Category — Human Rights

QUETTA, July 31: Nationalist groups would take strong action if Frontier Corps personnel continued to ridicule the Baloch dress code and insult Baloch elders and youths for wearing certain clothes, chief of the National Party Dr Abdul Malik Baloch said here on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, he said that Baloch people were being humiliated for wearing a different type of Shalwar-Kameez which was a serious matter.
He urged provincial government to take action against FC men who were victimising Baloch youths.
He accused the FC of turning Quetta into a war zone and said that the Baloch people faced the wrath of FC personnel whenever any incident occurred even in the city’s suburbs. He said that they had hoped that things would improve with the PPP-led government, but the situation had worsened in Balochistan. Instead of ending military operation and freeing political workers, the government had intensified punitive actions, he added.
He condemned target killings and said it was the responsibility of the government and law-enforcement agencies to arrest the culprits. Dr Malik said that although he was not prepared to to mediate between the government and militants, he would fully back talks to resolve the Balochistan issue. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/national/fc-warned-against-mocking-baloch-dresses-189

Senators concerned over FC ‘excesses’ against Baloch youth
The Daily Times, July 29, 2009
ISLAMABAD: Senators from Balochistan on Tuesday expressed concern over what they claimed “excesses” of the Frontier Constabulary against Baloch youth and demanded the government take notice of the situation.
Those who spoke on the issue on points of order included senators from the treasury and opposition. They said the already fragile law and order situation in the province would worsen if the government did not take corrective measures.
Senator Abdul Malik Baloch, who was the first to raise the issue, said that the Frontier Constabulary was picking up Baloch youth without registering cases against them and keeping them in custody.
“If this practice continues, the situation will deteriorate,” the senator warned.
Demands: Senator Ismail Buledi asked the government to immediately halt the operation by the Frontier Constabulary in Balochistan and produce the people still missing.
Federal Minister Israrullah Zehri went further, accusing government agencies of protecting the people involved in target killing instead of punishing them. Hasil Bezinjo said that on one side the government was talking of resolving problems of the people of Balochistan, while on the other, the Frontier Constabulary was “committing excesses against them, barging into their houses and picking up innocent people”.
Referring to a recent statement by Interior Minister Rehman Malik about the Baloch, Bezinjo said “There should be a difference between the policies of former president General (r) Pervez Musharraf and Federal Interior Minister Rehman Malik. “The government should move forward and try to find solutions to the problems instead of having them suppressed by the Frontier Constabulary,” he said. /www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\29\story_29-7-2009_pg7_4

By Kamila Hyat
We are all accustomed to the many words of wisdom delivered periodically by our interior minister. His recent orders banning ‘anti-government’ emails and SMS texts inspired acts of great public creativity, as the surge of messages and jokes sent out across the country grew in number. The primary targets did not change.

But sometimes the comments made by our ministers leave one aghast. The assurance that the establishment of ‘check-posts’ on the Balochistan-Afghanistan border would bring ‘good news’ from that province is among these remarks. Despite the recent capture of an alleged Baloch suicide bomber who stated he had been trained in Afghanistan and insinuations that insurgency in the province is linked to Indian intervention backed by Kabul, most of us know the problem simmers on within Balochistan itself. It is perfectly possible the Indians and their allies in Afghanistan have played some part in stirring the bubbling cauldron and keeping it simmering. The arms that flood Balochistan have after all come from somewhere. New Delhi we know is perfectly capable of seeking to destabilise its neighbour. But the ‘outside’ elements involved in Balochistan use the tensions that exist in the region to further their purposes. If we are to solve the issues of our largest province, this is a reality we must squarely face up to. Shying away from it will only add to the difficulties we confront as a federation and as a nation made up of people from many diverse cultures.

Over the past two months, six eminent academics have died in Balochistan. The victims appear to have been targeted on the basis of their ethnicity. Some had lived in the province for years. This of course is extremely bad news. There is immense potential for inter-communal strife in Balochistan. Pre-dominantly Pakhtun orthodox groups, some of whom have links to the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan have already been using this card to rally support among the large number of non-Baloch settlers. Handbills call for ‘Islam to be defended’ against ‘infidels’. There are insinuations that the Baloch are ‘bad’ Muslims and ‘bad’ citizens. Other racial slurs circulate widely, with echoes picked up too in other provinces. The potential then for still more instability in the country’s most troubled province is immense. There has as yet been no meaningful effort to dampen the fires. The conference involving all Baloch parties that the prime minister had promised to convene has, oddly, not been called. The continued blockage of Baloch nationalist websites means such groups are denied even the basic right to be heard and to make their views known. The Senate has been told Baloch nationalists will not be involved in any process of talks. This of course means less possibility of a solution and a greater likelihood that the intense rage in Balochistan will not be quietened.

The extent of the feelings that exist is now not hidden. Nationalist leader Hyrbyair Marri has said in London that he does not recognise Pakistan, Brahamdagh Bugti, the fiery grandson of the late Nawab Akbar Bugti, has used still stronger language and former chief minister Akhtar Mengal has scoffed at the notion of provincial autonomy, insisting that this will not now be enough. These words hurt ‘patriots’; perhaps they incite immense fury in some places. But we need to keep our calm, to reassess what we mean by patriotism and whether a federation within which so much angst exists can be indefinitely held together. It is in the interests of Pakistan – and the Baloch – to create more harmony between the units that make up the state. This can happen only by bringing the nationalists into the process of dialogue and accepting that their views are backed by people across the province. It is for this reason foolhardy to ignore the nationalists. The fact is that in homes, faded pin-ups of ‘heroes’ such as slain nationalist fighters decorate walls or appear unexpectedly atop washing machines and refrigerator doors. The people who have placed them there, the ordinary citizens who passionately believe their province has been discriminated against, need to be won over and somehow persuaded that they can play a meaningful role in a unified state.

It has been argued Balochistan cannot on its own survive. This may be accurate and there are also statistics which bring into question the number of ethnic Balochis in their home territory. The old bogey of East Pakistan and the ethnic hatreds that flared up there have been raised in the senate. Good advice on the need to talk to all groups there has also been given in the Upper House. But there is as yet no evidence that it will be taken or strategy altered. Sometimes one wonders who is calling the shots in Balochistan. Both the president and the prime minister have suggested sensible measures to solve the problems. It is a mystery why there has been no attempt to follow up on these; why missing people have not been tracked down or major dissident forces asked to sit around a table and discuss the issues that exist.

There are compelling reasons why this should happen. The unrest in Balochistan opens up doors and corridors that can be used to interfere in what is happening. India and Afghanistan have been identified as culprits, and with possible reason. But the US too has its eyes on this part of the world. Some think tanks have proposed a break-up of the region as a means to ‘tame’ both Iran and Pakistan. This may not happen immediately. But a US role in Balochistan and some kind of tie-in with nationalists is not a possibility that can be completely disregarded. It is something we need to be wary of. The best counter-strategy against any moves from outside quarters, no matter where they may be based, is of course to dampen the resentments in Balochistan.

If this were not reason enough to do more than setting up barricades at the borders, we need to keep tracks too on the Taliban threat. The extent of the dangers this poses have been highlighted by the fiery battles in Swat and other places. There is still no accurate assessment of the death and destruction that has resulted. There is a risk that we may yet see further conflict, focused in Waziristan. Acting against nationalists in Balochistan – many of whom espouse secular values – could open up space for the Taliban. They have already demonstrated they have a base in the province. Gatherings of their leaders have taken place openly even in Quetta.

This looming threat makes it all the more imperative that Balochistan be calmed. The only way to do this is to engage all players in an open discussion. A failure to do this may not result in the break-up of the federation; the state of Pakistan will almost undoubtedly be able to hang on to Balochistan, if necessary through force. But we must ask if the energy and effort necessary to do this weakens the nation in the longer run and adds to the many problems it already faces on far too many fronts. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=190512

Baloch rights: edit in The Dawn, July 26
MUCH is said but little has been done to address the problems plaguing Balochistan. The grievances felt by the Baloch are genuine, and they have not only been ignored but exacerbated by the actions of the federation over the course of several decades. The government now at the helm in Islamabad made a promising start when it issued a public apology for the “the atrocities and injustices committed” in Balochistan. That was seen as a statement of positive intent, even by some nationalist forces, but the lack of follow-up relegated the apology to the realm of rhetoric. In the dying days of March 2008, Yousuf Raza Gilani pledged that the Concurrent Legislative List would be abolished within a year. That hasn’t happened. Broken promises are what the people of Balochistan have come to expect from the centre. It is time for deep and intrinsic change.
We are now told by the interior minister that there will be “good news” about Balochistan in a matter of weeks. This is a typically vague statement, short on content and high on hyperbole. Instead of mouthing off, we should be soul-searching. It must be admitted and recognised that, much to the detriment of the ‘smaller’ provinces, a form of neocolonialism has been at work in Pakistan all along. Regional rights over resources have been appropriated by the centre with little dividend accruing to the provinces. Successive governments have colla-borated with tribal chieftains who want to keep their areas backward so that the system remains intact and influence is retained by a chosen few. Education is denied because knowledge is a tool that could be used by the poor to better their lot in life. Industry is discouraged in parts of Sindh and Balochistan because monthly paychecks are likely to shrink the ranks of sharecroppers. The people have been rendered voiceless and the state is a party to this crime.
It is said that foreign agents are fomenting the insurgency in Balochistan, which is most likely true. At the same time, however, it ought to be acknowledged that the state is creating the conditions that can be exploited by outside forces. Given its natural riches, Balochistan should be the most prosperous province in Pakistan. In reality it is the poorest. It was not just the Musharraf era in which Baloch dissidents simply ‘disappeared’. The practice of branding political opponents as ‘anti-state’ must end and the government needs to ask itself whether its actions are forcing insurgents to seek outside help, which is what happened in East Pakistan. There has been enough talk and it is now time to act. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/baloch-rights-679

What ‘good news’ from Balochistan: edit in The daily Times, July 26
Just as unknown killers shot to death a professor of Government Degree College Quetta — two days after the killing of the principal of a Government High school –Interior Minister Mr Rehman Malik told the Senate in Islamabad that there could be “good news in two to four weeks about Balochistan” as a result of secret “back-channel” contacts. He did not name India as a mischief-maker and left the reference to “back-channel contacts” hanging in the air; but he did speak about his recent meeting with President Hamid Karzai of Afghanistan and the agreement he had reached with him on the establishment of “three bio-metric checkposts on the border” to stop the movement of militants he said were being trained at training camps in Afghanistan.
The senators had raised other questions, however. For instance, why had Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani not yet convened a promised all-parties conference on Balochistan? They had also voiced their concern about what they called an “East Pakistan-like situation” in Balochistan where non-Baloch settlers, including teachers, were being killed, and the national flag and anthem were not allowed to be observed in educational institutions in some areas. But Mr Malik was firm about having no truck with the separatists among the Baloch. He pledged action — of an unspecified nature — against Hyrbair Marri, the leader in exile of the Balochistan Liberation Army, who had recently told a TV channel that he “did not recognise Pakistan”. But Mr Malik insisted, “With some back-channel talks going on, God-willing, problems will be resolved.” More specifically, he said that because of efforts to “persuade those estranged”, it is possible that he might come up with “a better good” news in two to four weeks.
Anyone in Pakistan will tell you that the crisis of Balochistan will not be resolved by putting up a few checkposts on the Balochistan-Afghanistan border. While it is true that India is fishing in troubled waters in the province, its problems have not been created by it. The mention of Balochistan in the recent Indo-Pak joint statement at Sharm al Sheikh may have sent a shiver of unfamiliar triumph up Islamabad’s spine, but it has not led to any softening of the Indian attitude. In fact quite the opposite has happened.
Pakistan has been “path dependent” — tied to past policy decisions that deter policy change in light of new developments — on its Taliban policy in Afghanistan and is now facing its backlash. Balochistan is no longer a place made tough by the simple question of Baloch rights, it is also a region under Talibanisation. The killing of teachers is not far divorced in thinking from the destroying of girls’ schools in the tribal areas and the NWFP. It is no longer the Baloch sardars who have to be placated; we have to look at the growing strength of the immigrant Pashtun who threaten the local polity with their linkages with the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
There is a Tehreek-e Taliban Balochistan (TTB) that undercuts the secular Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKAMP), vows lack of connection with Baitullah Mehsud, boasts “no enmity” with the JUI, and now speaks for people other than the Baloch. The grievances of the Baloch have been inquired into in great detail in the past by Senate committees. Much of what Pakistan has to do to save Balochistan has been spelled out there and can be the basis of negotiations. But the province is too disturbed to allow that process to take place.
Mr Rehman Malik is hamstrung also by nationalist backlash against his soft approach towards India. If you want to get ahead in Pakistan these days, be hawkish with India. But expect no respite from New Delhi, either. Balochistan needs to be tackled but before the talks with the Baloch begin the terrorists have to be taken care of. The media is hostile to the PPP government and will accept only mid-term elections as a precondition before it is helpful. The petroleum minister in Islamabad is already thinking of taking the Iranian gas pipeline through the sea.
Good news will take some time coming. Pakistan’s national politics is opposed to the deep self-correction that the state requires in foreign policy as well as the internal policy about the non-state actors which the state used to patronise in the past. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\26\story_26-7-2009_pg3_1

Damani dam breach: edit in The dawn, July 26
Another dam in Balochistan has breached after the recent torrential rains, once again causing misery and destruction. Although the incident is not comparable to the 2005 Shakidor dam-burst in coastal Balochistan in which hundreds of people went missing or died, the recent breach in the under-construction Damani dam has reportedly affected 15,000 people, submerged over a dozen villages and inundated over 1,200 hectares of agricultural land. The immediate needs of the affected people include food, shelter and medicine. Once the waters subside they will need monetary and other help to repair their damaged homes and rebuild their agricultural lands.
Post-disaster relief is no doubt an important responsibility of the local and provincial governments as well as of the army and relief agencies. But of equal, if not more, importance are pre-emptive measures to ward off a disaster or mitigate its effects. Dam failures during the monsoon rains have become common in recent years in Balochistan which has some 300 big and small dams. Of particular concern is the fact that the threat comes more from new dams. Shakidor dam was built in 2003 and the Damani dam was under construction. Clearly, greater checks, at regular intervals, on under-construction and built dams are in order.
What is also required is structural enhancement so that dams vulnerable to breaching do not threaten communities. A detailed evacuation plan to minimise harm to the communities when the structure fails should also be drawn up. This would entail installing an effective early-warning system and educating communities on ways and means to evacuate their villages when the threat of flooding becomes imminent. Considering the potentially immense damage and loss of life that can be caused. www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/the-newspaper/editorial/damani-dam-breach-679

KHAIRPUR: The irrigation minsters of Sindh and Balochistan met in Sukkur on Wednesday for resolving the water issue.

The Balochistan Minster Irrigation, Sardar Aslam Khan Bizenjo, Excise Minster Rustam Khan Jamali and MNA Mir Changez Khan made it clear upon the Sindh minster that they would stop the water supply from the Hub River if Sindh government did not release 400 cusecs Balochistan water.

They alleged that the Sindh Irrigation Department was not releasing the due share of Balochistan water into the Saifullah Mangsi Canal from Ghirungh Regulator of the Khairthar Canal. They said Balochistan had approached the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) on this issue. They said the people of Balochistan had already been deprived of their basic rights and they were under the threat of poverty.

Sindh Irrigation Minster Syed Murad Ali Shah said the Punjab was stealing 1,700 cusecs water of Sindh from the Chashma Canal. “We have decided to form a technical committee, comprising irrigation officials, who are inspecting the canals and measuring the water gauge and later the committee would forward its recommendation to the irrigation ministries.”

He said issues of provincial autonomy and the NFC would be tackled on multiple resources base and not on the population base. He said Balochistan, Sindh and the NWFP provinces had a consensus over that formula.

The Sindh irrigation minster said there was complete harmony between Balochistan and Sindh provincial governments and inter-provincial minsters of both provinces were trying their level best to bilaterally resolve the issues. Later, both ministers inspected the Sukkur Barrage. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=188330

It is not just Mian Nawaz Sharif who has cried out over the saddening predicament of the people of Balochistan. Every feeling heart grieves at the raw deal dealt to them atrociously by every federal government unexceptionably, no matter whether led by a man in jackboots or by someone in shalwar kameez. It was no different in Mian Sahib’s own two stints, the second of which saw his heavy mandate even pulling down Akhtar Mengal’s provincial ministry with an engineered no-confidence contrivance. Nonetheless, it is the hundreds of millions of Baloch masses for whom it has been an unending long wintry night. Not their 50 odd sardars, keeping them all in perpetual chains of serfdom unshakably. For this hapless Baloch citizenry, this step-motherly treatment of Islamabad has been a double whammy throughout. Not just has it borne all the brunt of every injustice inflicted on the province by every federal government, while its overbearing feudal lords have all through flourished, be it rain or sunshine. More devastatingly, every Islamabad strike has impoverished this deeply-wronged and mercilessly-exploited Baloch populace economically more cripplingly, pulverised it further socially and emasculated it still further politically, leaving it immovably maimed to get ensnared more inextricably in the chain of subjugation of sardars. No harm has ever done any Islamabad atrocity to sardars’ financial health. Their fabulous riches keep piling up, their palatial mansions keep extending, and their fleets of luxury cars keep expanding. And this feudal aristocracy keeps its political muscle strong by wearing the mantles of political martyrdom and nationalism, extracting concessions for themselves in the name of Baloch masses who they exploit day in and day out and keep under their thumbs suffocatingly. They are no leaders of the Baloch masses. They are their exploiters and tormenters. Yet the tragedy is it is these sardars who draw all the import, support and sympathy from political class, civil society, intelligentsia and media. The downtrodden Baloch masses have no friends or campaigners to espouse their cause. It is their exploiters’ grief that evokes cries of compassion from all around. Not even the most grievous grief of these exploited draws a tear in any eye. An unnatural violent demise is tragic and contemptible. Yet, it is a feudal lord’s such demise that is mourned in every quarter; not even a nodding notice is taken of a serf’s death in a sardar’s captivity or with his gunmen’s bullet. This poor citizenry stands all forlorn, wholly disenfranchised and disempowered politically. Yet it has no father for its empowerment. Ironically, while Mian Sahib has spoken of political rights of Balochistan’s people, vowing to fight for their cause. But ludicrously to this end has he called for a dialogue by the federal government with all Baloch “leaders” inside or outside assemblies. But who are these “leaders”? Sardars and feudal lords; aren’t they? Can exploiters be rightly viewed as the leaders of the exploited? Still, Mian Sahib could be excused. After all, he is part of that exclusive club of dirty rich landed aristocrats, feudal lords and neo-rich who have arrogated all the nation’s politics into its hands. So it is asking for moon if Mian Sahib could think of empowering the downtrodden Baloch. But what has happened to civil society, media and intelligentsias? Do they too have to be hypocrites? Can’t they speak out that provincial autonomy for Balochistan is, yes by all means; but it has not to be for strengthening the sardars’ stranglehold on the downtrodden Balochs but for empowering of the exploited Baloch masses? http://www.thefrontierpost.com/News.aspx?ncat=ed&nid=130

by Farooq Ganderbali

Pakistan’s existence as a separate country is becoming bleak with the changing security scenario in this beleaguered country. The Islamic nation is grappling with the never ending cycle of violence.  The continuous high profile guerrilla attacks in Lahore, Islamabad, NWFP and areas in the space of a month have heightened fears of Islamist militancy engulfing Pakistan. The attacks are showing the depth of insecurity in Pakistan, while television channels carry the news of attacks to the entire world.

Think tanks, policy makers and media around the world are describing entire Pakistan as an unstable country. They had been warning earlier too in the run up of this situation that the Pakistani security agencies are patronising terror groups like Al Qaeda and Taliban in the tribal areas. This is true to a significant extent. But that’s not the whole picture. The truth is that the border regions of Pakistan have a plethora of factors that make the area the perfect operating base for Islamic militants. Some of these have to do with geography, others with corruption, and still yet with Pakistan’s long history of communal violence and hatred of Hindu India.

Pakistan’s leaders know al Qaeda is encouraging a Taliban insurgency in Pakistani tribal lands bordering Afghanistan, and seeking to destabilise the Muslim nation of 170 million people. Pakistani Taliban leader Baitullah Mehsud, an al Qaeda ally based in the South Waziristan tribal region has claimed responsibility for the assault on the Lahore police school, which killed eight cadets.

The Tribal areas have effectively slipped out of the control of Pakistani authorities. The writ of Pakistan government no longer rules here. Number of factors are responsible for reaching this situation. Pakistan suffers from high levels of corruption within the ranks of its police and security services. On top of that, the police often do not carry out their assigned duties of investigating crime and protecting the populace. Instead, it works the other way around, where the police are often engaged in criminal activities themselves, particularly in remote areas of the country where official investigation of mistreatment is almost unheard of.

There is the decades-old problem of collusion with the Islamic militants. This largely has its roots in the long-standing conflict between India and Pakistan and the fraternization between Pakistan and the Mujahideen during the Soviet-Afghan War. During that conflict, the Pakistani intelligence services demanded that any weapons destined for the guerrillas pass through them. All in all, Pakistan’s security forces have been sympathizing with and aiding Islamic fighters, whether in Kashmir or Afghanistan, for well over two decades and such sympathies are difficult to simply reverse on a moments notice, especially in a nation like Pakistan.

U.S. Military commanders have made public accusations that Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) has maintained ties with groups close to al Qaeda and the Taliban. Nuclear-armed and a hiding place for al Qaeda, Pakistan has become a foreign policy nightmare for the United States and other allies in the West. The government in Pakistan doesn’t want to launch a massive overwhelming assault on the terrorists hiding out in its border provinces. Pakistan knows the gravity of the internal threat but its army would be uncomfortable taking troops away from the eastern border with India, particularly on the Jammu and Kashmir where they have assumed the role of Terror facilitators.

Even if the terrorists are breathing down their throats Pakistan is not changing its military strategy. Many other countries facing terrorism have effectively dealt with the situation. Egypt, for example, has largely suppressed the threat of widespread terrorism in their country through a perpetual state of emergency. It’s true that the Egyptian security forces are corrupt in the extreme and frequently resort to torture to extract information, but they differ from the Pakistanis in that they are loyal to the secular government and they have no love for terrorists.

Thus, they have no problem implementing massive widespread crackdowns in force to suppress extremism. In the absence of such determination, Taliban and related groups have increased their control in the border provinces, subsidized by drug profits from neighboring Afghanistan. The Pakistani government frequently wavers between wanting to wipe out the al Qaeda elements in their country and making deals with them. The common perception about the government and the military is that they are facing a crisis of credibility. There is no strategic plan or vision over how to deal with extremism and terrorism. As a show off Pakistani security agencies have been carrying out some operations against terrorists, but it is on record to say that none of its operations has ever achieved the success due to some obvious reasons.  They have been giving huge concessions to the terrorists, which most of the time amount to the surrender. In 2006 the government gave up control of large portions of Waziristan to the Taliban and released hundreds of hard-core fighters from their prisons. South Waziristan was under open rule by the Taliban in 2006 after the Pakistanis essential threw up their hands in frustration.

Rooting out terrorists from the region is difficult enough, but the prospect of the Pakistani government simply quitting the battle has been a nightmare to US and NATO forces. Sooner or later, depending on how the situation plays out, cross-border strikes may be necessary to deal with the problem once and for all. In the meantime, unable or unwilling to get its act together, Pakistan continues to suffer from routine attacks and the subversion of central authority.

The government in Pakistan too has not been able to perform upto mark. It is ruled by a weak and manipulative leadership that is without much public support. Its leaders are trying to survive through political manipulations. This is aggravating the already serious security vacuum in the country and is providing fresh oxygen to the various terrorist groups operating from the Pakistani territory.

By Farooq Ganderbali

Abdul Aziz, a radical cleric and chief of the Red Mosque, has been released on bail.

Over the last few months Pakistan has been helplessly sliding into chaos and violence. The gun battles and suicide attacks have become a norm of those terrorists who were once pets of Pakistan government. It seems that the sins of the past seem to be visiting Pakistan. All the Frankensteins created by Pakistan’s Inter Services Intelligence are now attacking their creator. Buoyed by gaining sway over Swat, the Taliban is on a high. And, they would try to advance deeper into Pakistan in a bid to establish their writ. In this, they would get ample support from groups like Al Qaeda, LeT and Jaish which espouse global jihad. This would destabilize the region and make it more insecure than it already is.

US has a major role to control this situation before it goes out of hand. Unless and until the US takes the initiative for such a strategy focused on eradicating all terrorist sanctuaries in Pakistani territory India, Afghanistan and other sovereign nations will continue to bleed at the hands of jihadi terrorists spawned in Pakistan and the US will meet the same fate in Afghanistan as the erstwhile USSR did in the 1980s.

No doubt efforts are being put by the state department to make anti terrorism operations more effective. In his famous Af-Pak policy President Obama announced annihilation of al Qaeda its principle objective. To meet that objective one has to look beyond the borders of Afghanistan. There are elements in Pakistani security apparatus who openly support these terrorists. Be it Afghanistan’s intelligence chief or the Richard Holbrooke himself, all have accused ISI of helping Taliban militants to carry out attacks in the two countries.

Overwhelmed with the complex politics in US, Obama’s strategy for the Af-Pak region is still unfolding in bits and pieces. He has already announced the expansion of US troops by 16,000. Predator strikes on terrorist hide-outs and training camps in Pakistani territory are also being systematically intensified. The implementation and gradual intensification of these two components will determine the success of other strategies. One good thing related to drone strikes has been that the US administration has been expanding their geographic and target spread. From North and South Waziristan and the Bajaur Agency in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), the geographic area of the strikes has been extended to the Kurram Agency in the FATA. The Bannu area in the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP), which was already targeted once by the Bush Administration, has been receiving more attention from the advisers of Obama.

The cancer of terrorism has spread too much in Pakistan and its diseased spots are not only confined to some border areas. Balochistan is becoming a hub of terrorist activities patronised by ISI. A report carried by the New York Times in March 2009, indicates that the Obama Administration is also examining the advisability of hitting at the hide-outs and training camps of the Afghan Taliban in Quetta and some other areas of Balochistan adjoining the border with Afghanistan. Mulla Mohammad Omar, the Amir of the Neo Taliban, and his advisers are thought to be operating from sanctuaries in these areas.

The policy already being followed by Obama and the change now recommended cover only attacks on the sanctuaries of Al Qaeda and its associates, the Neo Taliban, the TTP and the Hizb-e-Islami. They do not cover the group of five organizations–the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM), the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HUJI), the Jaish and the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LEJ)–which are commonly referred to in Pakistan as the Punjabi Taliban.

There is need of quick review into the scenario. US has a habit of letting the monster grow and then confronting it with more resources and a lot more collateral damage. Why not nip the evil in the bud. The Punjabi Talibans have the potential to become a threat equivalent to Al Qaeda in a short course of time. They has been helping the TTP in the Swat Valley of the NWFP. The LET has been helping the Neo Taliban and the Hizb-e-Islami in the Kabul area. It was involved in the explosion outside the Indian Embassy in Kabul in the first week of July last year. The HUM, the HUJI and the LEJ have been active in the tribal belt since the 1990s.

It is not that these terrorist groups have not attacked people beyond the borders of Pakistan. Some of the attacks taking place in Afghanistan have been loosely traced to these groups. These organizations have been behind most acts of jihadi terrorism in the Indian territory. Unless the new US counter-terrorism strategy covers the terrorist infrastructure of the Punjabi Taliban too, the results will not be satisfactory.

In spite of Pakistan now facing the brunt of terror attacks, ISI’s patronage to Taliban and motley terror groups it nurtured to bolster its anti-India mission of death by a thousand cuts is unlikely to wilt away any time soon.

Even though the political establishment of Pakistan is uncomfortable about this truth about the ISI, they hardly have any control over the agency. Thus the task of eliminating these terrorists rests with the free and democratic world. It is their duty to take up this painful cleaning operation before it’s ill effects spread to peaceful world.

Several Christian families in a village of Sahiwal are on the run after allegations that they committed ‘blasphemy’ by throwing ink on the Holy Quran, the  Daily Times of Pakistan reports.

Some neutral locals of the area  said that 12 Christian families had left their houses in Chak 190/9-AL – a village of Christians with at least 6,500 voters – and taken shelter at an unidentified place over the last seven days, in a bid to save their lives.

A week ago, unidentified people broke into Harrappa Government Community Model Girls Primary School in the village. In the morning, students found on the ground a page of the Holy Quran smeared with black ink and gum. The blackboard had the following words written on it: “I am don”.

Locals and  police said  the words on the blackboard led to the assumption that a Christian named Shani was responsible for what had happened, as he was also called ‘don’. “It could have been a conspiracy against Shani,” they said.

Mosques in the area made announcements saying “it is matter of respect of Islam and all of them should rise and crush the vice”.

On Thursday, a large number of Christians and Muslims protested at the arrival of Shahbaz Sharif in Sahiwal, demanding the arrest of Shani. Later the charged mob started shouting slogans against Shani and tried to torch his house and those of his friends and relatives who had already fled the area. However, police intervened and stopped the mob.

On Friday, a mob from a neighbouring village tried to burn the houses of the accused, but some influential people stopped them.

Harrapa SHO Allah Ditta told Daily Times that with help from influential people of the area, he had convinced people that it was not a case of blasphemy. He said he had told them that if somebody had dropped some pages of the holy Quran during a robbery in the dark, it did not imply that blasphemy had been committed. He said that above all, it was not clear who had broken into the school. He said that a case had not been registered yet. The sources said that Ashfaq Gill, Nasir, Imran Qasai and Raju – all friends and relatives of Shani – are in police custody, but police denied that.

United States Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF) –  has put Pakistan on ‘Watch List’ saying  it is a country of particular concern (CPC)

AUS  government-funded agency, USCRIRF, monitors the status of freedom of thought, conscience and religion across the world.

In its annual report released on Friday, the Commision termed Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, China, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Vietnam as amongst the worst violators of religious freedoms.

It said these countries either discriminate against people for religious reasons or are unwilling or unable to stop religious violence by their citizens.

According to the report, in Pakistan Year 2009 has seen the largely unchecked growth in the power and reach of religiously motivated extremist groups, said the report, referring to the Taliban in the NWFP. Sectarian and religiously motivated violence continues, particularly against the Shias, Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus, and the government’s response continues to be insufficient.

Quoting Pakistani and international observers,. the report says elements of Pakistan’s intelligence services maintain ties with and provide support to the Taliban and other violent extremist groups, such as the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba.

Many madrassas in Pakistan, the US report notes provide ideological training and motivation to those who take part in violence targeting religious minorities in Pakistan and abroad. Most of these madrassas were registered in mid-2005. This, however, had little if any effect on the content of the schools‘ curricula, and there are still no government controls on the madrassas’ sources of funding.

Ahmadis, Christians, and Hindus also have been targeted in attacks by Sunni extremists and in mob violence conducted with apparent impunity.

Military habits die hard. Recently former president of Pakistan General Parvez Musharraf was in India, wherein he unabashedly showered praise on army and security establishments. Praising the Army and the ISI at this juncture when both of them are getting exposed internationally for their duplicity, deception (of ally Americans) and dalliance with the very Taliban and extremists they are supposed to be fighting, gives the entire Pakistan scene a new dimension. The military is always there to exploit even the minutest mistake of the civilian government and make it as an excuse for the coup. Never ever have they let the government improve by trial and error method?

Weeks have passed since the deadly attack on Sri Lankan cricket team and Pakistani security agencies have no clue about the perpetrators of the attack. It all looks doubtful that the same agencies which boast of killing and arresting hundreds of Al Qaeda men cannot crack a case that happened at their heart. Besides there are too many similarities between the Lahore attack and the Mumbai attacks, which Pakistani security agencies of fearful of exposing. The terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore has blown a huge hole in the Pakistan’s contrived smugness over the Mumbai event. The way the TV shots have shown to the world how these perpetrators walked in and walked out coolly in performing their assigned task and the nature of the attack and its consequences seem to fall into a pattern.

On the other hand the civilian government too has not been lived up to the expectations of the public. The authoritarian presidential powers have not been curtailed and nothing has been done to arrest corruption, rising terrorism, inflations, poverty etc. To get the military accountable to civilian rule is a distant reality.

There is a question mark on the civilian government and fears of a second coup so close to the end of the military rule, is underlined by the pace of events that seem to be a replay of what happened over a few years before Musharraf booted out Sharif. First it was Sharif as the PM who with army’s help got Bhutto dismissed and put Zardari on trial. Then the Army twisted Sharif’s arms when it upstaged him and sponsored the Kargil conflict after he broke bread with Atal Behari Vajpayee and India and Pakistan seem to be opening a new chapter in their strained relations at the initiative of the NDA Government in New Delhi in 1998. Finally when the Kargil adventure boomeranged on the Army and Nawab Sharief had to take the rap for something he did not authorise, Musharraf ticked him off and sent him into exile just as earlier Sharief had ensured Benazir Bhutto’s self-exile.

Army is an omnipresent entity in Pakistan. These generals are always on the lookout of the option to legitimise their ascent to the governing structure of the country. They work stealthily and effectively. As is being seen at present, a ground is being prepared to project the stability of Army in Pakistan. It is being said and written that in this era of political corruption and all kinds of ills, only Army is the stable single entity. This notion will be later enhanced more with over blowing of wrongs of civilian government. Ultimately a coup will happen and it will be sold to people as necessary to save Pakistan. What is to be seen is how the same civil society that had created a public opinion to end the military regime and bring back the civilian rule would now reassert itself and stop the slide to dictatorship.

Pakistan army can go to any limits to get the power back in their hands. There are accusations and even proofs of army getting involved in the business of terrorism with close collaboration of Al Qaeda, Taliban and others. Army uses their services to enhance its position and indispensability. The high level collusion between the militant Jihadis and people in critical positions of the administration is daily becoming more and more evident. After all it was present Army Chief of Pakistan General Ashfaq Kayani who was quoted by American journalist David Sanger that Taliban are strategic assets to his forces. When any country’s army has such a respect for a terrorist group, only God can save that country.