Category — Balochi Crisis

QUETTA, Oct 10: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf chief Imran Khan has called for mid-term polls in Balochistan so that ‘genuine’ elected representatives could be elected to resolve problems facing the province.
Addressing a press conference at the Bugti House and a public meeting at Meezan Chowk on Saturday, the PTI leader said he was demanding elections because the existing provincial government was not a representative of the masses.
He claimed that a new government formed by fresh elected representatives would not allow military operation in the province.
He said the government had failed to resolve people’s problems because its representatives had been chosen in polls that were conducted by a military dictator and in the absence of an independent judiciary and election commission.
Mr Khan urged the armed forces in Balochistan to keep their guns silent because political issues could only be settled through negotiations. http://epaper.dawn.com/ArticleText.aspx?article=11_10_2009_005_002

By Malik Siraj Akbar
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani on Saturday relieved the provincial minister for parliamentary affairs, Rubina Irfan, of her duties, reportedly because of “objectionable activities” that were undermining the stability of the provincial coalition government.

The female minister belongs to the Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid and is the wife of Agha Irfan Karim, former minister for Zakat and Ushr, who earlier tendered his resignation to express solidarity with PPP minister Ali Madad Jattak. “Rubina’s portfolio has been given to Shama Perveen Magsi, the minister for Information Technology [and wife of Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi],” a senior official at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat confirmed. “Rubina will retain the status of a provincial minister, but without a portfolio,” he added. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\11\story_11-10-2009_pg7_15

By Malik Siraj Akbar in The Daily Times, Oct 10
QUETTA: Several civil society organisations have decided to launch a countrywide signature campaign to express solidarity with the people of Balochistan.
Sungi Development Foundation Director (programmes) Asad Rehman announced this at a seminar, Proposed Balochistan Package and the NFC award. Rehman said Pakistan would disintegrate if the federating units were not treated equally and respectfully. People had realised that Balochistan had been brought to the verge of disintegration due to the erroneous and repressive policies of successive governments, he said. “The government should make arrangements for the return of the internally displaced persons of Dera Bugti and Kohlu to their hometowns. The Hindus should be compensated for the damage caused to their houses during the military operation. Nawab Akbar Bugti’s body must be handed over to his family,” he added.
Balochistan National Party (BNP) President Dr Jahanzeb Jamaldini said, “We reject all kinds of packages. We want ownership of our natural resources. It is impossible to run the country on the basis of ad hocism,” he commented.
National Party President Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch said the government had not consulted the Baloch parties on the proposed package. The ruling party, he said, was treading in the footsteps of former military ruler Gen (r) Pervez Musharraf.
BNP Secretary General Habib Jalib said the military government had promoted around 6,000 seminaries in the province. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\10\10\story_10-10-2009_pg7_26

The Balochistan High Court’s order to book former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf, his PM Shaukat Aziz and others for killing Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti is the first substantial move to open up contentious issues which the present PPP government has hitherto avoided. The court’s order may force Musharraf, now in self-exile, to consider hard whether to return to Pakistan, but it also has the potential to pitch the newly assertive judiciary against the civil and military establishment. Parts of the political spectrum, including the opposition parties, will welcome the order, yet it may seem easy for a judge to order Musharraf’s trial for murder, but it would be harder for the government to comply.

If the judiciary persists with the pressure and forces the executive to act, an unfortunate situation of confrontation may develop. But to correct the massive distortions in our political and judicial systems, such bitter pills have to be swallowed. Somewhere, someday, somebody will have to start the process. Though it may appear impractical now, the FIR against Musharraf and others must be registered and action must be initiated, to the extent possible. If the PPP government drags its feet, governments to come later can pick up the thread. But the process must begin. Musharraf must be booked and tried. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=202108

By Amanullah Kasi in The Dawn, Oct 8
QUETTA, Oct 7: The Balochistan High Court has ordered the SHO of Dera Bugti police station to register an FIR against former president Pervez Musharraf and others in the murder case of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti.
On a petition by Nawab Bugti’s son Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, a bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa ordered on Wednesday registration of a case against the respondents, except NWFP Governor Owais Ghani.
The petitioner had nominated Gen (retd) Musharraf, former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former governor of Balochistan Owais Ghani, former chief minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf, former interior minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao and former home minister Shoaib Nausherwani.
The court accepted the submission of the petitioner, but excluded the name of Mr Ghani who being governor of the NWFP holds a constitutional position.
Mr Sherpao’s counsel Barrister Masoor Shah pleaded that he had no role in the killing. He said that forces which had killed the Baloch leader during a military operation were not under his command and he had not been consulted or informed about the action.
Mir Nausherwani said that three lawyers contacted by him had not yet responded to his request to represent him.
He denied having played any role in the killing of Nawab Bugti and said he had not been consulted on military actions in Dera Bugti.
He said the killing of the Baloch leader was a sad incident and morally he felt guilty for having failed to resign after the incident.
Deputy Attorney General Afzal Jami said the issue was a provincial matter and the federation had nothing to do with it.
Balochistan Prosecutor General Malik Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani said he had no objection to registration of the FIR.
The petitioner had challenged on Sept 8 the rejection by the Sibi sessions court of his application for registration of the report.
The chief justice had issued notices on Sept 11 to the respondents, except Mr Ghani, but neither the ex-president, the former prime minister and chief minister nor their counsel appeared before the court.
Nawab Bugti was killed on Aug 26, 2006.
APP adds: Interior Minister Rehman Malik told journalists in Islamabad that the federal government respected all judicial orders, including that of the BHC regarding Gen (retd) Musharraf. He expressed full support for the court order.
He said the former president did not have immunity from Interpol’s red warrants.
“We will extend maximum cooperation to the provincial government whenever required,” he added. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/front-page/registration-of-bugti-case-against-musharraf-ordered-809

By Bari Baloch
QUETTA – Chief Minister Balochistan has started efforts to soothe those ministers in his Cabinet who were angry for not having portfolios or their departments were not attractive enough after sacking of PPP Minister Ali Madad Jattak from the Cabinet.
Ali Madad Jattak was devoted worker of PPP and he was elected as member of Balochistan Assembly for the first time in the general elections of 2008.
His success became possible because of boycott of elections by nationalist forces of Balochistan.
He was amongst the most loyal people to Chief Minister of Balochistan Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani and his brother Senator Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani who is also the President of PPP Balochistan.
Formation of coalition govt under the leadership of PPP was the top priority of central leadership of party therefore all important and lucrative departments were given to JUI (F), Balochistan National Party (Awami) and the independent group because they had assured their support to Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani for formation of the govt.
This is why PML(Q) could not form govt in Balochistan despite being the largest party in the Provincial Assembly.
PML(Q) not only failed to form govt but after failure its all members supported Nawab Muhammad Aslam Khan Raisani for the office of Chief Ministership except Sardar Yar Muhammad Rind who had a feud with Raisani tribe.
Because of this situation, PPP Ministers got less important Ministries while some of them were Ministers without portfolios causing anger amongst them. However Ali Madad Jattak was allocated the Department of Food which was better as compared to the departments of some other Ministers of party.
It may be recalled that Food Department is amongst the allegedly notorious departments in Balochistan like Communication and Works. Annually around 600 million to 1000 million rupees are allocated for subsidy of wheat but a major portion of this amount goes in the pockets of officers of the department.
Though parliamentary leader of PPP in Provincial Assembly Muhammad Sadiq Umrani and some other Ministers of PPP were not happy and they were alleging that Chief Minister was not giving due importance to ministers of PPP as compared to ministers of other parties.
Majority of PML(Q) ministers were also making the same complaint.
However, Ali Madad Jattak joined the camp of critics of Chief Minister and his brother when provincial President of party Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani tendered his resignation from his office as he had not only made the central leadership of party subject of criticism but he had also said that Ministers of PPP in Balochistan were not solving problems of the workers.
He had also levelled charges of corruption on some of his party ministers.
Ali Madad Jattak caused rebellion and became the leader of that group which doesn’t want to see Senator Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani as provincial President of the party following the statement of latter.
Few months back Jattak visited Islamabad alongwith Agha Irfan Karim who tendered his resignation as a protest against dismissal of the former from the Cabinet.
Following these meetings some reports appeared in local Press that central leadership of party was considering change of entire provincial leadership because there were serious differences between Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani and party’s provincial General Secretary Bismillah Khan Kakar.
Alongwith these reports this was talk of the town that Ali Madad Jattak would be given an important position in the party following change of provincial leadership.
Besides meetings with central leadership, Ali Madad Jattak had also met some PML(Q) leaders including PML Parliamentary leader Sheikh Jafar Khan Mandokhel in Quetta.
Some reliable sources said that these moves had annoyed Chief Minister Balochistan. He changed Secretary of Food during Eid holidays.
Following this step Ali Madad Jattak issued a statement that he had support of 28 members of Balochistan Assembly and they would make a protest in the next session of Balochistan for interference of junior officers of CM secretariat in the departments of PPP ministers.
Chief Minister dismissed him from Cabinet with a charge that Ali Madad was creating distrust between PPP and provincial government and his moves were tantamount to destablising the provincial government.
After his dismissal Chief Minister is making efforts to compensate other PPP and PML ministers who were without portfolios or their departments and were not lucrative.
He allocated Food Department to PPP Minister Asfandyar Kakar and the Excise and Taxation Department to other PPP Minister Baboo Muhammad Amin Umrani. While Zakat and Ushar Department was taken from Agha Irfan Karim and was allotted to PML (Q) Minister Salim Khosa who had earlier a less important department.
Political observers are of the view that so far there was no big threat to govt of Nawab Aslam Khan Raisani ,however, he would have to face a difficult situation as a large number of his Ministers are not satisfied with their portfolios.
He has to also face another difficult situation because a large number of Balochistan Assembly members have announced to move a no-trust motion against Speaker of Balochistan Assembly Muhammad Aslam Bhootani.
Some political observers also believe that the rise of sudden differences by the PPP leaders with their own CM heralds an attempt between the establishment to pave the way for mid-term elections in Balochistan. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online//Politics/27-Sep-2009/Political-situation-heats-up-in-Balochistan

By Tahir Niaz
ISLAMABAD: The law and order situation is the foremost factor that has hampered the exploration of gas and production activity in Balochistan over the last few years, according to the recently-released ‘Balochistan Economic Report’.

The report – a copy of which is available with Daily Times – said over three-fifths of the 657 terrorist attacks in 2006, nearly one-third of deaths in such attacks and almost half the injuries were reported in Balochistan. The report said the security situation in Balochistan worsened in 2006 compared to the previous year. It said the number of terrorist attacks in 2006 was almost twice as high as the period between 2002 and 2005. According to the report, the gas fields of Sui, Uch, Pirkoh and Loti are all located in Dera Bugti, which is at the heart of a violent conflict. The report identifies the principal reason for the deteriorating security situation as “a violent conflict between security forces and the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and Bugti tribesmen”.

It said the BLA, the Balochistan Liberation Front and Bugti militiamen launched 403 terrorist attacks in the province during 2006, killing 277 people and injuring 676 others. It said gas pipelines, security checkpoints and camps, government offices, rail tracks and bridges were targeted in these attacks. According to statistics compiled by the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), Dera Bugti accounted for two-fifths of the 136 terrorist attacks reported in Balochistan between January 2006 and July 2006. The attacks killed 137 people and injured 315 others. According to the Balochistan Economic Report, Kohlu district – a stronghold of the BLA—along with Quetta and Sibi represent over a quarter of the terrorist attacks.

The report said Balochistan accounted for three-fifths of all terrorist attacks in Pakistan during 2006, and most of them took place in or around Dera Bugti. It said the precarious security situation in Dera Bugti was the main reason behind the decline in gas output – with the financial impact felt throughout the province. According to the study, the security situation in Balochistan was “highly unsatisfactory” during 2007, as terrorists continued attacking state installations and security apparatus.

The report said with gas fields exhausting, security worsening, fiscal receipts declining and community support in doubt, Balochistan’s gas economy was in urgent need of reforms. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\09\21\story_21-9-2009_pg7_10

By Salim Saifullah Khan
The writer is a senator and a former federal minister
Balochistan is the most serious crisis confronting Pakistan today. The grievances of the Baloch are well known to all, and yet no strategy has been adopted to remove them.

One word that defines the Gilani government is procrastination. On assumption of power in March last year, he offered the nation his 100 days plan, in which he also promised that the Concurrent List would be abolished within 12 months and the provinces would be given autonomy in accordance with the Constitution and the provinces and rights over their own resources. It is 18 months since then and no real movement has been made in any direction with the result that the patience of Baloch leaders is wearing thin and extremist elements are replacing the moderate leadership.

The tardy manner the issue is being addressed shows both the government’s ineptitude and its inefficiency. Each passing day is making the problems more intractable.

Recently, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar assured the nation that “a serious rethinking is already under way.” On April 22 last year, Zardari had also set up a National Reconciliation Committee for Balochistan. Its mandate was to have an in-depth study of issues such as provincial autonomy, Balochistan’s share in national resources, good governance, poverty-alleviation, an end to political persecution, tracing of missing persons, rule of law and relations between the province and the federation. The committee held only one meeting and lapsed into oblivion. I hope the present exercise doesn’t meet a similar fate.

It is unfortunate that the present government, with the largest cabinet in Pakistan’s history, has not yet appointed a minister for inter-provincial coordination. In the past inter-provincial coordination was considered an important portfolio. PPP stalwarts like Abdul Hafeez Pirzada and Rafi Raza held this portfolio. As minister for inter-provincial coordination during the last government, I had the opportunity to deal with the Balochistan Issue in all aspects and based on my personal knowledge, experience and contacts with Baloch leadership I can say confidently that the Baloch question is not intractable and can be solved if there is political will.

This brief account amply show why the Baloch leadership is so frustrated and doesn’t trust Islamabad. In the last 18 months the Baloch leadership has received only pious words and expressions of good intentions, which were not followed up by action. Time is of the essence. Governor Magsi has rightly warned the government that “the province will get out of control if the federal government did not take immediate corrective measures. How the situation is taking an ugly turn is evident from the unilateral “Declaration of Independence of Balochistan” by Prince Dawood Sulaiman, the Khan of Kalat, August 11. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=198806

IN a series of recent TV interviews, Shah Zain Bugti, the grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, has spoken eloquently on what needs to be done to end the insurgency in Balochistan.

The crux of his argument is that Balochistan minus the Baloch is a grossly flawed policy — one that Islamabad has been pursuing all these years. The young Jamhoori Watan Party leader has restricted his demands to three points: the trial of Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, the provision of gas royalty arrears to Balochistan and provincial autonomy. As the aggrieved heir to the slain Baloch leader, he has all the right to ask for the general’s trial.

It was almost pitiful to watch the Baloch leader being repeatedly grilled by anchors on the conduct of Baloch sardars, that too in response to his overtures when he emphasised that he sought a solution to the Balochistan predicament within the ambit of the 1973 constitution. The sardars’ anti-people policies, tyranny and support for terrorist attacks on vital installations in the province kept coming up. The construction of the coastal highway and the Gwadar port were also cited as development projects which have been opposed tooth and nail by Baloch nationalists.

There may be some merit in such counterpoints raised by self-righteous journalists. But what one fails to understand is why are the Baloch singled out for this harsh treatment. The Pakhtuns, too, have a tribal system which is taken as basic law by many communities. Clans in Sindh and biradaris in Punjab also practise tribal customs, some of them truly despicable.

Likewise, cult politics continues to be the norm within the country’s so-called democratic parties, whose ‘representative’ leaders often bury their heads in the sand when even a gross violation of the law takes place. In a country full of historical injustices and abuse such as that of Mukhtaran Mai, the burning of Christian homes in Gojra, Karachi’s May 12, 2007 street violence, to name a few, how can any objective observer single out Baloch sardars for censure?

The Baloch are not half as well integrated with the rest of Pakistan as, say, those hailing from Sindh. Their elected leaders at the centre and in the province do not enjoy the same representative status as do leaders from other provinces. The reason is that when the 2008 elections took place, Balochistan was in the grip of turmoil and Baloch nationalists had boycotted the polls.

As for the building of Gwadar port and the coastal highway by the Musharraf regime, nationalists allege, with some weight in their argument, that these projects have largely bypassed local communities. Sliding law and order has kept the Baloch at bay from job opportunities created at the port and the labour employed at the port is mostly from Sindh. The transporters whose vehicles ply the coastal highway are Pathan; the law enforcers operating across Balochistan are all Pathan and Punjabi.

If a Baloch villager is found carrying a few cans of unauthorised Iranian petrol in order to sell it to make a living, he is harshly punished and without due process; even his vehicle is impounded. He has to bribe his way out. This despite the fact that most of the petrol sold in Balochistan comes illegally from Iran, transported by petrol barons for whom the law enforcers conveniently look the other way. The same goes for the smuggling of ration provisions, liquor and other contrabands by non-Baloch smugglers.

The grievances of the Baloch are real and not imaginary. In his own homeland an average Baloch is treated like a man colonised by the many arms of the state which only know how to twist his arm. Little wonder then, that nationalist leaders, mainly highhanded sardars, should find resonance for their own causes with the Baloch people.

The Makran region comprising the coastal belt and areas bordering Iran, where much of the wrongdoing goes on and smugglers make millions a day, has no sardari system. The socioeconomic system in this Baloch-majority region is cooperative rather than competitive. No cruel, depraved sardars exist here. But there is widespread resentment and frustration among the people, hence their support for the sardars as their sole spokesmen.

Whenever in the past the sardars struck deals with Islamabad, not a drop of honeydew coming their way trickled down to these utterly impoverished Baloch. If Gen Musharraf, and rulers before him and those that have followed him, had established a somewhat equitable distribution of the wealth generated by this region, the situation today would be very different. But the people have been left at the mercy of the highhanded state machinery on the one hand and Baloch sardars, who now claim to be their messiahs, on the other.

What Shah Zain Bugti has been saying makes much sense. Even under these extremely extraordinary circumstances, he is not demanding extraordinary measures for Balochistan but pleading for provincial autonomy, which will benefit the other federating units equally. It’s the myriad government agencies operating in Balochistan which have no Baloch representation and which routinely break the law when it comes to penalising the Baloch that are the biggest hurdle in the way of resolving the crisis.

The Baloch must be given due representation in state institutions; in the vast security apparatus as well as development projects that, emanating from Balochistan, continue to benefit everyone but the Baloch. Couple this with provincial autonomy and subject the operations of law-enforcement agencies to scrutiny and the crisis will be over. All it takes is will in Islamabad to survey reality and move to correct the many wrongs done to the Baloch in their own homeland. (this article first appeared in The Dawn, Karachi on Sept 10, 2009)

THE government seems to have realised that only substantive measures in Balochistan can address the insurgency in the province. Chief Minister Aslam Raisani has said that the prime minister will shortly announce the first measure: to stop work on the new cantonments under construction in Dera Bugti and Kohlu. Hopefully, this should be among the first genuine moves to start the reconciliation process. This was a major Baloch demand that was endorsed by a parliamentary committee some years ago, and the government’s attempt to meet it should go a long way towards reassuring the people of the province that Islamabad is serious about looking into their grievances. The government must implement the decision in good faith. The Baloch are sensitive to the militarisation of their province. The military is seen as the source of oppression and tyranny by them and a means to stifle their demand for provincial autonomy.

Considering the number of issues that have plagued relations between Islamabad and Quetta, it is clear that stopping work on the cantonments alone would not resolve the Balochistan problem. The federal government is fully aware of this. Four committees in the last few years — the latest being the Raza Rabbani committee that made its recommendations a few months ago — have studied the grievances of the Baloch and made sensible recommendations. Action is needed on the missing persons, the Gwadar port and fiscal matters that have been raised at the NFC forum. These together with other issues have led to a sense of deprivation in the troubled province. Unfortunately, the government has not been able to decide how to start a dialogue with the nationalists and party leaders without whose cooperation no agreement can be worked out. Dialogue is absolutely essential if there is to be good faith between the two parties. Perhaps that is why Raza Rabbani suggested the release of political prisoners, the recovery of missing people and a judicial enquiry into the murder of some Baloch leaders. These would essentially serve as confidence-building measures and ensure a good start to the dialogue process.

It is a pity that the government is still mulling over the format to be adopted for negotiations. It sometimes hints that a jirga might be held to announce the measures. On other occasions there is talk of an all-parties conference. Now we are being told that the prime minister will unilaterally announce a special package for Balochistan. What needs to be understood is that no plan can succeed without the active participation of all stakeholders which include the Baloch representatives. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/the-baloch-issue-999