Posts from — September 2009

LAHORE, Sept 3: The Jamhoori Watan Party (Talal) has postponed its proposed long march from Lahore up to Dera Bugti for an indefinite period.
At a press conference here on Thursday, JWP leader Shahzain Bugti’s secretary Madni Baloch said the decision had been taken in view of the incomplete consultation process with some political parties of Balochistan and Sindh, as well as of the difficulties the participants could face due to Ramazan.
The march was to start from Friday (today) from Minar-i-Pakistan.
A jirga of Bugti tribes’ chieftains had opposed the long march the other day and urged PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif not to interfere in the Bugtis’ politics. Supporting the march, Mr Sharif had contacted some political players in Balochistan in a bid to seek backing for Shahzain’s initiative. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/jwp-again-postpones-long-march-499

THE murder of Balochistan National Movement leader Rasool Baksh Mengal, whose body was found hanging from a tree in Bela, calls for strong condemnation. While the party’s spokesman has said this is a part of the campaign to eliminate Baloch leadership, those behind this deadly game are undoubtedly posing a big threat to the unity of the federation and must be brought to book. The worrying thing is that there is a pattern to such killings. A number of Baloch leaders have been targeted in the past. Just a few months back, three of them were gunned down, that led to violence in the province. On the other hand, attacks on settlers in Balochistan have multiplied. More and more people are being killed. While restoring calm to the province should be the top priority of the government, it must simultaneously gird up its loins to resolve the Balochistan crisis. The PPP-led government tendered apologies, but has failed to go beyond that. It must take concrete steps to remove the sense of grievance among the people in the province.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/02-Sep-2009/A-cause-for-concern

By Bari Baloch
QUETTA – A shutter down strike and wheel-jam was observed on Tuesday in different parts of Balochistan while

angry rioters took out rallies and protested against the killing of Baloch National Movement (BNM) Central

Joint Secretary Rasool Bakhsh Mengal.
The protesters torched three banks, Judicial Magistrate House, 4 vehicles, SHO’s house and ransacked offices of Qazi Court, telephone exchange in different towns of Balochistan. Over 15 women including five children were wounded due to baton-charge and tear gas shelling.
Rasool Bakhsh went missing on August 23 from Uthal area of Lasbela district and his body was found by police on August 31 from Bela area of the same district.
The call for the strike was given by the Baloch National Front which was also supported by all other Baloch nationalist parties.
In Quetta, main trading centers and shopping plazas remained opened and a partial wheel-jam strike was observed. However, business activities remained standstill in Baloch populated areas.
The attendance in the offices was also remained thin while educational institutes remained completely closed.
The administration had taken strict security steps to avert any untoward incident and mobile squads of police, Frontier Corps and Balochistan Constabulary continued patrolling the City.
Wheel jam strike also paralysed traffic on national highways linking Quetta with Taftan and Karachi.Unknown persons set a truck on fire and pelted vehicles with stones in different parts of Quetta while the activists of nationalist parties tied black ribbons on their arms to mourn the murder of BNM leader.
An explosive device planted outside a marriage hall at Spini Road went off with a huge bang smashing windowpanes of the building and caused damage to a electricity transformer. However, no loss of life was reported in the blast.
According to reports reaching from other towns of Balochistan, shutter down and wheel-jam strike was observed in Turbat, Mand, Tump, Gwadar, Panjgour, Nushki, Soorab, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mashkay, Dalbandin and other towns.
Slain BNM leader Rasool Bakhsh Mengal was buried in his ancestral town Khuzdar on Monday night.
The protesters took out a protest rally, chanted slogans against govt agencies and demanded of the UN and Humanitarian Organisations to take notice of alleged genocide of Baloch people.
Later, protesters got infuriated and set 4 vehicles on fire at police line area of Khuzdar. Police resorted to aerial firing, tear gas and baton charge to disperse the protesters.
Dozens of activists of Baloch National Front took out a rally in Tump against the murder of Baloch leader and condemned the killing.
Unruly protesters burnt three banks and a SHO’s house when police opened aerial firing to disperse protesters. Ten women and five children were wounded in Mand after security forces baton- charged a protest rally in Mand and fired tear gas to disperse the protesters.
Unknown people also set ablaze a Judicial Magistrate House in Mashkay and ransacked offices of Qazi Court and telephone exchange. The sources said that police have arrested 12 BNF activists from Turbat and Hub in ransacking incidents.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/02-Sep-2009/Balochistan-reels-under-violence

By Amanullah Kasi
QUETTA, Sept 1: A strike was observed in several districts of Balochistan on Tuesday on a call given by Baloch National Front in protest against the killing of Rasool Bakhsh Mengal.

The strike was observed in Nushki, Dalbandin, Kalat, Khuzdar, Awaran, Mashkay, Hub, Pasni, Gwadar, Kharan, Turbat, Mand, Tump, Mach and Sibi.

Traffic remained suspended from morning till evening between Quetta and Karachi, Quetta, Taftan and Jacobabad as protesters blocked the National Highway near Kalat, Nushki and Mach.

The strike did not affect the provincial capital where government offices, banks, educational institutions and markets opened as usual. There was normal traffic on the road. BNF leader Salam Sabir issued a statement in which he accused Frontier Corps personnel of baton-charging a women’s rally in Mand, injuring nine women.

He condemned an alleged FC raid on the Khuzdar Degree College and arrest of BSO activists Waleed, Saeed, Hussain, Jalal, Mujahid and Anwar.

Meanwhile, hundreds of people attended the funeral of Baloch National Movement leader Rasool Bukhsh Mengal on Tuesday. He was buried in his ancestral graveyard in Khalq-Jhalawan village of Khuzdar district.

The BNF paid tribute to Rasool Bakhsh Mengal for his struggle for the cause of Baloch people. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/strike-observed-in-parts-of-balochistan-299

ISLAMABAD, Sept 1: Three US senators called on President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday and expressed concern over the law and order situation in Balochistan.

According to sources, Senators Carl Levin and Jack Reed of the US Senate’s Armed Services Committee and Edward Kaufman of the Foreign Relations Committee stressed the need for complete peace in Balochistan and asked the government to settle all outstanding issues with the Baloch people.

The US believes that peace in Balochistan is imperative to winning the ‘war on terror’ because security agencies will not be able to concentrate on other fronts if they remain engaged in the province.
www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/us-senators-raise-balochistan-issue-299