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 | | From: | nkdatta8839 at bigmailbox.net | | Subject: | Pak Military Dictator To Tikka Khan Balochistan Anew? | | Date: | 13 Jan 2005 13:28:29 -0800 |
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 | http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2005/13/editorials1.php
The Nation, Pakistan
Thursday, January 13, 2005
EDITORIAL
Balochistan
THE President has unwittingly sent an unfortunate signal to the people
of Balochistan, especially those who have misguidedly taken up arms
these days, by referring to the 1973-5 Insurgency there. In an
interview to a Pakistani news channel, he was forthright in warning the
Balochis that 'this is not the 1970s,' that they could not hide in
the mountains. Why the need to see the situation in such drastic terms?
True, there is unrest in the province, unprecedented since the 1970s,
with the latest episode being an attack on the Sui gas field which left
eight people dead, with PPL installations coming under rocket fire, and
the company evacuating its personnel from the area. It is
understandable for a soldier still in uniform to take a military view
of a combat situation, but will it lead towards a solution? Before
going into specifics, a clear distinction has to be made between the
1970s and the 2000s. In the 1970s, Pakistan as a state had just
suffered its worst ever trauma, caused by the shameful defeat in East
Pakistan. An example of secession had been set which was at the back of
the minds of those who carried forward the insurgency. The insurgency
itself settled the issue of potential secession, and even those who
went into exile, have returned. The present unrest is not backed by
separatist rhetoric, but has an autonomist underpinning. This armed
conflict, no doubt unjustified, is about provincial autonomy within the
federal framework, not setting up a separate state.
The problem is therefore essentially political, not military, and it
would have been more helpful if the President had sent a political
message. However, the government's performance in this respect has
been sporadic. A false assumption was made that a few Sardars'
bruised egos were at the root of the problem. This ignores the fact
that there are genuine issues to be discussed, mainly the development
of Gwadar and the establishment of new cantonments. What has made
matters worse is the perception that these measures were imposed on
Balochistan without discussion by an arrogant and uncaring Centre. The
setting up of the joint parliamentary committee on Balochistan was a
positive step, but its lethargic pace, and the government's sitting
on its work, has created further reservations, instead of removing
those that exist. The latest spark, the alleged gangrape of a PPL lady
doctor, should not have been a spark at all, had it not been a
combination of two factors which separately would have not had this
result: the heightened tension in the area, and the supposed cover-up
of the involvement of military personnel.
True federalism does not employ brute majorities to ram through
projects or measures. It requires taking into confidence and building
consensuses among the stakeholders. It also requires recognising who
the stakeholders actually are, rather than merely affixing pejorative
labels on those with a different point of view. The parliamentary
committee, which represents a political and representative approach,
should be the key to a more nuanced approach to the unfortunate
situation in Balochistan than dire threats of retribution.
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| | From: | William S. Hubbard | | Subject: | Re: Pak Military Dictator To Tikka Khan Balochistan Anew? | | Date: | 14 Jan 2005 11:23:20 -0800 |
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| "The Wrath of Khan"?
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| | From: | nkdatta8839 at bigmailbox.net | | Subject: | Re: Pak Military Dictator To Tikka Khan Balochistan Anew? | | Date: | 23 Jan 2005 23:12:03 -0800 |
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| There might be truth in rumors that moderate enlightment had
led the military to receive training in the West Bank and Gaza:
===============================================================================================
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/WorldNF.asp?ArticleID=148722
Gulf News, UAE
January 21, 2005
Troops demolish homes of tribal militants in Sui
By Mujahid Ali, Correspondent
Quetta : Pakistan army and paramilitary soldiers, backed by gunship
helicopters, yesterday started razing the mud-and-brick houses of
tribal militants.
This was in retaliation for the firing of rockets and mortars by
militants targeting the gas field installations in the remote Sui area,
officials said.
Security forces launched the operation using bulldozers to demolish the
houses belonging to the Bugti tribesmen.
These houses were built around the Sui gas field installations,
witnesses said.
Balochistan provincial Home Minister Shoaib Nusherwani told Gulf News
in Quetta that only those houses which were used in attacks on the gas
field were being bulldozed.
"Securing the area and ensuring smooth gas supplies is our number one
priority," he said.
"But it is not a military operation. We have not arrested any one. We
are just depriving the militants of their hide-outs."
Gas supplies from Sui, which produces 45 per cent of the country's
total gas output, resumed only a day earlier after a breakdown that
lasted six days.
Sources in Pakistan Petroleum Ltd, which operates the field, said that
the company suffered losses of Rs35 million (Dh2.2 million) a day.
Industrial and business activities were also badly hit. Police have
issued arrest warrants for 36 tribesmen including Nawaz Akbar Khan
Bugti, the chief of the tribe and a former chief minister of
Balochistan.
One of his grandsons is also among those named in the police report for
attacks on the gas field in which at least 15 people were killed.
A senior security official said the army deployments in the area were
for an indefinite period.
"Now the forces plan to expand the security ring around the gas field
which could mean displacing local tribesmen from their homes," he said.
There are about 20,000 to 25,000 tribesmen living around the gas field.
Yesterday, the security forces snapped communications and telephone
lines of the area.
Residents of Sui, which is about 400km east of Quetta, said gunship
helicopters hovered in the sky during the demolition operation.
Earlier, hundreds of troops built checkposts to counter any retaliation
from the tribesmen.
While the ruling Pakistan Muslim League leaders want to resolve the
dispute through negotiations, army officials deployed in the area have
been ordered to show no flexibility and ensure security of the gas
field.
The violence was triggered on January 11 following the rape of a lady
doctor allegedly by security officials. The army has denied involvement
of its officers in the rape.
Opposition politicians say that the deep sense of deprivation and
non-acceptance of the demands of greater political and economic rights
of Balochis by the government aggravated the situation.
Senator Sanaullah Baloch, a nationalist leader, said the incidents of
violence can recur because people feel that their genuine demands
remain unheard.
===============================================================================================
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| | From: | nkdatta8839 at bigmailbox.net | | Subject: | Re: Pak Military Dictator To Tikka Khan Balochistan Anew? | | Date: | 18 Jan 2005 22:12:39 -0800 |
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| http://www.nation.com.pk/daily/jan-2005/19/columns1.php
The Nation, Pakistan
Wednesday, January 19, 2005
Toward confrontation
By Roedad Khan
In a television interview on January 4, General Musharraf issued a
stern warning to the Baloch nationalists. "Don't push us. It is not
the 70s, when you can hit and run, and hide in the mountains", he
said, alluding to the military operation to quell the insurgency in
Balochistan in the 1970s. "This time, you won't even know what hit
you". "Oh God"! I said to myself. "Not again". Unfortunately,
Generals do not learn from history because they do not read history.
They make history. The current crisis in Balochistan is a throwback to
the 1970s insurgency that resulted from Z.A Bhutto's dismissal of the
National Awami Party government and the detention, on conspiracy
charges, of 55 nationalist politicians and student leaders. Nearly
three divisions were deployed to crush the insurgency and restore
normalcy in that troubled province. .....
......Whoever is advising President Musharraf to take on the Baloch, is
no friend of his and is certainly no friend of Pakistan. Instead of
extricating the army from Waziristan where the so-called American-led
war against terrorists has resulted in the killing of innocent men
women and children and the permanent alienation of Wazir and Mahsud
tribesmen, Musharraf is now jumping into the Baloch quicksand and is
about to open a second front against his own people.
The trouble with Musharraf is that he listens too much to generals and
flatterers around him. He doesn't realise that he is flying against
history and the wind of public opinion. What he needs more than
anything else is civilian input - people who would tell him not what
he wants to hear, but what he ought to hear. Musharraf may be a good
soldier but he possesses nothing of the vision required of a statesman.
Essentially a risk-taker, Musharraf is emerging as one of the most
audacious President in Pakistan. Whether he is also wise is a question
that will preoccupy us for quite some time.
How will this crisis end? No one knows. But never, never, believe that
confrontation in Balochistan will be smooth and easy. No one can
measure the tides or hurricanes General Musharraf is sure to encounter
if he embarks on this perilous adventure. The use of force against the
people did not succeed in East Pakistan and led to tragic consequences.
How can it succeed in Balochistan? Why use force to resolve what is
essentially a political problem? Why rock the boat? But those who do
not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.
There is an old Russian saying: "once you let your feet get caught in
a quagmire your whole body will be sucked in". That is what happened
to us in East Pakistan. Why repeat the same mistakes in Balochistan?
Einstein once said, "To keep trying the same thing over and over with
the expectation of a different result is the definition of insanity".
Is there no one to keep this insanity at bay? It is looking more and
more like amateur hour in the one place that is supposed to provide
leadership in these perilous times - the Presidency.
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| | From: | nkdatta8839 at bigmailbox.net | | Subject: | Re: Pak Military Dictator To Tikka Khan Balochistan Anew? | | Date: | 23 Jan 2005 23:10:37 -0800 |
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| http://us.rediff.com/news/2005/jan/20spec2.htm
The anti-Islamabad unrest in Balochistan continues unabated.
The unrest is due to anger over:
**The suppression of the nationalist aspirations of the Balochs by the
government in Islamabad;
**The lack of economic development in the province despite the fact
that its gas fields, which sustain the economy of Punjab, are a major
source of revenue;
**The continuing failure of the Pakistan government to give to the
provincial administration and the tribes in whose territory gas was
found an adequate payment of royalty for the gas supplied to the other
provinces of Pakistan;
**The non-association of the provincial authorities with the
decision-making on the construction of the Gwadar port on the Mekran
coast with Chinese assistance and the award of almost all contracts
relating to the project to non-Balochs, mainly Punjabis;
**The import of Punjabis and other non-Balochs, many of them
ex-servicemen, into the province to work in the project;
**The plans of the military-dominated administration in Islamabad to
construct three new cantonments in the province in order to increase
the number of troops permanently stationed there.
**The continuing unrest, which is mainly directed against the army and
the central government authorities and the gas production and supply
infrastructure, was reflected in another attack by the Baloch
nationalist elements on paramilitary personnel deployed in the province
on December 25, coinciding with the 128th birth anniversary of Mohammad
Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan.
======================================================
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/GA13Df01.html
Asia Times, Hong Kong
January 13, 2005
Musharraf blusters as Balochistan boils
By Syed Saleem Shahzad
...... Behind Musharraf's threats, though, and even though the tribals
have seriously challenged state writ, the government is extremely
hesitant to use the force it used in the South Waziristan tribal area
last year to flush out foreign fighters, for several reasons:
**Musharraf is already being pushed to the wall by his military
commanders on several issues, especially in dealing with India and his
pro-US stance.
**On the issue of Musharraf reneging on an earlier pledge to shed his
uniform at the end of last year, political forces are already ganging
up against him.
**With regard to the South Waziristan operations, liberal forces such
as the Pakistan People's Party adopted a silent stance, but on
Balochistan all political parties can be expected to vent their
disapproval.
**In such an overall negative environment, the chances of a
counter-military coup against Musharraf increase. Musharraf came to
power in a 1999 coup.
Despite all of this, Musharraf appears to have little option other than
military force, the consequences be damned.
======================================================
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