Category — Human Rights

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

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 Talat Masood
The writer is a retired lieutenant-general of Pakistan
When the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) coalition government assumed power in 2008, it provided President Zardari with an excellent opportunity to focus on Balochistan. Initially, he did raise hopes when, as head of PPP and being of Baloch descent, he made a public apology for all the wrong doings of the past against the Baloch people. This was followed by further conciliatory gestures by both the president and prime minister which resulted in the release of political detainees and a relatively relaxed political environment. Sadly, the momentum was lost and the province is once again adrift with insurgency taking a turn for the worse, as was evident on the third death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti when the province came to a grinding halt.

Prior to the assassination of Akbar Bugti, the insurgency was primarily centered on Dera Bugti, but after his death it has spread beyond the tribal belt into settled areas of Makran, Sarawan and Jhalawan divisions. In fact, there is an on-going operation in Makran division. Target killings are on the rise and Shias and Punjabis are the main victims. In addition, gas pipelines and high-voltage transmission grids are being blown up, and the armed forces are being targeted. All three militant nationalist movements — the Balochistan Liberation Army, Baloch Republican Army and the Baloch Front are now engaged in low-level insurgency operations and are closely cooperating with one another in attacking military installations and civilian targets.

The Baloch nationalist leaders believe that the present civilian government, even if it wants to pursue a policy of reconciliation, will not succeed as the real policy is still being determined by the military intelligence as was the case during General Musharraf’s period. The Baloch leadership believes that the establishment is not prepared to shed control over their rich resources and there is lack of confidence between the state institutions and the province’s political elite.

Regrettably, the Baloch leadership also does not have much to offer. Tribal chiefs have been mistreating their own people and failing miserably while in office. They are rightly accused of deliberately mismanaging provincial resources and development funds. In fact, they have deliberately kept the people backward by not promoting education, failing to build hospitals and creating physical infrastructure. On the other hand, Balochi nationalists and tribal chiefs claim that the federal government has deprived them of their normal democratic rights and has taken control of their natural resources, thus throttling the Balochs economically and politically.

Extensive involvement of the military and age-old tribal customs has prevented normal political evolution in the province. Practically all Baloch nationalist parties that have a large following and include the Jamhoori Watan Party, Balochistan National party, National party and the Haq Tawar Party boycotted the last national and provincial elections. The current provincial assembly draws its strength more from the establishment than from the people. With politics and governance of the province being managed from outside, the representative character of the provincial government is indeed questionable.

General Musharraf erred by ordering a military operation against Akbar Bugti. The latter was perhaps among the few tribal leaders who had earlier been a part of government and was still prepared to engage with the establishment provided he was dealt with honourably. Instead, Musharraf adopted the fatal military option. The younger generation of tribal leadership has, since then, become more alienated and radicalised. General Musharraf, on the basis of his development projects, wrongly assessed that a majority of the Balochs are supportive of the government and tribal chiefs had limited following.

Tribal leaders claim that false cases are registered against them to keep them out of politics and force them to leave the country. Geography, poor communication links, the absence of political and economic development, antiquated social structures and lack of say in the management of natural resources are mainly responsible for the current state of Balochi frustration.

The main demands of the rebel groups are that security forces should be withdrawn. Political workers and insurgents under detention should be released and the government should make a public apology for its wrong doings. Their main demand however focuses on control of resources and a high level of provincial autonomy bordering on independence. The demand for provincial autonomy in accordance with the 1973 Constitution is perfectly valid and the federal government should grant it, but going beyond that is unacceptable. However, more crucial in the context of Balochistan are social reforms and unless these are undertaken, any sustainable development will not be feasible in a centuries-old tribal structure. The only way to bring the region in the mainstream is to allow genuine politics to take root. But for both political evolution and economic development, the government has to provide security which, so far, has been unsatisfactory.

The government accuses the Balochistan Liberation Army and other nationalist parties of having links with India, Afghanistan and other foreign agencies. The involvement of India was even brought to the attention of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh by our prime minister at Sharm-el- Shiekh and will remain a serious subject in future exchanges.

China, Iran and United States too have a deep interest in the province.

The establishment of the Gwadar deep-sea port, confirmed deposits of precious metals in the province and shared borders with Afghanistan and Iran has given Balochistan a unique strategic position. Gwadar has the potential of being a highly profitable communication link between China and the Persian Gulf, and between Central Asia and Pakistan. The US has a huge interest in the province to protect itself in Afghanistan, and considers it important in the context of its potential rivalry with China and poor relations with Iran. The power play of global and regional actors in an insurgency-ridden Balochistan is a serious challenge for Pakistan. Islamabad should realise that the peace security and stability of the province are closely interlinked with the integrity and future well being of Pakistan. And Balochi nationalism has to be assimilated and harmonised with the overall national interest, and not allowed to remain hostile to it. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=195789

INACTION continues to define the government’s conduct in regard to the many issues confronting Balochistan. It is becoming clear to an increasing number of Baloch people that while the state wants their resources, it has little empathy for them.

A year after President Pervez Musharraf — he can be blamed for many of our miseries today — stepped down, little has changed in the equation dogging Balochistan-centre relations. So far the elected government has only paid lip service to solving the restive province’s problems. The apology President Zardari offered to the people of Balochistan at the inception of the PPP-led government more than a year ago has not been followed up with any action to redress Baloch grievances.

Ms Asma Jahangir, the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, seems to be among the few spokespersons for the Baloch. She says the army is still very much in charge of that province; the political governments — at Islamabad and Quetta — have no say in managing Balochistan.

An unspecified but large number of Baloch nationalist leaders and political workers have gone missing even after the inception of the democratic government following the 2008 election. ‘Missing’ of course is a polite euphemism for abduction by security forces and intelligence sleuths.

Those who have been spared are either in hiding or lying low for fear of incarceration. The rest are raising a rebellion from abroad; those here are threatened with arrest unless they watch what they say. Why this humiliation of the Baloch in their own homeland?

Has democracy really returned to Balochistan? The elected provincial government keeps mum over these staggering issues or simply looks the other way. In Islamabad, the finger is being pointed at Indian interference in the province. The prime minister raised the issue with his Indian counterpart at a recent meeting in Egypt; the president says threats to Pakistan’s security are internal and not from India. Could someone please step forward and clear the haze?

The HRCP accuses the centre of giving Balochistan a raw deal right from the beginning. The province gets its gas royalties at a rate far below that paid to Sindh and Punjab for the same commodity. This financial year, as previously also, the Balochistan budget continues to be one of deficit, necessitating that Quetta beg Islamabad for financial assistance just to meet its running expenses; the 2009-10 budget has no funds earmarked for development because there is none to be undertaken under the dire straits.

Juxtapose this with the recently unveiled grand plan of building an entire new city in Thatta district, which President Zardari says will be Sindh’s second largest. It is on such lucrative mega-projects that have immense potential for doling out building contracts and blessing the minders and handlers with huge kickbacks in the process that our energies are focused.

If Gwadar and New Murree were the previous regime’s pet projects, Zulfikarabad now suddenly seems to have become this presidency’s priority. Gwadar never took off, and for obvious reasons. New Murree was scrapped altogether — as it should have been.

There is nothing wrong with building new cities; but first we must be able to run and manage the ones we have with some efficiency and public accountability. The new democratic order suddenly seems to be mandated to scrap everything that harks back to the Musharraf era. That is why local governments too will now have to be disbanded, which was perhaps the only saving grace of Musharraf’s — albeit faulty — process of transition to democracy. It allowed some empowering of the people’s representatives at the grassroots level.

Funds allocated and given to districts, town administrations and union councils did reach down to the more earthly and accessible beings from the high and mighty of the land, who are in the habit of blowing them on showcase projects or worse still, on serving multi-course gourmet meals at government houses when not globetrotting. With local governments about to be disbanded and no clear plan in sight to revamp the system, it is the economically depressed districts and even entire provinces, which will suffer most.

In Balochistan public disempowerment at the local level will further fuel the sense of alienation among the people. An average Baloch anywhere in Balochistan has perhaps never set foot in Quetta; he can be content by getting his two square meals in his small hamlet, a roof over his head and just the very basic amenities like water, sanitation and perhaps some schooling for children. Electricity for many in the hinterland is an additional blessing.

Now with the decision to scrap the local government system the little power the grassroots Baloch have had over their own finances will be concentrated in Quetta, without it trickling down to the far-off union councils.

Yet more hurting is the free run of the countryside allowed to the military and paramilitary forces in Balochistan over the preceding decade. The policy has bred much resentment amongst the average Baloch, and is part of the reason why the sardars known for their brutal customs and practices which target their own people are now emerging as people’s leaders — more so than those sent to elected legislatures only last year.

The army is not known to have solved any of Pakistan’s problems — at wartime or in peace — when left to its own devices. Its interference in public affairs has compounded our challenges and distorted the normal course of events. Its commercial interests pursued at the expense of the people are well documented. Ms Jahangir is right in asserting that Balochistan cannot be left to military decision-making mechanisms. The situation calls for political engagement among all concerned. This can only be possible if the government shows the will to act first by calling to account the gross human rights violations in the province, and thus removing the stigma of being disloyal to the state from the names of Baloch nationalists. It remains to be seen if the government is up to the task. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/why-bleed-balochistan-489

ON Friday, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani presided over a meeting of a parliamentary sub-committee tasked with making recommendations to the government on resolving the many issues faced by Balochistan. The meeting reportedly concluded with Mr Gilani considering constitutional amendments and proposals to allay Baloch nationalists’ misgivings. This included the recommendation to shorten the federal concurrent list which has far too many subjects assigned to the federal government, to the detriment of provincial autonomy. We have long argued in these columns for the shortening of the concurrent list which, in its existing form, is an anomaly given that the basic law guarantees the provinces far greater autonomy than is actually practiced. A consensus already exists among major political parties as well as other stakeholders i.e. those nationalist parties which boycotted the 2008 election. The PPP itself promised greater provincial autonomy in its election manifesto. The Charter of Democracy also endorses it. These realities make the delay on the part of the government in implementing political decisions rather unsettling. In the case of Balochistan it can be argued that the delay is seen by Baloch leaders as yet another attempt at scuttling the issue.

Balochistan under eight years of Gen Musharraf’s dispensation has been through a lot: Baloch leaders have been killed, chased, picked up and held by security agencies without due process; many have been forced to go into hiding or seek asylum abroad for fear of incarceration. This is not to say that the province fared far better under the general’s forerunners. A wringing sense of economic deprivation among the Baloch — and their alienation from the national mainstream — has increased over the years. This must be addressed on a priority basis. Any more foot-dragging will be criminal. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/make-balochistan-a-priority-389

By Abrar Saeed
ISLAMABAD – The Parliamentary Committee on Balochistan which met here under the chair of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani on Friday considered granting general amnesty to Baloch separatists if they agreed to lay down arms.
The meeting also reviewed overall political and law and order situation of the province.
The sources privy to the deliberations of the meeting informed TheNation that the government in that regard would take all major political stakeholders into confidence and as soon as the consultation process would be completed, the formal announcement in that connection would be made.
The sources further said that the government had deferred to summon All Parties Conference on Balochistan for the time being, as most of the members of the committee were of the view that majority of the demands of the province would be met through NFC Award and constitutional reforms process undertaken by the parliamentary committee to remove distortions from the Constitution.
The sources close to Pakistan People’s Party informed that Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) was willing to do something concrete to win the confidence of the Baloch nationalists and in that connection PML-N leadership had given the affirmative nod to support the move of granting general amnesty to the Baloch separatists, provided they would lay down their arms and join the mainstream politics.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister reiterated his resolve that the government was committed to mitigate the sufferings of Baloch people and would come up with a comprehensive development package for the most backward province. He recalled that PPP government soon after coming into power had not only apologised from the Baloch people for the apathy towards them by the federal government. He said that he himself announced financial package for Balochistan to help it handle the financial problems.
The committee members included Senator Mian Raza Rabbani, Federal Ministers Makhdoom Amin Fahim, Syed Khurshid Shah, Syed Naveed Qamar and Dr Zaheerudin Babar Awan and President PPP Balochistan, Senator Nawabzada Haji Mir Lashkari Raisani. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Politics/22-Aug-2009/APC-on-Balochistan-defered

THE killing by the Balochistan Republican Army of its remaining 10 policeman captives may well reflect that organization’s mindless brutality, but it also represents the failure of the government, which well knows the solution to the problem, but has not implemented it, or even moved towards its implementation. The BRA has killed the remainder of its police hostages left from the initial bloodletting, in which it killed eight of the 18 policemen it had kidnapped on July 30, along with 11 labourers, from Chhattar in Naseerabad district. In a vain attempt to stop that incident, four members of a pursuing police party, including a DSP, were killed. However, the labourers were all released by the kidnappers.
The government, in the person of the President, Asif Zardari, who is also co-Chairman of the PPP, had already apologized to the Baloch for past wrongs. The Balochistanis not only shared in the PPP’s mandate in the Centre, but also installed the PPP in the province itself, with its own Chief Minister for the first time since 1977. President Zardari had set up a committee to prepare for an All-Parties Conference on the province. Recently, in his Sharm Al-Sheikh meeting with Indian PM Dr Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister Yousuf Reza Gilani had the issue of Balochistan included in the final communiqué, which caused Dr Singh a lot of trouble in the Indian Parliament.
Apart from the genuine grievances of the Baloch, which include a continuing refusal by the central government to implement truly the provincial autonomy given by the Constitution, there are two other potent factors. First, so many years of military rule, under which the Baloch suffered more than others. Second, the accusation made to Dr Singh: that India (and Afghanistan) were supplying the Baloch money. Baloch nationalists should remember that they only do themselves a disservice by taking Indian help, and the only path for them is dialogue. The government should also remember that its only path out of the situation is that same dialogue. http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/Opinions/Editorials/12-Aug-2009/Deaths-in-Balochistan

When the first Baloch insurgency broke out in 1948 to resist the illegal and forceful annexation of the Baloch-populated autonomous Kalat state with Pakistan, Manmohan Singh – today Indian prime minister – was barely a teenager while his Pakistani counterpart Yousuf Raza Gilani had not even been born to witness the rebellion’s magnitude. Yet, last month, both leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh discussed for the first time the indefatigable Baloch insurgency.

Pakistan has been blaming India for causing trouble in its resource-rich province. 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. Punjabi officers refuse to serve in Balochistan, fearing they would be target-killed. Islamabad attributes the unrest to ‘foreign involvement’. 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. Indian assistance sounds ridiculous given that the Baloch do not share a border, common language, religion or history with India. Hardly has 1 per cent of Balochs have visited India.

The idea of Pakistan never attracted the secular Baloch. Ghose Baksh Bizanjo, a Baloch leader, said in 1947: “It is not necessary that by virtue of our being Muslims we should lose our freedom… If the mere fact that we are Muslims requires us to join Pakistan, then Afghanistan and Iran… should also amalgamate with Pakistan.”

Over the years, Islamabad has applied a multi-pronged approach to deal with Balochista Apart from military operations launched in 1948, 1958, 1962, 1973 and 2002 to quash the rebellion, Islamabad adopted other tactics. First, it kept the province economically backward by denying it good infrastructure, mainly in education and health. Natural gas was discovered in Balochistan in 1951 and supplied to Punjab’s industrial units. The Balochs hardly benefit from their own gas.

Second, Balochs, whom the state views as traitors, were denied representation in the army, foreign services, federal departments, profitable corporations, Pakistan International Airlines, customs, railways and other key institutions. Third, Balochistan has historically been remote-controlled from Islamabad. A Pakistan army corps commander, often a Punjabi or a Pathan, and the inspector general of the Frontier Corps, a federal paramilitary force with less than 2 per cent Baloch representation, exert more power than the province’s elected chief minister. The intelligence agencies devise election plans and decide who has to come to the provincial parliament and who should be ousted.

Fourth, Islamabad has created a state of terror inside Balochistan. Hundreds of check posts have been established to harass people and restrict their movement. Forces and tanks are stationed even on campuses of universities. Fifth, national and international media are denied access to conflict zones in Balochistan. Several foreign journalists were beaten up supposedly by intelligence agencies personnel or deported when they endeavoured to report the actual situation. Sixth, international human rights organisations are denied access to trace the whereabouts of some 5,000 ‘missing persons’. Pakistan is also in a state of denial about the existence of around 2,00,000 internally displaced persons in Balochistan.

Seventh, Islamabad has been engaged in systematic target killing of key Baloch democratic leaders. Ex-governor and chief minister of Balochistan, Nawab Akbar Bugti, 79, became a victim once he demanded Baloch rights. Balach Marri, a Balochistan Assembly member, was killed to undermine the movement. In April this year, three other prominent leaders were whisked away by security forces and subsequently killed.

Eighth, Pakistan has pitted radical Taliban against secular and democratic Baloch forces. The state is brazenly funding thousands of religious schools across the province with the help of Arab countries to promote religious radicalisation. Elements supportive of Taliban were covertly helped by state institutions to contest and win general elections. They now enjoy sizeable representation in the Balochistan Assembly to legislate against the nationalists and secular forces.

Ninth, Islamabad has been using sophisticated American weapons, provided to crush Taliban, against the Baloch people. This has provided breathing space to Taliban hidden in Quetta and weeded out progressive elements. Finally, Afghan refugees are being patronised to create a demographic imbalance in the Baloch-dominated province.

Baloch leaders are critical of many democratic countries for not doing ‘enough’ to safeguard a democratic, secular Baloch people. I asked Bramdagh Bugti, a Baloch commander, about the India link. He laughed and said, “Would our people live amid such miserable conditions if we enjoyed support from India? We are an oppressed people… seeking help from India, the United States, the United Nations and the European Union to come for our rescue.”

The Baloch movement is rapidly trickling down from tribal chiefs to educated middle-class youth aggressively propagating their cause on Facebook and YouTube. This generation would understandably welcome foreign assistance but will not give up even if denied help from countries like India. The Baloch insist their struggle was not interrupted even at times when India and Pakistan enjoyed cordial relations.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4878167,prtpage-1.cms

LAHORE, Aug 5: Indian interference is being alleged in Balochistan to justify the military operation, says Jamhoori Watan Party President Shahzain Bugti.

Speaking as chief guest at a seminar entitled “Threats to National Security and Our Responsibilities” here on Wednesday, Bugti said the government should prove its allegations of Indian interference in Balochistan if it had any evidence. “We are accused of being pro-India. We would have voted for inclusion of Balochistan in India in 1947 if we had been in favour of India,” he said.

Bugti, the grandson of late chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti, said the federal government always wronged Balochistan. “Baloch people were asked to come down from mountains in 1960 and hanged. Nawab Akbar Bugti was assassinated and Gwadar was snatched from Balochistan.” Bugti said allegations of target killing of Punjabis were being levelled to justify the presence of Frontier Constabulary in Balochistan.

He said Baloch people did not hate Punjabis. He said his party was criticised for demanding royalty for gas. He however said that his party demanded the royalty for the Balochistan government and not for itself.

He said the gas emanating from Balochistan was not available in most parts of the province and its rates were higher there than Punjab and Sindh.

Awami National Party Secretary General Ehsan Wyne said he spent three months with the late Bugti in Kot Lakhpat Jail, but never heard him talking against Pakistan.

He said there had been eight military operations in Balochistan so far and the last one was still in progress. He said people revolted as they did in East Pakistan whenever they were deprived of their rights.

He said people’s rights would have to be restored for trial of Pervez Musharraf. He said Punjab was abused for the evils of its bureaucracy. Pakistan Democratic Party Secretary General Nawaz Gondal said most problems being faced by the country had been created by dictators, who destroyed all national institutions to prolong their rules.

He said the country needed an institution to prevent loot and plunder. He said Musharraf should be tried for the assassination of the late Bugti.

He said democracy had not been restored in the country despite the general election, adding that the incumbent government was civil, but not democratic.

Former federal law minister SM Masood said the country was facing problems because of various institutions’ attempts to usurp each other’s powers. He said the tug of war destabilised the country, while foreign pressures were also creating problems. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/unrest-in-balochistan-india-being-blamed-to-justify-military-action-689

Dr Wahid Baloch is President of the Baloch Society of North America and is considered close to many senior leaders in Pakistan and Iran. He is a medical professional living in Florida . He spoke to Nagesh Bhushan of the Rediff.com on the recent Indo-Pak joint statement in Egypt and what it means for the Baloch fight for freedom.

Question:The recent Indo-Pak joint statement in Egypt raised considerable ruckus in India for including restive province of Pakistan, Balochistan. Do you think that Baloch issue is internationalised by this?

Answer: Depends on what you mean by internationalised? If you think internationalising means people around the world came to know about what is going on inside Balochistan, then yes, but if you mean recognition of Baloch struggle for freedom by United Nations or world leaders, then no. At this point, neither the UN nor the world leaders have recognised Balochistan as an illegally occupied land which the Baloch people are demanding.

Question: In Pakistan some groups questioned not including Kashmir in the joint statement. Why do you think Kashmir was excluded?

Answer: The Kashmir issue is created by Pakistan. There is no Kashmir issue. Unlike Balochistan, which is an occupied land, Kashmir was and is an integral part of India. Kashmiri separatist religious movements only exists and is based in Pakistani occupied Kashmir, where the Inter Services Intelligence and military men train Kashmiri terrorists and send them to India to kill innocent people.

Question: Is India aiding the Baloch struggle?

Answer: No, not yet. We have not seen any help coming from India or any other country so for, but we ask all the nations including India to help us and support our just cause for freedom.

Question: In the past Pakistan made similar allegations that they had proof of Indian involvement in the Baloch region but didn’t produce any evidence. Why do you think Pakistan included Balochistan in joint statement now?

Answer: Pakistan is trying to divert the attention of Indian government and world community from its involvement in the Mumbai terror attacks and other Taliban sponsored activities. They also want to use this ‘threats in Balochistan’ and ‘Indian involvement’ as a pretext to pave the way to intensify their ongoing military operation in Balochistan and to justify their inhuman barbaric actions against the Baloch people.

Question: If not India then who is arming the Baloch militants?

Answer: Nobody is arming the Baloch people. These are baseless allegations of Pakistan to use as pretext to continue their aggression against the defenseless Baloch people. Arms are available in open market, in fact everywhere in Pakistan. If you have the money, you can buy a tank, even in Islamabad, Lahore or in Karachi. Corrupt Pakistani military men will bring it to you at your doorstep. You don’t have to go get it. They will sell you anything for money.

Question: Is there any rationale in Pakistan’s allegations about India arming Baloch militant groups while seriously engaging in negotiation with Iran and Pakistan on the gas pipeline?

Answer: Pakistan’s creation was the biggest blunder of history, it is an artificial country. How can you expect an irrational Pakistan to talk and act with some sense of rationale?
As for as the gas pipeline is concerned, the Baloch people cannot guarantee its safe passage through Balochistan, because the final beneficiary of this pipeline is the Pakistani military and the Iranian regime — not the people of Balochistan. We are in the midst of our freedom struggle against Pakistan, therefore it is advisable for India to exercise caution before investing in this project.

Question: Do you support the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline?

Answer: I will support anything that benefits the Baloch people and Balochistan. But as I said we cannot guarantee safe passage now. We do not support Pakistan to continue loot and plunder our resources and treat us as one of their colonies.

Question: The Iranian Baloch group Jundullah uses religion to fight against the Shia state. Pakistani-based groups are considered secular and never use religion in their struggle against Pakistan. Do you support acts of Jundullah?

Answer: No. Jundullah is a terrorist organisation. I strongly denounce Jundullah and its activities. Jundullah is being funded by Pakistani ISI to counter the secular nationalist Baloch movement. Jundullah must stop its radical activities which are detrimental to the Baloch cause. Jundullah must be replaced by a Baloch nationalist secular movement in Iranian-occupied Balochistan.

http://news.rediff.com/interview/2009/aug/04/inter-india-is-not-helping-the-baloch-freedom-struggle.htm