have been handling Balochistan problems have no knowledge about the province where there have been no land settlement and ownership of land belongs to tribes and clans, not to individuals. He said that like Afghanistan the power of the warlords was increasing and the youth were hostile to the federation. He concluded his speech by saying that the Baloch wanted a better, not greater Balochistan.
Abdul Basit Mujahid, lecturer in History, presenting his paper on Federalism and Centre-Province Relationship traced the history of the development of federalism in the advanced countries and attributed the weakness of Pakistani federation to the crisis of identity in Pakistan.

He said the ethnic diversity of the province must be appreciated and consultations must be held with all stake holders. He complained that one reason of unrest in Balochistan was the deprivation of the Pushtuns from political and administrative seats of power.

Tragedy in Balochistan mines

2010-04-17T06:35:00.000-07:00

ArticleVideos
More than 60,000 workers are employed in coalmines in Balochistan.
Quetta: Six miners have been killed in two separate incidents in Marwar and Muslim Bagh areas of Balochistan.

According to official sources, a coal mine collapsed in Marwar after a huge methane-related blast; a type of gas frequently found in coal mines. Four miners have been killed in the incident while one pulled out in critical condition.

In another incident, two brothers were killed when a chromate mine collapsed in the Muslim Bagh area.

Balochistan miners working to extract valuable minerals from deep inside the earth toil in unimaginable conditions, which sometimes costs them their lives Express has uncovered.

Additionally, these mine workers are not given any training prior to being sent into the mines. As a result the number of accidents in these mines has been on the rise.

Violence against women is against the Baluch tradition,

2010-04-17T06:34:00.000-07:00

Two sisters, aged 11 and 13, were acid-thrown at their faces on Tuesday while they were on their way home from a shopping centre in Dalbandin City, district Chaghai Baluchistan. The girls were said to be injured, they were admitted to hospital 100s miles away and said to be in the grim condition.

Women in Dalbandin have enjoyed a relatively free movement and freedom to work and have contributed into a family economy in the traditional work places. Before the arrival of fanatic Islam in Baluchistan the Baluch Women could travel at daylight without male Relatives Companion in this region, which is still taboo in neighboring Islamic society.

Acid thrower ,” The pamphlet, which is in Urdu, declared that development did not mean that the local population went against the “Baloch culture of Chaddor and Char-Deewari” for women. It also clearly warned women and girls against stepping out of their houses with their faces uncovered, or even going to a doctor unaccompanied by a man. “Acid will be thrown on the faces of women and girls who step out of their houses without covering their faces,” the flyer says. It ends with a chilling warning: “People who fail to comply with these orders will themselves be responsible for the consequences.”

Chaddor means veil and Char deewari means the wall of the home. All the women in Baluchistan are already veiled. These two victims were wearing Baluch veil. The question for the Baluchistan nation is that, who will define the Baluch culture. I am sure Islamic fanatics are not the guardian of the Baluch culture. In the Baluch tradition Baluch women have never been concealed inside their houses walls.

It has been argued that religion contributed to identity formation. The Baluch society is a pre-Islamic society. The Baluch culture has been shaped and reshaped by pre-Islamic religion as much as it has been shaped by Islam. The Islam religion arrived in Baluchistan centuries ago; it had shaped the Baluch tradition, the symbols that Baluch waves around them are Islamic. The Karachi and Lahore Mullahs should keep their ways of practicing Islam for themselves.

It is not un-Islamic to go shopping or to visit ones doctors. It is not the first time the women in Baluchistan have been attack in the name of honor. Baulch condemn honour killing.
In the August 2008 five women allegedly were killed and buried. The killer was not ordinary criminal but the Pakistan people party minister. Senator Sardar Israrullah Zehri from Baluchistan in the Pakistan’s senate has defended honors killing. The governor of Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi did not condemn the five women honor killing instead he blamed the media.
Islam is being destroyed by half baked Mullah, from Karachi and Lahore religious schools. The world has not stood still. Baluch must change or perish. A religion and community that ignores existence of women outside their home, forbids modern economy, forbids the lending system and modern credit system that today’s modern civilization is based, Will not survive the modern epoch.
The Taliban has been expending their domination on the Baluchistan society. The traditional tribal powers are disintegrating. The reactionary tribal chiefs are not the match for the will organised religion organization with the international network and supports in the every corner of the Islamic world.
The Islamic fundamentalists have been tempted to integrate the Baluch traditionalist with Islam fundamentalist ideology. The consequences of Islamic fanatics and Baluch traditionalist the combination of two will be much uglier than the Taliban.

M.sarjov

AN EYE ON POLITICS: Does everyone want a new province?

2010-04-11T22:59:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\11\story_11-4-2010_pg7_13

By Shafiq Awan

Parliament has approved the 18th Amendment, but it has inadvertently opened a Pandora’s box of issues; one of which is the creation of new provinces in the country. After a new debate over the issue was initiated, major political forces all clamoured in favour of new provinces, each toting their own agenda.

PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, in a recent interview, admitted that there would be no harm in creating new provinces on an administrative basis instead of a linguistic one.

The MQM has already voiced support for the creation of new provinces because it suits the party – the creation of a new province consisting of the urban areas of Sindh has always been an MQM dream.

In fact, the MQM would stand to benefit the most from the creation of new provinces.

Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani himself supports the creation of a Seraiki province and MPs from the Seraiki belt have tried their best to place this demand on the agenda of the constitutional reforms body. But President Asif Ali Zardari, foreseeing political complications in the issue, advised the reforms body to stay away from the question of new provinces.

Later, the PM said it was not the right time to press for a separate province, but he did support the demand for one. The PML-Q is supporting this move for political point scoring so it can garner some form of backing. The ANP’s major problem was Pakhtoonkhwa, and after achieving its goal, the party leadership has no objection to new provinces. But demanding the demarcation of new provinces on the basis of language – as the Hazara belt is calling for – will lead to a Seraiki province and a separate province for Pakhtoons in Balochistan and ultimately an Urdu-speaking province for the MQM.

If the proposal for a Hazara province goes through, the ANP will lose electricity-generating areas like Tarbela, Ghazi Brotha and Bhasha.

After the renaming of the NWFP, the Hazara belt has stood up for their rights with their movement for a separate province picking up momentum day-by-day. Different political parties are supporting this move for their own vested interests. The MQM and Tehreek-e-Insaaf are not taking part in the game, while the PPP has no interest in it at all, as the Hazara belt was never their piece of cake. The PML-Q has openly supported the move, while the PML-N finds itself in a peculiar fix, if they support a Hazara province then the next target would be the Seraiki province, if they oppose the separate province movement in Hazara they will lose an electoral stronghold.

PML-N dissident leader Javed Hashmi has already declared that if any demand for separate province was moved, he would stand up for a Seraiki province. Practically, the Sharifs have no love with the Seraiki belt and the area’s share in the provincial government’s development budget is very meagre. One reason for this might be that the Seraiki belt was never a favourite of the PML-N. In fact, the Punjab government policy makers consider this belt as extra luggage. This might be the reason that no mega project has been initiated in South Punjab by the Sharifs. The cynic elements in the PML-N say they have never been politically supported by the Seraiki belt, so if it demanded a separate province status, it should be opposed. But optimistic elements urge their leadership not to lose ground as it did in Sindh and Balochistan.

A half-backed idea was floated by some of Leaguers to rename Punjab as ‘Seraiki Punjab’ so the demand of a separate province could be suppressed. But this proposal could not muster support since the Sharifs rejected it out rightly.

The problem in the Seraiki belt is that it is divided between locals and settlers. Locals are demanding a Bahawalpur province, while the settlers – backed by Javed Hashmi and others – are demanding a Seraiki province.

However, the PML-N leadership has played its cards and has decided to put its weight behind the Hazara province movement. Although this decision was not unanimous and some leader had apprehensions that the PPP could support the Seraiki province move in Punjab as the PM and some cabinet members had public announced their support for it. If PML-N dissidents like Javed Hashmi join hands with the PM and his team for the creation of a Seraiki province, it will be hard for the party to handle the situation. However, the sycophants prevailed and the party opted to support the Hazara movement to save its vote bank in the belt. No doubt, the next election in the Hazara belt will be contested over a separate province. The party leadership in Hazara has been conveyed to slowly move into the movement.

The PPP was never a favourite in that valley, so it is not really bothered to jump in the race, however, the MQM might make that jump as its leadership is considering supporting Hazara province movement to fetch some support or to have a franchise in the area.

The Leaguers suggested that their leadership support the MQM if it demanded a separate province in Sindh. Perhaps Nawaz Sharif has some personal rivalry against the MQM, which is why he opposed this idea so vehemently that the mover was visibly embarrassed at making the suggestion.

The fact is, the 18th Amendment has open a ‘Pandora’s box’ and had NWFP’s new name included “abaseen or Hazara’, this current crisis might have been averted.

ANALYSIS: Amending the constitution —Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi

2010-04-11T22:50:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\11\story_11-4-2010_pg3_2

The most innovative change relates to the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, neutralising the chief justice’s acquired power to make binding recommendations for appointment. This power was acquired by the chief justice through different judgements starting with the 1996 judgement in the judges’ case

There is a need to celebrate the current consensus among the political parties represented in parliament on the text of the 18th Constitutional Amendment. The Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Reforms (PCCR) took over nine months to evolve a consensus document, although different parties have added separate comments to outline their individual party positions.

This consensus is a rare development because the political parties and leaders are known more for polemical exchanges and conflict-prone interaction. The only occasion in the past when the political leaders demonstrated extraordinary capacity for consensus building was the formulation of the 1973 Constitution. Parliament approved the 1973 Constitution without any negative vote. This constitution was an advance over the previous constitutions in terms of social, economic and political rights, provincial autonomy and identity and distribution of economic resources between the Centre and provinces. Now, the 18th Amendment seeks to go several steps further on these issues, stipulating measures to increase administrative and financial autonomy of the provinces and shifting some areas of administration to the provinces. The position of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) has also been strengthened. If we read these changes along with the new NFC Award and the Assistance Package for Balochistan, the 18th Amendment can be described as a turning point in Pakistan’s constitutional and political history.

The passage of the 18th Amendment Bill in the National Assembly on April 8 was generally smooth. However, there were some political fireworks on the new name for NWFP because the members from the Hazara area took exception to this. The same issue is going to cause some controversy in the Senate. The PML-N may decide to withhold its support to the amendment on the name issue in order to strengthen its electoral position in the Hazara area.

The provisions of the 18th Amendment Bill can be divided into three major categories. Some amendments are based on the provisions of the Charter of Democracy (CoD). Most provisions of the 17th Amendment (2003) are being repealed or modified; some of its provisions have been retained. Several new amendments were proposed by the PCCR that do not relate to the above-mentioned two categories. These include a change in Article 6 regarding high treason, provincial autonomy, and the share of the provinces in natural resources, including coastline resources.

It is noteworthy that the reforms committee retained most provisions of the 8th Amendment inserted in 1985 by parliament on the initiative of the military government of General Ziaul Haq. His government increased emphasis on Islam as part of his effort to appease the conservative and orthodox Islamic clergy and their followers. General Ziaul Haq’s Islam-oriented constitutional provisions were the inclusion of the Objectives Resolution in the main text of the constitution, establishment of the Federal Shariat Court and the Shariat Appellate Bench in the Supreme Court, and religion and ethnic-based vague eligibility criteria for candidates in parliamentary elections. The committee did not go into these provisions to avoid confrontation with religious political parties that continue to support General Zia’s Islamisation.

The most innovative change relates to the appointment of judges of the Supreme Court and high courts, neutralising the chief justice’s acquired power to make binding recommendations for appointment. This power was acquired by the chief justice through different judgements starting with the 1996 judgement in the judges’ case. The constitution did not make the recommendation of the chief justice binding on the president. There was a long consultative process that left discretion to the president. In practice, both the chief justice and the presidency accommodated each other on appointments through consultations. This procedure caused political controversies and the superior judiciary used its judgements to increase its hold on the appointments procedure. The Legal Framework Order (LFO) issued by the military government of General Pervez Musharraf (2002) acknowledged the primacy of the chief justice in the appointments process. However, some of the recent appointments by the chief justice after a standoff with the president were subjected to criticism by a section of lawyers and the media for being skewed by non-professional considerations.

The new procedure for the appointment of judges of the superior judiciary assigns the power to a judicial commission of seven people headed by the chief justice. It also includes two senior judges of the Supreme Court, the attorney general, the federal law minister, one representative of the designated bar council and a retired judge of the Supreme Court. Its recommendations are subject to a time-bound review of a joint parliamentary committee that would have equal representation of the government and the opposition.

A section of lawyer activists are critical of the proposed procedure and want the chief justice to continue exercising the exclusive power to appoint judges. They maintain that the change in the appointments procedure amounts to changing the ‘basic structure’ of the constitution, which parliament is not authorised to do. They are hoping that the Supreme Court would use the ‘basic structure’ argument to knock out this procedure and thus protect the powers of the chief justice.

The 1973 Constitution neither assigns superiority to some articles over the others nor does it restrict the power of parliament to amend it through the prescribed procedure. Therefore, the argument of the ‘basic structure’ has no basis in the constitution and parliament has the sole power to amend the constitution.

Even if we go by the basic structure argument, the basic features of the constitution are an Islamic republic, parliamentary democracy, federalism and independence of the judiciary. It is parliament that decides about the ways and means to protect and promote these attributes. These methods can change over time. For example, the18th Amendment envisages far more powers to the provinces. Does this mean that the basic structure of the federation as written down in the original constitution has been violated? The answer is ‘no’. Pakistan remains a federation, but the operationalisation of this principle has been updated to meet the changed situation.

The primacy of the elected parliament needs to be respected. Judicial activism cannot be used to infringe the domain of the elected parliament and, especially, to question its powers to amend the constitution. The new procedure for appointment of judges is more transparent and consultative, giving a pre-eminent role rather than sole power to the chief justice. The judiciary’s independence is not affected by this amendment. Pakistan needs an independent rather than a dominant judiciary.

Dr Hasan-Askari Rizvi is a political and defence analyst

PML-N gaining strength in Balochistan: Mir Zahoor Hussain Khosa Joins

2010-04-11T22:43:00.000-07:00

By: Bari Baloch | Published: April 11, 2010

QUETTA–Pakistan Muslim League (N) is gaining strength in Balochistan as another MPA of Balochistan Assembly and many tribal elders from Naseerabad joined the party few days back. Mir Zahoor Hussain Khosa ,MPA, had also remained the former Speaker of Balochistan Assembly.

He joined the party under the leadership of Chief of Jhalawan Sardar Sanaullah Zehri after meeting with Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif in Lahore few days back.Zahoor Hussain Khosa had contested elections independently in 2008 general elections. He was a stalwart of Jamhoori Watan Party till the death of its founder late Nawab Muhammad Akbar Khan Bugti. But after assassination of Nawab Bugti, Zahoor Khosa had parted his ways with the party and joined PML (Q).

He did not contest elections on the ticket of PML(Q) rather preferred to fight elections as an independent candidate as he thought there would be no future of Q-League after ouster of its mentor Pervez Musharraf from power.He is a well respected personality of Khosa tribe, one of the influential and biggest tribes of Naseerabad division.Out of five seats of Naseerabad district two seats were won by Khosas in 2008 elections.

After joining of Mir Zahoor Hussain Khosa, the number of members of PML-N in Balochistan Assembly has reached three.It is important to mention here that PML-N had failed to bag any seat of Balochistan Assembly or National Assembly from Balochistan but after elections Captain (Retd) Abdul Khaliq who won from the border town of Chaman joined the party.

Later on, Chief of Jhalawan Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and MNA from Balochistan Lt.General (Retd) Abdul Qadir also joined the party.Both Sardar Sanaullah Zehri and Captain (Retd) Abdul Khaliq are also members of provincial Cabinet.

Besides Zahoor Khosa many other influential people from Naseerabad including Mir Attaullah Buledi had also joined the party after their meeting with Mian Nawaz Sharif.Buledi had contested the elections on PPP ticket from PB-25 Jaffarabad and had given a tough contest to late Minister of Balochistan, Mir Rustam Khan Jamali in 2008 elections

ISI still maintains "active" links with Taliban: Post

2010-04-11T22:34:00.000-07:00

PTI
Washington, April 11, 2010

Pakistan's powerful ISI, which is eyeing Afghanistan in the event of the US exit from there, still maintains "active" links with Taliban as it quietly freed at least two high-ranking militants of the outfit it had captured on its own, a media report said today.

Acknowledging that they have a very limited understanding of the ISI directorate, CIA veterans, who have worked closely with the Pakistani spy agency, describe it as "sprawling", The Washington Post reported.

It is "so compartmentalised" that units working along side the CIA might have little knowledge of the activities of the agency's "S" directorate, which maintains ties to insurgent groups, the paper said.

CIA officials think that the ISI's connection to the Taliban is active, but "it's not clear how high that goes or who knows about it," it quoted a US counter-terrorism official as saying.

The recent capture of Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Afghan Taliban's second-in-command seemed to signal a turning point in Pakistan, an indication that its intelligence agency had gone from helping to cracking down on the militant group.

But US officials now believe that even as Pakistan's security forces worked with their US counterparts to detain Baradar and other insurgents, ISI quietly freed at least two senior Afghan Taliban figures it had captured on its own.

US military and intelligence officials said the releases, detected by American spy agencies but not publicly disclosed, are evidence that parts of Pakistan's security establishment continue to support the Afghan Taliban.

"This assistance underscores how complicated the CIA- ISI relationship remains at a time when the United States and Pakistan are battling insurgencies that straddle the Afghanistan border and are increasingly anxious about how the war in that country will end," the paper said.

The officials spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity and declined to identify the Taliban figures who were released, citing the secrecy surrounding US monitoring of the ISI. But they said the freed captives were high-ranking Taliban members and would have been recognisable as insurgents the US would want in custody.

A US military adviser said the senior Taliban figures, who were released, were later detained in Balochistan, a province that encompasses the city of Quetta.

"They did, in fact, capture and release a couple," said a US military official involved in discussions with Pakistan, adding that the ISI's purported decision to do so "speaks to how hard it is to change your DNA.

Protests continue as government fails to reduce load shedding

2010-04-11T22:33:00.001-07:00

Daily Times Monitor

LAHORE: Citizens across the country protested against the prolonged load shedding as the government failed to reduce the duration of the power outages in the country, a private TV channel reported on Sunday.

Citizens, enraged over the 14-to-17 hour marathon power cuts took to the streets in Lahore, Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Khangarh, Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan, Multan, Hyderabad and other cities.

In Gujranwala, where people are experiencing 14 to 16 hours of power shutdowns in urban areas and 18 to 20 hours in rural areas, hundreds gathered at the Aiwan Roundabout and staged a protest demonstration. The protesters blocked the main highway connecting Lahore to Islamabad by setting tyres on fire.

According to the channel, due to continued load shedding, more than 200 small industrial units have also been closed in Gujranwala, leaving thousands jobless.

Traders in Multan took out a rally against the ongoing power outages and inflation outside the Timber Market. They set tyres on fire and threatened to observe a shutter down strike on April 14 if the duration of load shedding is not reduced.

Instead of any reprieve, people in Khanewal, Muzaffargarh, Khangarh and DG Khan saw the duration of power shutdowns increase to 17 hours, while the situation in Balochistan and several parts of Sindh was stated to be similar, the channel added.

18th Amendment: celebrations and the aftermath

2010-04-11T22:32:00.001-07:00

Monday, April 12, 2010
By By Tahir Hasan Khan
Karachi

ÒJamhooriat, Hakmiyat and MasawatÓ (Democracy, Power and Equality), the three slogans in the new logo of the National Assembly, is a clear message from the elected representatives of the 170 million people that there is no room for an undemocratic approach.

Speaker National Assembly, Dr Fehmeeda Mirza designed and selected the new logo and slogans. I am thankful to her for sharing her idea with me in her chamber in the backdrop of the important debate in the National Assembly on the 18th constitutional amendment.

A former law minister, Iqbal Haider, who served in the late Benazir Bhutto government, was also present on this occasion and suggested a change in the slogan. He advised that “Hakmiyat” be replaced with “Salamty” (security). Mirza solicited my opinion on this, but I disagreed with Haider because the purpose of democracy is to serve the people who voted for it, and without power no democracy can achieve its purpose. On the other hand, equality is a must in democracy and I supported the proposed idea of the National Assembly Speaker. After this, she finalised the slogans and the next day presented the new logo to Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani and Senator Raza Rabbani at a function.

Dr Fehmeeda Mirza was elected twice as the member of the National Assembly from the remote district of Badin on a Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) ticket. She has also managed to put up a display of historic pictures of the founder of the PPP, the late Zulfikar Ali (ZA) Bhutto, and parliamentarians of the assembly which passed the 1973 constitution. She was proud of her success and narrated to me how she recovered these historic pictures from the junkyard of the assembly and displayed them on the wall of the National Assembly in order to make them a part of the democratic history of the country.

More then two dozen pictures in which Z.A. Bhutto, Mufti Mehmood, Wali Khan, Prof Ghafoor Ahmed, Maulana Shah Ahmed Noorani, Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan, Hafeez Pirzada, Maulana Kausar Niazi and others are seen signing the document that would become the 1973 Constitution.

She also has plans to display pictures of the present parliament that managed to restor the 1973 Constitution through the 18th Amendment. She wished to celebrate the revival of the Constitution, for which she had many proposals.

As Speaker National Assembly she had constituted a 26-member committee for the reforms in constitution on the directives of President Asif Ali Zardari. She was thankful to all the parties for their cooperation in the important task for which both the National Assembly and Senate had authorised her through a unanimous resolution.

The committee completed this task after 77 meetings in which the committee members spent 385 hours and discussed 982 proposed recommendations and proposals. Finally, the committee proposed amendments in 102 Articles, after which the National Assembly passed the document. Now the Senate will discuss this bill this week from where it will be sent to the President to sign. After completion of this process, Yosuf Raza Gilani will become the most powerful Prime Minister the country has seen and a complete parliamentary democratic system will be restored. Also, all provinces will get more autonomy and responsibilities and the concurrent list will be abolished, which was the wish of nationalists and mainstream democratic forces alike.

However, a tremendous amount of work lies ahead. More than two dozens ministries will transfer to the provinces from the federal government in the wake of the abolition of the concurrent list, but neither the federal government nor the provincial governments are ready for this. Sindh, Punjab, Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan do not have the administrative structure to run more departments.

The performance of the provincial governments in the fields of education, health and law and order is very poor and they need more than a couple of years to become capable of exercising complete autonomy. Without restructuring in the provincial set up, more autonomy will be a disaster and will result in disappointment and more problems. It is the responsibility of the provincial assemblies to discuss this situation. The federal government should also provide expertise to the provinces for the utilisation of the budget and for running of more departments.

The renaming of NWFP as Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa is also a major step, and can lead to a new debate in the country. Political observers are foreseeing that the protest by the Hazara community against the new name of NWFP can encourage others, such as the Saraiki community as well as Pashtuns living in Balochistan and exacerbate the urban rural divide in Sindh. This will be a difficult situation for the provincial governments and political forces.

khan.tahirhkhan@gmail.com

Renaming to revitalise drive for separate provinces

2010-04-11T22:30:00.000-07:00

By: Abrar Saeed | Published: April 12, 2010

ISLAMABAD – The controversy over the renaming of NWFP as Khyber Pakhtunk-hwa led to the demand of independent province by the people of Hazara Division, which was becoming source of inspiration for the people striving for separate provinces within the Federation.

Even the leaders like Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Quaid Mian Nawaz Sharif saw justification in the demand of Hazara province and said in a press conference on the other day that in the given circumstances the demand of separate province by the Hazara people was not out of the place.

On the other hand the current move for a separate province by people of Hazara will give strength to the demand of people living in other parts of the country, who have been struggling to have their own provinces within the Federation for quite sometime.
The people living in Southern Punjab have been demanding a separate province since long and now the demand of the Hazara people will definitely give strength to them.
A source in the ruling coalition, terming the demand of a separate province on the ethnic and lingual basis as a dangerous trend, said that it would be detrimental for the strength of the Federation.

Some Pashtun leaders inspired by the demand of separate province by the Hazara people said that the creation of a province on ethnic and lingual basis would pave the way for their demand of carving out a province from Balochistan for the Pashtuns living in the province for centuries.

A political analyst said that this tendency should be discouraged, as it would ultimately pave the way for the disintegration of the country.

Recalling the alleged conspiracy of Jinnahpur by Muttahida Qoumi Movement (MQM), a political leader said that it would now seem justified in case the demand of Hazara people was accepted.

He further said that now MQM would be justified to demand a separate province comprising the urban centres of Sindh including Karachi and Hyderabad, mostly inhabited by Urdu speaking people.

The sources aware of the developments taking place following the triggering of riots in Hazara belt informed that the Government circles were quite perturbed over the volatile situation, which if not managed now, would spin into disarray triggering demand from the people living in other parts of the country to come up with similar demand to have provinces on the ethnic and lingual basis.

Efforts on to make Balochistan prosperous

2010-04-11T22:29:00.001-07:00

Published: April 12, 2010

QUETTA - Balochistan Finance Minister and Parliamentary leader of PML-Q in Baloc-histan Assembly Mir Asim Kurd Gailoo has said that the provincial government under the leadership of Nawab Aslam Raisani was making all out efforts to bring prosperity to the province.

He expressed these views while addressing the inauguration ceremony of newspapers market in Quetta on Sunday. Gailoo lauded the role of newspaper hawkers in dissemination of information, saying they were the backbone of newspaper industry who perform their duties without caring for harsh weather and ensure supply of newspapers to readers early in the morning.

He said that newspaper hawkers had faced difficulties and struggled for the construction of newspaper market and ultimately their efforts yielded fruits.
He said that the Chief Minister himself wanted to attend the ceremony and inaugurate newspaper market but he could not come due to some engagements and added that provision of funds by Chief Minister for market was commendable.

Gailoo said that the coalition government under leadership of Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani was taking all possible steps to financially empower people and reduce poverty in the province.

He said that ongoing development projects in the province were due to efforts of Chief Minister, as coalition government did not believe in hollow claims and lip services.

“Accepting Balochistan’s stance in NFC-Award, waiving off overdraft of Balochistan, restoration of Levies Force, and resolution of GDS issue are ground realities of achievement of the coalition government”, he added.

He said that the incumbent government had also succeeded in getting control of Gwadar Port and identifying injustices with Balochistan in the agreements of
Saindak and Reko Diq projects.

Chief Minister’s Advisor Raheela Durrani, Commissioner Quetta Division Naseem Lehri and other high ups were also present on the occasion.

In this day and ages legitimacy come from the will of the people.

2010-04-11T20:41:00.001-07:00

Friday, April 9, 2010

Claims for independence is only accepted when independence seeker do have genuine support as reflected for high levels of support for politicians or political party. Nation do not enter the world with a fully formed nationalist consciousness; nationalists are constructed by political activist who seek to persuade enough of their members that it make sense to mobilise politically as a national minority for national goals.

Whether nationalist claim independence should be determined by the wishes of the majority of its members, as shaped and expressed through free democratic debate and competition to find best. When a nation is concentrated in a territory the nation can be mobilised along a nationalist line to acquire an independent state.

There are sizeable Baluch that have been dwelling in their traditional homeland. This group of human being have their own language, culture, and moral code different from rest of Iranian.

Baluch in Iran have no representation in Iranian central government. I do not know if Iranian have a constitutional court but I am certain that Baluch have not a representation in the Iranian constitutional court. The Iranian constitution discriminate Baluch religion. The Baluch language and culture are sentenced to dead by Iranian central government, there is no public founding for Baluch language and culture.

There is no recognition of Baluch homeland and history; there is no public holiday to celebrate the Baluch heroes. Baluch are not immigrant were encouraged to assimilate to the Persian society. It is wrong to perceive that over time Baluch would become undistinguished from Persian in their speech dress, and culture. Iranian forces have occupied Baluchistan since 1927, Baluch have been resisting their occupation on Baluch homeland and their domination on Baluch culture, because Baluch have different religion and moral value from the majorities Iranian and there is no sign thing will change soon for Iranian in Baluchistan.

Iranians have failed in Baluchistan to transforms their strength from obedience in to duty. Baluch people in Iran surrendered to Persian force, but the force is physical power and there is no will into the force. Iranian force cannot create a right. Disobedience is legitimate. We are obliged to comply with only legitimate powers, in this day and ages legitimacy come from the will of the people.

M. Sarjov

18th Amend a 'fraud': Mengal

2010-04-11T20:37:00.000-07:00

Published: April 11, 2010

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/11-Apr-2010/18th-Amend-a-fraud-Mengal

QUETTA – President Balochistan National Party (Mengal), Sardar Akhtar Mengal while terming 18th Amendment a ‘fraud’ has said that provincial autonomy and abolishment of concurrent list have no meaning for them.
He said that 1973 Constitution could not save its founder from a General then how it can protect the rights of Balochs.
He was addressing a public meeting at Chakar Khan Road on telephone from Germany on Saturday.
He said that struggle of Baloch was not for provincial autonomy rather it was for right of self-determination and nothing short of it will be acceptable to them.
He said that ‘Balochs were befooled in the name of Islam, one unit, democracy, referendum and Constitutional packages but they could not be deceived by 18th Amendment now’.
‘Alms will not be acceptable for Balochs from Islamabad’, he said,adding, that Baloch wanted their control on their coast and resources.
He said that both the Governor and Chief Minister of Balochistan were powerless while army and establishment were the real masters there and both military and civilian establishment were pursuing those policies which were framed during the govt of former dictator Pervez Musharraf.
He alleged that genocide of Balochs was continuing.
‘This can be gauged from the fact that many Balochs lost their lives due to operation during the government of claimants of democracy’, he said, adding, that there was no democracy for Balochs.
He further said that judiciary could not play any role for thousands of Balochs who were languishing in the torture cells of intelligence agencies and security forces.
He said that Baloch were confronted with a very difficult situation and unity amongst their ranks and files was the dire need to protect their identity, coast and resources.
Acting President of party Doctor Jehanzeb Jamaldini, Secretary General Habib Jalib Advocate, Chairman of BSO Mohi-ud-Din Baloch, Agha Hassan Baloch, former MNA Rauf Mengal and others also addressed the public meeting.
They said that Pakhtuns of Balochistan were their brothers.
‘Balochs have no objection if Pakhtuns of Balochistan want to join Khyber- Pakhtoonkhwa but demand for declaring Balochistan a bi-lingual province will not be acceptable’, BNP leaders added.
They said that population of Pakhtuns would be 28 per cent if Afghan refugees were sent back to their country.

Musharraf plotted Benazir's assassination: Talal Bugti

2010-04-11T20:34:00.001-07:00

2010-04-09 12:00:00
Top Baloch leader and Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) chief Nawab Talal Bugti has blamed former Pakistan President General Pervez Musharraf for Benazir Bhutto's assassination, saying the autocratic ruler wanted to divide the country and rule for years to come.

Addressing the Islamabad Bar Association, Bugti also held Musharraf responsible for his father, Nawab Akbar Bugti's death.

"Benazir was called back home on the pretext of the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) so that she could be assassinated," Bugti said.

"The main agenda of Musharraf was to break up the country and, therefore, he assassinated late Benazir and Akbar Bugti," he added.

Criticizing the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) government for following Musharraf's policies, Bugti stressed that 'provincial autonomy' was the need the need of the hour, and that it would ultimately strengthen the 'federation'.

He also blasted the government for initiating a military operation in Balochistan, and said people of the region would continue to resist the oppression with full force.

"We are ready to fight for the motherland but unfortunately a large-scale military operation is under way in Balochistan," The News quoted Bugti, as saying. (ANI)

BLA captured workers of Pakistani Oil and Gas Exploration Company

2010-04-10T21:01:00.001-07:00

Balochistan govt fails to deliver: Magsi

2010-04-08T02:01:00.001-07:00

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/08-Apr-2010/Balochistan-govt-fails-to-deliver-Magsi

Published: April 08, 2010
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QUETTA – Expressing his concern over deteriorating law and order situation in the province, Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi declared on Wednesday that unless the feudal lords and incompetent people, including himself sitting in the assemblies, were not sent to the gallows, no change in the system or improvement of situation was possible.
Magsi, known for being straightforward, was talking to the representatives of protesting lawyers over failure of police and other security agencies to recover their fellow Mohammad Iftikhar Advocate, who was kidnapped last month on gunpoint when he was on his way from home to drop his children at school.
The lawyers, who have been protesting since his abduction, staged a demonstration in front of Governor’s House and later met Magsi at his office on his invitation. Former president Supreme Court Bar Association Ali Ahmed Kurd, President Balochistan Bar Association Baz Mohammad Kakar and Hadi Shakeel Advocate included in the delegation.
The governor urged the need of non-discrimination between the poor and affluent ones, saying everyone was equal before law. “Ensuring the safety and protection to the lives and property of citizens is the prime responsibility of the government,” he added.
Magi said the government should fulfil its duty to restore peace in the province.
“It is evident from the growing incidents of targeted killings, abduction for ransom, theft, robbery and terrorism that the police and local administration have failed in discharging their duties, and the police despite knowing everything are sitting like lame ducks, unable to take any action against the criminals,” he said.
“The policemen are so helpless that they are unable to take revenge for the killing of their fellows who lost their lives in the incidents of targeted killings,” he remarked.
This news was published in print paper. To access the complete paper of this day. click here

Take Permission from Sindh before supplying gas to power stations in Punjab, says MQM

2010-04-08T01:58:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for overseas Pakistanis and Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Parliamentary Leader in the National Assembly DR. Farooq Sattar said that permission should be taken from Sindh before supplying gas to power stations in Punjab.

Initiating debate on 18th amendment Bill 2010 here in the National Assembly on Wednesday, he said, 90 million cubic feet gas is being supplied to three power stations in Punjab from Sindh due to which industrialists in Karachi would be shut down soon.

Farooq Sattar demanded of the Government that sales tax should be handed over to Provinces because true Provincial autonomy is incomplete unless all the Provinces are given fiscal and financial Powers to run their business.

He said, Sindh is the highest Sales Tax payer Province whereas Punjab gets the major share of the tax on the basis of population. Real autonomy is financial autonomy.

He demanded to give powers to people for writing their own fate and only then the caliber and potential of all provinces will be utilized in its true spirit.

He was of the view that now the role of Council of Common Interests (CCI) will be more affective and the CCI will have expanded ambit to exercise its powers. Farooq Sattar appreciated the step to give equal share in the royalty of oil and gas to provinces with the addition of a clause in Article-172.

Highlighting Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package, he said this would help in mitigating the sense of deprivation from the province. He said that their party wrote a note of reiteration in Article -37 regarding the quota system in jobs as it is against merit system.

MQM Parliamentary Leader demanded to give representation to overseas Pakistanis in Senate, National Assembly and all the provincial assemblies as they are playing an important role in country’s building.

He maintained that most of the times it has been said that law and order is a provincial matter but on the contrary, the appointments of IGs, CCPs, ASPs and SSPs are made from Islamabad and their party opposes this and these appointments must be made a provincial subject

He was of the view that their party supports formation of more provinces with simple majority as it will help in solving people’s problems at lower level.

We have to resolve our problem before resolving Kashmir and water issue with India, he said.

23 ministries, departments to come under the control of provinces with the approval of 18th amendment

2010-04-08T01:55:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD: Twenty-three ministries and departments will be shifted to provinces with the approval of 18th amendment from the parliament, however, its implementation will be made in phases.

According to Cabinet Division (CB) sources 8 ministries and departments will go to provinces on the complete abolition of concurrent list and due to change in federal legislation list No 1 and No 2, as many as 15 more ministries will come under the control of the provinces.

As per statistics obtained by Online, over 50000 employees would also be transferred to the provinces following the abolition of concurrent list. Among them over 30000 employees belong to Punjab, 10000 Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 7000 to 8000 Sindh and 2000 to 3000 Balochistan, AJK and Gilgit and Baltistan.

Official sources told development projects worth Rs 200 billion would also be shifted to the provinces in consequence of shifting of control of 23 departments to the provinces. Employees will be transferred to their respective provinces of domicile.

The ministries and departments which will come under the control of provinces include culture, education, environment, food and agriculture, livestock, health, housing and building, industries and production, information technology, Kashmir affairs, labor and manpower, local bodies and rural development, minorities affairs, anti narcotics, population welfare, religious affairs, Zakat, Ushr, science and technology, sports, social welfare and special education, textile industries, women affairs and youth affairs.

Overall 47 items were included in concurrent list and three among them had been incorporated in the federal legislation list one and two while 44 items have been transferred to provinces. They include criminal law, criminal procedure, civil procedure, evidences, marriage, divorce, adoption of children, bankruptcy, arbitration, partnership, agency, trust and trustees, arms, firearms, taking some one under protective custody, explosive material, environmental pollution, population welfare and social welfare, labor and safety regulations in mines, insurance of unemployed persons, syllabus, planning and other matters.

Are you current with the concurrent list!

2010-04-08T01:54:00.000-07:00

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/are-you-current-with-the-concurrent-list-840

By Cyril Almeida
Thursday, 08 Apr, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Bye-bye concurrent list, we never even got to know each other.

With the concurrent legislative list set to be abolished by the 18th Amendment, provincial autonomy will be enhanced — at least that’s the claim of the parties championing maximum autonomy for the provinces.

But will it? Let’s start with the basics.

What’s a federation? For our purposes, it is enough to describe it as a multi-tier system of government: there is a centre, Islamabad, and there are constituent units, the provinces. The opposite is the unitary state, where, as the name suggests, there is only one tier of government.

The immediate question when you have two tiers of government: who does what? The smallest federal government is, theoretically, limited to defence, currency and foreign affairs; the largest could be, well, everything, leaving only a handful of local issues to the provincial governments.

On to ‘concurrency’. Of the 25 federal countries in the world, most have an area of legislation where both tiers of government have the competence to legislate.

Why? Over to Wasim Sajjad: “In some areas, it has been found useful to keep the power (to legislate) with both tiers. One reason is uniformity: all parts of the country can have, for example, the same environmental law. Another reason is to provide a ‘lead’ to the provinces; we don’t yet have all the competencies at the provincial level that are available at the federal level.”

The 1973 Constitution enshrined 47 subjects in the Concurrent Legislative List. The 18th Amendment will abolish that list.

Here’s a sample of what the list contains: “5. Marriage and divorce; infants and minors; adoption”; “6. Wills, intestacy and succession, save as regards agricultural land”; “17. Arms, firearms and ammunition”; “24. Environmental pollution and ecology”; “25. Population planning and social welfare”; “42. Tourism.”

Going through the list of 47 subjects, it is difficult to find anything that would unambiguously enhance provincial autonomy if legislative control were to be handed over exclusively to the provinces.

Even if you consider the bigger ticket items (for example, “trade unions; industrial and labour disputes”) it is not clear what differences Sindh, Balochistan or NWFP have with Islamabad’s prescribed laws.

So why demand the abolition of the concurrent list?

I asked Kaiser Bengali, who is in favour of the list being abolished. He suggests the reason is the smaller provinces are wary of an ever-growing federal government that has used the concurrent list to expand its reach and size.

The explanation is echoed by Zain Sheikh, a constitutional law lecturer in Karachi, who also supports abolishing the concurrent list: “Unless some (federal) ministries are shut down, the whole exercise would be futile.”

It seems that the fear of a big, powerful, overreaching federal government has driven political parties from the smaller provinces to do the only thing that seems obvious: cut its powers. Whether abolishing the concurrent list will in fact enhance provincial autonomy appears to be beside the point.

But such logic incenses Asif Ezdi, a former member of the foreign service, who claims that the “great gift of a single legal system” the British had given us is being thrown away for “dubious political gains”.

“The federal government may not even shrink much,” according to Ezdi. “At most federal ministries like labour, health and environment may now be disbanded.”

Wasim Sajjad isn’t even sure that will happen: “Remember there is still the federal capital territory and in any case the federal government will need to interact with foreign governments and agencies on these issues.”

But even if Ezdi’s and Sajjad’s predictions are confirmed, what’s the harm in giving the provinces the exclusive right to legislate over the 47 subjects in the concurrent list?

Let’s go back to entry 5 in the concurrent list: marriage and divorce; infants and minors; adoption.

Consider the hypothetical marriage in Quetta of a woman from Karachi and a man from Peshawar. With marriage to become a provincial issue, each province could have its own laws governing the institution.

So which province’s law would apply to the couple and could the bride and groom reasonably be expected to understand the differences? The consequences could be severe: imagine a scenario in which a conservative provincial government has overhauled marriage laws that will impact women adversely.

Wasim Sajjad pointed out it makes no sense to have five legal systems (one each for the provinces and the centre) or five regulatory authorities for medical licences.

In a nod to this, the Raza Rabbani committee has all but conceded a ‘soft’ concurrent list of sorts.

Article 142(b) will, after the 18th Amendment, read: “Parliament and a Provincial Assembly shall have power to make laws with respect to criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence.”

Criminal law, criminal procedure and evidence are entries 1, 2 and 4 in the concurrent list, so after the list is abolished the country could have had five separate criminal law codes, criminal procedures and evidence laws. The new Article 142(b) will prevent that absurdity.

Similarly, some concurrent list issues (“legal, medical and other professions”; higher education standards; etc.) have been ‘rescued’ from the provinces exclusive domain by putting them under the Council of Common Interests.

Kaiser Bengali went further: “Devolving environment is not a good idea. Maybe the four provinces will have to pass resolutions asking the centre to continue overseeing this area.”

So why argue for the wholesale abolition of the concurrent list when it clearly makes more sense to leave some things in there?

The answer lies in the negotiating process: “Item by item there would never have been an agreement,” said Kaiser Bengali.

So there you have it, the end of an institution that everyone seems to think was a good idea legally, but somehow its abolition became a rallying cry for provincialists and will now be ritually sacrificed by the 18th Amendment.

“Provincial autonomy is all about control over resources and more finances and revenues for provinces,” argued Wasim Sajjad. “The concurrent list has little to do with any of that.”

Senate Body condemns killing of 3 Baloch youth by Afghan border security forces

2010-04-08T01:53:00.001-07:00

http://www.regionaltimes.com/08apr2010/nationalnews/senate.htm

ISLAMABAD: Senate standing committee on Interior has condemned the incident of killing of three youth from district Zob of Balochistan by the Afghan border security forces and directed the Foreign Office to take up this matter with the Afghan government, besides seeking report from the Afghani Ambassador in this regard immediately. Senate Standing Committee met here on Wednesday under the chair of its chairman, Senator Talha Mehmood. The committee reviewed the matter related to killings of three youths from district Zob by Afghan security borders personnel. The Interior secretary Qamar Zaman told the committee that “we have sent the report to the foreign office, which is based on the information provided by the local security agencies. These three youths were lifted by 3 uniformed personnel of the Afghan border security forces on December, 31, 2009 and were tortured and killed by them inside the Afghan territory. The Senate body decides to take up the issue at the highest level and seeks compensation from the Pakistan and Afghan govts for the families of these children. The IG Frontier Constabulary Balochistan gave briefing to the committee about how three Pakistani children were allegedly taken to Afghanistan and were killed by the Afghan forces. The committee was informed by the Interior Secretary that they are waiting for the DNA test reports of a child left outside the house of Dr Aafia Siddiqui’s mother. The committee also expressed its concerns over the harassment of cricketer Shoaib Malik in India and stated that such behavior can hamper the relationship between Pakistan and India. State Interior Minister, Tasleem Aslam informed the committee that no body including big hotels in Islamabad would be allowed to encroach green belt and public roads on the grounds of the security concerns.—Agencies

Five killed in Balochistan violence

2010-04-08T01:52:00.000-07:00

QUETTA: Five people were killed and six others injured in three incidents of violence in Balochistan on Tuesday.

In Quetta, armed men on a motorcycle fired at three people near Jinnah town, killing two of them and injuring the third.

The deceased were identified as Tahiruddin and Mohsin Nasir and the injured as Mohsin Ali.

In Khuzdar, a man was killed when his car was attacked on the Masjid road.

Abdul Karim Raisani died on the spot while his driver Mohammad Azam was injured.

Two Bugti tribesmen were killed and four injured when a landmine exploded in Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti.

Sources said the tribesmen were collecting firewood when they stepped on the mine.

Balochistan can become another Swat'

2010-04-08T01:51:00.001-07:00

http://www.samaa.tv/News18844-Balochistan_can_become_another_Swat.aspx
Upadated on: 07 Apr 10 03:32 PM

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Awami National Party (ANP) leader Asfand Yar Wali has said in the National Assembly that 18th amendment was being delayed due to issue of renaming NWFP. There was no other alternative but to put Khyber with Pukhtoonkhwa. He said that if the environment for national reconciliation is not established than Balochistan would become another Swat within a year.

Participating in debate over 18th amendment in the National Assembly, Asfand Wali Yar said that 18th amendment bill was being delayed due to issue of renaming NWFP. He said that Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) was insisting to rename NWFP as Khyber and he has only two options. One was to tear the 18th amendment bill into pieces whereas second option was to strive for collective consensus. He said that if any province is kept in isolation then everything will be destroyed. The ANP leader said that 610 people were killed in one place in the name of provincial autonomy. Asfandyar said that 18th amendment is like 1973 constitution for them. Even today, English law is in practice in FATA, he said and added that it is difficult to find political ideals. SAMAA

FATA-Balochistan scholarships programme : Red-tapism puts future in doldrums

2010-04-05T22:42:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\04\05\story_5-4-2010_pg7_1

* Education ministry advertises posts that are already filled
* Officials vying to take over project they deem lucrative

By Irfan Ghauri

ISLAMABAD: Wrangling within the bureaucracy has put the future of the Rs 481.38 million-education project for students of Balochistan and FATA in jeopardy.

Sources in the Ministry of Education told Daily Times that the government started the nine-year project – “Provision of Quality Education to Students of Balochistan and FATA” – in 2007 after the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) approved it on April 17, 2007.

The project was aimed at awarding 330 scholarships each year to students from FATA and Balochistan.

The ministry set up a separate unit called the Federal Project Management Unit to supervise the project, under which they would select 330 students from the two regions each year to place them in cadet colleges and schools across the country.

Each student selected for these institutions would receive Rs 106,000 in scholarship per year, while those selected for technical colleges would get Rs 40,000.

Under PC-1, 18 officials were approved to run the project, but only three officials – a BPS-19 deputy project director, an assistant project director in BPS-18 and a peon have been appointed so far.

Although 250 students have been enrolled, the project has been hit by usual bureaucratic bickering. Vacant posts are yet to be filled.

Advertisement: Recently the ministry placed two separate, contradictory advertisements in newspapers.

One of the advertisements sought potential candidates for to eight posts to be filled, including that of the project director in BPS-20.

A subsequent advertisement was published seeking applications from suitable candidates to fill nine vacant posts.

The second ad did not mention the earlier one, but included two posts – a deputy director and that of an assistant director –, which had already been filled.

When contacted, officials concerned had no clue about the appointment to the rest of the vacant posts.

Project eye: However, the mystery was solved when Daily Times attained a copy of internal correspondence of some of the senior ministry officials.

In a letter dated February 2, 2010, Deputy Education Adviser Muhammad Ismail asked his joint education adviser to place the project under his wing.

A paragraph of the letter said “one officer not less than BS-19 must sit daily for two hours minimum in the project office, to oversee the project and to make a gradual shift of responsibilities from these officers (project deputy director and assistant director) to the training wing”.

It is feared that if this internal strife is not checked, the fate of the project would be the same as that of many others before it, with the students of Balochistan and FATA, whose schools were blown up by militants, being the ultimate sufferers.

Gunmen kill top gas company official in Pakistan

2010-04-05T04:35:00.000-07:00

(AFP) – 4 hours ago

QUETTA, Pakistan — Gunmen on Monday shot dead a top gas company official in southwest Pakistan, where targeted killings blamed on insurgents, sectarian groups and Taliban militants have spiked, police said.

The assailants riding on a motorbike sprayed bullets at Mohammad Khalid, who was deputy general manager of Sui Southern Gas Company, soon after he left home for his office in Quetta, senior police officer Tariq Manzoor said.

"Bullets pierced his head and Khalid died on the spot while his driver was wounded and rushed to hospital," Mazoor told AFP.

It was a "targeted killing" from close range, he said.

Family members of Khalid and company workers protested against the killing in Quetta, capital of southwestern province Baluchistan, witnesses said.

Violence has recently surged in Baluchistan which borders both Afghanistan and Iran. About two dozen people died in targeted killings in March.

Baluchistan is rife with Islamist militancy, sectarian violence between majority Sunnis and minority Shiite Muslims and regional insurgency.

Baluch rebels rose up in 2004 demanding political autonomy and a greater share of profits from the region's wealth of natural resources, including oil and gas. Hundreds of people have died since then.

Pak resolves to continue Iran gasline project

2010-04-05T00:18:00.000-07:00

Published: April 05, 2010
http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/05-Apr-2010/Pak-resolves-to-continue-Iran-gasline-project

TEHRAN (Agencies) – Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi has underlined Pakistan’s firm determination to continue the project for importing gas supplies from Iran irrespective of the US pressures.
“Despite the US conditions for Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline, we will continue this great project,” Qureshi said in an exclusive interview with Fars News Agency (FNA) on Sunday.
Pointing to the ineffectiveness of the ongoing pressures by Washington to hinder the project, the Minister stated, “Pakistan is currently facing an energy crisis and Iran-Pakistani gas project, thus, serves Pakistan’s interests.”
Earlier, India rejected a call from the US to walk away from the pipeline project carrying natural gas from Iran through Pakistan, saying “energy security” is a priority for its rapidly growing economy.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry stressed that energy security was of prime concern to the country and the Iran-Pakistan-India pipeline was an important part of its plans.
The US is currently pursuing additional sanctions against Iran in the UN Security Council. The 2700-kilometre-long pipeline was to supply gas for Pakistan and India which are suffering a lack of energy sources, but India has evaded talks. Last year Iran and Pakistan declared they would finalise the agreement bilaterally if India continued to be absent in meetings.
In a major breakthrough on March 20, 2009, the Pakistani government approved Iran’s proposed pricing formula for gas supplies to the South Asian nation. According to the project proposal, the pipeline will begin from Iran’s Assalouyeh Energy Zone in the south and stretch over 1,100km through Iran.
It will pass through Balochistan and Sindh but officials now say the route may be changed if China agrees to the project.
The gas will be supplied from the South Pars field. The initial capacity of the pipeline will be 22 billion cubic meters of natural gas per annum, which is expected to be later raised to 55 billion cubic meters. It is expected to cost $7.4 billion.

Nawaz wants several new Dubais in Balochistan

2010-04-05T00:15:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=28106
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Says Pakistan suffered during dictatorships

By our correspondent

LAHORE: PML-N Quaid Nawaz Sharif has said he supports provincial autonomy and wanted Centre to transfer more resources and authority to the provinces. He was talking to a PML-N delegation, led by Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, belonging to Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts of Balochistan, at his Raiwind residence on Wednesday.

Nawaz said he is firm on his stance regarding the constitutional reforms, adding time will tell whether his decision was right or wrong. He was hopeful of a positive outcome from the constitutional reforms committee. He said talks on the constitutional amendments would be successful, adding all matters should be resolved through dialogue. He said that it was the responsibility of 170 million people of Pakistan to run the country’s affairs.

“We will have to bring revolutionary changes to make the country prosper,” he said. He said that his party had no link with the people, who were responsible for abrogation of the Constitution, supporting a dictator and ignoring the mandate of masses. He said that he wanted the emergence of several new Dubais in Balochistan, adding special laws should be made for the development of its major cities.

He claimed his government laid the foundation of the coastal highway and initiated the Khuzdar-Naudero highway project. Had the dictator not taken over his government, Balochistan might have been among the developed provinces, he added.

He described the killing of Nawaz Akbar Bugti as a cruel step. Akbar Bugti was a principled and pro-Pakistani politician, he added. He demanded bringing the killers of Bugti to book because such incidents encouraged separatist elements.

He claimed that Pakistan had attained stability during democratic regimes and suffered during dictatorial ones. He said that they would continue their efforts for the supremacy of law, Constitution and independence of the judiciary in the same way they had adopted a principled stance on the NRO, the Kerry Lugar Bill and prestige of the judiciary.

He claimed that the PML-N had the realisation that the PPP government was not sincere in restoring the Constitution to the level of October 12, 1999, implementation of the ‘Charter of Democracy’, elimination of loadshedding and corruption, reduction in petroleum prices and independence of the media.

He demanded of the government to arrest the murderers of Akbar Bugti and those who abrogated the Constitution. Talking to media after a ceremony at the Sharif Medical Complex, he said good news can come any month, therefore, no month should be specified for tidings.

The Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Reforms is still busy in its work and a favourable solution is expected, he added. Answering a question, he said he is happy over news of wedding of cricketer Shoaib Malik with Indian tennis star Sania Mirza. “Political issues could also be resolved with a similar positive approach,” he added.

Balochistan allowed to use Iranian gas

2010-04-05T00:14:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD: The federal government has accorded special permission to Balochistan to use the gas which is to be imported from Iran under the pipeline project for domestic purpose.

Such permission has not been given to any other province. This was disclosed by the additional secretary of petroleum ministry in the meeting of parliamentary committee for petroleum.

It had earlier been decided at a high level meeting that the imported gas would be used for industrial purpose only and domestic consumers would not be allowed to avail this facility.

However, under the directives of the chief minister of Balochistan a major chunk of this imported gas would be provided to the cities of the province.

The price of the gas for domestic consumers would be determined later.

Ministry of petroleum sources said that Pakistan, Iran gas pipeline project would cost $3- 4 billion and the project would be completed within four years.

Members of the committee also raised the issue of inflated bills saying an FIR should be registered against Sui Northern Gas Company for overcharging the consumers.— DawnNews

Mehboob Baloch abducted by Pakistani Intelligence

2010-04-03T12:43:00.000-07:00

Dear friends;

I am experiencing the very difficult time of my life, my brother Mehboob Baloch was abducted yesterday on 2 April 2010 by Pakistani Intelligence agencies when he was on his ways to gwader, his bus was stopped by the armed forces and two people in civilian cloths pulled him from his seat and put him in their vehicle and without a trace left the scene, his whereabouts are not known, our family asks for your prayers at this time, plz. pray for my brother Mehboob Baloch so he may join us back. Our family is very concern about him. Plz. dont forget to pray for him.

Regards

Jahanzaib baloch

Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Tarun rejects new name

2010-04-02T22:13:00.000-07:00

Saturday, April 03, 2010
Delawar Jan

PESHAWAR: The Pakhtunkhwa Jamhoori Tarun (PJT) here Friday rejected the new compound name for the NWFP and sought explanation from the Awami National Party (ANP) for suddenly accepting Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa against its previous stance.

“If we had to agree to a hyphenated name for the province, we could have achieved it 20 years ago,” said Sikandar Sherpao, convener of the PJT. The PJT is a conglomeration of political parties and civil society organisations formed to remove wrong perceptions about the Pakhtuns and to address the root-causes of extremism and the problems faced by the Pakhtuns.

Speaking at a press conference, Sikandar Sherpao along with other leaders of the movement said that they were unable to understand as to what forced the ANP to change its stance on Pakhtunkhwa. “The leaders of the ANP were resolving to stick to their stand about Pakhtunkhwa during the deadlock. But we wonder as to why they agreed and what compelled them to accept the name Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa,” he argued.

Sikandar Sherpao said that Pakhtuns should be given a name in accordance with their culture and identity. The PJT rejected the new name and demanded the one-word Pakhtunkhwa as the new name for the NWFP. He argued that the NWFP Assembly had called for renaming of the province as Pakhtunkhwa. The assembly is the highest forum for making decisions but the resolution passed by it for the name-change has been dishonoured, he added.

The PJT convener said if the principle behind the new name of the NWFP was to be followed then Punjab should be renamed as Lahore-Punjab, Sindh as Karachi-Sindh and Balochistan as Quetta-Balochistan.

“We had not heard about Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa before. It came to the fore for the first time as it had never been discussed earlier,” he claimed. The PJT leader criticised the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz and the ANP for mutually deciding the name of the province without consulting other parties. He said it was not only the matter of renaming the province but giving it the centuries-old name.

If some Pakhtuns are unhappy with the hyphenated name, the majority in Hazara division also disapproves of both Khyber and Pakhtunkhwa. Drawing analogy between the British and the ANP-PML-N, the PJT said the former imposed upon the Pakhtuns the name of the NWFP and the latter chose Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa against the wishes of the people.

“Khyber is not a part of the NWFP. The prefixing of Khyber with Pakhtunkhwa is violation of Article 247 of the Constitution,” said Asad Afridi, hailing from Fata. He said the federal government was administering the Fata but the prefixing of its popular mountain pass to Pakhtunkhwa to coin a new name for the province was surprising.

Shahab Khattak, representing poets and scholars, said they were disappointed by the new name. He said the PML-N had conveyed a wrong message that it would not allow the people of other provinces to have their will in the decisions about issues specific to them.

Raisani demanded Provincial autonomy

2010-04-02T22:12:00.001-07:00

Friday, April 02, 2010
Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has demanded provincial autonomy for all federating units. In NWFP almost every political party is in favour of provincial autonomy. In Sindh the MQM has the same demand. Only in Punjab the PML-N is not ready for provincial autonomy which is causing centre-province tensions.

A lot of problems will be solved automatically only if provincial autonomy is ensured in the 18th Amendment. If we closely observe our major political parties, it will become obvious that most of them have a provincial outlook. I hope that all the parties will seriously look into this matter.

Mubashir Mahmood

Karachi

BNP-M rejects constitutional package

2010-04-02T22:09:00.001-07:00

By: Bari Baloch | Published: April 02, 2010

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/02-Apr-2010/BNPM-rejects-constitutional-package

QUETTA - The Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) while terming Constitutional Reforms Package as ‘April fool’ has appealed to Baloch people to unite among their ranks and files to defeat establishment and usurpers.
Talking to newsmen here on Thursday, BNP Acting President Dr. Janzaib Jamaldini regretted that no change had come in the mindset of Islamabad and so-called democratic rulers of Punjab even after lapse of six decades.
‘It is another joke with the people of Balochistan, because we are not struggling for some privileges or little alms’, he said and ,added, that neither PPP nor PML-N was serious to address the grievances of Baloch people.
He said that the main target of both parties in Constitutional package was to abolish 58(2)b and remove ban on becoming Prime Minister for third time while it had nothing to do with ongoing exploitation of small units.
BNP leader said that they had pinned no hope with Constitutional Reforms Package that it would end the alleged excesses with oppressed nations nor it would heal the wounds of Baloch people.
‘BNP is struggling for complete control of Baloch on their own coast and resources’, he said.
Referring to abolishment of concurrent list, BNP leader said that it had lost its importance for the last 35 years and now it was just a tissue paper. ‘Abolishment of concurrent list can not be the alternate of solution of problems of different nationalities’, he added.
He said that hundreds of Balochs did not sacrifice their lives for packages or some privileges.
Referring to renaming NWFP, Jamaldini said that BNP had already recognised NWFP as Pakhtoonkhwa and consensus on name of ‘Khyber-Pashtoonkhwa’ by ANP leaders and other parties was either result of any pressure or a part of any deal.
Responding to a question, he said that BNP was not struggling for provincial autonomy and those nationalists who believed in provincial autonomy should re-read their manifesto otherwise Baloch would not pardon them.
He said that military drive and alleged atrocities of security forces were still continuing in Balochistan and these would not stop until and unless Baloch demonstrate unity against them.

Hindu trader, boy kidnapped

2010-04-02T21:43:00.000-07:00

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/International/03-Apr-2010/Hindu-trader-boy-kidnapped

Published: April 03, 2010

QUETTA - A Hindu trader and a teenager boy were kidnapped from provincial capital in broad daylight here on Friday.
In the first incident, unidentified armed men abducted a Hindu trader, Nanak Das at gun-point from Arif Road of Quetta when he was opening his shop. Kidnappers drove him away towards unknown location.
Similarly, in another incident, Azamtullah, 15, was on his way in Killi Goharabad area of the City when he was kidnapped by unknown persons.
Separate cases of the incidents have been registered and investigations are underway.
It may be mentioned here that incidents of kidnapping for ransom in Balochistan particularly in Quetta are on the rise while authorities concerned have failed to bust the gangs of kidnappers.
Two children burnt to death
Two children were burnt to death and five other people including two women received burn injuries after a house caught fire in Sobatpur area of Jaffarabad District on Friday.
According to police sources, a fire broke out in a house located near Sobatpur police station due to which two children identified as Ahmed Umar and Imdad died after receving serious burn injuries. Five others including two women identified as Mahi Jorri, Azat Bibi, Daud, Muhammad Idress and Ali Gohar also sustained burn injuries and rushed to Sobatpur and Dera Murad Jamali hospitals for treatment.

Balochistan Darkness Visible - Bleeding War In Pakistan Province

2010-04-02T21:34:00.000-07:00

Thursday, April 01, 2010

By Ajai Sahni for SATP
http://www.eurasiareview.com/2010/04/32948-balochistan-darkness-visible.html

No perceived Western interests exist in Balochistan, no Coalition soldiers are dying on its soil, and the Baloch have not been involved in significant acts of terrorism against Western targets. That, perhaps, is why the world pays so little attention to the bleeding war in this vast and thinly populated province of Pakistan, in which the country's despotic Army has been engaged in a brutal campaign of repression, without interruption, for over five years now, and in repeated cycles since 1948,1 virtually since the moment of the forced accession of the province to Pakistan.

And yet, the sheer intensity of state repression and the fury of response should have brought this forgotten region of darkness to the attention of a world that has pretensions to civilization and human concern. In 2010, for instance, just till March 11, there had been as many as 17 bomb blasts in the province. The total for the preceding five years was 987 - working out to an average of nearly three (2.7) a day (2009: 134; 2008: 242; 2007: 243; 2006: 214; and 2005: 154).

Since the insurgents principally target infrastructure projects - particularly the gas pipeline that pumps precious natural gas, one of the resource-rich Province's many coveted assets, out of the Province, to feed the rest of Pakistan - total fatalities in the conflict have, on first sight, remained relatively low (by Pakistan's appalling standards). 20 persons had been killed in 2010 (till March 11), and over the preceding five years, conflict related fatalities totaled 1,513 (2009: 277; 2008: 348; 2007: 245; 2006: 450; 2005: 193).

There was some decline in both the number of incidents and fatalities in 2009 as against earlier years, suggesting a reduced level of violence. [However, 245 fatalities were recorded in 2007]. The insurgency in Balochistan, however, continues to fester, with a steady stream of bomb and rocket attacks on gas pipelines, railway tracks, power transmission lines, bridges, and communications infrastructure, as well as on military establishments and Government facilities. There were at least 134 bomb blasts and grenade explosions across the province in 2009, as well as another 57 rocket attacks targeting state installations. Baloch insurgents have also targeted Government officials and politicians, prominently including the Balochistan Educatin Minister Shafiq Ahmed Khan, who was shot dead near his house in Quetta on October 25, 2009. The Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) immediately claimed responsibility for the assassination, which BLUF spokesman, Shahiq Baloch, said was intended to "avenge the state-sponsored murders of Baloch nationalist leaders Ghulam Muhammad, Sher Muhammad and Lala Munir in Turbat in Balochistan." Earlier, on August 6, 2009, the Minister for Excise and Taxation, Sardarzada Rustam Khan Jamali, was shot dead in Karachi, the capital of Sindh province, which has a significant Baloch population. Though the Police subsequently managed to arrest a key suspect, an alleged member of a car-lifting gang, a suspicion of Baloch involvement lingers. On October 18, 2009, a grenade was hurled into the house of the Information Minister Younas Mullazai in Quetta, but the Minister was not in at that time and no loss of life or injury was reported.

Currently, there are at least six active insurgent groups in Balochistan: the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Baloch Republican Army, the Baloch People's Liberation Front, the Popular Front for Armed Resistance, the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and BLUF. BLUF, according to Rahimullah Yusufzai, appears more aggressive and violent even than BLA and BLF. In February 2009, BLUF cadres abducted American John Solecki, who headed the UNHCR mission in Balochistan, but freed him unharmed after "much effort, and probably a deal." The kidnapping signaled the "arrival of the BLUF as the most radical of the three Baloch separatist groups even though it isn't clear if these are separate or overlapping factions operating under different names." In addition, young Baloch separatists "forming part of the Diaspora and living in Kabul, Kandahar, Dubai, London, Brussels and Geneva, are now often calling the shots in Balochistan and setting the agenda."

Pakistan focuses its overwhelming attention on the nationalist insurgency in Balochistan, using overwhelming and often less than discriminate military force against the rebels and local populations in an effort to restore its intimidatory dominance, as it had done on previous occasions. Far more dangerous, however, is a second movement of terrorism and violence led by the Taliban - al Qaeda combine in the northern part of the Province, which borders Afghanistan. The Baloch nationalist insurgency is, in fact, little more than a minor diversion within the context of this wider movement of pan-Islamist terror, which has come to dominate both sides of the Afghan border, and elements of which have been harnessed by the Pakistani state and its covert agencies in its efforts to smother the nationalist insurgency, which has remained consistently secular and political in its orientation. It is significant that the Islamist-nationalist gulf overlaps with the ethnic divide in the Province, with Pashtuns dominating the radical Islamist Northern areas, including capital Quetta, and the Baloch concentrated in Central and South Balochistan. Significantly, sectarian killings have begun to compound the crisis in Balochistan. At least 28 persons were killed in about 13 incidents of sectarian clash in 2009. The killings are reported to be part of a series of sectarian attacks that started in Quetta, with the banned Sunni terrorist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, closely allied to the Taliban - al Qaeda complex, has accepted responsibility for most of the recent attacks.

It is now widely recognized that the 'Quetta Shura', the Taliban 'executive council' which operates openly out of the Balochistan capital, has waged a systematic campaign of violence in both Balochistan and Afghanistan. This was testified to by General Stanley McChrystal, the US Commander in Afghanistan, who noted, on December 11, that the US fears the top Taliban leadership was in Quetta - Balochistan's provincial capital - master-minding attacks on international forces in Afghanistan.2 Further, on September 29, 2009, US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson, stated, "In the past, we focused on al Qaeda because they were a threat to us. The Quetta Shura mattered less to us because we had no troops in the region… Now our troops are there on the other side of the border, and the Quetta Shura is high on Washington's list."3 Other US officials have claimed that virtually all of the Afghan Taliban's strategic decisions are made by the Quetta Shura. Such decisions flow from the group to Taliban field commanders, who in turn make tactical decisions that support the Shura's strategic direction.4 Another American media report claimed that Pakistani officials have allowed the Taliban movement to regroup in the Quetta area because they view it as a strategic asset rather than a domestic threat.5 The US Consul General in Karachi, Stephen Fakan, has also warned that a Waziristan-like situation (near-complete Islamist militant dominance had been achieved in Waziristan) might develop in Balochistan if "necessary action" is not taken against the Taliban in Quetta.6

As American apprehensions regarding the Quetta Shura mounted, the Barack Obama Administration has shown signs of extending its campaign of drone attacks against terrorist targets to Quetta and other parts of Balochistan, from where the Taliban has been orchestrating its Afghan operations. In response, reports suggest, the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), Pakistan's external intelligence agency, may have shifted Mullah Omar, the chief of the Afghan Taliban who heads the Quetta Shura, and other top Taliban leaders, to the Southern port city of Karachi, in Sindh, to protect them from the possibility of a US drone strike.

US and Coalition concerns have been enormously deepened by the disruption of NATA supply lines to Afghanistan which pass through Balochistan (and the North West Frontier province). In 2009, in Balochistan alone, there were at least 15 attacks on oil tankers and trucks ferrying NATO supplies. These included the first-ever suicide attack in a Baloch-dominated area, on June 30, when four persons were killed and 11 injured in a suicide attack at a hotel in Kalat, targeting NATO supply Forces in Afghanistan. The suicide bomber detonated his explosives inside a hotel in the Sorab area of the District, 250 kilometers southeast of Quetta. Most of the victims were reportedly Baloch tribesmen.

There are also some indications that these threats and attacks receive implicit support from certain elements within the state establishment. Pakistan has an agreement with the US for the secure transportation of supplies to Kabul but, as one commentator notes, "some officials in the Pakistani Government have ordered the security forces to shut their eyes to the attacks on US and NATO supplies in Peshawar."7

These attacks have certainly heightened the crisis of US AfPak policy, and NATO Forces are increasingly emphasising the necessity of developing alternative routes for their supplies into Afghanistan. As far back as January 20, 2009, CENTCOM commander General David Petraeus, was already stressing: "It is very important as we increase the effort in Afghanistan that we have multiple routes that go into the country… There have been agreements reached, and there are transit lines now and transit agreements for commercial goods and services in particular that include several countries in the Central Asian states and also Russia."8

Islamabad, however, has sought to consistently muddy the waters on the conflict in Balochistan, vigorously blaming India for its troubles in the Province. When a joint Indo-Pak statement released after the meeting of the Prime Ministers of the two countries at Sharm-al-Sheikh recorded, on July 16, 2009, that the "Pak PM (Syed Yusuf Raza) Gilani mentioned that Pakistan has some information on threats in Balochistan and other areas", Gilani triumphantly claimed that the declaration constituted an admission of complicity on India's part in the Baloch insurgency.9 Some Western commentators, notably Christine Fair of the RAND Corporation, sought to demonstrate their expertise on the subject with sweeping generalizations about Indian consulates in Afghanistan and Iran "not issuing Visas as their main activity" and asserting that "India has run operations from its missions in Mazar and is doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Qandahar along the border".10 Fair, of course, subsequently went on to offer extended and convoluted denials, claiming, "I never said there was active support for terrorism, that was something that the Pakistanis attributed to me" and that "I do not know anyone who has a line of credible information" on the issue.11 Nevertheless, Pakistan's propaganda machine quickly picked up on this theme, claiming that Pakistan had handed over a 'dossier of evidence' to India (a fact that India denied) which detailed evidence of India's "involvement in terror financing in Pakistan" and of training camps run by India's Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) for the Balochistan Liberation Army in Afghanistan.

This, however, was hardly new. Former President, General Parvez Musharraf had earlier asserted that he had 'documentary evidence' of Brahamdagh Bugti, leader of the Baloch Liberation Army, receiving weapons from Indian missions in Jalalabad and Kandahar, and of Bugti's long association with the R&AW. No such 'evidence', documentary or otherwise, has, however, ever been publicly disclosed or shared with any credible international body. Significantly, Richard Holbrooke, the US Special Representative for Pakistan and Afghanistan, revealed that, when the issue was brought up during discussions in Pakistan, no "credible evidence of India's involvement in Balochistan" was ever provided. He rubbished Pakistani claims, further: "Pakistan has told me India has hundreds of people in (the consulate) at Kandahar… I asked people... asked Americans and the UN... how big is the Indian consulate in Kandahar... and they said six to eight people."12

In essence, Pakistan's allegations regarding India's role in the troubles in Balochistan are, at best, reflexive, seeking to establish an unsustainable moral parity between the two countries to counter allegations of what is now globally recognized as Pakistan's role in supporting terrorism on Indian soil. While these efforts do cause the occasional ripple, or help score trivial debating points in a fairly puerile international discourse on the subject, the appalling realities of the ground in Balochistan, and in the wider South Asian region, do eventually reassert themselves - to Pakistan's enduring discomfiture. Quetta-based Malik Siraj Akbar notes,

Gilani broached the issue with India at a time disgruntled Baloch youth have removed the Pakistani flag from schools and colleges and stopped playing the national anthem… India is not the first to be blamed. Similar allegations were levelled in the past against the now defunct Soviet Union, Afghanistan and Iraq, to discredit the indigenous movement for retaining a distinct Baloch identity.13

To return to the core of the issue: of course there is a problem (or 'threats') in Balochistan. There is a problem in every province of Pakistan - in the NWFP, in Pakistan occupied Kashmir, in Sindh and, increasingly, in Punjab as well. But the problem is not India, or Indian intelligence agencies. It is Pakistan itself. It is the enduring violence and inequity of the Pakistani state; it is the relentless ideology of mutual hatreds that underpins the very founding notion of this country.

Islamabad has, for the past 62 years, kept the Baloch people entirely out of the scope of development - they are the poorest in the country, with little opportunity for employment and an abysmal record on all social indices. The entire province has been transformed into a massive cantonment, even as over a million people were brought in from the outside in a continuing exercise in demographic re-engineering. Vast tracts of land have been forcibly 'acquired' and handed over to these outsiders, who have been the principal beneficiaries of all 'development', even as the Baloch are denied significant employment in the massive projects - including the Gwadar Port and gas and coal extraction industries - implemented in the Province. Balochistan has the largest reserves of natural gas in Pakistan, and supplies as much as 38 per cent of the country's total needs, though barely six per cent of the population in the Province has access to gas. Indeed, for the Baloch, the only thing in abundant supply has been the weapons that the Inter Services Intelligence initially siphoned to them out of the 'Afghan pipeline', and that are now available in abundance across the Frontier region.

Islamabad's approach to discontent in Balochistan has historically vacillated between talks for 'political solutions' that are never implemented, and brutally repressive military campaigns. Arif Azad notes, "Balochistan has been here many times before and each time the Pakistan state managers have bungled the situation… seeking a military solution to a purely political problem." In the interregnum between the succession of rebellions in the Province, Islamabad has done nothing to address legitimate Baloch grievances through extended periods of peace, pushing the Baloch to repeated cycles of militant protest and insurgent violence.

If there is an unwavering rage in Balochistan today, it is because of this long history of brutal repression, which is even now being compounded. The murder of the popular leader and former Governor of the Province, Nawab Akbar Bugti, by state forces in September 2006, was, of course, orchestrated by the Musharraf regime, as was the killing of Nawabzada Balach Marri in November 2007 - and the present dispensation could easily distance itself from these excesses. Instead, Baloch anger has again been stoked by the murder of three prominent leaders, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Mohammad Baloch, whose mutilated bodies were recovered on April 8, 2009, five days after they were picked up by state agencies on April 3.14 While these killings have been noticed because of the prominence of their victims, numberless 'disappearances' of rebel Baloch cadres, students and civilians are hidden behind an impenetrable media blackout in the Province. Significantly, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch was a member of a committee set up to investigate the 'disappearance' of 1,109 people in the Province.

The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development thus notes:

Balochistan continues to be ruled as a colony, its resources benefiting the federal government and dominant provinces. Grueling poverty and deprivation defines much of the province. 88% of the population of Balochistan is under the poverty line. Balochistan has the lowest literacy rate, the lowest school enrollment ratio, the lowest educational attainment index, and the lowest health index relative to the other provinces. 78% of the population has no access to electricity, and 79% has no access to natural gas. The federal government's presence is made apparent not through public welfare activities, but through violence and aggression… A large number of military and paramilitary troops… have been stationed in different parts of the province and state-perpetrated violence has become a common feature of the political landscape of Balochistan. Disappearance of political activists and extrajudicial killings has become all too common. It is stating the obvious that such a situation has given rise to alienation, extreme resentment, and a feeling of enslavement to the Pakistani state.15

Islamabad has never taken the Baloch people and their leadership into confidence. Even top Baloch officials appointed by Islamabad have no say in crucial policy. Governor Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, for instance, complains, "Although I am a representative of the Centre, I was never taken into confidence by Islamabad…"16

Hectic efforts have been underway for some time now to bringing the Baloch rebels to the negotiating table. The Federal Government has recently been attempting to develop a 'consensual' Balochistan package, which would purportedly address the province's political, social and economic problems. The package, named Aghaz-e-Huqooq-i-Balochistan, contains three parts, including constitutional, administrative and economic measures - a 'formula' that has been pushed by Islamabad even under the Musharraf regime, and which has boiled down, in essence to offers of a financial 'package' and a few token concessions.17 Predictably, the latest package has run into rough weather even before its contours have been defined. The Balochistan National Party (BNP), one of the leading political parties in the province, has termed the package a bribe, given to halt their movement, and has consequently demanded the withdrawal of the ongoing military action in the province and the release of missing persons as a confidence-building measure. BNP Secretary, General Habib Jalib Baloch, declared that that such packages had also been announced in the past, but these always backfired and remained sterile.18 Abdur Rauf Mengal, a former parliamentarian from the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) stated, further, "We have no faith in the Government's sincerity." On November 17, 2009, he asserted, "Our problems include the military operation, which is ongoing regardless of the Government's denial; then there are the countless missing persons; massive displacement due to the military operation; and fake cases against and the extrajudicial killings of Baloch nationalist leaders."19

Islamabad imposes a repressive, colonial and exploitative regime on Balochistan and there is now a comprehensive collapse of faith between the people of this Province and a predatory Pakistani state. The rebellions of the past were easily crushed by Pakistan's Army, but the world has changed since. The dispensation at Islamabad presides over a fragile and increasingly vulnerable state, struggling with disorders across the country, and it is unlikely that the methods of the past will succeed. It is, perhaps, time that Pakistan initiated a tentative experiment in providing justice and a measure of real rights to its people.

Ajai Sahni is Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management; Editor, South Asia Intelligence Review; Executive Director, South Asia Terrorism Portal; and Executive Editor, Faultlines: Writings on Conflict & Resolution. He is also a founding and Executive Committee member of the Urban Futures Initiative. This article first appeared at the South Asia Terrorist Portal - SATP - (http://www.satp.org) - produced by the Institute of Conflict Management.

1. In April 1948, Pakistan sent its Army into Balochistan and forced Mir Ahmed Yar Khan of Kalat to sign an instrument of accession to Pakistan. Violence broke out almost immediately, but was quickly crushed. Insurrections subsequently swept across Balochistan in 1958; from 1963 to 1969; and from 1973 to 1978, and were, in each case, suppressed with the use of extreme force. The present insurgency commenced in 2004, and shows no signs of resolution.

2. "Pakistan Govt. admits Quetta Shura on country's soil", December 11, 2009,
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=113493&sectionid=351020401 .

3. "Patterson says Quetta Shura high on US list" , September 30, 2009, http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/world/11-patterson-says-quetta-shura-high-on-us-list--il--09 .

4. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Taliban militants have presence in Quetta: US diplomat, October 21, 2009,
http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/pakistan/Taliban-militants-have-presence-in-Quetta/Article1-467593.aspx .

7. "Quickly, Deploy U.S. and NATO Troops in Peshawar", December 15, 2008,
http://www.henryjacksonsociety.org/stories.asp?id=927 .

8. "US 'agrees Afghan supply route'", 20 January 2009, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7839265.stm.

9. "India interfering in Balochistan: Gilani" , Jul 19, 2009, http://www.indianexpress.com/news/india-interfering-in-balochistan-gilani/491257/.

10. "Analysts say India fanning unrest in Balochistan", April 7, 2009,
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009%5C04%5C07%5Cstory_7-4-2009_pg7_30 .

11. "Pakistanis Have Blown My Comments Out Of Proportion", August 10, 2009, http://www.outlookindia.com/printarticle.aspx?261113.

12. US endorses Indian role in Afghanistan, April 26, 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/US-endorses-Indian-role-in-Afghanistan/articleshow/4451937.cms .

13. Top Article: A Home-grown Conflict, August 11, 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/opinion/edit-page/Top-Article-A-Home-grown-Conflict/articleshow/4878167.cms .

14. "Pakistan - Stop military and paramilitary actions in all parts of Balochistan!" 18 November 2009, Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development.

15. Ibid.

16. Ibid

17. See, for instance, Ajai Sahni, "Balochistan: The Province of Fear", South Asia Intelligence Review, Volume 4, No. 23, December 19, 2005, http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/sair/Archives/4_23.htm.

18. "Pakistan - Stop military and paramilitary actions in all parts of Balochistan!", op. cit.

19. Ibid.

ANALYSIS: Assessing Article 370 —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

2010-03-27T22:36:00.001-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\28\story_28-3-2010_pg3_4

The question is, will Article 370 be acceptable to those who call the shots here? What will be done about the properties that people from other provinces already own there? Will Gwadar be exempted because most top guns hold property there? Will the army and the navy, who have numerous cantonments and bases, even consider giving up their rights?

Last week in these pages Mr Riaz Shahid in his column ‘An Article 370 for Balochistan’, (Daily Times, March 21, 2010) suggested applying some clauses of Article 370 of Jammu and Kashmir in Balochistan. It is a courageous suggestion and I do not doubt Mr Shahid’s good intentions. The suggestion has not been put forward before and therefore it needs to be assessed for its usefulness and implementation in the conditions of Balochistan.

A G Noorani in his piece, ‘Article 370: Law and politics’, says: “Those who cavil at Article 370 of the Indian Constitution and the ‘special status’ of Kashmir constitutionally ought to remember the ‘special’ treatment meted out to it politically. Which other state has been subjected to such debasement and humiliation? And, why was this done? It was because New Delhi had second thoughts on Article 370. It could not be abrogated legally. It was reduced to a husk through political fraud and constitutional abuse. The current debate is much more than about restoration of Article 370 by erasing the distortions. It is about redressing a moral wrong.”

About Article 370, B K Nehru, who was Governor of Kashmir from 1981 to 1984, in his memoirs, Nice Guys Finish Second, published in 1997 says, “From 1953 to 1975, chief ministers of that state had been nominees of Delhi. Their appointment to that post was legitimised by the holding of farcical and totally rigged elections in which the Congress party led by Delhi’s nominee was elected by huge majorities” (Pp 614-5). So this is the reality of the original Article 370. This happened because of a ‘trivial change’ brought about in the originally agreed upon Article. Differences cropped up between Sheikh Abdullah and Vallabhbhai Patel. To smooth them out N Gopalaswamy Iyengar put in what he called a ‘trivial change’. Noorani says that “in its original form the draft would have made the Sheikh’s ouster in 1953 impossible”. Manipulators can and do put in elements that not only nullify the original intent but work against the whole idea.

The original intent of the Article was, “Nehru was eager to secure Kashmir’s ‘closer integration’ with India; the Sheikh to ensure popular governance.” Noorani says, “Article 370 is more than a provision of that solemn document. It is also a sacred compact with the state.” But apparently this did not happen and to top it all off the Indian Supreme Court also erred in its decision. Noorani says, “The net result of this ruling was to give a carte blanche to the government of India to extend to Kashmir such of the provisions of the Constitution of India as it pleased.” This background should suffice regarding the implementation of Article 370 and the benefits the Kashmiri people have derived therein.

Constitutional articles and clauses carry their own disadvantages and pitfalls. They give a sense of complacency and though they do temporarily defuse prevailing tensions, they can never be a panacea for problems unless they are implemented in letter and spirit and this depends entirely on the establishment’s attitude and mindset for it is they who decide the fate of all articles.

Riaz Shahid suggests that the following clauses of Article 370 be implemented in Balochistan for at least 25 years; whereby no non-Kashmiri Indian citizens can permanently settle, no non-Kashmiri Indian citizens can purchase immoveable property, no non-Kashmiri Indian citizens can vote in the state assembly and/or municipal councils and panchayats. No non-Kashmiri Indian citizens can get jobs; all the jobs in the state are reserved for the citizens of the state. And that the Indian government cannot alter the geographical boundaries of the state of Jammu and Kashmir.

The question is, will such clauses be acceptable to those who call the shots here? What will be done about the properties that people from other provinces already own there? Will Gwadar be exempted because most top guns hold property there? Will the army and the navy, who have numerous cantonments and bases, even consider giving up their rights? What status would these cantonments and bases have if ever Article 370 is accepted and implemented? Will the FC, which is accused of running a ‘parallel government’ there, relinquish what it holds? Will all the jobs be handed over to domiciled persons? Will these clauses be effective retrospectively? If so, how long back? There are so many questions that need to be answered. Moreover, the possession of land is not the only contentious issue; the Baloch are demanding much more.

Even if we assume that these Article 370 clauses are accepted, the fate suffered by the much flaunted and sacrosanct 1973 Constitution presages doom for them. I will quote from, ‘Towards infamy’, a piece of Ardeshir Cowasjee: “At noon, on Independence Day 1973, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto with joy and jubilation promulgated what has now become a shameful contentious document, the third constitution to be presented to the people of Pakistan. Four hours later, at 16:00 hours, Prime Minister Bhutto ordered his appointed president, the meek and gentlemanly Fazal Elahi Chaudhry, to sign an order, which was notified in the Gazette of Pakistan, Extra, dated August 15, 1973, No.F.24(1)/73-Pub.”

It was mutilated within four hours with Emergency to curb rights and to facilitate arrests of NAP leadership including Nawab Khair Baksh Khan Marri who, like my father Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur, did not sign the constitution because they felt it did not guarantee autonomy and rights to the people. They were prescient to say the least.

The Indian leaders had the partial foresight to understand that the Kashmiri identity would emerge and had tried pre-empting it with Article 370 but their scheming minds did not allow them to stand by their commitment and 25 years later, an insurgency is raging in Kashmir.

Here not even an outward show of tolerance was exhibited; all lands, languages, cultures and rights were considered fair game. The terra nullius (no man’s land) doctrine was implemented in all fields. The Bengalis were told that they will have to adopt Urdu by none other than Jinnah himself. Contrary to all assurances, Balochistan was annexed on Jinnah’s orders; in short, the masters dictated what the subjects had to submit to unquestioningly. The consequences of this attitude are for all to see and rue. Expecting the arrogant and intransigent establishment to make concessions to Balochistan what the apparently willing and accommodating Indians failed to concede in letter and spirit is delusional.

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com

Complete strike in Balochistan

2010-03-27T22:33:00.000-07:00

Published: March 28, 2010

QUETTA – A complete shutterdown and wheel-jam strike was observed in different parts of Balochistan, including the provincial capital, on Saturday against the alleged forced annexation of the province. Infuriated mob also torched vehicles in Quetta and Turbat.

Baloch National Front (BNF), an alliance of 10 nationalist parties, which was also supported by other parties, traders and transporters associations.In Quetta, all main markets and shopping centres at Jinnah Road, Liaquat Bazaar, Shara-e-Iqbal, Double Road, Sariab Road, Brewery Road, Joint Road and Qambrani Road remained closed throughout the day. However, thin traffic was witnessed on various roads of the City.

Due to wheel-jam strike, attendance at the government offices remained thin while a holiday was announced for all government and private educational institutions.
Administration had taken strict security arrangements to avert any untoward incident in the provincial capital as police backed by Frontier Corps and
Balochistan Constabulary were deployed at the sensitive areas. The mobile squads of law enforcement agencies continued patrolling across the City.

During the violence, protestors torched a vehicle at Brewery Road and two rickshaws at Jail Road. Similarly, unknown people pelted many vehicles and Punjab-bound Chiltan Express with stones.

A hand grenade was also hurled at the office of FIA on Samangli Road, which smashed windowpanes of the building. However, no casualty was reported in the blast.
Sources said police had arrested four people in connection with pelting vehicles with stones and blocking the roads.

Moreover, Quetta-Karachi, Quetta-Sibi and Quetta-Taftan highways were blocked at different areas causing inconvenience to the commuters.Shutterdown and wheel-jam strike were also observed in other towns of Balochistan including Khuzdar, Kalat, Mastung, Nushki, Dalbandin, Turbat Gwadar, Panjgur, Hub and Kharan.
In Turbat, unidentified people set on fire parking lot of Family Planning office and a PTCL cabinet; however, the fire was extinguished due to timely action by police. Protestors also burnt tyres and placed barricades on different roads in the town

Mir Hazar Khan Marri and Baloch national struggle a historical analyses

2010-03-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

27.03.2010

By: Shah Nawaz Marri

Mir Hazar Khan Ramkani Marri is son of Mukhadam Gula Khan Marri. Gula Khan was the traditional head of the Ramkani section of the Bijarani branch of Marris. The Marris are divided into three main sections, the Gazainis, the Bijaranis and the Loharanis. Each of these sections is then divided into sub-sections.

The Sardars of the tribes historically was rotatory and elections were held between different tribes Mukhadams for sardari, it became part of Gazaini section after the intervention of the British, even after this the Marri tribe is of democratic structure the Sardar is the first among equals. Each Marri tribesman has a standing and a voice in Marri society. The Sardar or the clan chief cannot and will not ever insult a Marri and it is because of this mutual respect the loyalties of a Marri to his Sardar or clan leader is phenomenal.

The Ramkani Marris live in central Marri area of Tadri, a rugged area with good grazing grounds and man-made terraces for farming. They are like all tribesmen simple and hardworking. Gula Khan was son of Alo Khan who was son of Lal Khan. His uncle Inamo, a brave man, carried scars on his face of a hand to hand fight with a mountain leopard in his youth. Lal Khan is buried at Pir Darra on Tadri Mountain and is considered a saint by all Marri and many other Baloch tribes.

Mukhadam Gula Khan lead and fought against the British at Harab in 1917, when the Marris pitted their valour against the Gatling guns of the British and proved their point that they would not give recruits to the British and will not allow the Brits a single step in their lands. The Marris of that time used to tie knots of their long overflowing 'kurtas' to each other vowing not to break ranks when charging the British positions or when under attack. Many a valorous Marris lost their life in these battles and many excelled in these battles. Gula Khan fought bravely and stood tall on the British fort announcing Baloch victory. A man of strong constitution he carried one of his companions, on his shoulders, who was injured when the Marri had to retreat back home.

Gula Khan died in August 1975 in Sindh while the family was living incognito to avoid persecution by the State which was conducting operations in Balochistan. It was necessary for the family to live in different places in Sindh to avoid detection as Mir Hazar Khan was leading the insurgency in Marri area where three fourths of all encounters of that struggle took place. Gula Khan was buried secretly in Nawabshah. A lot of people visit his grave each day as many people consider him as a saint.

Mir Hazar Khan was born in 24th August 1945 and it was not long before he had to give up his adventurous youth for more responsible but equally adventurous struggle for Baloch rights.

Mir Sher Mohammad Marri, charged with anti-state activities jumped bail in 1963. The guarantor had been Mir Rasool Baksh Talpur, later Governor of Sindh. He first went to the mountains near Quetta but then came to the Marri hills in the area near Tadri. Mir Hazar was very closely involved with the evolution of the movement then known as the 'Fararri' which opposed the building of roads in Marri area and brought the state influence in that area to zero.

Ayub Khan had removed all Sardars who opposed him and brought in those who toed their line. Doda Khan the uncle of the present Sardar Khair Baksh was the official appointee he also had been the Reagent because when Meherullah Khan, the father of present Sardar, died. Khair Baksh was a child. The people under leader ship of Mir Gula khan and Shurbat Khan father of sher Mohammad Marri resented this move of the government and Doda Khan along with a few other notables of the Marri tribe, who supported the government move to remove Khair Kaksh from Sardari, were gunned down in Marri area order believed to have come from Mir Gula Khan and sher Mohammad Marri. Gula Khan & Sher Mohammad Marri factually restored Khair Baksh Marri as Marri tribe’s Sardar and Gula Khan was the first Marri Mukhadam, to put sardari turban on his head followed by rest tribal chiefs. The influence of Farraris was on the increase and although there were a few skirmishes, the state influence waned rapidly.

With the ouster of Ayub Khan the provinces were once again restored and Air Marshal(r) Nur Khan negotiated with the Baloch leaders and an amnesty was declared. Mir Sher Mohammad Marri returned to Kohlu and it was thought that the new elections and the amnesty would defuse the situation. The state intransigence was all the time quite obvious and it was felt that they would not give up on their designs of exploiting resources without the will and consent of the Baloch.

The reasonably fair elections were conducted and Baloch nationalists secured a lot of seats but the attitude of the Centre towards the Bengali people increased the uncertainty about the intentions of the Centre towards the Baloch. It was thought that disbanding the Fararri camps would be suicidal and they continued under the leadership of Mir Hazar Khan. In fact the military action against the Bengalis prompted a strengthening of these.

The independence of Bangla Desh saw the nationalists form the government in coalition with the JUP in Balochistan. This dream was to be short lived because as soon as the Centre recovered for its humiliating defeat in Bengal it started a policy of destabilising the provincial government led by Sardar Ataullah Mengal. This task was entrusted to Jam Yousaf's father, who created a lashkar with connivance of the Centre to protest against the so-called injustices. To pre-empt any possible reaction to their planned moves the Army quietly moved near potential trouble spots like Marri area and Wad, Nal etc areas.

In February 1973 the Mengal government was summarily dismissed and the JUP government led by Mufti Mahmood in NWFP resigned in protest. The Governor of Sindh Mir Rasool Baksh Talpur also resigned in protest when his elder brother Mir Ali Ahmed Talpur was accused of involvement in the arms find in Iraqi Embassy. The Centre had planned all its moves to coincide with its objectives.

Mir Sher Mohammad Marri was arrested from Kohlu in March and with that act the Army moved rapidly to choke off any movement to and from Marri area. Nawab Akbar Bugti played a role that tarnished his image; he played the tune that the Centre wanted him to play. His statements created doubts about the intentions of Baloch nationalists; he accused them of harbouring anti-state sentiments and elements in areas of their influence.

Each passing day saw the tightening of the cordon around the Marri area with limited incursions into Marri area by the Army. These incursions were provocative and threatening as they stopped the people from going to the city for required rations etc because the Marri area had been experiencing a few years of drought. The people were becoming desperate and they looked for succour towards the Farrars.

On May 18th 1973 there was an attack on a patrol of Sibi Scouts near Tandoori and in it 8 Scouts were killed and their arms captured. The Army was waiting for an excuse and on May 21 st its helicopter borne troops landed in Mawand in centre of Marri area. With the Army arrival its chief General Tikka Khan said they would nab the culprits in 72 hours. The fighting continued till ouster of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto in July 1977.

Sardar Khair Baksh Khan, Sardar Ataullah Mengal were arrested in August 1973 and with that ended any chance of negotiated end to the conflict. It was at this critical juncture of Baloch history that Mir Hazar Khan had to shoulder the responsibility of conducting highly skilful guerrilla warfare against 80 thousand regular Army troops. He did justice to that role and in spite of being heavily outnumbered and ill-armed fought the Army to a stale mate.

There were other Baloch leaders in other areas that also fought and led brilliantly. Safar Khan Zarakzai died fighting while defending the motherland, Aslam Gichki was in Makran area. Ali Mohammad Mengal, a veteran of old struggles died fighting as did Laung Khan Mengal, brother of poet Mir Gul Khan Naseer. Comander Jalat Khan Marri died in a battle against the army. In short the Baloch all over Balochistan put up a valiant resistance in face of overwhelming odds.

Most of the actions against the Army during this period occurred in Marri area but all Baloch vindicated the trust the trust that the Baloch nation reposed to them. The Army repression in Marri area was extreme and this prompted an exodus of people from the area to Sindh but they faced harassment and persecution there too. The Baloch were forced to seek refuge in Afghanistan in 1975.

The Baloch guerrilla with rudimentary arms but a perfect knowledge of the terrain and with unmatched resilience constantly each day harassed the Army, inflicting heavy casualties. It was not a gesture of kindness that Zia offered amnesty it was necessity for them to disengage at the earliest.

Mir Hazar Khan remained in Marri area but he very skillfully organised constant attacks in other parts of Balochistan, organizing attacks and raids against the Army were on sharp rise till the very last moment when so called ceasefire was declared. He for sometime was in Sindh as well but all the time in the thick of things with an excellent network of messengers and couriers. It was at a later stage that he shifted to Afghanistan.

President Daud was sympathetic and had allowed refuge to the people but there were a lot of restrictions on movement and settlement of people who migrated there. He was about to send off the refuges back to Pakistan after Zia's amnesty but then the 'Saur Revolution' of April 1978 toppled him and Nur Muhammad Taraki and the Khalq party took over.

The new government was soon involved in internal struggles but remained sympathetic to Baloch. The year 1979 ended with the entry of Russians and the first years saw of 80 saw a phenomenal increase in the activity of US and Arab backed Mujahideens based and trained in Pakistan.

The internal situation that developed within Afghanistan put the Baloch at a disadvantage.

The Afghans sometimes expected the Baloch to fight the Mujahideens whom they called common enemies. Mir Hazar Khan and his advisors resisted all attempts to involve them in the fighting. The reason was simple and factual 'we are here for our own struggle and although we sympathize with you we simply do not have the manpower to get involved in a debilitating fight with their enemies'. The Russians too at times dropped hints regarding this but were given the same answers. Resisting these demands was not an easy task as courtesy demanded some quid pro quo but it was a matter of principle which could not be compromised.

The Marris were first settled in Kandahar but because differences arose between Mir Hazar Khan and Yakub Durkani , a sub-section of Ramkanis, so the main camp was shifted to Apo Tangi area in Zabul province. Some Marris were not allowed inside Afghanistan so they were stationed near border at Shorawak.

The life of Marri refugees was very tough because the Red Cross as it was known then refused to accept them as refugees. The help from Afghanistan government was barely sufficient and the cold and diseases took their toll in the cold Apo Tangi and Shorawak areas. The advent of Taraki government saw the Shorawak residents get permission to join the main camp at Apo Tangi. In 1981 the camp was shifted near Lashkargah in Helmand province because it was warmer and nearer a city from where rations could be procured. At Apo Tangi the last during the last six months of stay there was a near blockade of the camp by those fighting the government.

The administration and the running of the camp including its protection was managed by Mir Hazar Khan who spent most of his stay in Afghanistan in the camps with the Baloch. He sometimes went to Kabul for meetings with officials or other related work and stayed at the apartment given by the government. The living of so many people in the same restricted place with very opportunities had its own social, economic, political and medical problems.

Mir Hazar Khan acted as the arbiter of disputes and the problems that arose within camp. It was a 24/7 job. He was always available to the people and did everything he could to ameliorate the hardships of the people. He managed to keep the people focused and committed to the greater cause.

The peoples' medical and educational needs were looked after by a Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur who was in the camp since 1978. The government provided education to the children in Pashto and Dari there during the morning hours while the education in English and Urdu was provided during the afternoons by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur. Many a student went on for further studies to Russia on scholarships provided by the government. Many secured diplomas and returned and some still continue to live there. The treatment of people was specially difficult when there was an out break of epidemics like measles etc, especially during the stay at Apo as it was far away from cities.

In December 1981 Khair Baksh Khan came to stay in Kabul on permanent basis. In 1986-87 there was an influx of Marris from Pakistan and Mir Sher Mohammad Marri came in early 1987.The population of the camp suddenly burgeoned from 7000 to 14000 people with a phenomenal increase in the problems. The government was getting shakier by the day and eventually in 1992 the Najibullah government was overthrown and all the Baloch refugees there had to return to Pakistan.

Mir Hazar Khan Marri a committed Baloch Nationalist he served the Baloch national movement selflessly at the time it was in its direst straits, the time when there was neither any media facility as it is today nor there were the modern sophisticated weapons which the conflicts in the region have made available today. The Baloch cause is very near to his heart and his service has been invaluable. What divided Mir Hazar Khan and Khair Baksh Marri relates to them and one must ask them personally but Baloch mothers and fighters will not find comfort unless Mir Hazar Khan joins and takes charge of Baloch freedom struggle under his personal command again.

Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline accord, termed it as “Grand Religio-Commercial deal of the century”, says Baloch leader

2010-03-27T22:00:00.000-07:00

BSO-NA opposes Iran-Pakistan Gas Pipeline accord, termed it as “Grand Religio-Commercial deal of the century”

WASHINGTON DC, March 26- Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA) strongly opposes Iran-Pakistan Gas pipeline operational accord signed between Pakistan and Iran in Istanbul on March 17th . The proposed project doesn’t take into consideration the aspirations of Baloch people on either side of the border, as pipeline passes through Balochistan. Dr. Wahid Baloch, President of BSO-NA said, “Baloch people cannot guarantee safety and security of the pipeline that passes through Baloch territory. We consider Balochistan as an occupied territory and Pakistan has no legal and moral right to sign any such deal.”

He warned both countries that “Those who invest in the project without taking into account Baloch consent are at their own risk, as Baloch are fighting their war of independence against the occupying forces”. It is time to reiterate our stand by quoting our leader Shaheed Nawab Akbar Bugti’s words said in 2005, on the pipeline projects that passes our Baloch land. He said “only the goodwill of the Baloch people can allow the proposed gas pipeline from Iran and Central Asia to India to pass through their soil”, and we stand by his words.

The $.7.5 Billion project that originates from Iran’s South Pars gas field passing through Balochistan to India and China will remain a pipe dream for stakeholders. Dr. Baloch warned that Baloch freedom fighters will not let this pipeline pass through their Land with any benifit to local Baloch people. This grand Religio-Commercial Deal of the century between radical Sunni Pakistan and Theocratic Shia Iran, at the cost of secular Baloch people is a threat to the global security and unacceptable to Baloch people. We at BSO-NA appeal to all major powers to take cognizant and pressurize Pakistan to dissociate from this project. An Independent Secular Baloch nation as a buffer state between theocratic Shia Iran and Sunni Jihadi Pakistan is the only solution for regional peace and stability.

Finally we appeal to India and China to exercise utmost caution before investing in this project and advice them to keep away until Balochistan is free and sovereign.

About Baloch Society of North America:

Baloch Society Of North America (BSO_NA) is Non-Profit Organization, working to unite and Organize all Baloch in North America, to expose the Occupation and Oppressive policies of Pakistani and Iranian Governments against Baloch people and our Baloch land (Balochistan), and to bring their Human Rights Violations in Balochistan into the world’s Notice.

Baloch Society of North America (BSO-NA)

1629 K Street NW, Suit 300

Washington D.C., 20036

Tel: (202) 349-1682

Fax: (202) 331-3759

http://www.bso-na.org

email: Contact@bso-na.org

Baluchistan Governor Contradicts Pakistani Interior Minister

2010-03-27T01:54:00.000-07:00

2 -Pakistani PM: Proof Of Indian Interference In Baluchistan Shared With U.S.

Pakistani Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani has said that the U.S. has been briefed about India’s interference in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province where Baluchi rebels are fighting for independence, according to an Urdu-language newspaper.

Gilani said that the evidence of Indian interference was shared with the U.S. national security advisor. He added that the issue will be taken up with the Indian prime minister during an upcoming meeting in Sharm El Sheikh.

According to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt, the Pakistani prime minister, who is in Washington for the Pakistan-U.S. Strategic Dialogue, said that the U.S. did not trust Pakistan in the past but now supports Pakistan’s stance on the issues in the region.

He said that the start of the strategic dialogue between the two countries is ‘‘a major change in U.S. policy.”

Source: Roznama Nawa-i-Waqt, Pakistan, March 25, 2010

2-Baluchistan Governor Contradicts Pakistani Interior Minister, Says He Is Unaware Of Indian Interference In The Province

Sardar Zulfiqar Magsi, the Governor of Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, has rejected Pakistani Interior Minister Rehman Malik’s statement that India is supporting pro-independence Baluchi rebels. Magsi said that he is unaware of Indian interference in the province, according to an Urdu-language daily.

Magsi said that he has no information about foreign interference in the Baluchistan province, according to a report in the Urdu-language newspaper Roznama Islam.

Baluchi insurgents are fighting against Pakistani troops for the liberation of Baluchistan province.

The governor said that the problems in the province cannot be resolved without giving Baluchistan full autonomy. He did not clarify what full autonomy means.

Source: Roznama Islam, Pakistan, March 24, 2010

No power for 14 hours makes life ‘living hell’

2010-03-26T21:49:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenews.com.pk/print1.asp?id=231083

Saturday, March 27, 2010
By By Our Correspondent
LAHORE

AT least eight to 10 hour loadshedding in urban and 12 to 14 hour loadshedding in rural areas is bringing untold misery to the people.

The Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) is shutting down power for as long as 14 hours in a day as shortfall between demand and supply has touched the figure of 5,000MW. Some rural areas in the country are even facing up to 17 hours of loadshedding. A man from Chak Narang, a village on the Rawalpindi-Chakwal Road, told The News on Friday that his village experienced up to 20 hours of loadshedding during since the Thursday night.

Naila Faisal from Jhelum gave the following timings of loadshedding in her city; 10am-11am, 12 noon till 2pm, 4pm-7pm, sometimes 6pm-8pm, 10pm-12am, 3am-4am, and 5am-6am. People from the provincial capital said they were also observing more than 8 hours loadshedding which was a scheduled time given by Pepco for the urban areas.

A woman from Samanabad said her area was suffering badly due to loadshedding of four hours after every one hour. She said their life had become wretched due to power outages. Zoya from Faisal Town, D-Block, said electricity went off after every one hour and no schedule was being followed by the electricity companies.

Speaking to the media at Wapda House on Friday, DG EMC Pepco Muhammad Khalid said the increased loadshedding in the country was due to the load of tube-wells. He said that due to less rains and consequent shortage of water, farmers were compelled to run their tube-wells in order to meet the demand of water for their crops.

Khalid said the National Power Control Centre (NPCC) had been strictly asked by Pepco not to shut down power on emergency basis but it was still doing so in order to save the overall power system of the country. He said the orchards and farmhouses in Balochistan required the maximum electricity in order to save the precious fruit crops so they were being provided power for up to 15 hours.

One killed, 5 injured in bomb blasts

2010-03-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

By: Bari Baloch | Published: March 27, 2010

QUETTA – A man was killed and five others sustained injuries in two separate bomb blasts in Dera Bugti and Kohlu districts of Balochistan on Friday. Police sources said that an explosive device planted by unidentified people in Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti exploded and killed a man on the spot. He was identified as Khalil Ahmed and wounded two others. The injured were identified as Sona Khan and Ghulam Hussain. They were shifted to nearby hospital for medical treatment. Sources said the blast was carried out through a remote-controlled device. Shortly after the incident, personnel of law enforcement agencies reached the site and cordoned off the area. Police handed over the body to heirs after completing legal formalities and registered a case against unknown miscreants.

In another incident, three people were wounded in a bomb blast in a hotel in Kohlu. Sources said that an explosive device placed in a hotel went off with a huge explosion and wounded three persons identified as Karam Khan, Ghulam Yaseen and Sarwar Khan. They were taken to hospital. The blast also caused damage to the hotel. No group has claimed the responsibility for the blasts in Dera Bugti and Kohlu so far.

Waja Mir Abdul Nabi Bangulzai’s interview

2010-03-26T11:04:00.000-07:00

NOVEMBER 30, 2008...11:23 PM
http://baluchi.wordpress.com/2008/11/30/waja-mir-abdul-nabi-bangulzai%E2%80%99s-interview/

Mir Nabi’s first interview after his release from enemy detention, he was kept imprisoned for 8 years on charges of resisting the Pakistani occupation of Balochistan. The interview was conducted by a local news agency in Quetta on 29 November.

Scripts of interview:

Neither the charter of 1940 nor the provincial autonomy is the headache of Baloch people, occupiers know very well that what Balochs want but still they are denying the fact. The enemy has meticulously made our land Balochistan a hell for us, our land has been created into a symbol of terror and fear. If Balochistan is a hell for Baloch then someone doesn’t think that it will be a paradise for others.
The so-called reconciliation efforts by Pakistan are deception and drama, to cover-up the reality, and we strongly reject it. Arrests, missing of people and military operations are still going on, talking of reconciliation in these conditions is like befooling Baloch people.

Baloch is not only a name of a people it also signifies loyalty with motherland and resoluteness. However history determines honesty and patriotism. Baloch people admire Akbar Bugti’s “Today” not the “Yesterday” of Raziq Bugti. Akbar Bugti embraced martyrdom in his old age for motherland. If we found a former veteran collaborating with the enemy his punishment should be same as of enemy.

Some of our own Balochs are hushed up on the happenings so how can I taunt Pashtuns. With respect I can’t say anything on the silent of Pashtuns. The criminal-like aloofness of settlers and their treachery with Balochistan is unpardonable.
The Baloch have a very bad experience of parliamentarian politics of Pakistan, nevertheless if a “Baloch” feels that Pakistani parliament can solve the miseries of Balochistan he/she can join it, but we cannot believe in Pakistani system.
Baloch people have become conscious and they know very well that nobody will present them independence in a plate. For our freedom we have to fight and we are doing it, and Baloch people have no other option but to kill or be killed. Baloch national movement is progressing through its fruition and development process and one can say, “Our destination is far but not so far that we can’t reach it”.

Baloch people have given me a lot of love and respect, I am just praying that not to betray their hopes, which they expect from me.

During imprisonment I read newspapers and studied Quran, political prisoners kept in different cells that’s why we discussed little politics. I was tortured psychologically too but thanks god I become unashamed in front of my nation.
BSO has played a very important and a significant role in Baloch national movement, BSO deserves admiration. In the past it was a bad omen in Baloch society to let women outside of their homes. But now Baloch women are doing an important responsibility, I think it is the gain of Baloch national movement.

Unity is the best weapon for Baloch people to fight the occupation, unity not only have good results but it is the only way to our destination and victory

Baloch School children shout slogans against Pakistan

2010-03-26T10:24:00.000-07:00

Target Killing issue to be taken with Balochistan CM: Malik

2010-03-25T21:15:00.001-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Mar 25 (APP): Minister for Interior Senator Rehman Malik Thursday said that despite a provincial matter, target killing issue in Balochistan would be taken with the Chief Minister of the province.Giving assurance to the PPP MNA from Balochistan Naseer Ali Shah here at the Parliament House, he said that foreign hands could not be ruled out in target killing.

The whole nation was suffering due to the menace of terrorism and army; police and other law enforcing agencies rendered supreme sacrifice to curb it from country’s soil.
The minister said anti state element were creating commotion in the country under a conspiracy, however they would not succeed in their nefarious designs.
He said he would himself bring a motion against the target killing in the House.
MNA Naseer Ali Shah was staging protest against the target killing in Balochistan out side the Parliament. He said that he raised the issue at flour of the House several times but no effective measures were taken in this regard. He urged the other senators and MNA hailing from Balochistan to join hands with him in order to address the issue.

Balochistan complexities

2010-03-25T21:14:00.001-07:00

Balochistan complexities

News & Views

Mohammad Jamil

Balochistan is mineral rich and strategically located province, and it needs peace for creating climate conducive to investment and development, which would help improve the living conditions of the people of Balochistan. However, militants are actively involved in worsening the security situation in Balochistan, and insurgency has hampered the growth and development of the province. Owing to public sentiments involved in the missing persons issue, it is being rightly highlighted in both print and electronic media but various militant groups under this garb are hell-bent in advancing their agenda. According to credible reports, telephonic conversation of some obstreperous sardars including Brahamdagh Bugti group and other groups, who are maintaining private jails and torture camps for their defectees and rivals.

It is obvious from half a dozen calls intercepted by intelligence agencies that they are also involved in abduction, kidnapping of local civilians for ransom and also security personnel for acceptance of their illegitimate demands including release of their ‘comrade in arms’. During January and February 2010, Brahamdagh discussed with Mlahar about release of kidnapped security officials. His local commander had kidnapped a person Jamalo and demanded Rs 11 million. There could be some persons arrested by the government departments or intelligence agencies, but a number of missing persons could be in Afghanistan and India on the behest of Brahamdagh Bugti and other groups. According to a news report carried by national English daily, more than 100 Pakistani Baloch dissidents have been sent to India by the Indian consulate located in Kandahar (Afghanistan) for six-month training. “We have credible reports that the Indian consulate in Kandahar dispatched more than 100 Pakistani Baloch dissidents during the second week of December 2009 for six-month training in India,” an intelligence source told the English daily on condition of anonymity.

In fact, rivaling international eyes, including world powers and regional countries are eyeing Balochistan avariciously to push it into their own orbits of influence and domination. According to political and defence analysts, the US, Russia, India and even Iran are either directly or indirectly widening the ethnic and sectarian schisms in Balochistan and FATA. Iran has a large Baloch population on its side of border with Pakistan and the Indian desire of weakening Pakistan by creating independent Balochistan will cost heavily to Iran also because greater Balochistan plan includes Sistan province of Iran. For quite some time, Balochistan is in the throes of ethnic, sectarian and tribal schisms. There have been targeted killings of Punjabi settlers in Balochistan.

Ethnic and Shia-Sunni fracas has shaken the erstwhile ethnic and sectarian harmony, as criminal gangs are stoking ethnic and sectarian divisions. Last year three principals of Balochistan Residential College at Khuzdar, Government Commerce College Quetta and Government Pilot Secondary School Mastung (all Punjabis) were killed. A teacher belonging to Dera Ghazi Khan was also reported to have been killed and many sought transfers to other provinces failing which they had decided to leave Balochistan in any case. Pashtun political parties have vocally opposed the target killings in Quetta and demanded of the Baloch nationalists to openly condemn these killings and disassociate themselves with the elements responsible for such heinous crimes, otherwise they would demand that Pushtun areas be amalgamated with Pakhtunkhwa (NWFP). A senior professor of Balochistan University had reportedly said: “If Punjabi professors and professionals are not protected and are compelled to leave Balochistan, many key institutions in the province will remain shut or at least dysfunctional.”

In July 2009, addressing a public meeting at Ayub Stadium, Balochistan National Party-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal said there would be no compromise on the national rights of Baloch people who were determined to defeat the elements who had usurped the coast and resources of the province. The public meeting adopted a resolution urging the United Nations to intervene to stop the killing of Baloch people in military operations, detaining of political activists and plunder of Balochistan’s resources. In another resolution, the BNP vowed to effectively use whatever means it deemed fit to achieve the right to self-determination, including creation of ‘a national state for the Baloch people’. Another resolution rejected the Gwadar project, as it will destroy the traditional economy of native fishermen and displace the Baloch population. It said the oil terminal and oil city would pollute the Gulf of Baloch. One would not understand the psyche of such leaders who do not wish to see development of their province for the simple reason that engineers, technicians and other skilled manpower from other provinces will swarm to make Balochis a minority in their province.

If they had cooperated with the government in establishing educational institutions in 1970s, the new generation would have today assumed important positions and there was no need to have manpower from other provinces. It is worth mentioning that hundreds of thousands of Baloch are settled in Sindh and Punjab, and in some districts they have made the local people a minority but no one in Sindh and Punjab has ever protested against it. It is true that Balochistan was neglected during British Raj and no serious effort was made for five decades to bring Balochistan at par with other provinces. But previous provincial governments including sardars were responsible in equal measure for the present dismal situation in Balochistan, as they always opted for the confrontation. Sardar Ataullah Mengal rarely appeared in television interviews. We remember his reply to a question when he said that “America does not pay any attention adding that he would welcome if any country would help us to get freedom”. Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Zain Bugti and Marri sardars also openly talk about disintegration of Pakistan, and that Balochistan was never a willing federating unit.

The present government has taken steps to address the concerns of Balochistan leadership. Through National Finance Award, efforts have been made to allocate additional funds for the development of the province because it was neglected in the past. Sindh and Punjab provinces willingly accepted cut in their allocations to compensate Balochistan for the past neglect. Government also announced Balochistan Package to expedite development of Balochistan. But centrifugal forces rejected Balochistan Package even without reading it, which in fact would guarantee development of the province. As regards missing persons, there should be high-powered judicial enquiry, which should not only locate missing persons held on various charges but also try to trace them from Ferrari Camps/Detention Centres being run by Baloch Sardars and insurgents. PML-N leader Mian Nawaz Sharif had more than once promised Shahzain Bugti and Talal Bugti that he would accompany them in a long march to Dera Bugti. He should stop issuing such statements because insurgents feel emboldened by such gestures. The Baloch sardars should negotiate with the government and save Balochistan from bloodshed.

Balochistan: Pakistan's broken mirror

2010-03-25T20:56:00.000-07:00

Baloch children hold up nationalist posters. Photographs by Asim Hafeez for The National

Islamabad's brutal attempts to crush ethnic Baloch nationalism have met with fierce, escalating resistance - and have laid bare the strains that threaten the founding idea of Pakistan. Madiha R Tahir reports from the rallies, homes and hospital rooms of the fifth Baloch rebellion.

http://www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100325/REVIEW/703259996

A child is fiddling with a poster of a mustachioed man, a missing political worker who may be his father or his uncle, and who is in all likelihood, dead. He draws my immediate attention, this child, because out of the thousands seated around him in row upon neat row inside the open-air tent, he is the only one not focused on the stage, the blazing lights, the young man holding forth in angry punctuated bellows.

“I am not a friend of Pakistan!” Zahid Baloch bangs the podium to emphasise his point, his countenance flushed, severe. “I am not a friend of the People’s Party!” He bangs the podium again, and the evening air swells with the ferocious stillness of his audience, tense and alert like a taut muscle.

Two days earlier, on January 15, the Pakistan army’s Frontier Corps had opened fire on a student protest in south-eastern Balochistan, killing two students and injuring four more – the latest casualties in an escalating war between the state of Pakistan and nationalists in Balochistan, the country’s largest and most sparsely populated province, where the fifth sustained rebellion against Islamabad since 1948 is seething.

A motorcyclist rides past graffiti in a Baloch neighbourhood in Karachi, Pakistan. A famous quote from Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, it reads: "Freedom needs patriots instead of voters"

Zahid is the secretary-general of the largest student movement in Balochistan, a fierce opponent of the central government and the more mainstream Baloch parties. At this twilight gathering in Lyari, home to a sizeable Baloch community, he delivers a verbal blow to the waffling nationalist parties. “The Baloch are the enemy of the National Party! The Baloch are the enemy of the BNP-Mengal!” The crowd has heard itself affirmed. Wild applause erupts, a release.

The next speaker is Abdul Wahab Baloch, the scruffy and soft-spoken, white-bearded head of the Baloch Rights Council. Midway through his talk, he switches abruptly from Balochi into Urdu. “Tonight, we have a foreign journalist among us who is here to report the Baloch cause, and we welcome her.”

I turn around to hunt for a foreign face, eager to find another female journalist – and find the crowd watching me. The realisation blooms. Oh. You mean me. Here in Karachi, the city of my birth, I am suddenly a foreigner. I wave nervously, unsure of how to respond. How many among the crowd will talk to me when they realise I am a Punjabi, the politically and numerically dominant group in Pakistan, and the eternal target of Baloch nationalist ire?

Karachi residents sit near a wall painted with the Balochistan Liberation Army flag and a poster of the assassinated nationalist and tribal leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

A caterwauling rises up from the semidarkness, and then a rallying cry. “Pakistan murdabad!” “Die Pakistan!”

Outside, my taxi driver has been waiting uncomfortably, ringing my phone every so often as darkness descends in a plea to hurry it up. He is an ethnic Pashtun: the two groups have an uneasy peace, and Lyari, a large ghetto with a million residents, is nowhere to be after dark. As I get into the car, he asks, “Everything done?”

“Yeah.”

“Good.” He sounds relieved that I will not be directing him elsewhere. “Let’s get out of here.”

Nearly half of Pakistan’s land mass, Balochistan is a voluminous desert, a bone-dry expanse unfurling into sinuous cliffs set on a rilled desert floor. In the south along the Makran coast, weathered Baloch fishermen extract their livelihood from the coruscating waters of the Arabian Sea. Further inward, sheer bluffs give way to date palm groves and patches of green farm.

***********

A portrait of Nawab Khair Baksh Marri adorns a wall in Karachi's Baloch district.

To the west and north, the province is bounded by Afghanistan and Iran, each of which has its own Baloch population; the Pashtuns who predominate in the northern part of the province also spill across international borders. The province’s location at this explosive geopolitical crossroads – as well as its vast mineral resources and valuable coastline – have focused the anxieties of international powers near and far, suggesting that a new Great Game may take Balochistan as its target. Tehran worries about what conflicts in Balochistan will mean for its own Sistan-Balochistan province, whose Baloch population has been brutally suppressed by the state. The Americans are concerned about the Taliban who have taken refuge in the province’s Pashtun belt and the leaders of the Afghan Taliban long believed to be operating out of Quetta. Washington is also concerned about China’s increasing involvement in the area, most visibly the deep-water port at Gwadar, built with Chinese investment and intended to provide an Indian Ocean foothold for Beijing.

But for the government of Pakistan – and particularly for its army – Balochistan is first and foremost the epicentre of a stubbornly secular Baloch national rebellion whose endurance poses a threat to the state’s ideological and geographical coherence.

Balochistan is a looking glass for Pakistan today, reflecting the tortuous struggle to imagine a national community. How the state handles the rising tide of Baloch nationalism will also determine the future of Pakistan’s nationalist project.

Posters of martyred Baloch leaders on display in a local electrical repair store.

So far the tidings are poor. Over the course of six decades Islamabad has failed to come to terms with Baloch nationalism; the province has almost always been under the effective control of the army or the intelligence services. During the 1970s and the 1980s, the threat of secular Baloch nationalism provided one rationale for the Islamicisation policies of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Zia ul Haq, who hoped that a resurgence of Islamist-nationalist sentiment would undermine the appeal of Baloch nationalism. Ironically, the government routinely attempts to discredit the Baloch separatists internationally by associating them with the Taliban. More recent reports have alleged that American funds intended for use against the Taliban have been diverted to the war on Balochistan’s secular militants.

Before its accession to Pakistan, parts of modern-day Balochistan were ruled by the British; other parts comprised the princely state of Kalat. As Pakistani nationalism crystallised around the idea of a homeland for a religious minority, Baloch nationalists stressed their ethnic identity as the basis for an independent state. They cast Pakistani nationalism, underwritten by religion, as a ruse for Punjabi dominance, but under pressure, the Khan of Kalat acceded in March 1948, triggering the “first rebellion”, which was quickly put down by the army. Two more rebellions rose up in the 1950s and 1960s, paving the way for the bloody confrontation that stretched from 1973 to 1977, pitting some 55,000 Baloch against more than 80,000 Pakistani troops. Hundreds of Pakistani soldiers and 5,000 Baloch died before the insurgency was finally suppressed. One of its initial leaders was the militant nationalist and sardar, Nawab Khair Baksh Marri.

When I go to meet Marri in his Karachi home, a man carrying the most enormous brown rooster swings the gate open and tells me to wait. As we head down the garden path, I hear more roosters crowing; Marri is well-known as a lover of cockfighting. A line of men sit in the neat garden, huddled in quiet conversation. Marri is seated in the veranda wearing an impeccable Baloch-styled peach salwaar kameez and Baloch cap listening attentively to a man with a bright turquoise ring and a peak cap. They’re speaking in Balochi flecked with English; the occasional word or phrase can be overheard: “ideology”, “human rights”, “NGOs”.

Marri was an apolitical youth, but he was radicalised by the army’s merciless campaign to put down the “second rebellion” in 1958; he emerged from several prison stints as a Marxist-Leninist and a hardline nationalist who rejected Baloch participation in parliamentary politics. “The rules are theirs, so you can’t win a match,” he tells me. In his telling, the very structure of the state is illegitimate: “We were Muslims already,” he says. “We were Baloch already. The British grouped all the conquered people together [into Pakistan]. That’s not a justification: grouping people together just for being Muslims.”

Marri has been linked to the ongoing armed struggle, and his Moscow-educated son, Mir Balaach Marri, was killed as he waged guerrilla warfare in 2007. His son’s death spurred Marri, usually reclusive, to argue more publicly for Baloch independence, but his manner remains deceptively soft, like a knife cloaked in silk. The Baloch, he says, can draw inspiration from the Vietnamese resistance to America: “Vietnam wasn’t an atomic power,” he concludes. “That’s why we have to do the same thing: Punjabi sons will die.”

Though the stakes today are higher than ever, most of the Baloch grievances are now decades-old. The province, whose gas reserves are among the largest in Asia, accounts for half of the country’s gas production, with the lion’s share forcibly exported to Punjab. Balochistan’s resources produce roughly a billion dollars annually for the central government; the Balochis receive pennies in return. The local population remains gut-wrenchingly poor, living in sparse shanty towns with little in the way of infrastructure outside of multiplying army encampments – only one reason why local discontent, especially among young Baloch, has found its outlet in increasingly militant Baloch separatism.

During the tenure of General Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in 1999, the army again took a leading role in the administration of the province, and the government proceeded apace with the construction of army garrisons and other mega-projects that the Baloch regarded as inimical or irrelevant to local interests, like the massive Chinese-funded port at Gwadar. These became targets for attacks by guerrilla groups like the Baloch Liberation Army.

The “fifth rebellion” began in earnest in 2004, and grew more intense after the rape of a Baloch doctor who worked at the province’s largest gasfields. After the army refused to allow the police to interrogate the suspects, one of whom was an army officer, massive protests erupted, led by the ageing nationalist and tribal leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti.

“Don’t push us,” Musharraf warned Baloch militants during an interview in January 2005. “It isn’t the 1970s when you can hit and run and hide in the mountains. This time, you won’t even know what hit you.”

Bugti, who once worked with Zulfikar Ali Bhutto to oust more hard-line rivals from the provincial government, went underground to lead an insurgency with 5,000 of his tribesmen. Helicopter gunships pounded Bugti’s tribal areas, and on the morning of August 26 2006, the snow-bearded Bugti was killed while hiding in a cave in Kohlu. Islamabad hoped that this would be the final blow, but it gravely miscalculated. Rioters burst onto the streets, burning cars and smashing windows in the immediate aftermath. Shopkeepers went on strike. The central government deployed the paramilitary Rangers, arrested over 450 people and imposed an indefinite curfew, but the violence spread to Baloch neighbourhoods in Karachi where protesters rallied and burnt tires. The assassination was roundly condemned as a major political blunder. Bugti was, after all, a leader who had been open to dialogue with the state. His death provided yet another blood-soaked example to consolidate Baloch nationalism and awaken younger Baloch to the futility of dialogue.

I arrived in Quetta on a crisp January afternoon to join a throng of camera crews crowded on circular embankment to film a Balochistan National Party rally making its way down the city’s main artery.

A few thousand men – I saw no women either among the journalists or the protesters – marched purposefully, dressed in Baloch wear and light jackets, while policemen stood by, batons in hand. The BNP has traditionally participated in electoral politics, and its focus has been on greater autonomy for Balochistan and local control of natural resources; its willingness to work within the Pakistani system has brought the inevitable accusations of treachery and opportunism from more militant nationalist factions. But the intransigence of the central government seems to have alienated even the more moderate members of the BNP: when I scrambled off the concrete island to walk alongside four of the young protesters, they evinced little appetite for elections or compromises.

“They killed the Baloch! They’re trying to spread fear!” a young student named Tauqir Ahmed tells me loudly. A hopeful fuzz lines his upper lip. He keeps his eyes on the road as he talks, moving in quick strides. “They should know that we prefer to be killed than to put our heads down!” Ahmed is suffused with his own certainty, a self-conscious bravado animating his words. “They think they can just kill us. Now we’ll show them what a Baloch is!” And then as though he’s decided he must declare this to someone down the road tout de suite, his pace quickens. His friends, invigorated by their comrade’s words, and not to be outdone, bruise the air with their fists, swell expansively and shout: “Pakistan murdabad!” Other men and other boys roll past repeating the slogan, throwing it back to the crowd, holding it aloft in the air.

In the week preceding this march, targeted killings in Karachi neighbourhoods, including Lyari, have claimed the lives of 27 Baloch. Raids conducted by the police to “clean up” Lyari fanned the flames even further, leading to massive demonstrations by local Baloch. The neighbourhood had traditionally been a stronghold of the Bhutto family’s Pakistan People’s Party, but it has increasingly come under the sway of Baloch parties, who have been working hard since Bugti’s murder to inculcate ethnic nationalist sentiment – and thereby connect the Baloch scattered across the country into one force. That the murders in Karachi are being protested in Quetta is one sign that they have been successful.

Three days after this march, the Frontier Corps opened fire on students in Khuzdar – sparking the protest led by Zahid Baloch that I attended in Lyari.

When I spoke to the organiser of the Quetta protest, a BNP leader named Akhtar Hussein Langau – who held a seat in the Balochistan Assembly until he resigned after Bugti’s assassination in 2006 – he pointed to the army presence as a principal cause of the alienation young Baloch feel from the state of Pakistan. “We asked them to stop building the army cantonments and they wouldn’t,” he told me over tea shortly before the rally, “but they had no problem killing [Bugti].” Four army cantonments exist in Balochistan and Islamabad is planning several more. Most of these are not where the Taliban roam, but in Baloch lands that are resource-rich and seething with rebellion. Pakistan’s Air Force has six bases here; the Navy has three. And hundreds of checkpoints dot the province. “The ground reality,” asserts Langau, “is that all of Balochistan is a cantonment.”

In November, Islamabad offered to halt construction as part of a deal intended to tamp down the insurgency: touted as a historic concession, the offer outlined constitutional, administrative and political reforms for Balochistan, as well as an inquiry into Bugti’s killing, a promise for fair dividends, and the immediate release of missing political workers. The package was tabled in Parliament on November 24, but by the end of the day all the major Baloch parties had rejected it.

Islamabad’s approach is marred by inconsistency, partly because the civilian government has little to no control over the army establishment: while the state rolled out its proposed reforms, the army continued to disappear Baloch activists. Sangat Sana Baloch, a 28-year-old, was abducted only two weeks after the reform offer was announced. He had been active in the BSO as a student, and then joined the Baloch Republican Party, headed by a militant grandson of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. He was picked up while driving into Quetta. “They had blocked the road,” his father tells me with a face crumpling into sorrow. “They were waiting for him.”

The police have refused to register Sana’s case. “They’re scared and they don’t have the nerve,” his father says. In the absence of police reports, family members file constitutional petitions in the provincial high court asking a judge to take notice. Amnesty International documented at least 600 disappearances two years ago; Baloch activists now claim nearly 6,000.

“This government doesn’t want to admit that the Baloch are human,” says Chakar Qambrani, a BRP activist who was abducted in February 2008 and held for six months and 10 days. We sit on the carpeted floor of Qambrani’s living room, an electric heater glowing orange in a corner as he recounts his time in an underground cell and the savage beatings inflicted on him after his torturers had stripped him naked. “They would curse me and they would hit me with their hands, with leather straps and with sticks. Then they would start interrogating me about my party, who gives us money, why we go on strikes.”

Outside the Quetta Press Club, a group called Voice for Missing Baloch has set up a protest camp to call attention to the disappearances; a banner with bold red lettering hangs over the entrance: “UN Should Take Notice Against Illegal Abduction of Baloch Missing Persons By Intelligence Agencies.” Oversized photographs of disappeared men line the walls of the cloth tent, which was pitched by families of the missing men in late December; dozens gather here every day to hold vigil. “They claim we have courts, but the point is, we have no rule of law,” the group’s chairman, Nasrullah Baloch, tells me outside the tent. “If the agencies really think that these people have done something, then try them in court. Otherwise, what’s the point of having courts?” He adds laconically, “Just end them.”

In Tump, on the border with Iran south of Quetta, I meet Banok Karima Baloch, a 26-year-old student activist who has faced several cases in the antiterrorism courts; she was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in absentia last year. “They claim that people are free, but that’s not true… Even students who speak against them have had cases registered in the antiterrorism court.”

Karima is light-eyed and apricot cheeked, a member of the BSO central committee and the daughter of a solidly middle-class doctor. When the court demanded that she present herself, she refused. “The agencies disappear thousands,” she says, “and even if they present them in court, [the court] never bothers to ask what happened.”

Karima has suspended her studies to focus on activism. She explains that women have been compelled to take on a public role because their husbands and brothers have been abducted, but admits that she likes her work. I ask what will happen once the nationalist struggle is over. Will the women return home? Will she? “In Baloch tradition, women are respected,” she counters, hedging. “We get educated as much as the men.”

On the subject of tactics, however, she pulls no punches. “The ones who talk about autonomy and rights,” she says, referring to the mainstream nationalist parties, “have a different vision and different goal from those of us who want freedom.” For her, resistance is the only possible step. She notes succinctly, “You can’t get freedom through talk.”

***********

Islamabad’s feckless, incoherent policies have amplified a strident Baloch nationalism, and even the most pliable Baloch nationalist parties are feeling pressure from young activists. These nationalists have lost faith in Pakistani overtures; the hardliners among them now view any effort at reconciliation as a ploy to muffle and then quash this resurgent Baloch nationalism.

For the next generation, the only significant question is how soon Balochistan will become independent – which they now regard as the only way to preserve a distinct Baloch identity. To protect this “imagined community”, militant nationalists are willing to kill and to die. As a young, wiry activist, Abdul Qayyum Baloch, put it to me in a callow remark: “It’s just as well when they disappear and shoot people. It needs to happen, so more Baloch recognise the true nature of Pakistan.”

A day after the murder of the students in Khuzdar, the BLA launched its retaliation, killing three Punjabis in Balochistan. Rather than religion, which draws the lion’s share of attention when analysts contemplate Pakistan’s coherence, these increasingly strident ethnic divisions pose the greatest problem for the government – which cannot seem to evoke a sense of Pakistani nationhood broad enough to encompass them.

“What is Pakistan?” Qayyum asked me. “I understand Sindhis, Baloch, but Pakistani?” The question of Balochistan, it seems, is really a question about Pakistan itself.

The pressures of the American war, and its overriding obsession with the Taliban, seem likely to direct Pakistan only toward unsavory answers to those questions. The billions of dollars sent to Pakistan’s army by the United States have reinforced what may be the nation’s most long-lasting problem: the dominance of a military establishment that knows no language but force, and pursues the cause of Pakistani nationalism by bludgeoning and disappearing its own citizens. Ironically, the abuses of the US-funded army – which heighten ethnic discontent and delegitimize a broad and secular Pakistani nationalism – are the thing most likely to bring the Islamists that Washington fears so to power.

When I returned to Karachi, I visited Liaquat Kurd, who had been shot by the Frontier Corps in Khuzdar, and was now recuperating in a hospital bed – a film of sweat on his round face, instruments monitoring his heart rate as blood mixed with a yellowish liquid soaked through the bandaged stump of his left leg. “When they told me they had to amputate, I said just give me poison,” he recalls.

After Kurd was shot, the FC continued its rampage. Kurd’s friends dumped him in a graveyard promising they would return. Strangers found him an hour later and took him to the local hospital, which was ill-equipped to handle his wounds. By the time Kurd arrived, by road, in Karachi, too much time had lapsed: the nerves in his leg were destroyed. I asked him whether he would continue with his activism. “When you close all paths,” he said, “the youth will either leave politics or pick up a gun. Those are the only two options.”

Later I went to meet Jamil Bugti, the son of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, at his home in Karachi. I asked him who were the heirs to the towering political figures who led the Baloch nationalist movement in its earlier days. “The next generation is all in the mountains,” he replied, “And they’re not willing to talk to anyone. People like me, and others, like the different nationalist parties that are in Parliament, they don’t have any role to play. They look very good on TV. That’s about it.”

Madiha R Tahir is a freelance journalist reporting on international conflicts and currently based in Pakistan.

Protest Rally Against Forcible Annexation of Balochistan

2010-03-25T01:48:00.000-07:00

Protest Rally Against

Forcible Annexation of Balochistan

Press Release: Baloch Human Rights Council UK and World Sindhi Congress are holding a protest rally against the forcible annexation of Balochistan by Pakistan on 27^th March 1948. Please join in to show your solidarity with Baloch people in their struggle to end illegal occupation and military operation in Balochistan.

Event Information:

In front of BBC - Bush House

Strand, London WC2B 4PH

Date: Sunday 28^th March 2010

Time: 2:00 to 4:00 PM

(Nearest Tube Stations: Holborn, Charing Cross)

For More details please read the attached flyer

Issued by:

Samad Baloch

Secretary General

Baloch Human Rights Council UK

info_bhrc@yahoo. co.uk

London 24 March 2010

· World Sindhi Congress

Lakhu Luhana 07533666013

Khan of Kalat calls for silent protest on 28th

2010-03-25T01:46:00.000-07:00

By: Bari Baloch | Published: March 25, 2010

QUETTA-Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Khan Dawood has appealed to Baloch for holding a silent protest on March 28th, against what he said forced annexation of Balochistan with Pakistan and ,added,the present government was toeing the anti-Baloch policies of former rulers.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, he said that Baloch should hoist black flags on the rooftops of their houses and shops and express their solidarity to convey a massage to the world community that Balochs were politically enlightened and united and struggling against forced annexation, military operations, torture cells and killings. He said that due to struggle and sacrifices, Balochs had succeeded to divert the attention of world community towards Balochistan and the eyes of people of world were focused on them. ‘This is responsibility of Baloch youth to make efforts for highlighting the importance of August 11th and March 28th’, he said and ,added, ‘August 11th is the day of independence of Balochistan while on March 28th freedom of Balochistan was usurped by force’.

Khan of Kalat said that Baloch were passing through a critical phase and every body should be ready to face difficulties and hardships to get rid of usurpers because without sacrifices they could not reach their destination.

Extra-legal killings

2010-03-25T01:45:00.001-07:00

Extra-legal killings

By I.A. Rehman
Thursday, 25 Mar, 2010

A new report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has recorded 226 encounter killings in 2009, with Punjab as usual leading the other areas with 181 killings (Sindh 31 killings, Frontier 13 and Balochistan one). The frequently voiced official complaint that civil society organisations exaggerate crime figures has proved to be baseless because the Punjab police chief has conceded that 253 ‘gangsters’ were killed during 2009 in his province alone. - Photo by AP.

Extra-Legal killings in so-called police encounters was again a major cause of concern of human rights activists in 2009, and in future the government’s efficiency as well as its respect for human rights will be judged by its ability to rein in trigger-happy police officials.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has recorded 226 encounter killings in 2009, with Punjab as usual leading the other areas with 181 killings (Sindh 31 killings, Frontier 13 and Balochistan one). The frequently voiced official complaint that civil society organisations exaggerate crime figures has proved to be baseless because the Punjab police chief has conceded that 253 ‘gangsters’ were killed during 2009 in his province alone. He claimed that all but one of the 307 encounters were genuine and that 28 policemen also lost their lives.

These figures confirm the pattern of encounter killings observed over the past many years. For instance, in 1999 HRCP recorded 350 encounters in which 527 people were killed, 361 of them in Punjab alone. In 2000, the encounter killings declined to 192 (Punjab 94) and rose to 236 in 2002 (151 killings in Punjab). 146 encounters were reported in 2003 (195 people killed, 113 of them in Punjab) and in 2004, the number of encounters stood at 134 (105 killed). This pattern continued during 2005-2008. The fact that encounter deaths shot up in 2009 underlines the need for a study of the causes of the increase in police excesses during a period of civilian-political rule.

One important fact may be stressed straightaway — that police chiefs in all provinces are aware of fake encounters, though it may not be possible to blame all of them equally for blinking at the doings of their subordinate officials or explicitly ordering them to liquidate the ‘criminals’.

Mahmood Ali Khan Chaudhry, a former IG police and interior secretary, and one of the most upright civil servants Pakistan has had, has thrown light on the genesis of ‘police encounters’. In his memoirs, Of All Those Years, he writes:

“Before the murder of Kalabagh, when Ayub considered himself under threat of assassination, the new governor of West Pakistan, the retired general Muhammad Musa, ordered the wholesale arrest and disposal of violent criminals in the Punjab region. The IGP proceeded accordingly and fake encounters between police and criminals mushroomed. Hundreds of so-called criminals were rounded up and killed in cold blood during different kinds of encounters.”

As a DIG, M.A.K. Chaudhry did not act upon the IGP’s directive and was upbraided by him. The IGP sent copies of his note of censure to all the district SPs in the range. M.A.K. Chaudhry invited all the six SPs to give their views. “Each one of them was ready to go ahead and do what was being done elsewhere. One SP said that he had a notorious criminal in his custody, who he intended to lock up in a mud house and burn it down.” The DIG told the SPs that he would not allow any encounter deaths in his range and if any such death did take place, he would go to that district and “personally register a murder case against the SP concerned by name”.

One may point out, with due respect to M.A.K. Chaudhry, that encounter killings were institutionalised by Kalabagh, who included opposition leaders in the category of criminals liable to summary execution. The death of journalist Zamir Qureshi at the hands of hired assassins commissioned to liquidate Baqi Baloch or Ghulam Jilani Malik, or both, can hardly be forgotten.

While it is true that some police officials justify the encounter killing of notorious criminals in view of flaws in the justice system and court delays, there have been police officials who enjoy encounter killings as a pastime of the brave. Quite a few of them have been hailed as encounter specialists as if they are at a par with penalty-corner specialists.

There is no dearth of evidence to show that many encounters are staged after taking the victims out of places of detention and shooting them dead on roads and highways. The practice of aiming guns at the heads/chests of victims and the use of firearms that are not registered at the police stations concerned offer strong evidence that contradicts the police version of encounters. Besides, the story most commonly offered — that the encounter took place when the criminals tried to escape or fired the first shots — is not taken seriously by anyone.

Unfortunately, senior police officers have not paid due heed to the horrible consequences of their failure to eliminate encounter killings. Firstly, once encounter killings are accepted as a legitimate means of dealing with hardened criminals, the subordinate staff is emboldened to administer this policy for personal gain/satisfaction. Secondly, encounter killings by law-enforcing personnel persuade immature citizens to adopt this method of instant justice for settling personal scores.

One reason that extra-legal killings in police encounters have continued year after year is that the accountability mechanism has become dysfunctional. Each encounter death is supposed to be probed by a judicial authority. In many cases no judicial probe is ordered and where it is somehow ordered the proceedings are a travesty of the due process. The results of such inquiries are almost never made public. Attempts to persuade the authorities to release reports of inquiries are resisted with a stubbornness worthy of a noble cause.

Part of the blame for this sorry state of affairs must be accepted by civil society organisations, especially the media. True, the media does take notice of ‘fake encounters’ but such stories are usually treated as crimes of a serious nature. The feeling of outrage that each violation of the fundamental human right to life warrants is rarely witnessed. And follow-up stories are seldom attempted.

Unless the state functionaries and the people both treat encounter killing as a most reprehensible form of murder and go for the culprits with the zeal noticed in campaigns against terrorists, extra-legal killings will continue to take a high toll of lives and bring Pakistan a bad name.

Blasts in Balochistan kill 3

2010-03-25T01:43:00.002-07:00

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/22-Mar-2010/Blasts-in-Balochistan-kill-3

By: Bari Baloch | Published: March 22, 2010

QUETTA – Three people including two police personnel were killed while 18 others sustained multiple injuries in two separate bomb blasts in Quetta and Hub on Sunday.
Target of both blasts was police in both towns of Balochistan. According to police sources, unknown persons had planted explosive device in a bicycle and it was left at Kuwari Road of city. “The bicycle was completely destroyed with a huge blast as vehicle of District Police Officer Khuzdar Nazir Kurd was passing by the area,” an eyewitness Shaukat Hussain told TheNation who also sustained injuries in the blast. He said he was busy in work in his shop where he sustained injuries due to a splinter. Two police personnel identified as driver Ali Hassan and Deedar Ali died on the spot in the vehicle due to blast while 12 others including shopkeepers sustained injuries. Police vehicle also caught fire soon after the blast.
People started rescue work and put off the water by using drain water saving the dead bodies of police personnel from burning. “Police and other government officials reached the site very late and people themselves not only extinguished the fire from drain water but they also pulled out dead bodies of policemen from burning vehicle,” said another witness Muhammad Yousaf Khilji while talking to newsmen.
Edhi ambulances reached the site and they started shifting dead and the injured to Civil Hospital Quetta. One injured person identified as Niamatullah succumbed to his injuries in civil hospital while condition of two other injured is stated to be serious. Police and FC personnel reached the site and surrounded the area. “This was a home-made bomb and it was planted in the bicycle,” said a personnel of bomb disposal squad and added, “ Around five to six kilogram of explosives were used in the bomb and it was carried out through a remote control.” DIG (Operations) Hamid Shakil told newsmen that the blast was carried out through a remote controlled device targeting the vehicle of DPO Khuzdar, however, DPO was not present in his vehicle.

Energy crisis

2010-03-25T01:43:00.001-07:00

EDITORIAL

Energy crisis

Dawn Editorial

Tuesday, 23 Mar, 2010 | 01:20 PM PST |

With the summer fast approaching in many parts of the country, attention is once again turning to the country’s energy deficit and the need for more power in the years ahead. But the Iranian ambassador to Pakistan has expressed surprise that an offer to supply over 1,000 megawatts of electricity from Iran has not been fast-tracked. A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in December 2008 between the two countries, however Ambassador Mash’allah Shakeri has complained that no one in Pakistan has tried to move the issue forward.

The same is also largely true of the Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline. There are undoubtedly technical problems involved and pricing issues have yet to be fully settled, but at the core there is a different problem: such projects need external financing but money for Iran-Pakistan deals is hard to come by unless the Americans give the nod. So Pakistan is instead pushing for stepped-up help from the Americans in the energy sector here. The government wants money for dams, help with solving circular debt, technical assistance for drawing up a long-term energy plan and investment in the power distribution and generation sector.

The American interest has certainly been piqued by the possibility of demonstrating its long-term commitment to Pakistan through such projects: $3.5bn of the Kerry-Lugar money has been earmarked for ‘high-impact, high-visibility infrastructure programmes’; Special Representative Richard Holbrooke often talks up American interest in the energy sector; and energy and water will feature fairly prominently in the next round of the strategic dialogue between the US and Pakistan this week.

However, this does not mean that Pakistan’s energy problems are about to be solved. The Americans have the financial and technical resources, yes, but they are cautious about the impact they can have because they are aware of a more fundamental truth: you can draw up a long-term energy plan for the country and help pay for it, but you can’t guarantee that Pakistani governments will keep their focus and ensure that change for the better will be realised. If there is one thing that all Pakistani governments have had in common it is a singular lack of understanding for the need for long-term planning. Yes, they often make the right noises, but the results speak for themselves. The usual approach is fire-fighting i.e. deal with a crisis after it’s too late to prevent the damage. The present crisis in the energy sector will take at least several more years to resolve; however, if the country is to be spared another crisis in the future, now is the time to start planning.

QUETTA - Two settlers were shot dead in an incident of ‘target killing’ in Panjgoor town of Balochistan on Tuesday morning. Police said that unknown a

2010-03-24T08:59:00.001-07:00

QUETTA - Two settlers were shot dead in an incident of ‘target killing’ in Panjgoor town of Balochistan on Tuesday morning.

Police said that unknown armed assailants on motorcycles opened indiscriminate firing on the two persons near Grid Station area of Panjgoor, a bordering town with Iran. One person identified as Sarfaraz was killed on the spot while the other Munawar Hussain succumbed to his injuries in the hospital. ‘It is an incident of target killing’, said a police officer and said that both the victims were labourers and belonged to Punjab.
Police has started investigation into the incident. Incidents of target killings in the province have increased manifold and more than 18 people have been killed in past one week in different towns of Balochistan including a renowned educationist, Professor Fazal Bari in provincial capital Quetta on Monday.

Balochistan Package no solution: Magsi

2010-03-24T08:58:00.000-07:00

Published: March 24, 2010

QUETTA - Governor Baloc-histan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi has said the Aghaz-i-Haqooq Balochistan Package was not the solution to the province’s problems.
He stated this while talking to newsmen after an awards distribution ceremony here on Tuesday in connection with Pakistan Day. Magsi said that there was no law and order in the province and unless strict action was taken against people involved in deteriorating law and order, the situation could not be improved.
Referring to Frontier Corps (FC), he said that if provincial government is not satisfied with the performance of FC than Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Aslam Khan Raisani could send troops back to barracks through an order.
Responding to a question, he said that the provincial government should take action against those policemen who refuse to perform duties under pretext of law and order situation in province.
Nawab Magsi said that he did not know about involvement of foreign hands in deteriorating law and order situation in Balochistan and ,added, that without granting provincial autonomy problems of Balochistan could no be solved.
‘Provincial autonomy is the only solution of problems of all provinces’, he said. To a question, about performance of provincial government, he said ‘no comments’. Earlier, he conferred civilian awards on nine personalities on behalf of President Zardari for rendering services in different fields.

BISP poverty survey in Balochistan to be completed in June

2010-03-24T08:55:00.000-07:00

ISLAMABAD, Mar 24 (APP): Poverty survey under the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) in all the districts of Balochistan will be completed till June. The survey in the rest of the country will be initiated in May.This was stated by Farzana Raja, Chairperson BISP while addressing the closing ceremony of Earthquake Disability project and launching of MIOP Micro Finance for Persons With Disabilities arranged by Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund (PPAF).

The pilot phase of poverty survey has already been completed in 16 districts and the number of families are now being registered, she addded.
Farzana said the organizations serving persons with disabilities (PWDs) are doing commendable jobs through bringing them into mainstream, Farzana said while terming physical disability and poverty as two main hindrances in the country’ development.
The services of these people and organizations should be acknowledged to encourage their efforts for the uplift of humanity.
People belonging to different walks of life have played their role for physical, psychological and economic rehabilitation of earthquake affectees, she said.
Farzana said ,”all the forces should unite at village, community, city and country level for bringing revolutionary changes”.
All the countries are united agaisnt the menace of terrorism because terrorists just want destruction and killing of innocent people, she said adding that they did not belong to any country, religion and had no ethnic values.
The root cause of terrorism are extremism and poverty which needed to be addressed on priority basis, she added.
She said different organizations had been serving poor people according to their capacity for years. The present government has initiated BISP to alleviate poverty and empower female segment of the society by providing cash grant to them.
BISP has given identity to millions of women as currently 2.7 million families are getting benefit from the programme. The number of beneficiaries will reach to seven million in the coming two years.
The Waseela-e-Haq (Right Source) has been launched to provide micro finance of Rs 300,000 to each families to run their small businesses.
The families are selected through a transparent draw every month by President Asif Ali Zardari and PPAF is working as partner of BISP for providing counselling and training to the selected families to start their business.
She said that quota system for registration has been abolished to end discrimination.
Vocational training will be imparted to one male or female member of these beneficiaries. BISP is collaborating with the Ministry of Overseas and Ministry of Labour and Manpower to identify the need of skilled human resource to meet local and foreign demand.
Speaking on the occasion, a representative of PPAF said the micro finance scheme for persons with disabilities will initially be launched in four districts. They will be provided an amount of Rs 20,000 to start their own business. Public and private organizations will extend their cooperation for marketing of their products, he added.
PPAF under its project for earthquake affectees arranged series of training besides providing them different hearing and other aids.
The stakeholders were awarded with shields for their contribution for rehabilitation of earthquake affectees on the occasion.

‘Provincial autonomy to resolve Balochistan’s issues’

2010-03-24T08:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/04-balochistan-magsi-qs-04

QUETTA: After weeks of target killings and unrest in Balochistan, Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi on Tuesday said the Aghaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package was not the solution to the province’s problems.

Speaking to journalists at the Governor House, Magsi said Balochistan’s issues could only be addressed through complete provincial autonomy.

This comes a day after Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani linked the recent deteriorating law and order situation in the province to the ongoing war in Afghanistan. Raisani said incidents of target killing and bomb blasts were aimed at damaging Balochistan’s economy. — DawnNews

Editorial: Electricity woes

2010-03-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

Editorial: Electricity woes

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\23\story_23-3-2010_pg3_1

One would think that with temperatures soaring and power outages reaching devastating proportions, the government would latch onto any carrot on a stick if it promised a reduction in the misery we have all become accustomed to in the summer months. Imagine the citizens’ surprise, then, at the inactivity of the ruling quarters in availing a very generous, very efficient power supply solution from Iran. Proposing a grant of close to 1,100 MW — with an option of doubling the amount — at subsidised rates for the energy sector, Iran is willing to go the good Samaritan route, provided that necessary infrastructure and processes are developed to completely reap the benefits of this power package. However, Islamabad has remained shockingly mum about this, giving the Iranians reason to doublethink their charitable overture, as expressed by Iranian Ambassador Masha’allah Shakeri when he recently commented about Iran’s vexation at Pakistan’s seeming disinterest in curbing the energy crisis.

With a shortfall of over 4,500 MW being recorded in the relatively moderate month of March, the impending summer reads like a doomsday scenario. Why then are executive authorities not placing efforts such as the Iranian offer right at the top of their to-do list? This import of electricity, at much more affordable rates than those provided by the Independent Power Producers (IPPs), would have to make its way through Balochistan to the national grid, a movement that would require building the necessary infrastructure in that province. However, with all things even remotely related to Balochistan, the authorities prefer to remain suspiciously quiet. To use the Baloch territory to add to the country’s electricity supply, a fair share of the resources will have to be ensured to that province, something successive governments have so far failed to do.

Another sad consideration is the fact that the generation of electricity within the country provides corrupt elements in the government favourable conditions in which to feed their greed and make a quick buck. Buying subsidised electricity from Iran — and easing the public’s load — is a stitch in their side, as it will cut chances of making ill gotten money as a foreign country is involved. In the absence of action to such offers from neighbouring countries, one begins to wonder when the rights of the citizens will start figuring in the rulers’ picture.

Load-shedding has already taking a heavy toll on the people and the economy, with power outages hitting 10-12 hours in urban areas and 18-20 hours in rural locales. Unlike last year when power would go out every alternate hour for one hour, this year the authorities have upped the ante by cutting electricity for two to three hours at a stretch; and those are just the statistics for March. Access to electricity has become a privilege instead of a basic right.

Tall claims of the government about providing some respite through the IPPs and tapping into dam financing provides little solace as we hear the same authorities harp on about the same matter year after year with no results to support their claims. With the scorching heat and lack of electricity putting the country at a virtual standstill, and with conditions set to get worse, flaring tempers and voices of dissent will soon be heard — with deafening vengeance — from every citizen, as was witnessed in the recent Islamabad riots. *

Second Editorial: Whitewashing Balochistan

When the current government assumed office and President Zardari offered an apology to the Baloch for past injustices meted out to them by successive governments, it seemed that the government was going to seriously address the grievances of the Baloch. However, that proved to be a pie in the sky. The insurgency is continuing and every day we hear news of disturbances in the province. Target killings of six people in different parts of Balochistan on Saturday are a stark reminder that the situation is getting worse instead of improving. These murders were followed by the detonation of a remote-controlled device in Quetta that killed two policemen and a shopkeeper, and injured 19 people.

While one would expect the chief minister of Balochistan to have full cognisance of what is happening in his province and the capacity to plead its case with the Centre, his statement to reporters the other day made one think otherwise. He said that the law and order situation in Balochistan has deteriorated because of the ongoing war in Afghanistan. One must concede that proximity to a war-ridden area does pose some risk of spillover and disturbance in the adjoining areas. However, placing the entire blame of the Baloch problem, which is as old as Pakistan itself, on the doorstep of the Afghan war, is a little too much. It tends to obscure the real issues that prompted the Baloch youth to take up arms and go down the warpath.

It was the Centre’s denial of due rights and development to Balochistan, while gobbling up its mineral wealth, which has caused deep-rooted resentment among the Baloch. Despite its rich mineral resources, Balochistan is the most backward province of Pakistan, with vast sections of its population living in extreme poverty. They have no part in decision-making over their own lands and resources. Security agencies’ behaviour towards the Baloch populace is more like that of colonial masters of occupied lands. The media blanket in areas under the military’s control has prevented the true picture of Balochistan from reaching the rest of the country and the world. On top of that, the chief minister, who is supposed to be the guardian of his province, tries to whitewash its problems. Wake up Mr CM! *

Professor gunned down in Quetta

2010-03-22T22:31:00.001-07:00

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=230510

Nationalist, political parities slam killing; blast kills man, injures four

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
By Muhammad Ejaz Khan

QUETTA: Professor Fazal Bari, a prominent educationist and former chairman of the Balochistan Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE), was killed in the fresh incident of target killing in the Takhtani bypass area of Quetta on Monday.

The police said Professor Fazal Bari was on his way to the Tameer-i-Nuo Public School, where he had been serving as the principal, from his home. As he reached the Bypass Road from Sariab Link Road, some unidentified armed men opened indiscriminate fire on his car and fled. Resultantly, Professor Bari and his driver sustained multiple bullet wounds. They were immediately rushed to the Civil Hospital. Professor Bari succumbed to his wounds before he was provided any medical aid. His driver, however, was admitted to the Civil Hospital.

After the killing of Professor Bari, students and teachers of the Tameer-i-Nuo educational institutions reached the Civil Hospital. The professor’s killing sparked violent incidents as the emotionally charged students pelted stones, besides staging strong protest and raising anti-government slogans. Glasses of several vehicles were smashed.

However, the police fired teargas shells to disperse the students. Three students were also taken into custody on the charges of disrupting the law and order situation.The Balochistan Professors and Lecturers Association announced boycott of the classes. Professor Fazal Haq Mir, a professor of the Tameer-i-Nuo, announced closure of educational institutions operating under the Tameer-i-Nuo system.

A large number of people and academic staff also reached the Tameer-i-Nuo College where the body of Professor Fazal Bari was brought from the Civil Hospital.His funeral prayer was offered at the ground of the Tameer-i-Nuo College. Later his body was dispatched to his native town Faisalabad for burial.

As the consequence of the killing of Professor Fazal Bari, the DSP and the SHO of the Satellite Town police station were suspended by Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani.

The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), the JUI-F, the PML-N, the Jamaat-e-Islami, the Pashtun Students Organisation and the Hazara Youth Council strongly condemned the killing of Professor Bari. They termed the assassination of Professor Bari the killing of education and consciousness. The PkMAP alleged that the people involved in target killers had been given a free hand to take lives of the innocent people.

Students of the TNPC on the occasion also demanded of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of the target killings of teachers in the province. It may be mentioned here that some 20 people have become victims of the target killings during last three days in Quetta.

Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani claimed that the provincial government was not helpless before the perpetrators of target killing incidents and it would take them to the task at all cost.

APP adds: A man was killed while four others sustained minor injures in a bomb blast at the Golimar Chowk in Quetta. DIG (operations) Hamid Shakil said the bomb was planted near the wall of a shop. He said the man killed in the blast was working in a nearby shop.

The injured people, whose identity could not be ascertained, were admitted to the Bolan Medical Complex. The blast also damaged a rickshaw. The law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the area after the incident and started investigations.

Raisani sees foreign hand in Balochistan insurgency

2010-03-22T22:28:00.000-07:00

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=230507

Tuesday, March 23, 2010
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, while expressing concern over increasing incidents of target killing in the province, hinted the involvement of a foreign hand in the unrest. He also condemned Professor Fazal Bari’s murder, saying it was an irreparable loss to the education of the province.

He underlined the services rendered by the deceased and prayed for his soul Talking to media persons after the assembly session here on Monday, Raisani said it was impossible to carry out such activities without the financial support. He added that elements with ulterior motives want to create anarchy by disturbing the peaceful environment of the province. Raisani said the perpetrators involved in these heinous crimes will be dealt with sternly.

“We know the way how to crush the elements involved in insurgency as the government is not helpless and powerless,” he added. About the political solution to the problems, he said that “groups involved in Balochistan’s insurgency have no leadership.”He noted that the government has offered the disgruntled brethren several times to sit for dialogue and find a way out of the problem. About the current spate of target killings in the province, he said: ”At present we do not have any clue but all-out efforts are being made to apprehend the attackers and take them to task.”

Meanwhile, the police fired tear gas and baton-charged hundreds of students of a private college, who attempted to block roads during a protest demonstration held to condemn Prof Bari’s killing in Quetta.

Malik alleges Indian role in Balochistan unrest

2010-03-22T22:03:00.000-07:00

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\03\23\story_23-3-2010_pg7_14

* Interior minister says FIRs for 80 percent of missing Baloch people have been registered

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Interior Minister Rehman Malik on Monday informed the Senate that the government had undeniable proofs of the Indian government’s involvement in sabotage activities in Balochistan.

Malik said he could divulge the information to parliamentarians in an in-camera meeting, adding that those carrying out terrorist activities in the province were trained in other countries and were being provided arms and funding from abroad.

He said the list of missing persons had many dubious names, including some people who were in Afghanistan to receive militant training and some who were in Dubai perpetuating anti-Pakistan activities. He said the issue had been raised with Afghan President Hamid Karazi and Afghan intelligence chief during their visit to Islamabad, adding that both had admitted that around 5,000 Baloch people had taken refugee in Afghanistan.

FIRS: Malik said the FIRs for 80 percent of the missing Baloch people had been registered, with the list that once had over 1,100 names had now squeezed to a couple of hundred names, as a majority of the cases were fake.

He said it was reported that some Baloch people had gone missing, but it was usually found later that those people had crossed the border or got visas of some other country to get militant training. The minister said in accordance with the demands of the Baloch people, the government had abolished checkposts across the province. However, the minister’s claims were confronted by senators from Balochistan representing nationalist parties, who said that the government needed to take up the province’s issues in detail instead of blaming everything on India.

3 killed, 11 injured in Quetta blast

2010-03-21T03:41:00.001-07:00

Staff Report
http://www.samaa.tv/News18221-3_killed_12_injured_in_Quetta_blast_.aspx

QUETTA: At least three people including a police official have been killed and 11 others injured in a blast on Kawari Road, SAMAA reported Sunday.

A police van was targeted in the blast, which has been damaged. Sources told SAMAA that the bomb was planted on a bicycle. Around five kilograms of explosives was used in the explosion.

The police and other law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the area while the injured have been taken to the hospitals.

The blast occurred near the residence of Mehmood Khan Achakzai, the leader of Pakhtoon Khuwa Milli Awami Party. Achakzai was not at his residence at the time of explosion.

AGENCIES ADD: At least two people were killed in Pakistan on Sunday when a bomb planted on a bicycle exploded as a police van passed by, police said.

At least 12 more people were injured in the attack in Quetta, capital of the insurgency-hit southwestern province of Balochistan.

Police said the device was apparently detonated by remote control.

The police van was badly damaged in the attack, but it was not clear if any police officers were among the dead or injured.

Pakistan has suffered through a wave of violence in recent weeks as militants - thought to be part of a loose network of Islamist insurgents fighting the US-allied Islamabad government - launched a wave of suicide bombings. SAMAA/AGENCIES