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PESHAWAR, 22 October:- Many internally displaced persons (IDPs) who have fled South Waziristan tell harrowing tales of rockets hitting roads or houses as they tried to leave areas where Taliban militants are fighting government forces.

“I watched my cousin’s home burst into flames after being hit by a bomb. Fortunately he had taken his family away last week,” said Miran Gul, an IDP from a village near Makine in South Waziristan.

Miran Gul said he had to “walk for over 12 hours” to reach the town of Razmak in North Waziristan, from where he got transport to Peshawar.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in its latest situation report said: “The IDPs report hardships on their way out of the conflict area as all main roads are blocked and tightly controlled. there is a curfew imposed in all conflict-affected parts of South Waziristan.”

Dawn newspaper reported that 12 members of a family were killed after being hit by a bomb while trying to flee South Waziristan.

Access to the IDPs is a continuing problem, but help is being provided.
Billi Bierling, a spokesperson for OCHA in Pakistan, told IRIN: “Even though access is a problem due to the difficult security situation in the area, the UN agencies and their implementing partners are providing much-needed help to the IDPs. So far the IDPs are staying mainly with host families or in rented accommodation. However, the IDPs who are registered are receiving food and non-food items, such as bedding, kitchen utensils, towels, soap, etc.”

NO IDP CAMPS -YET
Citing the North West Frontier Province (NWFP) government’s Social Welfare Department, OCHA’s situation report said 106,800 IDPs were now registered in neighbouring Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts in NWFP, with 85,000 in Dera Ismail Khan.

Some 26,300 IDPs have arrived in the two districts since 13 October, whilst 80,500 came to the area between May and August 2009, it said.

“At present, the IDPs are accommodated with host families and no camps are set up, neither in Dera Ismail Khan nor Tank districts. However, the authorities might consider camps in the future, as more civilians leave the areas of conflict,” OCHA said.

Bierling said the aid community was expecting the current number of IDPs “to increase to 250,000 if military operations continue”.

Meanwhile, NWFP Relief Commissioner Shakeel Qadar Khan told IRIN: “Provision has been made for the IDPs to get Rs 5,000 [US$60] a month.”

WINTER APPROACHING
One of the main concerns of IDPs is how long they may be displaced for. “Winter is approaching fast. It will be hard to move back if roads close due to snow,” said Miran Gul. He is also concerned about what could become of their homes if “no one [is there] to clear away the snow on roofs”.

The fighting is reported by people who have come out of the area as being “fierce”, and people are concerned about relatives still trapped there.

“My brother is still based near Wana [principal town of Waziristan] with our parents, who refused to leave the family home. Contact is difficult, because telephone services are bad, and I worry constantly about them,” said Azam Khan, now in Peshawar.

By Nasser Yousaf in The Dawn, July 22
The list of most-wanted persons carrying head money of millions of rupees could not have been more telling. Consisting of titles like ‘Qari,’ ‘Hafiz,’ ‘Mullah,’ ‘Maulana,’ ‘Mufti,’ the list reads like an ecclesiastical hierarchical map.
It was the NWFP government that took the initiative by coming up with the list with a maximum head money of Rs5m for the insurgent-in-chief of Swat. It would not do, the Government of Pakistan subsequently decreed, as it enhanced the scalp price manifold to match the magnitude of the gruesome cruelty unleashed by those included in the list. But with titles one holier than the other it is the spiritual aspect of the list that overweighs its enticing materialist value and thus merits greater attention.
There is little doubt that the ongoing spate of unrest in Pakhtunkhwa carries distinguishing and indeed ineffaceable marks of religious makings. But this is an argument that the apologists pooh-pooh as they are observed tirelessly trying to portray the operation against the militants as an international conspiracy against the Pakhtuns. And who really are those apologists who are taking recourse to crass analogies and outdated references to paint this relentless reign of terror let loose by the terrorists as having a great deal to do with Pakhtun renaissance? Such bizarre arguments only help strengthen conjectures.
The militants fighting throughout the length and breadth of the northwest are not doing so for the fun of it. Their level of resistance indicates the hard work that has, over the years, gone into the building of war machinery worthy of envy. Of course, such a piece of machinery would have malfunctioned without efficient ‘mouths’ oiling it day in and day out. If such ‘mouths’ are to be believed then Pakhtun nationalism has indeed undergone a metamorphosis and like Kafka’s gigantic pest is now stuck to the wall, refusing to fade until it dies of hunger and disease. But how can it die if so many hands and mouths are feeding and nourishing it?
Kafka’s Metamorphosis is not an easy story to read as it pitilessly suffocates its readers as does the current chapter in Pakhtun history. Gregor, Kafka’s lead character, was an able-bodied workingman until he saw himself transformed into a gigantic pest. Gregor ultimately perishes of hunger after his family abandons him to his fate. Here an uncanny analogy can be drawn with our present predicament, with some of our men of beautiful brains and bodies having metamorphosed into lingering pests and groomed to survive.
The apologists writing in the country’s mainstream newspapers and talking ad nauseum in numerous talk shows are doing a great disservice to the Pakhtuns by calling the ongoing operation against the militants anti-Pakhtun. They are the last people whom the Pakhtuns would want to be represented by. Pakhtuns are not lunatic warriors seized with fighting and settling all the world’s dirty wars. But where then are the original Pakhtun nationalists and why don’t they stand up? Must they not take the entire blame for refusing to come out of their leaderless little world of platitudes?
Pakhtun nationalism as envisioned, preached and practised by Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan is dying and quite ignominiously at that. Unwittingly perhaps, the death pangs of nationalism started with the burial of the red-shirt old patriarch in the then Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.
At that time, some among us saw the event as the flowering of the assiduously planted tree when a tumultuous crowd accompanying the cortege violated the currency of the Durand Line with impunity. But that was not so; Ghaffar Khan’s shabbily constructed tomb in the heart of Jalalabad wore a picture of utter apathy no sooner had the last shovel of earth been thrown on it.
It was then bandied about that the great Khan had willed to be buried in the free land of Afghanistan as opposed to his native village in Charsadda. The veracity of the will was never seriously doubted despite the fact that back home it would deprive the nationalists of a solid platform whereon they could religiously renew their resolve for the pursuance of their objectives. With due respect to his soul and to the lack of foresight of those of his heirs who flaunted the will, its implementation has turned out to be as miscalculated as the nationalists’ love affair with the guilty Soviet occupiers.
Just when three million displaced Pakhtuns and Afghans were looking for solace and support, the nationalists handed them on a platter to a ravenous clergy looking for a constituency. Thus while the zealots feasted on war-induced resources and ploughed deeper into the camps and ranks of the distraught refugees, the nationalists busied themselves with empty sloganeering. It was perhaps precisely at that time in history when religion-based nationalism was mid-wifed; it has now metamorphosed into its most perverted form.
Ghaffar Khan’s nationalism was the most innocuous form of nationalism the world had ever seen. The non-violent struggle waged by the father formed the core theme of his eldest son Ghani Khan’s poetry, as the latter would sing:
‘Jang la dey Mansoor rawan thop o na tufang lari’ or ‘Mansoor (Bacha Khan) is marching to war sans armoury.’
But much water, and that too thick with the blood of innocent Pakhtuns, has since flowed under the Attock bridge.
One vividly recalls how Ghaffar’s politician son Wali Khan would command the respect of the Punjabi intelligentsia and liberals whenever he got an opportunity to speak to them. All that wealth of respect seems to have been buried with the great Khans as one now hears quite unsavoury stuff from the folks across the bridge in the halls and restaurants and on the pavements.
Nationalism identified with ‘Pakhtu’ and ‘Pukhtana’ was a wonderful equation; the one being presently forced down our throats is bitter. One wonders if non-violent Pakhtun nationalism will ever be revived. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/09-state-of-pakhtun-nationalism-szh-03

The prime minister, possibly reacting to criticism that he has been too slow to deal with the problems of Balochistan, has said he had accepted the proposals forwarded to him by a parliamentary committee set up to assess what was needed. However, while Mr Gilani has focused on the lack of development in the province and agreed that it had suffered 62 years of neglect, he seems unclear how to tackle the sensitive political issues that underlie this. For instance, he has said he does not know yet whether a traditional ‘jirga’ or an all parties’ conference on Balochistan should be called to enter into discussion with its people. We must hope the final verdict goes in favour of a meeting of parties. Balochistan is represented by a range of such entities.

There seems to be no reason to resort to the ‘jirga’ and every cause to promote a thinking that moves beyond it. The nationalists need also to be brought into the dialogue process. This will be a controversial decision, given that leaders affiliated with such groups have made increasingly provocative statements in recent months. But we must hope the government demonstrates the courage and wisdom necessary to make it regardless of this. There is also a need for urgency. The gunning down of academics, and now others in Balochistan, possibly on the basis of their ethnicity, is alarming. It opens up the possibility of far greater violence ahead. The simmering dangers in Balochistan act as a source of instability and disharmony. They must be addressed for the sake of the people of that province and indeed for the sake of the country as a whole. http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=190506

PC or jirga on Balochistan: PM still undecided: The Daily Times, July 29
ISLAMABAD: The recommendations forwarded by the parliamentary committee on Balochistan have been approved, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Tuesday, adding he would decide whether to conduct an all-parties conference or a traditional jirga after consultations with the people of the province.

After inaugurating a joint pharmaceutical venture between Ferozsons of Pakistan and Bago of Argentina, he told reporters the people of Balochistan felt deprived due to 62 years of neglect. He said his government would make every effort to remove this sense of deprivation. “We formed the parliamentary committee to review the pledges made to the Baloch people and to try and remove their grievances. I have been chairing the meetings of this committee,” he added. www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2009\07\29\story_29-7-2009_pg1_1

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.

By Farooq Ganderbali

The recent attack in Pakistan has clearly showed it to the world that Pakistan has become the punching bag for terrorists. The country is being repeatedly dealt with blows and in reaction it just swings from one end to other.

There is no war on Pakistan and nobody from outside is attacking it. The country is simply at war with itself. It has reached this point just by the ill gotten policies of its rulers. The sins of the past are 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 destabilise the region and make it more insecure than it already is.

India has been drawing attention to the dangerous situation in Pakistan over the last so many years. All that India had predicted about Pakistan is coming truer in every respect. Even US is affirming to the fact and working in collusion with India to stabilise the region. While unveiling the US Af-Pak policy last week, President Obama announced annihilation of al Qaeda its principle objective. Days before Obama announced his government’s Af-Pak policy, AP reported that Afghanistan’s intelligence chief had accused ISI of helping Taliban militants to carry out attacks in his country. Afghanistan has repeatedly called on Pakistan to sever all links with the Taliban, which came to power in Afghanistan in the 1990s with significant support from the ISI.

Pakistan seems to be in no mood to change its policies regarding using terror as a tool of foreign policy. They have destroyed Afghanistan by using this tool and are now killing their own country. 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.

The assault yesterday on a police school and a wave of spectacular attacks underline Pakistan’s weakness and the danger posed by Islamist militants to the future of the nuclear-armed nation. Around 35 people were in this brazen attack which turned Lahore into a war zone capital.

According to terror experts the latest attack was a defiant message to US President Barack Obama, who has put Pakistan at the heart of the fight against al-Qa’ida, tripling US aid in a strategy that is aimed at reversing the war in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Obama recently termed the violence in Pakistan “a cancer that risks killing Pakistan from within.” He asked Islamabad to demonstrate its commitment to eradicating the extremists for the sake its own country.

The terrorists want to tell Obama and his Western allies they cannot be contained as Obama desired, and are still as powerful and strong as they have been for years now. The attack proves the weakness of the state institutions and shows that a mere half-a-dozen professionally trained terrorists can take anyone hostage and occupy any establishment they like.

In most of Pakistan major cities urban terrorism is in vogue. The Lahore police academy attack was similar to March 3 assault on Sri Lanka’s cricket team, in which seven members of the cricket squad were injured.
The second attack in the Lahore area this month indicates that the net of violence is spreading.

According to media reports these terrorists have killed 1700 people in less than two years in Pakistan in number of attacks. And the intensity and frequency is increasing with every passing day. The terrorists pose a direct threat to Pakistan’s state and society. Such attacks again prove that there seems to be lack of governance in Pakistan.

These repeated attacks show total failure on the part of the Government’s law-enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies. Pakistan’s future is at massive risk.

Pakistan shelters a number of extremist groups, spanning banned Islamist organisations like Lashkar e Toiba in the east, to the Taliban and al-Qa’ida in the west.

Top officials in the US, Pakistan’s key ally, have openly accused elements in the country’s powerful intelligence agency of abetting al-Qa’ida.
The sooner Pakistan understands the dangers from terrorism, the better it will be for them. World can enhance its security to minimise the effects of terrorism emanating from Pakistan. But with isolated Pakistan, it will be just an implosion in waiting. The state will collapse like a pack of cards. The country that was born for the cause of religion will be undone by the extreme elements of the same cause.

Garrulous Rahman Malik, Adviser on Interior Affairs to dapper Prime Minister Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani, has perfected his refrain. India, he keeps telling anyone who is willing to lend ears, is not cooperating in investigating Mumbai attack case. He takes pleasure in public lament that India is not giving answers to the questions raised by Islamabad.

Lately he has picked up a new talking point. India, Afghanistan and Russia (not necessarily in that order) are responsible for the inferno that Balochistan has become, he is saying.

Rehman’s outburst in Pakistan Senate on April 22 was typical of the genre – rhetorical, bluff and bluster in full measure.

India is supporting Balochistan National Army (BNA) campaign for secession, he thundered. And came up with a ‘sensational’ disclosure – that India was involved in the kidnapping and later execution of three Baloch activists early April. Pak media, particularly the Urdu press, lapped up the charge as a stick to thrash India

Like in the Mumbai fall-out case, the Baloch charge also did not stick. And the great helmsman of Pakistan’s internal security had egg on his face. All those who had lapped up his outpouring have run for cover.

Obviously, Malik has become a victim of turf war which is peculiar to Pakistan and is not getting an update, if not a briefing, from the ISI sleuths.

Here are the details.

Read them, you will know Malik’s and his master’s mindset of targeting the neighbours to cover their feet of clay.

Ghulam Mohammad, Chairman, Balochistan National Movement (BNM), Sher Mohammad Baloch, Vice-President, Balochistan Republic Party (BRP) and Lala Munir Baloch, General Secretary, Baloch National Front (BNF) turned up at the Session’s Court in Turbat (Balochistan) on April 3 in connection with a shooting case slapped on them last year. They met their lawyer, and appeared before the Judge, who granted them an interim bail.

In a happy frame of mind, the three Balochi leaders returned to the lawyer’s chamber in the court premises. Suddenly from nowhere more than a dozen persons walked in and whisked them away in waiting cars. These vehicles, four in all, have had no number plate. So, the vehicles are untraceable. The intruders were dressed like any other civilian.

The lawyer suspected the abduction to be the handiwork of ISI. He immediately rushed to Turbat Police Station but the police refused to entertain his complaint. He turned to the Sessions’ Court with a Habeous Corpus petition. The judge heard him in patience but declined to entertain his plea saying the case did not come under his jurisdiction.

Turbat Bar Association picked up the case and its President Fida Hussain, shot off a letter to the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP), Iftikhar Choudhry, for suo motto action. Five days later, on April 8 to be precise, even before the CJP could react, bodies of the three missing Baloch leaders were found at Pidrak, 35 Kms away from Turbat.

The bodies were badly mutilated, almost beyond recognition. Post-mortem report said they were killed on the very day of their arrest and the bodies were thrown off a high place, may be a helicopter.

Malik was repeatedly interrupted as he indulged in his wild allegations not only by Senators from Balochistan but also other provinces. They took serious objections to his claim that ten thousand Balochis were trained in Russia and that they are now actively indulging in terrorist activities in Balochistan. PML (N) leader Zaffar-ul-Haq cautioned Malik against loose talk and told him that he could end up creating new enmities for Pakistan.

What has gone wrong with Malik and his ilk?

Handling his first case (as Advisor, Interior Affairs) which was a fall-out of Mumbai’s 26/11, Malik sounded very reasonable. In fact, he clean bowled everyone when he admitted that Afzal Kasab, the lone survivor of ‘Mission Mumbai’, was, indeed, a Pakistani. He also announced the arrest of several other LeT operatives for their involvement in the attack on Mumbai.

Malik’s perestroika was short lived though. Because, he soon returned to the old habit of India bashing and to the allegation that India was not forthcoming with requisite information. A smoke screen for wriggling out of the commitment to arrest all the accused in Mumbai case.

Patently unfair it may be to lay all the blame for these roll backs at the door-step of Malik. Not only he but also others who matter and even media are dictated to by the Army and the ISI as to the position they should take on any given issue of interest to the Pak establishment.

A group of Pakistani journalists said so in so many words while on a visit to New Delhi to attend a media conference on April 15. Beena Sarwar, Rahmullah Yusafzai, Sayeed Minhas and Muniba Kamal said the Army and the ISI dictate a stated position with regard to terrorism and India. They fully concurred with Nirupama Subramanian, the Hindu correspondent in Islamabad, who said that the Pakistani media was generally sympathetic to India in the immediate aftermath of 26/11but suddenly changed their tone of reporting after a briefing given by the ISI Chief.

Rahman Malik and his masters in the Zardari government may prefer short memories. May also like not to see beyond the immediate though the Mr Five Percent regime had promised a clean break with the past. It had even apologised for all the past ‘sins’ in Balochistan.

The turn of events show the regime change has seen no change in the work culture and work ethics of the notorious military intelligence agencies, which continue to treat Baluchis as adversaries of the State and blame them as agents of foreign intelligence agencies. This is precisely how Pakistan had lost a part of its landmass, which became Bangladesh in 1971.

Popular nationalist movements do not succeed merely because of their own efforts, but their success or failure is largely dependent on the nature of counter-efforts to meet them. For the Pakistan State countering Balochi insurgency, patience has clearly been in short supply. There is only one answer to genuine demands from the Balochi side: meet them with disproportionate force. Pakistani history shows that unrepentant coercion has come out a cropper every time the military has been sent to tackle Balochi rebellion. The state has tried to replicate this every time Balochistan has been on fire.

A Pattern

There is a pattern in the way the state and its leadership have handled the Baloch issue. Pakistan does not have a singular locus of power. There is a perennial competition between the civilian and military apparatus to prevail over each other. The military has persisted as the more dominant element. The civilian and military leaderships have accused each other of insensitivity towards the Baloch issue. If Ayub ordered the killings of Balochis in 1958-59, Z.A. Bhutto came out with his offer of autonomy. But soon he went against his own promises and ordered killings of Balochi leaders in the 1970s. Zia-ul-Haq succeeded him and declared general amnesty and soothed the Baloch nerves. This time round, after the excessive use of military might by Musharraf’s military government, Zardari government in power, has promised to apply the balms. The method of winning back the sympathy of the Baloch Sardars was through ensuring state support for their dominant feudal hold over Baloch society. They were heavily compensated and effectively silenced.

Change in the air

Thus, in previous instances the Baloch people were duly duped by their leaders who were heavily bribed by the Pakistani leadership. However, this time round the leadership of the movement has passed on to the hands of the upcoming younger generation who are dedicated to the cause of nationalist struggle, unafraid of the Pakistani state and immune to appeasement. This young generation of Baloch nationalists have compelled the old veteran Sardars to follow them. The Sardars starting from K B Marri to Akbar Bugti saw the writing on the wall and had to stop hobnobbing with the state. The state under Musharraf misconstrued the problem.

Musharraf thought getting rid of the Sardars will amount to getting rid of the problem of Balochistan. It used excessive force to eliminate Nawab Akbar Bugti. The Baloch resistance has shown no sign of coming down in spite of it. Little does the Pakistani state realise that the ordinary Baloch has now a genuine cause to live and die for. But Pakistani state with its expertise in raising insurgencies has no patience to understand the inner dynamics of the Baloch struggle. It is on the wrong side of history on this occasion.

Pakistani State in a Hurry

Bugti was killed in 2006. This led to a state of shock. There was an immediate dip in the Baloch assertion. However, it picked up again next year. There were 72 different incidents of bombing in 2007 only around Quetta. In 2008 the number increased to 81. In 2008, there was even a case of suicide attack against the Frontier Corps personnel. The Baloch National Army has the support of the people this time.

The moderate political leadership in Balochistan had hailed the return of democracy as a possible way out of the Baloch crisis. Even the Baloch rebels had called for a ceasefire. However, very soon the people have realised that this PPP-led coalition government headed by Zardari, despite its expression of good intent, is a lame duck one. There is a firm belief that army is still controlling the shots from behind and would not allow the government to devolve power to Balochistan and other provinces.

Nothing short of Independence

A Balochi Protest in Washington

Baloch nationalists would argue that they would not stop at autonomy. Pakistani state with its Punjabi majority bias would never yield them fiscal and cultural autonomy. According their account, Punjabi businessmen and technocrats have already colonised the state. They have reduced Gwadar to a mini-Punjab and have conspired with the Pakhtun population in the state to reduce the Balochis to a minority within their own homeland. The largest, poorest, most suppressed and least populated nation of Balochis have also vanished from the public gaze.

The media in Pakistan has adopted a lackadaisical approach to the Baloch issue. During Musharraf’s reign, the media did pick on Bugti-assassination as a major stick to beat his administration with. However, it did not argue out forcefully the need for decentralisation or devolution of power. A Punjabi majoritarian state has its own existential biases towards minority communities. The media also reflects this Punjabi majoritarian bias.

No manipulation by external forces

There have been flippant accusations that we the Balochis have been manipulated by the Russians, Afghans, Indians and even Americans. Truly speaking, any of these countries would like to fish in troubled waters. But so far none of these countries have been allowed by the Balochis to step into the Baloch ‘freedom struggle’. The Balochis are determined to fight their own battle. They want only moral support from the larger international community which includes all these countries. But we have studiedly avoided any truck with any particular country in this regard.

The Balochis have learnt their lessons from the Kashmiris and would avoid the risks of overdependence on external sources. They would never like to be swayed by external instigations and keep fighting till the end. No brute power on the earth can shake their self-confidence and their unwavering faith in their own inherent strength and capacity to work doggedly till they achieve their aim.

The moderate Baloch leadership at the provincial level have tried to steal the thunder from the militants by echoing the nationalist concerns earlier raised by the Baloch militants. They have sought to re-negotiate the status of Balochistan with the powers in Islamabad hoping against hope that a Sindhi leader at the helm of affairs would deliver them autonomy on a platter. They do not realise that the real power is in the hands of the Paunjabi dominated civil-military bureaucracy, which would not like to sacrifice the advantages accruing to them from the present configuration of power. They may devolve nominal power which is unacceptable to most of us today.

A Critical Turn

The Baloch struggle stands at a critical turn today. There are quite a few who would like to convince the Pakistani state that it is in their interests to shed power and accommodate Baloch concerns. They would like the state apparatus to confess that they had been brutal and repressive in the past and expect the state to transform itself. But majority of Balochis today do not want to beg Pakistani state for mercy. Freedom is much more valuable than small concessions being offered to the Baloch nation.

Pakistan will have to pay a heavy price for the rapes of Baloch women, incarceration and disappearance of Baloch youth and killings of hundreds of innocents in Balochistan. The world outside is watching Pakistani generals perpetrating horror and state terrorism in the name of protecting the integrity of the Pakistani state. On the contrary, the Pakistanis have labelled the tag of terrorists on the innocent Balochis who have the right to protect their lives against indiscriminate attacks by the Pakistani military forces.

Moreover it is the Pakistani state and the military which have allowed Taliban to capture northern Balochistan and intimidate and demoralise the Baloch freedom movement. Balochis have raised their voice against such unthinking Talibanisation of Balochistan in recent times. Unable to take Balochistan through military means they would now like to win Balochis through Islamist hate campaigns against the US and the West. The Balochis have kept their ears and eyes open. They will not join this hate wagon.

Pakistan has never been a unified nation. It is at best a union of nations. Balochis may not be as numerous but they hail from a resource rich corner of Pakistan and are the rightful owners of its resources under international law. The inhuman and unjust way in which Balochis are being handled, and being dispossessed of their wealth, cannot continue for ever.

The Balochis have woken up. They have taken a resolve to fight for their freedom till the last Baloch is dead.

It is clearly a struggle between a self-respecting nation and a self-aggrandising one. The Balochis would urge the world to take note of the brutalities of the Pakistani state which is all out to liquidate an entire nation of Balochis. The state of Pakistan should be made to explain its position in the comity of nations. Long Live Baloch nation. Long Live Balochistan.

By Farooq Ganderbali

The middle phase of year 2008 was turbulent for the state of Jammu and Kashmir. The state was rocked by the agitation over Amarnath land transfer. Both the capital cities of Srinagar and Jammu were paralysed by these events which often were violent in nature. Not to be left behind the separatists had managed to somehow turn the agitation for
their own gains and were thought to have become quite powerful. At this point of time the elections were announced and to the surprise of all it succeeded so spectacularly that everyone was surprised. With poll percentage standing at 61 per cent, it was far ahead of 44 per cent during 2002 assembly elections.

The fear of Pakistan-sponsored terrorists in the state is definitely waning and the Hurriyat is also realizing that, even as it stayed away from the polls, it could not enforce a general boycott. The successful conduct of the elections is a fall-out of the cease-fire accord between the former prime minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and General Musharraf still holding—a development that is independently reflected in the steady drop in Valley violence from year to year. There are also other factors responsible for this rebuttal of separatist politics.

In these elections people voted according to their choice. The party which they thought would be able to deliver at the development front was their obvious choice. The fractured mandate also indicates the growing awareness among the people who want to keep these parties under check. The increased participation of people in the elections reflects greater acceptance of current reality and the need to deal with it on its own terms. The participation in the elections therefore marks a shift from living under fear of terrorists to a more realistic willingness to participate in self-governance.

Though the state is still in a fragile mood following the flaring up of sensitive issues, but none of it kept the people from abstaining from voting. They know that if they miss this golden chance the separatist leaders and their terror supporters will get another opportunity to boast of their hollow victory. What follows then is the same cycle of death and destruction in which only these separatist leaders make hay. So the best way to silence these separatist leaders was to enthusiastically embrace the great Indian democracy and this is what they did.

The scars of last twenty years are written all over the state in every sphere. Even as the rest of India moved by leaps and bounds, Kashmir had to remain tethered to violent elements for no choice of theirs. Now they want to forget the bitter past and catch up with other in the development sector. For this they have extended their hand of cooperation towards the political parties and they hope that the new government will do wonders. It is vital now that those who run the administration ensure good governance and rapid economic development. The Kashmiri sense of exceptionalism is such that no one should hope for any kind of economism to replace even the most unrealistic political day-dreaming. Still, local demonstration of the Indian success in marrying democracy and development can and will make a difference. The new leadership has started with this new pragmatism. People have been fed up with the previous government’s who had been
given the chance but were not able to deliver upto expectations.

A young state like Jammu and Kashmir needs a more flexibility and intelligence than what is provided by old politicians. So it was a welcome news that Farooq Abdullah agreed to step aside and allowed his son Omar to take charge of the reins of administration. Omar has been

actively present at the centre of Kashmir politics for the last ten years and his family has been in this field for the last seventy years. This makes an envious blend of experience and youth, which everybody hopes will do wonders in the state.

France Telecom forced to share its communications filtering expertise with Chinese intelligence agencies, according to a Paris based web site.

The report says several other French telecom companies doing business with China have also faced similar pressure.

The site, Intelligence online, says the French telecom companies had received a specific request from Zhou Yongkang, head of Chinese Security apparatus. Zhou is also a member of Politburo Standing Committee of the Communist Party.

The report adds that the French technology will enable the Chinese to monitor telephonic conversations and to disconnet a call abruptly if the device picks up some suspect key words. These words will be fed into the system for ‘hassle’ free detection.

Lately Internet is witness to an interesting campaign. But it is carried out through some very innocuous web sites. Its message: Pakistan and common Afghans are the real victims of foreign intervention in Afghanistan. The authors, all Pakistan writers, pop up the same, if not identical, arguments on the sites sponsored by Pak army and its proxies.

They also brazenly glorify Al-Qaeda leader Al-Jawahiri’s threats of wiping out additional 30,000 American troops due to arrive in Kabul.

Presenting a moving pen picture of Afghan children fighting for garbage on the streets of Pakistan, the authors aver that the real people are not Al-Qaeda or Taliban. “These real people want to lead a dignified life. What they need is not more troops but freedom from fear and fighting and health care and education”.

That is absolutely right. People want freedom, education, health, food, shelter and clothes. They want to live as equal citizens of the world but they are denied these genuine rights. And they are made “sacrificial goats” in the hands of the Taliban and their creator, the ISI.

No additional proof is required and the world knows how the Pakistan Army has created the Taliban in Afghanistan. The Taliban justice system, based on their brand of Shariat, has no parallels in civilized world. Aren’t these Taliban who had destroyed schools, forced girls and women to stay within confines of their homes and convert hospitals into dumping grounds during their rule in Afghanistan?

One can see the replay of the Taleban administration and judicial system in the Swat and other areas of North Western Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan. Gen Zia-ul-Haq regime had handed over Afghanistan to these medieval ‘marauders’.

The current Pakistan Army leadership, which is effectively dictating terms to the new civil administration, has now unceremoniously surrendered the Malakand division of the NWFP to the Taliban. The results are fast manifesting themselves.

There is a suicide bombing in Peshawar soon after inking the Peace Accord to implement the Shariat. The Geo TV journalist Musa Khan was killed. The Chief of SAFMA, the SAARC Media Association, was beaten up. Nearly 13,000 schools in the area were already blasted. Many teachers were beaten up while the parents were forced to withdraw their girls from going to the schools.

Their Taliban counterpart in Afghanistan continues to impose their terror despite being on the run. It was the Taliban/Al-Qaeda orchestration of terror in the world, which brought the international force to Afghanistan to bring order back to the country. It is nearly eight years and they have not succeeded. How can then the weak Karzai administration and poorly equipped police be faulted for failure in tackling this daunting task.

The clear explanation is that the Al-Qaeda/Taleban leadership and fighters continued to find ‘safe sanctuaries’ in Pakistan’s FATA with open connivance and support of Pakistan security agencies. The clever double game played by the former Army Chief and President Parvez Musharraf allowed the Taliban/Al-Qaeda fighters criss-cross the porous border to launch their terrorist raids and then safely come back to their ‘safe houses’ guarded by the tribal warlords.

This policy of support of the Pakistan Army to the Taliban/Al-Qaeda and their associate fundamentalist and terrorist groups continued to play havoc in large parts of Afghanistan. While US and NATO forces are involved in fighting out these highly motivated medieval morons, countries like India have only been putting up developmental infrastructure like schools, hospitals and roads for better trade links. Instead of giving a supportive hand, the engineers and workers building such infrastructure are being kidnapped and killed by the Taliban, directed by Pakistani Army controllers.

American press confirmed evidence collected by the US agencies of Pak ISI involvement in the suicide attack against Indian embassy in Kabul in July last year. The recent coordinated attacks on government buildings in Kabul resemble Mumbai terrorist attack in November last, launched from Pakistan.

Yes, the common people of Afghanistan deserve a decent and dignified life, free from the Taliban/Al-Qaeda and myriads of their gun-totting terrorist groups wandering the streets implementing their brand of Shariat law. Pakistan and its Security Forces are the main problem and they cannot hide themselves under the cover of being a victim. What you create will ultimately come back and haunt you.

The world community is taking a serious view of the situation. The UN and many leading countries like the US, UK, Canada, Germany, etc. have appointed special envoys to review the situation and suggest measures as the people of all these countries are equally the victims of terrorism which has its origins in Pakistan.

Pakistan and its army have thus been put on notice but they do not seem to be taking note of it as yet.