Terrorists Preparing To Declare Independent Balochistan, Pakistani Politicians Mum

[BanglaBhoot]

The Politicians – Zardari, Gilani, Rehman, Nawaz – Refuse To Condemn The Terrorism Of Akbar Bugti's Grandson & His US/Indian Backed Terrorists In Afghanistan

Terrorists claiming to represent Pakistani Balochis are planning to declare 'independence' on 11 August 2009, according to BRASSTACKS. It will not change much on the ground but these terrorists and their supporters in Kabul, New Delhi and within CIA will score a major point against Islamabad. The pro-US government in Islamabad and even the Pakistani opposition are courting Washington and are silent against this emerging threat to the Pakistani state. No Pakistani politician is ready to call Akbar Bugti or Kabul-based Brahamdagh or London-based Harbyar Mari by their real designation as terrorists. Both President Zardari and Mr. Nawaz Sharif are silent accomplices in what they believe is a good opportunity to weaken the grip of the Pakistani military. Plans are also underway to create a 'Pakistani Kurdistan'. Interior Minister Rehman Malik is yet to accuse Britain of giving safe haven to terrorists.

By AHMED QURAISHI

Wednesday, 5 August 2009.

Ahmed Quraishi-Pakistan/Middle East politics, Iraq war, lebanon war, India Pakistan relations

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan—A college chemistry professor is murdered in cold blood at his house’s doorstep in Quetta, the latest in a long list of educationists cowardly assassinated by terrorists claiming to stand for the great Pakistani Baloch. These terrorists, backed by Brahamdagh Bugti and his paid mercenaries sponsored by India and the Karzai regime with US military turning a blind eye, have kidnapped 22 police officers. A terrorist group that calls itself Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) has slaughtered four of them and dumped their bodies in public places.

Despite all these acts of terrorism by the grandson of politician-turned-terrorist Akbar Bugti, no one in the pro-US federal and provincial governments is willing to condemn the terrorists. Last month these terrorists planted a bomb on a train leaving Karachi and detonated it just half an hour away from Quetta, killing an innocent Pakistani Baloch. No condemnation then too.

The sheepish and apologetic attitude of the Pakistani government is inexplicable. Last month this government gave the Indians and the Americans damning proof on how Indian spy outfits were using the Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar to target Balochistan. As much as eight foreign spy agencies are cramming this Pakistani territory. Yet the Pakistani state is reluctant to call a spade a spade. The pro-US government's chief minister in Balochistan Nawab Asalm Raisani is on record having said to reporters a few months ago, "I don't know if there is foreign involvement in the province. Go ask those who say there is." Obviously, in his many meetings with President Zardari, Prime Minister Gilani and Interior Minister Rehman Malik, no one cared to share with him the photographs of Brahamdagh Bugti cavorting with the Indians and Karzai's men not just in Kabul but in New Delhi. A better explanation is that the feudal-politicians of Balochistan, like their kin in the rest of the Pakistani politics, are ready to accept a separated Balochistan in the hope that this somehow will help weaken the grip of the Pakistani military and forever stain it in the eyes of its own people.

Here is what is happening on this front:

1. Reports are emerging that Harbyar Mari, a terrorist given sanctuary and protection by the British government, is preparing to declare the 'independence' of Balochistan. The date for this declaration has been set as 11 August, according to an alert issued by BRASSTACKS, a Pakistani security and defense analysis think tank run by imminent expert Zaid Hamid.

2. This comes with reports that the Zardari government is preparing to grant 'full autonomy' to Balochistan within the Pakistani federation. In essence, this means Pakistan will soon have its own version of Iraq's Kurdistan. Considering the volatile security situation in the region and the active interest of both the Americans and Indians in wresting Balochistan from Pakistani hands, this would prove to be a kiss of death for Pakistan's national integrity. The US media is quiet these days on the so-called Greater Pashtunistan, but in the last two years, the US media leaked story after story on the feasibility of this option. These leaked reports reflected an organized campaign by people within Pentagon and CIA. This campaign ceased only after protests by Pakistani officials. Another reason why this campaign stopped is to give some space to unknown 'terrorists' who have infiltrated from Afghanistan to Pakistan under the guise of the so-called Pakistani Taliban. The Kabul regime and its Indian and American allies were hoping that the death and mayhem created among Pakistani Pashtuns would be enough to rally the Pashtun of both Pakistan and Afghanistan to demand an independent country. Luckily, the Pakistani Pashtun, who are an important and active part of the Pakistani society and the power structure, understood the game and refused to play along despite enticements coming from inside the Afghan territory.

3. According to BRASSTACKS, the US government has requested the Zardari government to give part of the Balochistan coastal are to the US Navy to construct a port that would serve the US occupation forces in Afghanistan. Surprisingly, the Zardari government is actually considering the option. Mr. Zardari is also eager to get back at China, which refused to financially bail out his corrupt pro-American government. China financed part of the Gwadar project.

4. Meanwhile the potential of the Gwadar port has almost been destroyed and it is a matter of time before Pakistan's inept politicians turn it into another irretrievable mess. First Akbar Bugti and his foreign-supported terrorists attacked the project. Now the political parties in power are playing their usual games over the project in the hope of milking maximum kickbacks. So far the Zardari government is yet to commit funds for the remaining parts of the Gwadar port expansion. This happens while the Indians have completed and operationalized the competing Iranian port of Chah Bahar. The US surprisingly permitted Iranian and Indian companies to build roads in eastern Afghanistan connecting the Indian port despite the American aversion to anything that benefits Iran.

5. Balochistan is an American target. Pakistani politicians and some people within the Pakistani security establishment should make no mistake about it. CIA is supporting Sunni Balochis in Iran while backing an ethnic insurgency in Pakistan. It is not a coincidence that Jundullah in Iran and BLA in Pakistan emerged after the arrival of US military and CIA in Afghanistan, in the past five years to be more specific. Before 2004, there was no BLA or Jundullah anywhere.

6. Washington continues to refuse to declare the so-called Balochistan Liberation Army a terrorist group despite the fact that this group has claimed responsibility for killing countless college professors and other civilians in random acts of terror in Pakistan over the past five years. Some Pakistani analysts cite strong circumstantial evidence that the CIA is running operations in the area that may not be in the full knowledge of the new US administration and may in fact contradict the stated US policy of not supporting terrorism and covert operations against allies.

The 'Bugti Hero Brigade' of Zardari-Gilani-Nawaz-Altaf

Instead of putting a politician-turned-terrorist on a pedestal, it is time to ask the question: Was Mr. Akbar Bugti acting on foreign guarantees when he launched without notice a blitzkrieg of rocket fire on vital installations one fine morning in January 2005?
There is enough evidence now that confirms the thesis that Mr. Bugti was dealing directly with the Indians and Karzai’s people. His grandson Brahamdagh moves around in Kabul under the protection of Karzai's security. There is also evidence that some tribal chieftains in Balochistan were promised they would live like Gulf Arab sheikhs in a new entity carved out of southwest Pakistan if they supported the Bugti terrorist movement.

Why does the provincial government of Nawab Aslam Raisani avoid condemning these terrorists? More stunning is the reply of Interior Minister Rehman Malik in the Senate when questioned about how a Pakistani television station was allowed to air an interview with a London-based member of the Brahamdagh terror group. Mr. Malik said the interview was taped in London and “you know there is freedom of speech there.”

What a joke. Britain is providing a sanctuary to people who finance and support terrorism inside Pakistan and all our powerful security czar can say about this is to cite Britain’s speech laws. Is there a conflict of interest here between Mr. Malik’s personal life and interests in the UK and his official duty to level with the Brits on their duplicitous policy?

The terrorist acts and the new evidence is a great opportunity to delegitimize the terrorists who claim to own Balochistan. But our usually bland and uncreative political elite is incapable of encashing this opportunity.

Major grievances aside, there is no direct discrimination against Pakistani Baloch on ethno-language grounds from anyone in the rest of the country. The level of education of Pakistani Baloch denies them opportunities to climb the social ladder. And the blame for this rests squarely with both the federal government and Balochistan’s tribal chieftains. The landlord-feudal politicians of Pakistan are responsible for compounding the problems of Pakistanis everywhere. And there is no hope in sight that those running the federal government – PPP now or PML in the future – can change anything on the ground.

The Solution

Pakistan needs a practical, nationalistic and visionary federal administration that can take monumental steps to reorganize the State and provinces.

These are the major long-term steps that Islamabad needs to take to arrest the push toward Balkanization:

1. Instead of autonomy, the four ethnic-based provinces of Pakistan need to be turned into smaller administrative provinces with their own small parliaments and directly elected governors. This will break national politics into smaller pieces and refocus the people's attention on local politics and development issues instead of the destructive national politics we see today.

2. Ban ethnic-, language- and sectarian-based political parties.

3. Introduce capital punishment for corruption and treason.

4. Ban the conduct of 'private foreign policy' by politicians and political parties with foreign governments.

5. Seize the vast land holdings of the landlord-political elite and empower the more creative and capable lower and middle class Pakistanis to step forward.

6. Forcibly democratize the family-owned political parties of Pakistan.

The big question is: Who will do this? Interestingly, a group of eminent Pakistanis with no political affiliations has come together to answer this question. Members of the group have assigned themselves to developing an out-of-the-box answer to one question: How to enact these difficult reforms outside the realm of the chaotic Pakistani democratic process? This group is expected to soon make its findings public.

Pakistan needs creative minds at the top to unlock the initiative of its people. We need change. But let’s begin with condemning the terrorists who have taken ownership of Balochistan without any contest from the pro-US government in Islamabad.

The original version of this column appeared in The News International. This is an updated version that reflects the latest developments in southwest Pakistan.

© 2007-2009. All rights reserved. AhmedQuraishi.com & PakNationalists
Verbatim copying and distribution of this entire article is permitted in any medium
without royalty provided this notice is preserved.

 

[LiberalPakistani]

US,Israel and India can try we've already seen the backstabbing of India in 1971 now we are ready with nukes well-prepared will not lose an inch of Pakistan against them the fact is when your bringing it we are waiting along side the border just ready.

 

[Developereo]

US,Israel and India can try we've already seen the backstabbing of India in 1971 now we are ready with nukes well-prepared will not lose an inch of Pakistan against them the fact is when your bringing it we are waiting along side the border just ready.

That's the problem.

We Pakistanis, and muslims in general, only think with guns, while the Indians/Americans/Israelis are much smarter. They work behind-the-scenes to brainwash and use our own people against us.

Now we are killing our own citizens in Balochistan and Sarhad, while our enemies sit and watch.

 

[AstanoshKhan]

It's a time to win wars with minds not muscles.

 

[Fracker]

That's the problem.

We Pakistanis, and muslims in general, only think with guns, while the Indians/Americans/Israelis are much smarter. They work behind-the-scenes to brainwash and use our own people against us.

Now we are killing our own citizens in Balochistan and Sarhad, while our enemies sit and watch.

So you think, Muslim's enemy didn't destroy Afghanistan and iraq by their hand? They use hands and brain both. Nuke is just a threat to Israel, and india and some what US. We don't meant to through Nuke just for no reason, but if their introversion didn't stop then we can say we will through it. (& if the time comes then don't hesitate to do it). It is like USA threaten us after 9/11 to be sent to stone age. they weren't capable of, and even some of news comes like pakistan has established a base in some country close to USA, just to ensure if they try it then we put a big slap on their face.

Yes they are more good with the words then us. Their propaganda machines has access to the major population of the world. But you are forgetting, we need to show we are strong enough against all enemy powers unites.

But yes, we need some diplomatic way to tackle this, like improving more patriotism in baluchis. And atleast remove this political setup, because of this many people are divided. We need a khalifah ruling whole country, and whole country follows him together.

 

[Patriot]

It is good that Pakistan is not using force against them.This will only help us in the long term.We must negoiate with them and use pushtun card smartly.After all Balochis are our Pakistani brothers.

 

[Developereo]

My friends and my road-fellows, pity the nation that is full of beliefs and empty of religion. pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own winepress. pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the glittering conqueror bountiful. pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral, boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is laid between the sword and the block. pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler, and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking. pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again. pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.

Kahlil Gibran

 

[kidwaibhai]

the Baloch cant declare independence. no one in Balochistan thinks that they will be ever able to achieve independence. They just dont have the numbers. plus the major reason why Bangladesh happened was because of india. and also we had no of supplying our troops. they can declare balochistan independent but it wont make an a iota of a difference.

 

[Patriot]

Let me just add that Balochis are Pakistanis and patriotic so please think twice before making any anti balochi post as it might hurt some balochi who might view these forums.These problems can be solved with neogiations.We don't have to use force.

 

[glomex]

The empty quarter of Pakistan

Abul Fazl

Balochistan, the empty quarter of Pakistan covers around 44 per cent of its land area but merely 5.5 per cent of its population. The settlement pattern is constrained by arid to hyper arid conditions, with water being a scarce commodity. In a country where resource allocation is done on the basis of population, Balochistanis see no hope in hell that they will ever come on par with the rest of the country in development, be it the infrastructure or social services such as health and education.
An ethnically and culturally diverse province in the region with at least five large ethnic groups and seven local languages, Balochistan was created at the time of Partition in 1947 by joining together the Pashtoon dominated areas annexed by the raj under the Gandamak treaty, the areas of the princely state of Kalat and the Baloch tribal areas of Marri and Bugti agencies. The annexation of Kalat into Pakistan, like similar cases of Kashmir, Hyderabad, Junagadh, Manvadar, etc, in the rest of British India, was far from transparent and only superficially voluntary. After the then ruler of Kalat showed some ambivalence about joining Pakistan, police action was initiated that led to his finally signing the instrument of annexation. There have been various armed resistance movements in the name of right to self-determination, all ending in uneasy truces. Afghanistan has also never officially relinquished its claim over the Pashtoon areas of Balochistan and opposed the inclusion of Pakistan in the UN in 1947 on this basis.
Having dismally low human development indicators, Balochistan is also endowed with precious natural resources. The bulk of Pakistan’s natural gas supply has been coming from Balochistan since 1952. Balochistan was granted access to its gas in 1979. There are proven reserves of copper, gold, marble, onyx and coal, which have yet to be fully exploited. More than 1,000 km of Pakistan’s coastline also lies in Balochistan with the development of Gawadar port renewing the fears of the Baloch that they will once again be denied the fruits of their natural wealth.
The federal government has always chosen to rule Baloch through proxy tribal chieftains who enjoy almost unfettered powers over their subjects in the most medieval manner. Most of the chieftains have traditionally been friendly towards the central government with the exception of three or four strong ones belonging to Marri and Mengal tribes.
The latest spate of violence in Balochistan is more widespread than the previous ones, especially in coastal districts which have had a leftist but non-violent history of non-conformism. Some quarters view it in the backdrop the global power struggle for control over energy and other natural resources. During the Musharraf regime, the government was under pressure to privatise Pakistan Petroleum Limited (PPL), a parastatal having a monopoly over gas production. Nawab Akbar Bugti, the Baloch chieftain of the area, opposed this move. Bugti, traditionally an uneasy ally of the establishment, was forced by the Musharraf regime to go into the mountains as a rebel at the ripe old age of 87 and was killed in an ambush in 2008.
The resistance initiated by Bugti was replicated by a number of splinter groups all over the province, further fuelled by the illegal and undeclared confinement of allegedly thousands of Baloch students, activists and common citizens, ostensibly by Pakistani intelligence agencies. A military action is still going on in many parts of Balochistan with casualties occurring on both sides every day. An unusually ugly aspect of the armed struggle is ethnic cleansing through target killing of civilian people of Punjabi origin in Baloch and Birahui dominated areas.
There is a singular lack of a shared vision or common agenda about the future of Balochistan among the six groups. Their tactics are terrorist in nature and have served the interest of Pakistani establishment well, who are presenting them to the world as racist terrorists. The abduction of an American working for UNHCR from Quetta in February has only tarnished the image of the struggle.
A lull in the violence came in place when president Zardari, after taking oath, apologised to people of Balochistan for the past excesses and promised to redress them. It appears even now that the military establishment is managing Balochistan with a limited role allowed for the civilians. This policy has the three characteristic hallmarks of the mindset of Pakistani military establishment, ie, complete denial of the existence of a genuine problem, an effort to quell the rebellion by force, and, blaming the unrest on foreign hands (read India).
Most of the avowed leaders of resistance are abroad, leading a rather lavish life in London, Kabul and Dubai. One often wonders about the source of wealth of these people, coming from barren, backward areas. Also, the amount of arms and ammunition being used requires a constant supply of cash. It cannot be ruled out that a number of actors are involved including energy barons, drug traders and arms dealers, to count a few.
There is much speculation about the motives of the suspected ‘foreign hand’ supporting the separatists. Some people believe that India is trying to divert Pakistani attention from Kashmir by engaging it on its western borders. Fingers are often pointed towards the presence of Indian consulates in the Afghan towns bordering Pakistan as well as the possibility of undercover RAW agents operating in the guise of construction contractors. There are others who believe that the US is also fed up with Pakistan’s continued covert support to the Taliban and is turning a blind eye to the Indian actions. Some believers in conspiracy theory suggest that an independent Balochistan with a virtually illiterate population ruled by self-serving tribal chieftains suits the geopolitical interests of the US, driven by the barons of extractive industries. These quarters also speculate that the involvement of China in the development of Gawadar deep-sea port is perceived as a threat by both US and India which want to neutralise the strategic Chinese designs of becoming a major stakeholder in the Persian Gulf. All of these theories are based on the observation that the self-proclaimed leaders of the movement are all based in the US, UK, UAE and Afghanistan and some of them have been making visits to India, as per their own admission on mass media.
All these theories do not lay adequate emphasis on the root cause of the problem ie, the sense of alienation prevailing among the Baloch people based on the empirically proven exploitation of their resources and their systematic impoverishment by the Pakistani establishment. This, while Balochistan continues to bleed, is pushing its already impoverished and disenfranchised population to the limit.

 

[Developereo]

There is much speculation about the motives of the suspected ‘foreign hand’ supporting the separatists. [...]
All these theories do not lay adequate emphasis on the root cause of the problem ie, the sense of alienation prevailing among the Baloch people based on the empirically proven exploitation of their resources and their systematic impoverishment by the Pakistani establishment. This, while Balochistan continues to bleed, is pushing its already impoverished and disenfranchised population to the limit.

100% correct. It seems we learned nothing from 1971 when we alienated Bangalis to the point where you guys exploited the division.

Unfortunately we have been plagued with a series of self-serving feudal landlord politcians who have provided ZERO vision for the country. They haven't even brought governance to the dominant Punjab and Sindh provinces, let alone to the perpetually marginalzied Sarhad and Balochistan.

It wouldn't surprise me if Balochistan separated from Pakistan and idiot 10% "choppers" Zardari and the Sharif brothers do little more than wave them goodbye.

 

[Enigma SIG]

It wouldn't surprise me if Balochistan separated from Pakistan and idiot 10% "choppers" Zardari and the Sharif brothers do little more than wave them goodbye.

After all; zardari has to keep the legacy of bhutto alive by dividing the nation again and again

 

[vsdoc]

Very true. If there is one thing that is common to politicians/leaders on both sides it is the fact that almost any corruption/scam/incompetence/excess/blunder/etc. can and will be pardoned and forgotten by both the people as well as the opposition EXCEPT giving in or the perception of giving in by even 1% to the other side. That is what gets everyone together and talking the same language fata fat. And now for the past 2 decades since 1991 in our case thankfully, the other thing besides pakistan all Indians and all parties are united on is Economic policies and progress and development (I am not counting the Left here as they are at best side-shows in the national scheme of things).

Cheers, Doc