Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
They wanted equality. They did not get it. They want out. I would hate to lose them. Its a loss we could never recover from but maybe sometimes you have to let go?
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Second Twitter Briefing was held yesterday by the State Department, the Baloch tweeples asked plenty of questions which got attention this time:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSKdsYIvGpM ](http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=jSKdsYIvGpM)See 11:53 onwards, US is deeply concerned by the human rights abuses (targeted killings and disappearances) and it urges all parties to negotiate to have this issue resolved.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
They wanted equality. They did not get it. They want out. I would hate to lose them. Its a loss we could never recover from but maybe sometimes you have to let go?
Ok sure "lose em"...
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Interesting article, we have been discussing in this forum for the past many years. I wonder when our military and ruling elite will understand!
http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/11/resolving-balochistan’s-grievances.html
Resolving Balochistan’s grievances
BY MURTAZA HAIDER
This is the third in a 3-part series on Balochistan. The firstand second parts appeared on December 28, 2011 and January 04, 2012 respectively.
Two dominant theories attempt to contextualise the decades-long crisis in Balochistan. **The Islamabad theory suggests that the state and its agencies are responsible for the lack of development, separatist movements and the resulting militancy in Balochistan. The Baloch theory holds the Baloch Sardars and foreign elements responsible for Balochistan’s woes.
**
**Major Gregory Pipes of the United States Army has explored these theories in great detail.(1) He argues that denying democracy to Balochs, the economic exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources, and military incursions are examples of state actions that have turned Baloch’s against the establishment. He presents empirical evidence to illustrate that state actions indeed have a direct impact on insurgency in Balochistan; any reconciliatory move by the state results in a decline in insurgent attacks, whereas any state-backed hostility against Balochs correlates with a spike in insurgency.
**
**He uses data from 1,277 insurgent attacks reported in Balochistan during 2003 and 2009 to demonstrate that time and again Balochs have reacted rationally to the carrot and stick policies of the state. For instance, a 216 per cent increase in insurgent attacks was observed in response to the army establishing a military base near Sui. Similarly, attacks by insurgents increased by 855 per cent in reaction to the military operation in December 2005. At the same time, a significant decline in insurgent attacks was observed in response to the economic packages announced for Balochistan in October 2008 and March 2009.
**
The evidence presented in the table below explicitly illustrates Baloch willingness to resolve the conflict. If the propaganda against the Baloch insurgents is to be believed, which argues that the insurgents, while being supported by the foreign elements and Baloch sardars, are determined to secede from Pakistan, then one should not see any decline in violence in response to reconciliatory moves.
http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/image001.png
Source: Pipes, Gregory (2010)
**The Baloch theory, which accuses Baloch Sardars for Balochistan’s troubles, does not only enjoy the state’s blessings but is also favoured by many in print and news media in Pakistan. For instance, Shumaila Jaffery recently argued on Dawn’s website: **“Being a journalist I have worked at places like Sui, Dera Bugti, Turbat and Youb. [The Baloch] Sardars have exploited the local population to the extent that we people with urban backgrounds cannot even imagine.”
**
**Is it really true that the separatist Baloch Sardars have been instrumental in stunting the economic and social development of their people? For this to be true, one would expect to see lesser human development in areas under the influence of separatist Sardars and higher human development in areas under the influence of state-friendly sardars. For example, Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a former Prime Minister in General Musharraf’s regime, is one such Baloch Sardar who has been friendly with the state for decades. Let us compare Jamali’s district of Nasirabad with Dera Bugti, which is the ancestral home of slain Baloch statesman, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who died in a military action in August 2006. If the Baloch theory holds, Nasirabad should enjoy significantly higher levels of development than Dera Bugti.
**
Statistically speaking, Nasirabad is marginally better than Dera Bugti in access to piped water and literacy rate (see the table below). At the same time, Dera Bugti reports significantly higher number of medical facilities, i.e. hospitals, basic health units, etc., and higher contraceptive use than Nasirabad. These comparative statistics illustrate that all areas of Balochistan are significantly underdeveloped regardless of the political persuasions of the dominant Sardars in the region.
[TABLE]
Development indicators
Dera Bugti
Nasirabad
% of households with electricity
15.7
60.6
% of households with piped water
13.9
15.2
% of literate population (10 years & older)
11.7
12.7
Contraceptive prevalence rate (%)
13.7
11.8
Medical facilities
64
34
Source: Population Census, 1998 (latest data available)
The marked difference, however, is observed in access to electricity where 61 per cent households in Nasirabad compared to only 16 per cent households in Dera Bugti are electrified. The difference in electrification is a result of state patronage that benefitted Nasirabad, and not Dera Bugti.** How would then one hold separatist Baloch Sardars responsible for under development when the state’s investments have favoured some and disadvantaged others?
**
The urbanised middle class and real estate magnates in Pakistan may continue to hold the Baloch Sardars responsible for Balochistan’s misgivings. However, given an opportunity, Pakistani urbanites may not hesitate in harming Baloch interests. Consider, for instance, the great land grab in progress in Gwadar where the indigenous of Gwadar have been left at the mercy of the big land developers from Lahore and Karachi.
The Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) lists the names and addresses of land developers who have been awarded development rights to date for developing 59 sq km of land in Gwadar. The list confirms suspicions of Baloch nationalists who had always feared that development in Gwadar will be hijacked by the powerful developers (and land mafias) domiciled elsewhere. According to GDA, Balochistan-based developers are in minority while developers whose addresses are listed in Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad are holding the stakes for 90 per cent of land development in Gwadar (see the graph below).
http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/image004.gif
GDA has granted development rights for 12,533 acres of housing schemes alone. Once built and populated, the housing schemes will likely shift the demographic makeup of Gwadar, whose current population is a little shy of 200,000. Even at a low density of 50 persons per acre, once built the 12,533 acres of new housing development will attract roughly 600,000 new inhabitants to Gwadar, thus fundamentally changing its ethnic complexion.
The bigger question to address is why GDA has granted development rights to house a population that is likely to be 3-times the size of the current population of Gwadar. Has GDA or other agencies of the Balochistan government studied the socio-political implications of such a massive influx of people in a province whose population base is smaller than that of Lahore?
**Given the potential for ethnic and social discord in Gwadar and the rest of Balochistan, there is a greater need for the establishment to ensure that any land development in Gwadar and its surroundings contributes primarily to the welfare of the people of Balochistan and not to the land developers from Lahore and Karachi or to the Baloch Sardars who may not be readily willing to share the spoils with the have-nots in their tribes.
**
Land is not the only source of grievance for Baloch nationalists in Gwadar. Analysing the greed, creed and governance in Balochistan, Professor Rabia Aslam revealed that despite being heralded as a game-changer in regional trade, the Gwadar port is unlikely to make a significant contribution to the provincial economy.
Professor Aslam revealed that the federal government will receive 50 per cent of the profits from Gwadar port and the Chinese firm responsible for operating Gawadar port will retain 48 per cent of the profits. A mere 2 per cent of the profits from Gwadar port are to accrue to the people of Balochistan. At the same time, most construction contracts at Gwadar port were awarded to non-Baloch firms who hired technical and other staff from outside of Balochistan.(2) Prof Aslam also noted that “in Balochistan the major source of revenue is natural gas. The province contributes roughly $1.4 billion per year through gas revenues, but receives only $116 million from the federal government in royalty.”
If the establishment in Pakistan allows the status quo to prevail in Balochistan, others would seek to profit from the ever-growing mistrust, and the resulting indiscriminate violence. The calls to secede Balochistan from the rest of Pakistan will come from all those who could benefit, even in the short term, from the chaos that prevails. Consider for example M. Chris Mason who called for an independent Balochistan in an op-ed piece in Canada’sThe Globe and Mail in December 2011. Mr. Mason, who is a former US Naval officer and has served in the American foreign service, tries to exploit the Baloch grievances by pushing for an independent Balochistan as a solution (sic) to Pakistan’s problems. Calling Pakistan a rogue state, a term favoured by the American neo-cons, Mr. Mason sees an independent Balochistan merely a supply line to feed and support Nato’s troops in Afghanistan via Gwadar.
While Mr. Mason’s optimism for an overnight solution for the “region’s most intractable problems” is wishful thinking at best, however, those who favour an outright separation of Balochistan from Pakistan fail to recognise that ethnic Balochs (Balochi and Brahui speakers) in Balochistan represent a bare majority of 55 per cent. The rest comprise Pushtuns (30 per cent), Sindhis (6 per cent), Punjabis (3 per cent) and others. Haris Gazdar, a renowned economist, believes that such ethnic diversity “adds a dimension, prima facie, to political fragmentation.”(3)
The majority of Pushtuns and others in Balochistan do not share the same enthusiasm for an independent Balochistan. Furthermore, non-Baloch ethnicities are concentrated in the northern districts of the province (see the map below), which further complicates the viability of an independent Balochistan within its current boundaries. In the worst case scenario, an all-out war for an independent Balochistan may lead to a civil war rather than a war between Balochs and Pakistan’s armed forces. It is therefore imperative that a negotiated settlement for the Baloch grievances be found at the earliest to avoid any further hardship for Balochs and other ethnicities in Balochistan.
http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/image005.png
The way forward
**Major Pipes, who wants “to see the Baloch integrated into the mainstream of Pakistani social, political, and economic life,” offers several recommendations towards resolving the Balochistan’s grievances. He wants Pakistan’s establishment to ensure that “democracy is a fixed element of Baloch society” to achieve Baloch integration.This may even require a plebiscite for the Balochs to determine their own future. He advises Pakistan’s establishment to work with Baloch Sardars rather than fighting with them by encouraging a “dialogue between the center and the periphery.” He further recommends ending all military incursions because this approach has consistently failed in stemming Baloch separatist movements in the past. Lastly, he asks for a fair share for Balochs in royalties for the natural resources extracted from Balochistan so that the economic base of the province could be fortified.
**
**Major Pipes advises the United States government to recognise that attempts to enfranchise Balochs through true democracy have resulted in a decline in violence. Thus he advises the US government to avoid backing military incursions in Balochistan, which have harmed the democratic forces in the province. He asks the US government to focus on eradicating the narcotics trade in the region that has helped fund the insurgency. Major Pipes also asks India and Afghanistan to cease any operations in Balochistan that may promote instability in Pakistan.
**
It is not for the lack of solutions that the Baloch insurgency has lasted over six decades. It is the lack of willingness to work towards an honourable and just resolution of Baloch grievances that has turned successive generations of Balochs against the idea of Pakistan. Balochs have responded positively to reconciliation in the past. They will do so again if an honest and earnest effort is made.
(1) Pipes, Gregory D. 2010. The Baloch-Islamabad tensions: Problems of national integration. Master’s thesis. Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California.
(2) Aslam, Rabia (2011). Greed, creed, and governance in civil conflicts: a case study of Balochistan. Contemporary South Asia. Vol. 19, Iss. 2.
(3) Gazdar, Haris (2007). Balochistan Economic Report, Background Paper on Social Structures and Migration.
http://www.dawn.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Murtaza_Haider-80-new.jpg
Murtaza Haider, Ph.D. is the Associate Dean of research and graduate programs at the Ted Rogers School of Management at Ryerson University in Toronto. He can be reached by email at [EMAIL=“[email protected]”][email protected]*
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/15/us-urges-pakistan-to-hold-dialogue-on-balochistan.html
US urges Pakistan to hold dialogue on Balochistan
**WASHINGTON: The US has urged Pakistan to “really lead and conduct a dialogue that takes the Balochistan issue forward”, says the US State Department.
**State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland addressed the issue in a “twitter-briefing” that the department holds every Friday, allowing people from around the world to tweet their questions to her.
“This was a very popular question on our feed, so we wanted to make sure that we answered it today,” said Ms Nuland who focused on the violence plaguing Balochistan instead of tackling political issues raised in most of the tweets.
“The United States is deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Balochistan, especially targeted killings, disappearances and other human rights abuses,” she said.
**“This is a complex issue. We strongly believe that the best way forward is for all the parties to resolve their differences through peaceful dialogue.”
**
**The State Department official noted that the US took the allegations of human rights abuses very seriously and had discussed these issues with Pakistani officials. “And we also urged them to really lead and conduct a dialogue that takes this issue forward,” she concluded.
**
While her answer may not satisfy Baloch nationalists who had sent most of the questions, it would still irk Pakistani authorities who do not want the Balochistan issue to be discussed at international forums.
Washington-based Baloch nationalists are hoping that Ms Nuland’s response would set an example and encourage other governments and international organisations, such as the United Nations, to address the issue.
The question that Ms Nuland responded to came from Pakistan from a person who identified himself only as “Cadet 1081” and asked: “Pakistan is committing genocide of the Baloch nation, why does the US not intervene in Balochistan and make us get our freedom?”
While Ms Nuland confined herself to addressing the issue of human rights violations, other respondents did not. “Pakistan is not killing Baloch people. Only the followers of Balach and Hyrbyar want freedom,” wrote Mr Spirit 110.
“Pakistan is killing innocent Baloch people and the world is blind. It is our right to be free,” wrote Behuman.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
**Is Pakistan heading for disaster in Balochistan? | Opinions | Al Jazeera
**[TABLE=“width: 100%”]
Is Pakistan heading for disaster in Balochistan?
**Pakistan must end its policy of killings and kidnappings of Baloch people and recognise the importance of the region.
****- The behaviour of the powerful elite of Islamabad reminds me of the captain and crew of the RMS Titanic sailing into the night, heading straight towards an iceberg. The civilian, military and judicial authorities are locked up in a tussle coloured by political positions and personal egos. And there is a dangerous disconnect between Islamabad and the enormous problems that loom on the Pakistani horizon.
Law and order appears to have collapsed in many parts of the country. In the north-east, the former Frontier Province, there are daily killings as suicide bombers and the army continuously fight each other. Unemployment is widespread and inflation is sky-high. And there is still a desperate shortage of electricity and gas in much of the country.
But perhaps none of these problems is more pressing than the situation in Balochistan. If the simmering, but widespread movement for independence spins out of control, Pakistan will find it almost impossible to maintain nationhood.
**
I was reminded of Balochistan by the recent visit of Malik Siraj Akbar to my office. It made me happy to think back to my associations with its people and places, but I also became distressed as I thought of the current situation: a climate of killings and so-called “disappearances”.
In his late twenties, Malik comes from Makran and was born in its northern town, Panjgur. His sharp intelligence, awareness of the world and passionate arguments for his people reminded me of all the people I met in Makran as Commissioner when I was posted there in the mid-1980s.
On arrival, what struck me was the resilience and faith of the Baloch, in spite of the widespread poverty and lack of economic development. Even after decades of the country’s existence, Pakistan - it seemed - had done very little for the Baloch. There were only five miles of paved road in Makran - from the Commissioner’s house, in Turbat, to the tiny airport. Flights were irregular and the telephone lines to the rest of the country were frequently out of order.
**A land of honor
**
But I found it a fascinating experience: the people were welcoming and the area was redolent of history. Makran was, after all, where Alexander the Great got lost on his way to Persia after his battles in India. Over time, I had the privilege of meeting and getting to know legendary Baloch leaders such as Nawab Akbar Bugti, Mir Ghaus Bukh Bizenjo, Jam Ghulam Qadir and Mir Jafar Khan Jamali. From them, I learned that there was a time when a woman wearing gold ornaments could travel from the north of Balochistan to the south and not be molested.“There was honour,” they said, “in the land.”
Nawab Bugti discussed Ibn Khaldun and the cyclical patterns of tribal society with me over dinner in his ancestral home in the Bugti Agency. He told me that Ibn Khaldun had kept him company when he was jailed by Pakistani authorities in Sahiwal. I often wondered how many Pakistanis belonging to the power elite had even heard of the Arab historian.
**I grew to appreciate and admire the Baloch. I knew it was most important to deal with them on the basis of honour. In turn, they reciprocated my sentiments and I was posted as Commissioner of three divisions consecutively. Even the imperial British acknowledged that the key to dealing with the Baloch was honour. Not surprisingly, the Baloch complain that Pakistani officials treat them worse than the imperial British.
**
Malik, who has been a professional journalist all his life, has recently been given political asylum in the United States. Various threats and messages convinced him his life was in danger. He talks passionately and movingly of the hundreds of Baloch who have been brutally killed by the security agencies.
**The policy of “kill and dump” is causing fear and terror among the Baloch.
**
**He claims there is a systematic policy to eliminate the “cream of the Baloch professionals”. He lists names and professions with depressing accuracy - professors of medicine, scholars of Baloch history and, of course, numerous journalists.
“At least eight of my Baloch journalist friends have been killed over the past year,” he said. Some had disappeared - until their mutilated, bullet-riddled bodies were found.
**
**Cultural onslaught
**
**The Baloch are angry not only at the killing of their intellectual and professional elite, but at what appears to be a wider, deliberate cultural onslaught. Security personnel, invariably non-Baloch, insult the Baloch at checkpoints by cutting off the shalwar, or baggy pants. More worryingly, Baloch corpses of those who have mysteriously disappeared are routinely found mutilated and desecrated. One chilling message engraved with a knife on the chest of a corpse said, “Eid gift for Baloch.”
The brutal and senseless murder of Nawab Bugti and the deliberate insult to his corpse by President Pervez Musharraf acted as a catalyst in Balochistan. It gave the Baloch independence movement a much needed second wind - the Baloch now had a legitimate martyr for their cause. Paradoxically, Malik points out, Nawab was one of the few advocates for a united Pakistan. **
**Islamabad has always underestimated, and therefore mismanaged, those living on the periphery. Islamabad tends to dismiss Balochistan because of its tiny population - about eight million of Pakistan’s total 180 million people. There is also the prism of racial and cultural arrogance through which the Baloch are seen. Then there is sheer ignorance: the rich culture and traditions of the Baloch are generally not known in Pakistan. **
**Those who do not learn from the lessons of history, it is said, are doomed to repeat it.
**
**In a different context, but one which illuminates the Balochistan situation, Islamabad’s treatment of East Pakistan cost it half the country in terms of population. The colossal blunders and arrogance of the power elite of Islamabad and the tragic killings of 1971 led to the creation of Bangladesh.
Pakistanis seem to forget that Balochistan may only have a tiny population - but comprises 44 per cent of Pakistan’s land territory. They forget it has vast natural resources and hundreds of miles of sea coast which make it a key geopolitical area. While Balochistan can survive without Pakistan, it is Pakistan that simply cannot survive without Balochistan.
**
**Time is running out
**
Everything, therefore, must be done to resolve the civil war situation in that province. The stakes are too high for Pakistan. The power elite, obsessed with the place intrigue involving the sordid “Memogate” affair, needs to focus its attention on Balochistan.
**
Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani and General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, head of the army, need to fly to Balochistan together and, setting aside personal egos for the sake of the country, apologise to the people of Balochistan for the grievances they have suffered. They must promise a new beginning and radical shift in Pakistan’s strategy for the Baloch. The Baloch must be made to feel an integral part of the federation; they need to be treated with honour and dignity.
This initiative should have been taken after the disastrous actions of Musharraf in Balochistan. Muddling through is no longer an option - time is running out for Pakistan.
Perhaps these Pakistani leaders, no doubt both patriotic in their own ways, need to ask themselves what the great MA Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, would have done in a similar situation. Jinnah would have met the people of Balochistan and ensured that they knew they were a welcome, respected and genuine part of the federation of Pakistan. No democracy can be built on the foundations of the kind of mistrust and anger that prevails in Balochistan.**
When I asked Malik what he had to say to Pakistan, he replied: “My message to Pakistan is simple: everyone should be provided equal opportunities of progress and prosperity. Who would like to live in a country which sends bullet-riddled dead bodies of young Baloch professionals on a regular basis? Underestimating the situation in Balochistan would amount to committing political suicide.”
*Professor Akbar Ahmed is Ibn Khaldun Chair of Islamic studies, American University, Washington DC and author of Journey into America (Brookings Press 2010). He was Pakistan’s High Commissioner to the UK and Ireland.
The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeera’s editorial policy.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
http://www.dawn.com/2012/01/15/the-balochistan-conundrum.html
The Balochistan conundrum
**THE military handling of Balochistan is pushing Baloch nationalists into the separatist camp. All the apparent kill and dump policy is achieving is to kill any possibility of reconciliation and dump any chance of peace.
**The real problem lies in the mindset underpinning the approach to handling the Balochistan crisis the frame of mind created by the national security paradigm that gives the security and intelligence agencies a greater role. Only if this mindset is changed can the disgruntled youth of Balochistan be brought back into the national mainstream.
Balochistan has always remained on the countrys political periphery. Over-centralism, a unitary type of governance and the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process in Islamabad have alienated the young of Balochistan. **A province, already at the receiving end, is now receiving the bullet-riddled bodies of its people. The mysterious kidnappings of political activists and extra-judicial killings are only fanning anti-federation flames.**
**Four insurgencies have previously been witnessed in Balochistan: in 1948, 1958, 1962 and 1973. Four military operations were undertaken but these only resulted in a worse mess and in deepening the sense of deprivation, alienation and frustration in the province. **Now, the province is facing another insurgency backed by separatists operating under different names including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Meanwhile, the restive province is effectively under the control of the security establishment. The killing and abduction of young Baloch men indicate that the establishment is again trying to resolve the situation through the barrel of a gun. Theresult is that the Baloch feel even more oppressed, repressed and suppressed.
It is possible to argue that a military operation for restoring or establishing the writ of the government in an area of conflict is somewhat justified but imposing the will of the establishment, masquerading in a national security state as the writ of the government, cannot be justified. In Balochistan`s case, the will of the establishment has been against the will of the people which is for a social security or welfare state.
**There will be no improvement in Balochistans situation until the mindset of the decision-makers changes. It is this that has alienated the Baloch youth. Veteran nationalist leader Sardar Ataullah Mengal believes that the Baloch have reached the point of no return; that they consider the slow unfolding of large-scale killings justification enough for going their separate way. **The question, then, is: what led to this point of no return? Gen Musharraf once presented the rationale behind military action in Balochistan: to get into a position of strength` so that the weak enemy was forced to agree to terms for the resolution of the conflict. Whilst at war, this could be a prudent military strategy against an enemy. But is it justified against disgruntled and frustrated citizens of Pakistan? There is irony to be found in the death of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was targeted and killed in 2006.
**Immediately after, the official media announced the killing probably thinking that the impact would be an insurgency sapped of its strength. In actual fact, the province slid into renewed violence as the news of Bugtis death circulated. The killing revived and ignited Baloch nationalism, giving it a martyr while providing new young recruits to separatist and militant organisations. Now, the separatists are fighting for an independent Balochistan against Pakistans armed forces and law-enforcement personnel.
**The light at the end of the tunnel lies in delineating and marginalising separatists from the nationalists, who have been fighting for political and economic rights as enshrined in the 1973 constitution. The killing of nationalists is diminishing any prospects of peace and pushing more young Baloch into the separatist camp.
The national security paradigm has got Balochistan hamstrung, with even efforts towards development confined within it. A state version of the development of the provinces natural resources was put in place in which local needs and demands were imposed. Mega projects worth billions of rupees were launched under the Musharraf administration, but they were accompanied by proposals to establish military cantonments at Khuzdar, Gwadar, Dera Bugti and Kohlu. **While they were probably meant to protect the projects under way in enemy zones`, the impression created was that development was to be achieved at gunpoint.**
**Then in 2009, the federal government presented the Aghazi-Hugooq-i-Balochistan package. But Baloch leaders rejected it on the grounds that the government had not even mentioned a date for the cessation of military operations or the recovery of missing persons. True, the package addressed some of the genuine grievances of the province; but how good was that when the Baloch continued to pick up the mutilated and bulletriddled bodies of their compatriots? One recalls US president George W. Bush`s comments when his country launched aerial attacks against Afghanistan: he boasted of American generosity and said that American planes, while bombing Afghanistan, also dropped food for the poor and hungry.
**
Military offensives and political initiatives cannot go together. Economic packages to compensate for the destruction caused by military action will not be acceptable to the Baloch.
The authorities must immediately halt the military operation in the province, and make efforts to bring Baloch nationalists to the negotiating table. Credible assurances must be given regarding a fair investigation into the killing of political activists and the recovery of missing persons. A political process engaging all nationalist forces and tribal elders is the only silver lining.
The writer is the author of Economic Development of Balochistan.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Great work by Ali_Syed
Have a look
http://external.ak.fbcdn.net/safe_image.php?d=AQDQ1wKGhjj_YX2A&w=120&h=100&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesofindia.indiatimes.com%2Fphoto%2F7787613.cmsBaloch plight attracts US attention amid tense ties with Pak - The Times of India
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Dear kids, you can post all the articles by CIA and RAW paid Balochs living in Europe and America, but all of these are just words. The separatist Balochs have been loosing and will always be loosing. Those who want peace should drop their weapons, stop taking blood money from CIA and RAW, and then perhaps peace can be negotiated.
Governments, no matter how weak they are, never negotiate with killers and traitors.
Despite all these New-Dehli and Tel Aviv backed claims of rights of Baloch people, the average Baloch is sick and tired of these psychotic and assassin BLA indian paid target killers
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Sou bismillah, the state can declare any one a supporter of BLA and kill him. By the way which court has convicted these people? Since the state is powerful therefore it can do what ever it wants, declare any one a traitor, abduct and kill people without going through legal procedures. The way the military is operating in Balochistan it becomes difficult to distinguish between Pakistan military, taleban and BLA. Because the working of all three seem to be the same. Anyways, if the state is not concerned about the issue no problem the awareness amongst the masses is increasing.
I have gone through this phase of blind patriotism, which leads to nothing. We need to objectively see things, as the military has spoiled things throughout the history of Pakistan. e.g. 1971 Debacle, Siachin, Kargil & nuclear proliferation. Every time the army spoils the matters and then makes civilians as the scapegoats. Keep watching Balochistan space as well I dont see the army winning there militarily (6-7 years is a long time to subdue 2-3 tribes as our army tells us). When the situation will go out of hand it would be the (bloody) civilians who will be made scapegoats or bail them out of this crisis.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
What you call blind patriotism, I call humanity. Supporting killers is wrong and that is the bottom-line.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
What you call blind patriotism, I call humanity. Supporting killers is wrong and that is the bottom-line.
humanity ? killing balochs ? great
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Dear kids, you can post all the articles by CIA and RAW paid Balochs living in Europe and America, but all of these are just words. The separatist Balochs have been loosing and will always be loosing. **Those who want peace should drop their weapons, stop taking blood money from CIA **and RAW, and then perhaps peace can be negotiated.
Governments, no matter how weak they are, never negotiate with killers and traitors.
Despite all these New-Dehli and Tel Aviv backed claims of rights of Baloch people, the average Baloch is sick and tired of these psychotic and assassin BLA indian paid target killers
If only the ISI and pakistan Army listen to your advice in bold!
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
What you call blind patriotism, I call humanity. Supporting killers is wrong and that is the bottom-line.
Your views are warped. No country should be built on genocide. There is no humanity in abductions, dumping bodies, ethnic genocide.
If supporting killers is wrong why are you so blindly supporting the Army, whose track record, even as Ali Syed points out in post 290, if dismal.
No country should be built upon blood like this.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
What you call blind patriotism, I call humanity. Supporting killers is wrong and that is the bottom-line.
When govt agencies kill people, what category does it fall in?
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
When govt agencies kill people, what category does it fall in?
When indian-paid scums kill innocent people, what category does it fall in ?
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
When indian-paid scums kill innocent people, what category does it fall in ?
I am looking for an answer, not a question. If there is a 'criminal' then as a govt/state we are supposed to go through court trials for murderers unless you are saying our agencies are of same mentality of killing people and dumping without justice.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
My prayer to our army and government with regards to resolution of the Balochistan issue:
"Ya Allah hamaray hukmaranoun ko aql, tadabbur aur himmat day kay woh is masslay ko jaldi hal kar sakain, hamesha hamesha kay liyay!"
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
Peace in Balochistan Reintroducing the rule of law in Balochistan will require compromises from both sides, agencies and separatists.
By Editorial
Published: January 17, 2012
Two pieces of news highlighted just how lawless Balochistan has now become, and how both sides of the fight in the province are responsible for inflaming the situation. On January 16, the Supreme Court directed three agencies, the Intelligence Bureau, the Criminal Investigation Department and the Daily Secret Reports of the Special Branch, to hand over the last three months of intelligence reports on the province. The court accused the agencies of downplaying the violence that is plaguing the province and said that it would not hesitate to ask the ISI for its reports, should the need arise. That very same day, Shahzain Bugti, a grandson of Akbar Bugti, offered a reward of “one million rupees in cash, a bungalow worth Rs100 million and full security” to anyone who would kill Pervez Musharraf for allegedly ordering the killing of his grandfather.
So ingrained is the cycle of violence in Balochistan that 1) a popular political figure in the province can call for the assassination of a former president and not even face the possibility of arrest for incitement to violence and 2) the intelligence agencies can hide their role in the violence by simply prevaricating before the Supreme Court.
While the government and the military has been blamed, justifiably, for being initially responsible for sparking the violence, there is now no doubt that both sides have a lot to answer for. Separatist sentiments in the province prevail and Punjabi settlers, living in the province for many generations, fear for their lives. Even those in noble professions like education aren’t safe anymore.
**So ingrained is violence in the mindset of both sides that a solution seems close to impossible. Should Musharraf follow through on his promise to return to the country by the end of the month, arresting him for the murder of Akbar Bugti would be a start. The government should as soon as possible implement the Balochistan package, announced with much fanfare two years ago. There is probably no single thing that can be done to defuse tensions that would have as much effect as withdrawing the army. But this does not mean that separatists who tend towards violence should be given a free hand. Reintroducing the rule of law in Balochistan will require compromises from both sides.
**
Published in The Express Tribune, January 18[SUP]th[/SUP], 2012.
Re: Balochistan crisis & its resolution!
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012\01\18\story_18-1-2012_pg3_2#.TxbGhO_ZTHU.twitter
**ANALYSIS: Balochistan: the Gwadar aspect —Dr Qaisar Rashid
**
Clearly, the past of Balochistan is haunting the present and swaying the future, as Balochistan’s is a story of broken promises and frustrated expectations
**The known history of Balochistan is laden with persistent insurgency of variable intensity. The latest spike in insurgency is an artefact of the post-2000 events. The counter-insurgency launched by the state has also proved counter-productive, as the strategy has bolstered the resolve of the Baloch insurgents to rely on militancy for protection of the Baloch rights.
In fact, violence is an endemic problem Balochistan is faced with. The Balochistan version of violence has two actors: the insurgents and the security forces. The former uses the weapon of violence to instigate disorder and show its discontent while the latter uses the instrument of violence to restore peace and demonstrate its awe. The question is: can both the actors achieve their ends by resorting to violence?
**
**Caught in the crossfire are the political forces. Matters are decided by either the insurgents or the security forces. That is how violence overrules the rest. In this militant equation, the political forces have lost their say. Neither can they persuade the insurgents to renounce militancy nor can they rein in the security forces to exercise restraint.
One of the reasons for the incapacity of the political forces is that they cannot offer any guarantee to the insurgents that the promises made with them by anyone, including the state, will be respected. **That was one of the reasons that veteran Baloch politician Sardar Ataullah Mengal advised Nawaz Sharif on the latter’s recent visit to Karachi to speak instead to the Baloch insurgents hiding in the mountains. His statement alone reflects the enormity and gravity of the crisis buffeting Balochistan. Secondly, his statement indicates the scale of the cost — in terms of political and economic concessions — of neglecting and depriving Balochistan for years; the state must now be ready to pay. Third, his statement points out that hardly any broker is available in Balochistan. Clearly, the past of Balochistan is haunting the present and swaying the future, as Balochistan’s is a story of broken promises and frustrated expectations. Eventually, the political forces are waiting on the sidelines for the victor to surface to side with.
Within the political sphere, there is another quandary. The provincial government of Balochistan is not considered a true representative of the Baloch. The electoral result of the 2008 elections is considered a doctored one and the provincial government is considered a puppet one — which is always ready to dance to the tunes of the Centre. Consequently, the provincial government is failing to raise the concerns of the Baloch with the Centre. For instance, one of the concerns is the future of the Gwadar port.
The Baloch harbour an apprehension that after completion of the work on Gwadar port, people (non-Baloch) from other parts of the country would crowd it. The ensuing demographic shift would turn the locals into a minority. Secondly, the non-Baloch would buy land and property and do business while the locals would be unable to compete with them, as the locals are neither wealthy nor skilled to find their rightful socio-economic place in the Gwadar-originated economy. Third, the non-Baloch, after buying land and property would lay claim to the right to vote. Consequently, the locals would not be able to elect their own representatives while the non-Baloch would be able to hold sway over them.
There is another angle to look at the issues surrounding Gwadar port. As Gwadar is anticipated to become a mega city like Karachi in the future, the Baloch draw parallels with the Sindhis who have virtually lost representation and say in the coastline and resources of Karachi. The Baloch apprehend that in a developed Gwadar city, they would be marginalised by the non-Baloch. Secondly, the Baloch are apprehensive of the future of Gwadar city. The Baloch think that Karachi, which is a historical part of Sindh, may be declared a separate province if the demand of division of existing provinces along ethnic lines meets success. Hence, the non-Baloch populating Gwadar may follow in the same footsteps and may declare it a separate province.
In order to address their apprehensions, the Baloch nationalists are demanding a special status for Gwadar. That is, the non-Baloch migrating to Gwadar should be not only disenfranchised but also disallowed to purchase land or property in Gwadar. Secondly, there should be vocational institutes constructed to equip the Baloch with the necessary skills to secure technical jobs and earn their living. Third, the locals should be preferred in the jobs arising locally; however, only for a job against which a local is not available a non-Baloch should be employed. Fourth, the future city of Gwadar should not be carved out as a separate province. Late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti couched these demands in a term called ‘Saahil-o-Wasail’ (coastline and resources). That is, the Baloch should be made the proprietors of their coastline and resources. Nevertheless, the word ‘resources’ used in the term also has implications for the natural resources of the whole of Balochistan.
The situation indicates that there exists a trust deficit between the Baloch and the state. Further, the Baloch want to protect their economic interests but on their own terms. Against this background, it is heartening to hear that the PML-N, one of the largest mainstream political parties, has showed its concern for the Baloch. Its call to hold an All Parties Conference (APC) on Balochistan is a good omen and the invitation should be accepted by other political parties.
Generally speaking the insurgents and the security forces are two visible actors — some analysts call them the real stakeholders in Balochistan. Finding a middle ground and making both the actors agree to it will be a great challenge for the proposed APC. Secondly, the APC will have to devise a strategy to address the apprehensions of the Baloch on Gwadar. Third, the APC should be ready to offer a guarantee to the Baloch nationalists and insurgents of fulfilment of the vows made on the APC platform.
The writer is a freelance columnist. He can be reached at qaisarrashid@yahoo .com