Balochistan
The Baloch of Balochistan were traditionally nomads, but settled agricultural existence is becoming more common; every chief has a fixed residence. The villages are collections of mud or stone huts; on the hills, enclosures of rough stone walls are covered with matting to serve as temporary habitations. The Balochi raise camels, cattle, sheep, and goats and engage in carpet making and embroidery. Their agricultural methods are primitive. They profess Islam.also spelled BALUCH, OR BALOUCH, group of tribes speaking the Balochi language and estimated at about 8,800,000 inhabitants in the province of Balochistan in Pakistan and also neighbouring areas of Iran, Afghanistan, Bahrain, and Punjab (India). In Pakistan the Balochi people are divided into two groups, the Sulaimani and the Makrani, separated from each other by a compact block of Brahui tribes.
The original Balochi homeland probably lay on the Iranian plateau. The Balochi were mentioned in Arabic chronicles of the 10th century AD. The old tribal organization is best preserved among those inhabiting the Sulaiman Mountains. Each tribe (tuman) consists of several clans and acknowledges one chief, even though in some tuman there are clans in habitual opposition to the chief.
Some 70 percent of the total Balochi population live in Pakistan. About 20 percent inhabit the coterminous region of southeastern Iran. This geographic region is the least-developed in Iran, partially owing to its harsh physical conditions. Precipitation, which is scarce and falls mostly in violent rainstorms, causes floods and heavy erosion, while heat is oppressive for eight months of the year. The mountain chains of Iranian Balochistan, including the Baga-e Band and Bampusht Mountains, run east-west, parallel to the Gulf of Oman, making ingress and egress difficult. In the centre of the region there are abundant groundwater and streams, such as the Mashkid and the Kunari, that sometimes open out into valleys.
In ancient times, Iranian Balochistan provided a land route to the Indus River valley and the Babylonian civilizations. The armies of Alexander the Great marched through Balochistan in 326 BC on their way to the Hindu Kush and, on their return march in 325, experienced great hardships in the region's barren wastes.
The Seljug invasion of Kerman in the 11th century AD stimulated the eastward migration of the Balochi. The Seljuq ruler Qawurd (Kavurt) sent an expedition against the Kufichis (Qufs), Balochi mountaineers whose banditry had long threatened the region's southern and eastern parts. After suppressing the Balochi, the Seljuqs put watchtowers, cisterns, and caravansaries along the desert route to encourage trade with India. The Balochi remained rebellious under Safavid rule (1501-1736). Western Balochistan was conquered by Iran in the 19th century, and its boundary was fixed in 1872. The Iranian government began to assist settlement and economic development in the 1970s by building dams and thermoelectric-power plants, though these efforts slackened after the Iranian Islamic Revolution.
Palm-tree oases in central Iranian Balochistan contain orchards of oranges, pomegranates, mulberries, and bananas. Grain, tobacco, rice, cotton, sugarcane, and indigo plants are the principal crops. A road was opened from Zahedan to the port of Chah Bahar. Zahedan also is connected by rail with Pakistan, Zabol, and Tehran; and it is a junction for roads east-west.
One might say that Balochistan is the land of baloch tribes. Because Baloch are of various baloch tribes and baluch clans. Although, this concept is diminishing in its strengths, it still exists in rural area and in the north of Balochistan. However in the coastal region of Balochistan known as Makoran or Makkaran the concept of tribe has long faded away. People of Makoran are not dependent primarily on the land. Hence, the old tradition of land ownership and caste system which goes with it does not exist. Makoranis depend on the sea for living. They are involved in sea transport, fishing, and trade with other countries. The Makoranis do not come from a particular tribe or caste. There are ex-landlords, ex-slaves and many others from various tribes and castes who are involved in fishing or sea trade. The original people were called "Mead" that means someone who earn his living through the sea and primarily by way of fishing. Meads were very versatile and dynamic. They moved from one coast to another. The sea was every where - from Bandar Abbas to Karachi. The interesting fact about the Meads is that they had rejected the back-ward and suppressive tribalism and the caste system long time ago. Hence, they were, and still are, despised by the tribal chiefs. The Meads or Makoranis are much more peaceful and non-violent in comparison with the Baloch from the northern part of Balochistan who seems to be warriors and much more angry with life. This difference in temperament can be attributed to environment and brutal tribalism. The environment in the south (Makoran area) is rather humid and constant. There is no tribe to fight against. The northern part of Balochistan is mountainous and wild with hot temperatures in the summer and very cold and some times freezing weather in the winter.
Balochistan also spelled BALUCHISTAN, westernmost province of Pakistan. It is bordered by Iran (west), by Afghanistan (northwest), by North-West Frontier and Punjab provinces (northeast and east), by Sindh province (southeast), and by the Arabian Sea (south).
Although an indigenous population of the region passed through the Stone and Bronze ages and was part of Alexander the Great's empire, the Balochi people themselves did not enter the region until the 14th century AD. The Balochi and Pashtun (Pathan) people constitute the two major and more distinct ethnic groups; a mixed ethnic stock, mainly of Sindhi origin, forms the third major group. Balochi, Brahui, Pashto, and Sindhi are the main languages. Balochistan was established as a separate province in its present form in 1970. It is the largest and most sparsely populated province in Pakistan.
There are four major physical regions in Balochistan. The upper highlands of the central and northeastern areas are bounded by the Sulaiman Range to the east and the Toba Kakar Range to the northwest. The lower highlands include the eastern slopes of the Sulaiman Range; the lower ranges of the Makran, Kharan, and Chagai on the west; and the Pab and Kirthar ranges on the southeast. These highland regions are primarily inhabited by nomadic herdsmen. Flat plains extend northward along the coast into the mountains; in the northwest an arid desert region consists of the Chagai, Kharan, and Makran deserts and the swamps of Lora and Mashkel. The upper highlands drain into the Indus River, while the lower highlands drain northward into the swamps or southward into the Arabian Sea. Outside the influence of the Asian monsoon, most of the province is dry with continental extremes of heat and cold.
Agriculture is limited by the scarcity of water, power, and adequate transportation facilities. Wheat, jowar (sorghum), and rice are the major food crops, and fruits are the principal cash crops. Sheep raising employs the great majority of the population and occupies most of the land. The sheep provide a high-quality wool, part of which is exported. Almost all industry is small-scale and includes cotton and woolen manufacturing, food processing, carpet making, textile and leather embroidery, small machinery and appliance manufacturing, and handicrafts. The transportation network is poorly developed, but roads connect the major towns, and Quetta is connected by road to the ocean port of Karachi in Sindh province. Quetta is a centre of the railway network, and its airport offers domestic service.
The University of Balochistan was established in Quetta in 1970. The Balochi Academy and the Pashto Academy, also in Quetta, promote the preservation of traditional cultures. Area 334,050 square miles (547,188 square km). Pop. (1983 est.) resident pop., 8,611,000
Courtesy of http://www.pakistaninformation.com – October 5, 2004
About Balochistan
Balochistan Plateau East of the Sulaiman and Kirthar ranges lies the Balochistan Plateau with an average altitude of 2,000 ft.(610 m). The physical features of the plateau are very varied, but mountains, plateaus and basins predominate the scene. The Mountains spread in various directions, attaining height 6,000- 11,000 ft. (1,830-3,335 m).
In the north are the Toba Kakar Range and Chagai hills which form the border of Pakistan with Afghanistan for some distance. In the west-central part is the Siahan Range and in the east-southern corner the Mekran Range. Except for the Toba Kakar Range, which is dotted here and there with juniper, tamarisk and pistachio trees, all other ranges are naked and bleak. The mountains are carved off by innumerable channels and hill torrents which contain water only after rains. Very little water, however, reaches the basins lying on their foot. Comparatively more important rivers are Zhob, Bolan and Mulla, located in the north-eastern portion of Balochistan.
The valleys of the main streams and their tributaries exhibit similar feature and consist of flat plains of alluvial soil in the centre, with a pebbly slope of varying length rising on either sides of the mountains. It is from these pebbly beds that the supply of water for irrigation is chiefly obtained through Karezes. Zhob, Bloan and their tributaries have formed two important alluvial basins of Balochistan, namely, the Lorlai basin and Quetta basin, which together produce a major portion of Balochistan's crops and fruits: wheat, barley, maize, lucerne, potato, apple, apricot, peach, almond, grape and pomegranate. Kalat Plateau at 7,000-8,000 ft. (2,135-2,440 m), in the centre of Balochistan is the most important plateau.
The largest desert is found in western Balochistan. This is an area of inland drainage and dry lakes (hamuns), the largest of which is Hamun-i-Mashkhel, which is 54 miles long and 22 miles wide. The surface is littered with sun-cracked clay, oxidized pebbles, salty marshes and crescent-shaped moving sand dunes. The area is known particularly for its constant mirage and sudden severe sand-storms. Being outside the sphere of monsoon current, Balochistan receives scanty and irregular rainfall (4 inches); the temperature is very high in summer and very low in winter.
Owing to continuous draught, there is very little vegetation. Most of the people, therefore, lead nomadic life, raising camels, sheep and goats. Balochistan is, however, fortunate to have considerable mineral wealth of natural gas, coal, chromate, lead, sulphur and marble. The reserves of natural gas at Sui are among the largest in the world. The gas is piped to Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Multan, Faisalabad, Lahore, Rawalpindi and Quetta for use as industrial power.
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DAWA Split may Result in Violence over Division of Assets By Amir Mir
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Panchayat Decides Fate of Married Girl on the Toss of a Coin By Shamsul Islam Naz
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NWFP Minister Accused of Tampering with Electricity Meters By Intikhab Amir
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Religious Activist Dies of Torture during Custody By Shamsul Islam Naz
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"If I am a Terrorist, the Court should Hang me" By Ashfaq Yusufzai
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Chief Minister Balochistan's Convoy Ambuished; Two Killed By Muhammad Ejaz Khan
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Maulana Sheerani Escapes Attempt on his Life : Bomb damaged Maulana's vehicle near Killa Saifullah
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Rocket Attack on Rangers Post, Two Killed Five Injured in Rojhan Mazari
The Baloch Resistance Movement
By. B. Raman
The law and order situation in Balochistan continues to deteriorate steadily despite the use of the Army by the military-dominated regime in Islamabad to put an end to acts of violence directed at the members of the Shia community, the Chinese experts deployed at the Gwadar port project, gas pipelines and other economic targets, including a local airport, and military personnel.
The responsibility for the restoration of law and order has been informally taken over by the Army without a formal proclamation and gunship helicopters, received in the past from the US for use in counter-terrorism operations directed against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban taking shelter in the areas near the Afghanistan border, are being used against the Baloch population, which has had nothing to do with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban, in an attempt to suppress their movement against the military-dominated regime and what is perceived as its attempts to reduce the Baloch’s to a minority in their traditional homeland.
There are various root causes for the resistance movement being waged by the Baloch’s:
Mounting anger over the denial of the benefits of the natural gas and other mineral resources of the province to the Baloch’s in the form of increased royalty payments. The denial of any meaningful role to the Baloch’s in decisions relating to the construction and administration of the Chinese-aided Gwadar port project.
The influx of a large number of Punjabis and other non-Baloch’s into the province to work in the Gwadar project. The continuing acts of discrimination against the Baloch’s in matters of recruitment to the Armed Forces and various civilian departments of the Government. The establishment of more cantonments in the Province to enable the Army better maintain law and order.
The ground situation has been further complicated by the import of the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide into the province from Punjab and Karachi and by the influx of the dregs of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Uighur terrorist elements from the Xinjiang province of China into the province, where they have been given shelter by the local fundamentalist organisations with the tacit approval of the Government.
The root causes mentioned in Para 3 above have given rise to two kinds of anti-Islamabad and anti-military movements:
An overt political movement in the form of protest meetings, demonstrations and rallies not involving the use of violence. Four non-religious political parties of Balochistan, who have formed a united front, continue to play a leading role in this movement. These are the Jamhoori Watan Party, the National Party, the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) and the Baloch Haq Tawar. A covert freedom movement involving targeted acts of violence against economic targets and other infrastructure and military personnel.
The factors mentioned in Para 4 above have made Quetta, the capital of the province, the scene of periodic anti-Shia incidents and the bordering areas of the province safe sanctuaries for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Uighurs for mounting operations against Afghan and American troops in Afghan territory. The presence of the Uighurs has added to the security concerns of the Chinese, necessitating the deployment of a large contingent of the Pakistan Army, exclusively for the protection of the Chinese experts working in the Gwadar port and the Saindak copper extraction projects.
The frequent visits of Chinese security experts to the province and the recent high-profile joint Sino-Pak counter-terrorism exercise held in Xinjiang were meant to restore the confidence of the Chinese experts and to strengthen the co-operation between the counter-terrorism agencies of the two countries.
The reluctance or inability of the provincial authorities to act effectively against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban operating from the border areas of the province and to put an end to their terrorist infrastructure directed against the Americans and the Hamid Karzai Government in Kabul have brought the Pakistan Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) under US pressure to mount operations against these dregs in Baloch territory, similar to the operations mounted by the Army since October last year against the dregs in the South Waziristan area of the Federally-Administered Tribal areas (FATA).
At a time when its troops inducted into the South Waziristan area have been involved in a bleeding guerrilla warfare with the tribals and the Uzbek, Chechen and Uighur dregs in that area resulting in mounting military casualties, a further alienation of the local tribals and increasing anti-Musharraf feelings in the Armed Forces, the Pakistan Army is reluctant to get bogged down in a similar guerrilla warfare against Al Qaeda and the Taliban dregs in Balochistan, which might further come in the way of its efforts to quell the Baloch resistance movement.
Senior army officers and the ISI are against getting involved in a two-front military operation in Balochistan- one against the Baloch nationalists, who, in the Army's perception, pose a threat to Pakistan's unity and economic prosperity and endanger its relations with China and the other against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who do not threaten Pakistani lives and interests. Their first priority is quelling the re-emerging Baloch independence movement before it assumes alarming proportions similar to those of the 1970s.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been trying to follow a three-pronged policy:
Keeping the door open for a political dialogue with the non-religious political parties, who have confined their activities to an overt political movement against Islamabad without indulging in acts of violence.
A no-holds-barred military campaign against the Baloch youth who have started a violent struggle to achieve their objectives. While large sections of the Baloch population look upon these youth as freedom-fighters, the military has been projecting them as terrorists.
Avoiding getting bogged down in operations against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the bordering areas lest it weaken its operations against the Baloch’s.
The Americans seem to understand Musharraf's imperative of quelling the re-kindled Baloch independence movement before acting against the dregs. The position might change as the US presidential elections approach, particularly if the reports regarding the presence of some senior Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the areas near the Iran border are confirmed.
The move for a political dialogue with the provincial political parties has been a non-starter till now in the absence of any indication of the military's willingness to consider their demands relating to the increase in the payment of royalty, suspension of the construction of the Gwadar project till its implications for the economic interests of the Baloch’s are examined, the stoppage of the influx of the Punjabis and other non-Baloch’s into the province and the abandoning of the plans for more cantonments. They also want the suspension of the military operations against the Baloch youth.
Musharraf has already made clear his determination to go ahead with the Gwadar and other Chinese-aided projects in the province and the projects for new cantonments. His Government continues to deny any military operations against the Baloch youth. Thus, the only issues on which his regime may be prepared to negotiate relate to the demand for more royalty and for more job opportunities for the Baloch’s. Even this has not been indicated openly and specifically.
There are two generations of Baloch’s now engaged in a simultaneous confrontation with the Islamabad regime. The first is the older generation, consisting of the grown-up members of the younger generation of the 1970s, which had spearheaded the post-1971 freedom struggle, which was brutally crushed by the late Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto with the help of the Army and the Air Force. In their midst, one could see recognisable faces like those of Ataullah Khan Mengal, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Khair Baksh Marri etc and their progenies, who were born in the 1950s and the 1960s and fought with their elders against the Pakistan Army before giving up their armed struggle and taking up to politics.
The second is the post-1970 generation of young Baloch’s. Many of them are from the same legendary tribes, which had waged a freedom struggle in the 1970s, but had no role to play in it, because they were still children or not yet born. Many members of this younger generation went to the Gulf countries in the 1980s and 1990s, served in the local police and security forces, acquired a certain expertise in the use of arms and ammunition and explosives and have since returned to Balochistan. It is these elements, which constitute the hard-core of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which has been in the forefront of the current freedom struggle.
The BLA is a very well-organised and well-motivated clandestine organisation, with a high degree of invisibility. Very little is known about its leaders and cadres. One hears of them whenever there is a spectacular incident such as the eight explosions in Quetta on Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14, 2004, the ambush of a group of seven Pakistani army officers going for shopping in the Khuzdar area on August 1, killing five of them,, the abortive attempt to kill the Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Yousef in the same area the next day, the frequent disruptions of gas and oil supplies to Punjab by blowing up the pipelines, the blowing-up of the Sui local airport etc, but one rarely sees them.
The resistance fighters of the BLA are as invisible as those of Iraq and have been operating in a large number of small autonomous cells, capable of opportunistic actions without the apparent need for a central command and control. Like the US Army in Iraq, the Pakistan Army in Balochistan has been totally foxed by their activities. It has been groping in the dark, without being able to identify them and penetrate their set-up.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Reserach Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com)
Courtesy of http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1087.html
The Daily Dawn - – October 5, 2004
By M. Ilyas Khan
Unknown to the rest of the country, Baloch nationalists are up in arms again after 30 years.
Which of the two should be more worrying: the fact that Balochistan, after a troubled peace lasting some 30 years, is once again in the throes of a full-fledged insurgency or the reality that the issue has so far failed to find space in Pakistan’s mainstream political discourse? The sights and sounds recently emerging from the country’s vast hinterland are failing to register, despite having risen to a violent and bloody crescendo over the last six months. The forgotten and at times mocked Baloch nationalist has quietly emerged from the shadow of sectarian and international terrorism to stake his own claim on the spoils of a system that is threatening to fall gradually but inevitably apart.
There is serious turmoil in Balochistan, irrespective of whether the rest of the country is willing to acknowledge it.
Over the last six months in particular, Baloch rebels have been hard at work – 153 out of 156 working days, to be precise – planting mines, firing rockets, exploding bombs or ambushing military convoys. Their attacks have turned bloody on at least 25 occasions, killing over 40 persons including military and paramilitary personnel, levies, security agents, government officials and also some civilians. The Sui airport building has been blown up, gas pipelines and electricity grids have been repeatedly hit and bomb explosions have taken place close to the official residences of the chief minister as well as the governor.”
The Daily Dawn, – October 5, 2004
By M. Ilyas Khan
There is simply no explanation for Islamabad’s refusal to pay Balochistan the royalties that it merits.
One reason why the Marris of Kohlu have been resisting oil and gas exploration in their area is the manner in which Sui’s gas reserves were appropriated by Islamabad. Discovered in 1952, five gas wells at Sui presently supply 38 per cent of Pakistan’s domestic and commercial energy needs but only 6 per cent of Balochistan’s population has a gas connection. Ironically, these connections came a decade after gas had been supplied all over Pakistan. In fact, had the Zia regime not decided to set up an army corps headquarters in Quetta, there would still be no gas there. The moral of the story? The project to exploit and distribute gas was dominated by Islamabad, which is in turn dominated by the Punjab, and so the gas went where the Punjab wanted it to go. At least this is what the Baloch argue. And there are few convincing counterpoints to their argument.
The Daily Dawn - October 5, 2004
By M. Ilyas Khan
What are the Gwadaris getting out of the multibillion-dollar seaport planned around their ancient village?
In 1992, when former prime minister Nawaz Sharif announced the construction of a deep seaport at Gwadar, the coastal population of Mekran was ecstatic. Some 12 years later, as the dream is about to come true, they seem less happy. The period has seen a land-grabbing stampede by strangers from Sindh and the Punjab, with jobs being doled out from offices in Karachi and the Gwadaris being left with nothing but the looming prospect of mass dislocation.
Much of the problem stems from the failure of the government to involve Gwadar’s people in drawing up the city’s master plan and preparing them for vocations suited to a metropolitan seaport likely to create 2.5 million jobs. On the contrary, every development has come on the spur of the moment, from the top secret drawers of state institutions such as the communications ministry, the national highway authority, the Pakistan Navy and the National Engineering Service of Pakistan. Even the Gwadar district government or the government in Quetta have had no clue.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By M. Ilyas Khan
The increased visibility and meddlesome ways of the security services are paving the way for Baloch youth to join the rebels.
Mohammad Hussain used to run Irani petrol from Mand to Turbat, ensuring for himself an average monthly income of around 20,000 rupees. But now he works as a day labourer for a paltry 80 rupees. The reason: the trail of cross-border trade from Iran is getting bloody, thanks to the Frontier Corps’ (FC) increased anti-smuggling vigilance over the last two years.
While the FC cannot be faulted on this score, the problem lies in the fact that the economic lifeline of the former Mekran division has never been serviceable from anywhere except Iran. The coastal highway that connects Gwadar with Karachi is yet to be completed.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By Zaffar Abbas
It was déjà vu all over again. The main hall of Aiwan-e-Sadr was packed with the usual (and some unusual) suspects who are often seen at such official ceremonies. Soon the main door opened and in walked the president along with the new prime minister-elect. Going through this routine for what must be the umpteenth time, the staff immediately sprang into action. The national anthem was followed by a recitation from the Quran and then the president stepped up to administer the oath to Pakistan’s new prime minister. The man in front of the president, this time, was Shaukat Aziz.
Would you like to know about the efforts that went into securing the invitations for the ceremony? I hope not, as it would make for a shameful narrative.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By Idrees Bakhtiar
In a move rich with irony, Mr Neat and Clean crossed the threshold of the prime minister’s office following in the footsteps of dirty politicians. When Shaukat Aziz bagged two National Assembly seats, his spotless reputation was sullied with allegations of massive rigging. Imagine Aziz’s horror if he were blamed for financial misappropriation and bungling while still a banker. But in assuming the country’s most coveted office, he did not blink an eye. He behaved like a true politician, shrugging off all charges as the rant of defeated opponents.
There was never any doubt about it. Aziz was sure to win the by-elections in Attock and Mithi. Who cares if the majority of the people in Mithi had never heard his name nor seen his face even during the election campaign. Still, he was made to score an unprecedented number of votes. The count was precisely 66,582 more votes than Sindh chief minister Arbab Ghulam Rahim bagged when he first won this seat in the 2002 elections. That was the highest number of votes ever won – or claimed to have been won – in the constituency. But Aziz set a new record by polling 154,000 votes.
Is Aziz so popular there, one may ask? Doubtful. As I said before, many people had not even heard his name.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By Amir Mir
If the Jamaat’s al-Qaeda connections have been no secret since October 2002, why has the government waited until now to crack down on the party?
The Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), one of Pakistan’s premier religious organisations and a key component of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, may be in for some serious trouble as the government gears up for what appears to be a well-measured operation against the party. Ever since the arrest of al-Qaeda suspect Khalid Sheikh Mohammad from the residence of a Jamaat activist on March 1, 2003, the party’s activities are being closely monitored by the government as well as the FBI.
Security officials requesting anonymity told the Herald that US intelligence officers have already been mandated by the Bush administration to gather enough evidence of the party’s suspected al-Qaeda connections to enable the US State Department to place the organisation on its terror watch list. These sources also claim that the US government’s Office of the Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism is currently busy making detailed inquiries into recent reports of JI office-bearers and cadres providing refuge to fugitive al-Qaeda elements in various parts of the country.
Speaking in the National Assembly on August 13, interior minister Faisal Saleh Hayat asserted that Pakistan’s “religio-political” parties were supporting al-Qaeda. Two days later on August 16, Hayat addressed a press conference at his Parliament House chamber and listed a number of incidences in which JI members had been linked to al-Qaeda, calling on its leadership to explain these connections.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
DAWA Split may Result in Violence over Division of Assets
By Amir Mir
Lahore – The jury is still out on whether Pakistan’s largest jihadi organisation Jamaatul Dawa (JD) has split up because of mounting pressure from the US or simply because of a bad case of office politics. Either way, JD’s amir Professor Hafiz Mohammad Saeed has plenty to worry about. After accusing Saeed of nepotism, misusing resources and straying from the organisation’s founding objectives, disgruntled JD leaders led by Maulana Zafar Iqbal have formed a breakaway faction called Khairun Naas (KN) or People’s Welfare .
Mostly comprising highly-trained fighters belonging to JD’s now-defunct military wing Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT), the KN leadership includes former LT amir Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, JD’s Lahore head Abu Shoaib, the Punjab chief Abu Naser Javed, head of seminaries Maulana Abdul Salam Bhatvi, in-charge publications Ameer Hamza and senior activists Abdul Qadir and Saifullah Mansoor. According to one of Lakhvi’s close associates, the JD headquarters in Muridke and its assets in Azad Kashmir are under KN’s control. “All the al-Dawa model schools, seminaries, hospitals, health centres and other such assets in Sindh are also under Naas’ control,” he adds.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
Panchayat Decides Fate of Married Girl on the Toss of a Coin
By Shamsul Islam Naz
Faisalabad – Misplaced and repeated panchayat intervention in the affairs of a legally married couple in Jaranwala has brought to the fore the continuing difficulties faced by young people in love. In July 2004, in compliance with a panchayat verdict, Abdul Latif of Jaranwala forced his married daughter Kiran to remarry according to his preference. Since Kiran had not yet divorced her first husband, Abdul Latif’s actions resulted in her being married to two men at the same time. A subsequent panchayat then determined that Kiran’s rightful husband would be decided by the toss of a coin, adding insult to injury and making a mockery of Kiran’s marriage and her life.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
NWFP Minister Accused of Tampering with Electricity Meters
By Intikhab Amir
Peshawar — The Peshawar Electric Supply Corporation (Pesco), was recently forced to punish the little guys to atone for the sins of the big fish. It was discovered that there had been some tampering with the power meters at the home of provincial information minister Asif Iqbal Daudzai. Rather than bring charges of power theft against a sitting minister, Pesco officials, egged on by provincial government bigwigs, promptly transferred one employee and suspended another.
Claiming that they had received complaints of over-billing, Pesco officials transferred the Gulbela subdivisional officer Mohammad Jamal and suspended Gulbela subdivision superintendent Mehtab.
“Staff members are seldom suspended on the basis of complaints. The action against Jamal and Mehtab is a departure from the usual practice,” claims a well-placed Pesco source. Moreover, the bureau chief of a national English daily was contacted by the directorate of information and asked not to file the story. The provincial government’s attempts to prevent newspapers from publishing the news in their July 27 edition suggests some wrongdoing on the minister’s part.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
Religious Activist Dies of Torture
during Custody
By Shamsul Islam Naz
Faisalabad – The mysterious circumstances of Qari Noor Mohammad’s death on August 18, 2004, suggest that Pakistan’s intelligence agencies are not only using severe torture as an interrogation technique but are also willing to make police officials scapegoats for their misdemeanours.
Arrested on August 13 by an intelligence agency on charges of al-Qaeda connections, Mohammad died of torture injuries sustained during his interrogation. Although there were over 52 marks of torture on his body, including 30 on his private parts, the police blatantly fabricated a story to absolve agency officials. Policemen claim that Mohammad was arrested on August 16 under MPO 16 and that he died of heart failure while in police custody. However, the real circumstances surrounding his mysterious death surfaced only after the release of MMA city president Maulana Obaidullah Garmani and Afghan national Mohammad Imamuddin both of whom had been arrested along with Mohammad.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
the Court should Hang me"
By Ashfaq Yusufzai
When intelligence agencies claimed to have unearthed a terrorist plot to blow up a number of government installations in and around Islamabad, the name of former PMLN MNA Javed Ibrahim Piracha of Kohat came up as the key actor in the conspiracy. Piracha has since been arrested in Kohat on grounds of defending scores of Arab and other militants who fled to the NWFP after the US siege of the Tora Bora cave complex at the end of 2001.
Piracha stepped into politics in 1977 and has had a largely unremarkable career, the only exception being his election to the National Assembly on a Nawaz League (PMLN) ticket in 1997. He has also served as the president of the Jamiat Tulaba-e-Islam, the student wing of Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), for 10 years and enjoyed a relatively brief stint as the provincial chief of the JUI before being ousted by the party chief for acting contrary to policy.
In addition, Piracha has been the chairman of the All Pakistan Sunni Supreme Council since 1979 as well as the chief executive of the Kohat Ahle Sunna wal Jamaat for the last 15 years. For his efforts to contain sectarian tensions in the Kohat, Hangu, Parachinar and Orakzai region, Piracha was awarded a peace prize by the former NWFP chief minister Mir Afzal Khan. By his own admission, however, the centrepiece of Piracha’s work has been to nurture Darul Uloom Anjuman Taleemul Quran, the institution founded by his elders that he has headed for the last 30 years.
In this interview with the Herald, Piracha responds to the charges levelled against him by the government.
By Syed Shoaib Hasan
Dacoits continue terrorising the villages of interior Sindh while the authorities remain unconcerned.
“I still remember how it started,” says Rahim Bux of Basti Thatt, Moaza Chak Dhunwani in Rojhan, Rajanpur. “Two dacoits – Shahmor and Mamik Bangiani – came to the village at around 10 a.m. on August 22, 2003.” Like Rahim Bux, the inhabitants of Basti Thatt are the Mohanas, one of the oldest inhabitants of the region. Hereditary fishermen, they live on the banks of the Indus River on the swathe of land extending from its junction with the Arabian Sea on the Sindh coast right up to the southern reaches of the Punjab. Despite their ancient roots, the Mohanas occupy the lowest rung on the social ladder. This factor, along with their dismal financial status, places them on the receiving end of everyone’s wrath, with or without reason. However, the August 22 incident and what followed thereafter are perhaps the worst examples of what can happen not just to the Mohanas but to anyone who is totally dependent on the jirga system or the government for protection.
In Rajanpur, as indeed in most districts of southern Punjab and upper Sindh, where the power of the sardari and piri systems has ebbed and the state machinery remains ineffective, the dharial or dacoit rules the land. Nothing illustrates this more poignantly than the horror unleashed on Basti Thatt. “The dacoits passed through the village often on their way to Sonmiani and Rahimyar Khan, sometimes using the village as a base for conducting raids,” says Rahim Bux. That said, whatever little resistance the Mohanas put up against the dacoits was solely to ensure that the police, which was conspicuously absent during such incursions, did not harass them later on false charges of complicity.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By Arman Sabir
Police torture techniques aimed at extracting convenient confessions are becoming more sophisticated each day.
The two men who were burnt to death in police custody on August 23 were lucky. At least the interest groups looking for redressal have the charred corpses to substantiate their claims of inhumane treatment. But scores of other torture victims have little to show by way of evidence. Most are tortured while in illegal detention. Since their apprehension is not on record, it becomes harder to nail the culprits. Making matters worse is the fact that sophisticated interrogators practice torture as an art form: the most accomplished is he who leaves no marks. While advances in medical science have made it possible to detect ‘invisible’ torture, medico-legals are adept at seeing only what they wish to see. As a result, most prisoners withdraw their complaints and join the ranks of the silent victims.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
By Arman Sabir
Innovative torture techniques leave no marks, making detection nearly impossible.
Invisible’ torture techniques came into the public eye during the 1992 operation against the MQM in Karachi. According to procedure, prisoners were interrogated and then prosecuted in court. Since confessions produced through coercive means including torture are invalid, law enforcers could not afford to leave marks. As a result, techniques became more creative with time.
Most are administered when the suspect is naked. “This works best with those who are not hardened criminals,” explains a policeman. “Stripping is considered the height of humiliation and renders the suspect extremely vulnerable and nervous.” Preferred torture methods vary at different police stations. “Most of our techniques are common and safe and are administered by specially trained officers,” reassures another. Every attempt is made to take the requisite precautionary methods. For example, tables, chairs and anything else a suspect can harm himself with are removed. “One has to be extra careful as third-degree torture methods such as severe beatings and suspension are very technical. Even slight mishandling can lead to death,” he warns.
Sleep deprivation is among the most commonly used instruments of torture. All-night interrogations are not unheard of but other variations also exist. For example, the prisoner is provided a heavy meal of his choice – of drugs, if he happens to be an addict – in a bid to induce satiation and thus sleep. At this point, he is thrust into a cold shower and forced to walk around afterwards. Excessive fatigue, gloat policemen, compels the suspect to spout the “real story” or, at least, what his tormentors wish to hear.
The Daily Dawn – October 5, 2004
What the Eye Can't See
By Arman Sabir
One of the most wanted men in Pakistan, Amjad Farooqi has evaded police and security agencies despite over 50 raids during an eight-month-long search.
Where is Amjad Farooqi, the alleged al-Qaeda activist who carries a reward of two million rupees on his head and is probably the most wanted man in Pakistan? “For all we know at the moment, he could be anywhere: in Faisalabad, Kamalia, Karachi, Waziristan...” says an intelligence source involved in the countrywide manhunt to net the terrorist mastermind. As time passes, Farooqi’s name is assuming legendary proportions, making it impossible to sift fact from fiction regarding his activities in Pakistan.
The name Amjad Farooqi first appeared in public following the terrorist attack on General Musharraf’s motorcade in Rawalpindi on December 25, 2003. The press quoted officials investigating the attack as saying that Farooqi may have masterminded the attempt on the general’s life. On the night of January 11, police commandos accompanied by contingents of three top security agencies conducted a raid on the residence of Farooqi’s father-in-law in Chak 687/27 GB, tehsil Kamalia, district Toba Tek Singh. They were acting on a tip, which one official says came from an authentic source, that Farooqi may be holed up at his in-laws’ house. The tip, however, turned out to be a hoax. Since then, admit official circles, the police and the country’s three prime intelligence agencies, as well as the American Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), have raided about 50 hideouts across the country without coming within striking distance of Farooqi’s trail.
The Balochistan Post – October 5, 2004
4 FC Men Die in Ambush near SUI
By Muhammad Ejaz Khan
QUETTA: At least four personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) were killed and five others wounded in an ambush near China Check-post of the FC in the Sui Tehsil, some 450 kms east of here on Monday, FC officials and hospitals sources said
Unknown armed men attacked a convoy of four vehicles of the Pakistan Petroleum Ltd’s (PPL) officials, escorted by the FC from Sui to Kashmore, near the China Check-post with automatic weapons. They also used rocket launcher and a remote-controlled explosive device. The blast was so powerful that it damaged a vehicle of FC, killing four personnel on the spot. The attackers fled after the attack.
The deceased were identified as Naib Sobedar Muhammad Nawaz, Naik Muhammad Saeed, Lance Naik Muhammad Khalil and Sepoy Muhammad Rafiq. The injured, who received multiple bullets and splinters injuries, were identified as Lance-Naik Haji Muhammad, Sepoy Iqbal Shah, Sepoy Muhammad Tasleem, Sepoy Muhammad Saleem and Sepoy Javed Akhtar.
Senior officials of the paramilitary troops, the Levies and the Dera Bugti district administration reached the spot and shifted the deceased and the injured to a local hospital. Later, the injured were shifted to CMH Quetta for further treatment.
In a press note, the FC spokesman said that at around 7:20 am, unknown terrorists attacked the PPL convoy, escorted by the FC personnel. He added that the attackers used modern weapons, including rocket launchers and remote control bomb in the attack. "When the FC personnel retaliated the assailants fled," he maintained.
Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf expressed his deep grief and concern over the killings. In a press statement, Jam said that elements averse to the development of the province were behind this attack, who were attempting to create law and order situation here. "Neither the people of Balochistan support them nor the government can be pressurised by these activities, the chief minister added.
Separately, a powerful explosive device went off in Kohing area of district Kalat, damaging the boundary wall of a Levies police station. However, no loss of life was reported.
According to the Levies officials, some unknown terrorists had planted a powerful explosive device near the boundary wall of the Levies police station. The officials of the district administration and the Levies force rushed to the spot soon after the explosion and started probe into the mater.
AFP adds: FC spokesman Colonel Rizwan Malik said five troops were killed. "Four Frontier Corps men were killed and 10 others injured when saboteurs opened indiscriminate fire on Frontier Corps vehicles this morning, north-west of Sui," he said, adding that in a second attack on the same road, rockets were fired at a convoy of the Army officers, killing one soldier, injuring another soldier. Both of whom had been escorting the officers, Malik said.
The Balochistan Post – October 5, 2004
Chief Minister Balochistan's Convoy Ambuished; Two Killed
By Muhammad Ejaz Khan
QUETTA: A member of the Anti-Terrorist Force (ATF) was killed and two others were wounded when unidentified assailants attacked the motorcade of Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf in Anjera area of district Khuzdar, some 290 kilometres off here, on Monday evening.
The chief minister survived the attempt on way to Quetta from Khuzdar, said Home Secretary Abdul Rauf Khan, adding that Jam remained unhurt in the attack. But an ATF constable was killed and two others were wounded during the attack, he said.
Independent sources from Khuzdar said two people — a constable of the ATF and an alleged attacker — were killed while two others were wounded in the cross-fire. The police had also arrested two attackers and recovered weapons from their possession, the sources added.
"When we were coming back to Quetta after holding a law and order meeting in district Khuzdar, some unknown assailants attacked the ATF vehicle in Anjera area," Jam Yousuf said. He said the government would take stern action against those involved in such attacks.
Reports said the assailants had taken positions at Anjera intersection and opened fire on the convoy with automatic weapons, as it approached them at around 6.30 pm. The attack was sudden and intense. The ATF personnel retaliated and killed one attacker and arrested two others, said one of the senior officials who travelled with the motorcade.
The deceased was identified as ATF Constable Musa Jan. The injured were shifted to the district headquarters hospital Kalat, where condition of one of the injured is stated to be critical. The injured were identified as Muhammad Saleem, driver, and Mazhar Khan. The chief minister was on his way back to Quetta but he stayed overnight at Kalat.
Officials of the Balochistan Home Department said they had increased security and patrolling in the area to trace the other attackers. All incoming and outgoing routes have been sealed to apprehend the culprits, they added.
Balochistan Senior Minister Maulana Abdul Wasey strongly condemned the terrorist act and said that they would summon a provincial cabinet meeting soon to discuss the law and order situation, with particular reference to the attack on the chief minister’s motorcade and the killing of six people in Khuzdar. He said nobody would be allowed to take the law into his own hands.
Agencies add: Authorities were working on the theory that the attack was carried out by nationalists in the province and not by al-Qaeda. "This is a terrorist act. This is the work of miscreants who want to create unrest in the province," Home secretary Rauf said, without naming nationalists who have been blamed for previous attacks on government officials and installations.
"The assailants, who were hiding in the mountains, opened fire when the chief minister’s convoy passed the Anjera intersection," he said. The Khuzdar meeting took decisions on strengthening security on highways and military areas, Rauf said. Later reports said an injured police officer died of wounds in the Kalat hospital.
The Balochistan Post – October 5, 2004
Five Army Men Killed in Khuzdar
By Muhammad Ejaz Khan
QUETTA: At least six people, including five jawans of the Army, were killed and two others wounded, one of them seriously, in an ambush in Koshak area in Khuzdar district, some 300 kilometres from here on Sunday morning.
About seven army jawans were on their way to Khuzdar bazaar from the cantonment area in a pick-up for shopping around 8:30 am, when three unidentified armed men hurdled hand-grenades and opened indiscriminate fire on their van at the link road. Six people, including the driver of the van, died on the spot, while two others wounded in the attack, senior officials of Khuzdar police told The News by telephone. The hospital sources also confirmed the number of casualties.
The attack was sudden and intense and the army men could not retaliate in time. The killers fled, leaving behind the deceased in a pool of blood. "Three assailants, one of them wearing black clothes, fled on a motorcycle, the police added. The deceased were identified as Havildar Iftikhar Shah, Havildar Muhammad Arshad, Lance Naik Muhammad Tariq, Sepoy Amir Muhammad and driver of the van Irfan Siddique. Havildar Ali Hussnain and sepoy Mansoor Ahmed received serious bullets injuries. The condition of one of the injured is stated to be precarious.
In a press note, District Nazim, Khuzdar, Muhammad Aslam Bizenjo, termed the incident as the worst kind of terrorism. "The terrorists attempted to disturb the peaceful atmosphere of the Khuzdar district, he said, adding that the nefarious designs of the terrorists would be foiled. He has asked the Khuzdar police to apprehend the culprits as soon as possible, while the Khuzdar police have said that they were working on different lines of investigation as well as constituting several police teams to enquire and apprehend.
The killings created tension in Khuzdar and the law-enforcement personnel have been deployed on all important roads and installations. Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Muhammad Yousuf expressed his deep grief and sorrow over the incident. He assured that the government would utilise all available resources to trace the culprits and put them behind the bars. "Those opposing the development process and wanted to keep the province in a backward state, were behind the terrorist act. These elements were hatching conspiracies against the people of the province and country but with peopleís help the designs of the anti-progress force would be frustrated," Jam Yousuf said.
Agencies add: Tajamul Shah, a local police official, said earlier that they were investigating whether local tribesmen were involved. A man claiming to speak for a little-known group calling itself "Balochistan Liberation Army" claimed responsibility and warned the government against setting up new army garrisons in Balochistan.
In separate telephone calls, the group’s purported spokesman, Mir Azad Baloch, demanded the government scrap plans to build new army bases, divert the money to development in the province or face more attacks. The authenticity of the claim could not independently be verified and there was no official comment immediately.
The Balochistan Post – October 5, 2004
Maulana Sheerani Escapes Attempt on his Life
Bomb damaged Maulana's vehicle near Killa Saifullah
Maulana Sherani was on his visit to organise JUI-F in the interior of the province. Levies officials told The News from Qilla Saifullah that the MNA was on his way from Gwal Haiderzai to Chena Baratkhel, At about 33 kilometres away from Qilla Saifullah a powerful remote-controlled bomb went off a few yards away from his vehicle. Due to the explosion the rare portion of vehicle damaged but Maulana Sherani and other people accompanying him, remained unhurt.
The Levies cordoned off the area after the explosion and have arrested two alleged terrorists and recovered another remote control bomb from their possession. The names of the accused could not be known till our going to the press.
The central and provincial leaders of the MMA condemned the attempt on the life of MNA Maulana Muhammad Khan Sherani and demanded stern action against the terrorists involved in the terrorism. "This is an assassination attempt on Sherani," said Akbar Lashari, director of Levies, said. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.
A senior Levies official confided to The News that the accused had been identified as Karim Shah and Hufta Khan, both hailing from Zhob district. "We are investigating the accused," he added.
The Baloch Voice - October 5, 2004
By B. Raman
Two years after Bangladesh achieved independence from the Pakistani rule in 1971, the Baloch’s of Balochistan rose in revolt against the Punjabi-dominated federal Government demanding an independent Baloch state. Amongst the leaders of the independence movement were Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, Shero alias Tiger Marri and Attaullah Khan Mengal.
The revolt was triggered off by discrimination against the Baloch’s in matters such as educational facilities, recruitment to the Armed Forces and other Government departments, economic development etc. There has been no worthwhile economic development in the area despite its being rich in oil, gas and other natural resources.
Another subsequent cause for anger is the large-scale influx of Pashtuns from the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) of Pakistan and Afghanistan, officially encouraged by the Army, and re-settlement of Punjabi ex-servicemen in order to reduce the Baloch’s to a minority in their homeland.
The regime of Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto, then in power in Islamabad, crushed the revolt ruthlessly, using the Army and the Air Force. Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, Tiger Marri and their followers took shelter in Afghanistan, while Attaullah Khan Mengal went into political exile in the UK. After the collapse of the Najibullah Government in Kabul in 1992, Nawab Marri, Tiger Marri and their followers returned to Pakistan. Tiger Marri died in 1993. Attaullah Khan Mengal too returned to Balochistan, but subsequently went back to the UK.
The Baloch nationalist movement became dormant for some years. However, since the beginning of last year, there are signs of a revival of the movement due to heightened anger amongst the Baloch’s against the Pakistani Army and the federal Government. While the feelings of alienation, which triggered off the revolt of the 1970s, remain as strong as they were 30 years ago, certain additional reasons have aggravated them.
The more important amongst them are the non-payment of adequate royalty to the people of Balochistan for the gas found in their territory, which has contributed to the economic development of Punjab, without any economic benefits for the Baloch’s; the displacement of a large number of poor Baloch’s by the construction of the Gwadar port and town with Chinese assistance without adequate compensation; the re-settlement of a large number of Punjabi and Pashtun ex-servicemen in Balochistan to work in the Gwadar port and Mekran coastal highway projects, in violation of the Government assurances that preference would be given to the sons of the soil for work in the projects; violation of the labour rights of the people employed by the Chinese construction company which is building the port; and the setting-up of three new cantonments by the army in Balochistan.
The anger over the non-payment of adequate royalty for the gas being supplied to Punjab and Sindh has led to a number of incidents of sabotage of the gas pipelines and attacks involving the use of explosives and landmines directed against the staff employed for the protection of the pipelines. As a result, there have been frequent incidents of disruption of gas supply. Despite the allocation of an additional sum of Rs.600 million by the federal Government for raising a new security force to guard the pipelines, acts of sabotage and other violent incidents continue to occur. In the latest incident reported from a place near Sui on September 27,2003, at least 13 persons were injured, three of them critically, when a van ran over a landmine.
The construction of the Gwadar Port and the Mekran coastal highway has been expedited by the Army in order to complete the projects one year ahead of schedule. These projects have resulted in the displacement of thousands of Baloch’s from their ancestral land and the forcible acquisition of their land by the Government without paying them adequate compensation and without giving them suitable land in return. Moreover, fearing Indian attempts to sabotage the projects, the Government has forcibly removed the Hindus and many of the Baloch’s, whose loyalty was suspected, from the area, which has been declared a sensitive defence zone.
While the Hindus have been forced to migrate to Sindh, the Baloch’s, who are suspected of being sympathetic to India, have been removed far away from the site of the port. A large number of Punjabi and Pashtun ex-servicemen, whose loyalty to Islamabad is beyond doubt, have been re-settled in the Mekran coastal area to work in these projects.
There is also growing anger against the Chinese company, which has been given the contract for the construction of the port, with many complaints of payment of less than the legal minimum wage to the Baloch workers employed by it, non-payment of wages for months at a time and ill-treatment of workers.
An article in the June 21, 2003, issue of the "Dawn", the prestigious daily of Karachi, said: " On the potholed road from the Gwadar airport to the city, scattered wall graffiti hails Pakistan-China friendship. Much of this officially-sanctioned bonhomie is reserved for the Harbour Engineering Company (HEC), one of China's largest state-owned firms entrusted with the task of developing the Gwadar deep-sea port. Even for an outsider, the company's larger than life presence is overwhelming.
"For the desperately poor people of the area, however, the air-conditioned enclaves of our Chinese friends have become symbols of mass alienation. It is their unethical business practices that evoke much more bitter discontent though. On the rare occasions that local services are hired, salary payments can often take several months. The alleged high-handedness of the HEC staff often leads to strikes and protests by employees.
"For Gwadar's ills, one cannot find fault with the Chinese alone. They are only pursuing their strategic national interests. Nothing really wrong with that. And in disregarding the local population's needs and sentiments, Pakistani authorities fare no better. In the agreement signed with the Chinese, the Government is believed to have ignored even the legitimate share of jobs that are reserved for locals.
"The highway authority building the Gwadar-Karachi coastal highway has recruited hundreds from outside the area. The residents allege that the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) does not even consider their applications for jobs. Since most construction and development work is outsourced, contractors from Karachi, Lahore and other parts of the country often hire their own people. No doubt, technical skills are locally in short supply. But not much of the manual work involved requires complex techniques.
"Allegations that the military authorities have bought most of the prime land at throw-away prices are rife. According to local officials, over 80 per cent of the plots in the Gwadar Singhar Housing Scheme have been arbitrarily allotted to outsiders, many of them senior army and civilian officials.
"Gwadar's woes do not stop there. The much-touted devolution of powers remains a farce in the face of centralised control over the area's resources. The Gwadar Port Authority (GPA), for instance, is run by a retired Admiral based in Karachi. The city's Master Plan, prepared by the National Engineering Service of Pakistan (NESPAK), is another no-go area for the local authorities. Even provincial authorities were virtually bypassed in its formulation.
"The controversial plan betrays NESPAK's complete disregard for local sensitivities or socio-economic conditions. For one, locals fear that the under-estimation of the present and future population may lead to their conversion into a minority in the future. The plan envisages the relocation of a large chunk of the old city's population, but without any concrete, stated resettlement plan, lending credence to public fears of mass dislocation.
"The secrecy surrounding what should be a public document has made matters even worse. The district assembly has rejected the plan after several requests that it be taken into confidence fell on deaf ears. Even the provincial Assembly's motions have failed to elicit a response from the concerned authorities.
"It is hardly surprising that deep nationalist resentment fuelled by what is largely perceived as the Centre's attempts to appropriate provincial resources are growing. Shutter-down strikes in Gwadar and throughout the Makran area are now common. Baloch nationalist parties are in the process of forging a broad new alliance to press for their demands. During a well-attended meeting in Khuzdar in late May, their leaders lambasted Islamabad for denying the people of Balochistan their due rights. They had a valid point to make. If the people of Makran do not demand their rights now, who will pay heed to their protests once the Gwadar port has been completed?
"Repeated bunglings of fragile inter-ethnic relations have only further exacerbated provincial fears of majoritarian rule. Gross neglect of their development needs, denial of provincial autonomy and the lack of participatory institutions have encouraged resort to extreme means. Lest we forget, the last time regional demands for economic and political rights were ignored in East Pakistan, it culminated in a bloody civil war and the dismemberment of the country.
"The people of Balochistan and their elected leaders must be taken into confidence on all issues that concern them. The Centre must treat them with the respect all citizens of the Federation deserve, not as a second rate minority. The decision to use their resources as Baloch’s see fit is simply not Islamabad's to make. The sooner it sheds its colonial hangover, the better." (End of citation from the article).
These complaints have led to a demand by the Baloch nationalist elements for the stoppage of the construction of the port. Addressing a press conference at his native village of Dera Bugti on August 10, 2003, Nawab Muhammad Akbar Khan Bugti, chief of the Bugti tribe, described the Gwadar port project as a plan to divide Balochistan and bring destruction, instability and poverty to the Baloch people. He said that in his view the plans to build the Gwadar port with Chinese assistance and a big air base at Pasni with financial assistance from the US Central Command, the allotment of land to army soldiers and civil bureaucrats in Gwadar and the declaration of Gwadar as a sensitive defence zone were directed against the Baloch’s.
He demanded the formation of an authority by the National Assembly, with 60 per cent of the posts in the authority held by the Baloch’s, for supervising the development and construction of the projects in Gwadar, Pasni and other areas of Balochistan. He added: “We welcome foreign investors, traders, industrialists, oil and gas explorers and mining companies in Balochistan, but demand 51 per cent share of locals in the profit made by the foreigners.”
He stressed the need for proper legislation to regulate investors and to protect the rights and interests of the local people and said that his tribe would support the residents of Gwadar if they began a campaign to achieve their rights. His attitude has subsequently further hardened and he has started opposing the Gwadar project in Toto as anti-Baloch.
Meeting at Dera Bugti on September 14, 2003, the representatives of three Baloch nationalist parties formed a new alliance called the Baloch Ittehad, under the chairmanship of Nawab Akbar Bugti, to resist "anti-Balochistan projects". The meeting was attended by Akbar Khan Bugti of the Jamhoori Wattan Party (JWP), Sardar Akhtar Jan Mangal of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and Dr. Abdul Hayee Baloch of the Balochistan National Movement (BNM).
Later, the formation of the new alliance was announced at a big public meeting in Sui. Addressing the meeting, Bugti said that under the banner of the new alliance, a meaningful struggle would be launched to secure the rights of the people of Balochistan. He described the Gwadar port project as not "in the interests of Balochistan" and added that it would not be allowed to be completed at any cost.
He warned that the Government would face a tough resistance if it tried to establish cantonments at Kohlu, Gwadar and Dera Bugti and that the Government would not be able to implement any project at gunpoint and it would meet a tit-for-tat response. He pointed out that all contracts for the exploration of natural gas had been disregarded, though the Sui area met 70 per cent of the natural gas demands of the country. "We are not being given royalty, nor employment to the area peoples," he said.
Bugti alleged that the Musharraf government was busy coaxing only one province (Punjab). He said that the three other provinces had rejected the Kalabagh Dam and the Sindh Assembly had also passed a resolution against the Thal Canal, but the Government still insisted on going ahead with these controversial projects. He promised that the Baloch nationalist leaders would extend all-out support to the Sindhis against the Thal Canal.
Other Baloch nationalist leaders alleged that since the creation of Pakistan, the precious natural resources of Balochistan were being looted. They said that the oppressing forces now wanted to occupy the 770-kilometre coastal belt of the province and pledged that the Baloch nationalist parties would foil their designs. They said that the new alliance would be a turning point in the struggle of the Baloch nationalists.
Balach Khan Marri, a leader of the Marri tribe, speaking on the occasion, announced his support for the Baloch Ittehad and said that it was time for the Baloch nation to be awakened to fight for their interests. Others who spoke included Ghulam Haider Bugti, member of the National Assembly, Sardar Balkh Sher Mazari, former Prime Minister, and Hannan Baloch.
Faced with the growing resentment of the Baloch’s, Gen. Pervez Musharraf sacked Lt. Gen. (Retd) Abdul Qadir, a son of the soil, whom he had appointed as the Governor of Balochistan only a few months earlier after he had retired as the Corps Commander, Quetta, due to suspicion that his sympathies were with the nationalists and appointed Owais Ahmad Ghani, a Pashtun from the adjoining NWFP, as Balochistan’s 19th Governor.
He became a provincial minister in the NWFP under the military regime and was later elevated to the Federal Cabinet. He is very close to Musharraf and had strongly supported Musharraf's continuing as the Chief of the Army Staff (COAS) and the various constitutional amendments arbitrarily introduced by him. Like Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali, a Baloch, he is also viewed as close to the US and as the blue-eyed favourite of the US intelligence community. His appointment is meant partly to ensure that effective action was taken against the Baloch nationalists and partly to reassure the US and China of effective law enforcement in the province. He was sworn in on August 11, 2003. Even though this is not the first time that an outsider has been appointed as the provincial Governor, his appointment at this sensitive juncture has added to the resentment of the local people, who view themselves as a virtual colony of Punjab.
Balochistan, which is now ruled by a coalition of six Islamic fundamentalist parties and the pro-Musharraf Pakistan Muslim League (Qaide Azam), is an area of growing concern and interest for the US. US aircraft operating from the Pasni air base have been playing an active role in the US-led war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Large sections of the increasing local Pashtun population, many of them Afghan refugees who were given Pakistani citizenship by the military in order to reduce the Baloch’s to a minority, have been sympathetic to the Taliban and Al Qaeda and have given protection and shelter to the dregs of the Taliban, Al Qaeda and Gulbuddin Heckmatyar's Hizb-e-Islami (HEI), who have been operating from these sanctuaries against the troops of the US and Hamid Karzai's Government in Afghanistan, with the complicity of the provincial Government and serving and retired officers of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).
The influx of the dregs of Osama bin Laden's International Islamic Front (IIF) into the province has injected the anti-Shia poison, hitherto absent from Balochistan, into the province, with frequent massacres of the Shias, particularly the members of the Hazara tribe, who are targeted by the Taliban and Al Qaeda, because of their suspected sympathy for the Northern Alliance of Afghanistan.
About 30 per cent of the oil and gas interests in the province are controlled by American companies from Texas. The safety of their investments and property and of the lives of the US citizens associated with these projects is another area of concern for Washington. The US is also greatly concerned over the increasing presence of the Chinese in this sensitive area. The completion of the Gwadar project and the likelihood of Chinese naval ships being stationed in the local naval base could pose a threat to US oil and naval interests in the Gulf region. However, it has not openly expressed its concerns so far.
The Baloch’s in the bordering areas of Iran constitute a major Sunni segment of the Iranian population. In the past, the US intelligence community had maintained close relations with them and in the years when Saddam Hussein was the frontline ally of the US in its attempts to destabilise the Islamic regime in Iran, Baloch assets in Iran were eagerly sought after by the intelligence agencies of both the US and Iraq, who looked upon each other as brothers-in-arms.
Now things have changed. Large sections of the Sunni Baloch’s of Iran have thrown in their lot with the dregs of the Al Qaeda and the other constituents of the IIF. Many leading figures of Al Qaeda have taken shelter in the Baloch areas of Iran, which have become an important transit point for the clandestine movement of the jihadis of the Al Qaeda, the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LET), the Harkat-ul-Mujahideen (HUM) and others to Iraq to participate in the jihad against the US troops there.
Under US pressure to restore law and order in Balochistan, Musharraf, with financial assistance from the US Central Command, has embarked upon a plan for the construction of three more cantonments in Balochistan at Dera Bugti, Kohlu and Gwadar. Though these cantonments have been projected by the Pakistan Army as meant to enable the Army deal more effectively with the dregs of the IIF, the Baloch nationalists fear that Musharraf has been exploiting the US concerns to get money for strengthening the Army presence in the province to enable him to crush the nationalists at an opportune moment.
On September 23, 2003, the Balochistan provincial Assembly unanimously passed a resolution demanding that military cantonments should not be established in Dera Bugti, Kohlu and Gwadar and calling for the withdrawal of the Army from the bordering areas. The Assembly also demanded an end to the "harassment" of the local people in the name of the US-led operation against Al Qaeda and the Taliban.
Different sections of the House supported the resolution for different reasons. While the Baloch nationalists opposed the cantonments due to fears of their possible use against them, the members of the pro-bin Laden and pro-Taliban Islamic fundamentalist parties opposed them due to fears that the cantonments would help the US in its war against the Taliban and Al Qaeda. Speaking during the debate, Balochistan's Senior Minister and leader of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA), the coalition of the six pro-bin Laden fundamentalist parties, Maulana Abdul Wasey said that the majority of the people in Balochistan were deprived of basic amenities, while billions of rupees were being spent for the establishment of military cantonments, which were not required. He strongly criticised the Federal Government and demanded that the Centre should recognise the rights of the province.
After being strongly pulled up by Musharraf for not preventing this resolution from being adopted and threatened with dismissal of his Government, the provincial Chief Minister Jam Mohammad Yousuf issued a statement the next day stating that no one could stop the Army from establishing cantonments in the province. He has claimed that anti-Army elements in the Assembly had taken advantage of the absence of a number of members of his PML in the House to have the resolution adopted. He has taken action to have the resolution set aside by another. He said that the provincial Assembly should run the affairs keeping in view its jurisdiction and desist from meddling in federal subjects. He asked that if cantonments could be established in Peshawar, Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, and Khuzdar, then why they could not be established in other parts of the country.
In their first action to silence the Baloch nationalists, the military authorities have forced the local police register a case of treason against six Baloch nationalist leaders on the ground that a calendar brought out by them two years ago had carried the photographs of Baloch nationalists killed by the army in the anti-Islamabad revolts of the past and glorified their deaths as sacrifices in the Baloch nationalist cause. Among Baloch nationalist leaders sought to be implicated in the case are Abdur Rauf Mengal, member of the National Assembly, Senator Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), former senator Javed Mengal, who is a son of former Chief Minister of Balochistan Sardar Attaullah Mengal, and brother of former Chief Minister Akhtar Mengal. The controversial calendar of the BNP contained a big cartoon conveying a message to the Baloch nation that the "military was occupying their resources while they were dying of hunger."
The Governor of the province has justified the deployment of a large number of security forces in the province as meant to protect the large number of Chinese nationals employed in the Gwadar port and other projects in the province from any violent attacks directed against them. He has also claimed that Islamabad was aware of the local grievances against the Gwadar project and promised that action to redress their legitimate grievances would be taken.
Concerned over the mounting anger against them, the Chinese Embassy in Islamabad has reportedly advised its nationals to avoid unnecessary movements in the province and social interactions with the families of the security forces deployed in the area. A senior diplomat of the Chinese Embassy has reportedly visited the area to make an assessment of likely threats to the Chinese workers because of the local anger against them.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Convenor, Advisory Committee, Observer Research Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com)
http://www.saag.org/papers9/paper804.html
The Baloch Voice - October 5, 2004
The Baloch Resistance Movement
By. B. Raman
The law and order situation in Balochistan continues to deteriorate steadily despite the use of the Army by the military-dominated regime in Islamabad to put an end to acts of violence directed at the members of the Shia community, the Chinese experts deployed at the Gwadar port project, gas pipelines and other economic targets, including a local airport, and military personnel.
The responsibility for the restoration of law and order has been informally taken over by the Army without a formal proclamation and gunship helicopters, received in the past from the US for use in counter-terrorism operations directed against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban taking shelter in the areas near the Afghanistan border, are being used against the Baloch population, which has had nothing to do with either Al Qaeda or the Taliban, in an attempt to suppress their movement against the military-dominated regime and what is perceived as its attempts to reduce the Baloch’s to a minority in their traditional homeland.
There are various root causes for the resistance movement being waged by the Baloch’s:
Mounting anger over the denial of the benefits of the natural gas and other mineral resources of the province to the Baloch’s in the form of increased royalty payments. The denial of any meaningful role to the Baloch’s in decisions relating to the construction and administration of the Chinese-aided Gwadar port project. The influx of a large number of Punjabis and other non-Baloch’s into the province to work in the Gwadar project.
The continuing acts of discrimination against the Baloch’s in matters of recruitment to the Armed Forces and various civilian departments of the Government. The establishment of more cantonments in the Province to enable the Army better maintain law and order.
The ground situation has been further complicated by the import of the Shia-Sunni sectarian divide into the province from Punjab and Karachi and by the influx of the dregs of Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Uighur terrorist elements from the Xinjiang province of China into the province, where they have been given shelter by the local fundamentalist organisations with the tacit approval of the Government.
The root causes mentioned in Para 3 above have given rise to two kinds of anti-Islamabad and anti-military movements:
An overt political movement in the form of protest meetings, demonstrations and rallies not involving the use of violence. Four non-religious political parties of Balochistan, who have formed a united front, continue to play a leading role in this movement. These are the Jamhoori Watan Party, the National Party, the Balochistan National Party (Mengal) and the Baloch Haq Tawar. A covert freedom movement involving targeted acts of violence against economic targets and other infrastructure and military personnel.
The factors mentioned in Para 4 above have made Quetta, the capital of the province, the scene of periodic anti-Shia incidents and the bordering areas of the province safe sanctuaries for Al Qaeda, the Taliban and the Uighurs for mounting operations against Afghan and American troops in Afghan territory. The presence of the Uighurs has added to the security concerns of the Chinese, necessitating the deployment of a large contingent of the Pakistan Army, exclusively for the protection of the Chinese experts working in the Gwadar port and the Saindak copper extraction projects.
The frequent visits of Chinese security experts to the province and the recent high-profile joint Sino-Pak counter-terrorism exercise held in Xinjiang were meant to restore the confidence of the Chinese experts and to strengthen the co-operation between the counter-terrorism agencies of the two countries.
The reluctance or inability of the provincial authorities to act effectively against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban operating from the border areas of the province and to put an end to their terrorist infrastructure directed against the Americans and the Hamid Karzai Government in Kabul have brought the Pakistan Army and its Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) under US pressure to mount operations against these dregs in Baloch territory, similar to the operations mounted by the Army since October last year against the dregs in the South Waziristan area of the Federally-Administered Tribal areas (FATA).
At a time when its troops inducted into the South Waziristan area have been involved in a bleeding guerrilla warfare with the tribals and the Uzbek, Chechen and Uighur dregs in that area resulting in mounting military casualties, a further alienation of the local tribals and increasing anti-Musharraf feelings in the Armed Forces, the Pakistan Army is reluctant to get bogged down in a similar guerrilla warfare against Al Qaeda and the Taliban dregs in Balochistan, which might further come in the way of its efforts to quell the Baloch resistance movement.
Senior army officers and the ISI are against getting involved in a two-front military operation in Balochistan- one against the Baloch nationalists, who, in the Army's perception, pose a threat to Pakistan's unity and economic prosperity and endanger its relations with China and the other against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban, who do not threaten Pakistani lives and interests. Their first priority is quelling the re-emerging Baloch independence movement before it assumes alarming proportions similar to those of the 1970s.
Gen. Pervez Musharraf has been trying to follow a three-pronged policy:
Keeping the door open for a political dialogue with the non-religious political parties, who have confined their activities to an overt political movement against Islamabad without indulging in acts of violence.
A no-holds-barred military campaign against the Baloch youth who have started a violent struggle to achieve their objectives. While large sections of the Baloch population look upon these youth as freedom-fighters, the military has been projecting them as terrorists.
Avoiding getting bogged down in operations against the dregs of Al Qaeda and the Taliban in the bordering areas lest it weaken its operations against the Baloch’s.
The Americans seem to understand Musharraf's imperative of quelling the re-kindled Baloch independence movement before acting against the dregs. The position might change as the US presidential elections approach, particularly if the reports regarding the presence of some senior Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders in the areas near the Iran border are confirmed.
The move for a political dialogue with the provincial political parties has been a non-starter till now in the absence of any indication of the military's willingness to consider their demands relating to the increase in the payment of royalty, suspension of the construction of the Gwadar project till its implications for the economic interests of the Baloch’s are examined, the stoppage of the influx of the Punjabis and other non-Baloch’s into the province and the abandoning of the plans for more cantonments. They also want the suspension of the military operations against the Baloch youth.
Musharraf has already made clear his determination to go ahead with the Gwadar and other Chinese-aided projects in the province and the projects for new cantonments. His Government continues to deny any military operations against the Baloch youth. Thus, the only issues on which his regime may be prepared to negotiate relate to the demand for more royalty and for more job opportunities for the Baloch’s. Even this has not been indicated openly and specifically.
There are two generations of Baloch’s now engaged in a simultaneous confrontation with the Islamabad regime. The first is the older generation, consisting of the grown-up members of the younger generation of the 1970s, which had spearheaded the post-1971 freedom struggle, which was brutally crushed by the late Zulfiquar Ali Bhutto with the help of the Army and the Air Force. In their midst, one could see recognisable faces like those of Ataullah Khan Mengal, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Khair Baksh Marri etc and their progenies, who were born in the 1950s and the 1960s and fought with their elders against the Pakistan Army before giving up their armed struggle and taking up to politics.
The second is the post-1970 generation of young Baloch’s. Many of them are from the same legendary tribes, which had waged a freedom struggle in the 1970s, but had no role to play in it, because they were still children or not yet born. Many members of this younger generation went to the Gulf countries in the 1980s and 1990s, served in the local police and security forces, acquired a certain expertise in the use of arms and ammunition and explosives and have since returned to Balochistan. It is these elements, which constitute the hard-core of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), which has been in the forefront of the current freedom struggle.
The BLA is a very well-organised and well-motivated clandestine organisation, with a high degree of invisibility. Very little is known about its leaders and cadres. One hears of them whenever there is a spectacular incident such as the eight explosions in Quetta on Pakistan's Independence Day on August 14, 2004, the ambush of a group of seven Pakistani army officers going for shopping in the Khuzdar area on August 1, killing five of them,, the abortive attempt to kill the Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Yousef in the same area the next day, the frequent disruptions of gas and oil supplies to Punjab by blowing up the pipelines, the blowing-up of the Sui local airport etc, but one rarely sees them.
The resistance fighters of the BLA are as invisible as those of Iraq and have been operating in a large number of small autonomous cells, capable of opportunistic actions without the apparent need for a central command and control. Like the US Army in Iraq, the Pakistan Army in Balochistan has been totally foxed by their activities. It has been groping in the dark, without being able to identify them and penetrate their set-up.
(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai, and Distinguished Fellow and Convenor, Observer Reserach Foundation (ORF), Chennai Chapter. E-Mail: corde@vsnl.com)
http://www.saag.org/papers11/paper1087.html
The Baloch Voice– October 5, 2004
Rocket Attack on Rangers Post, Two Killed Five Injured in Rojhan Mazari
Baloch freedom fighters fired rockets over the check post killing two Rangers men on the spot while five personnel were seriously injured who were shifted to the district headquarters hospital Rajanpur.
Rockets were fired over an under-construction police check post near Rojhan area of Rajanpur, killing two Rangers sepoy Amjad and Naeem whereas five others Ahmed Yar, Butta, Javed, Urfan, and Younas were injured in the attack on Thursday.
The incident occurred at the under construction police check post number 11 at Jatro adjacent to Punjab-Balochistan border area, Rajanpur police sources said.
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Sindhis of Sindh, in southeastern Pakistan.
