Quetta, Balochistan

[1980s]

From back in April:

Some in Pakistan fear Taliban resurgence with U.S. Afghan withdrawal looming, others hope for it - CBS News


A poster praising Osama bin Laden is seen on a wall in Kuchlak, Pakistan, among campaign posters for candidates in the upcoming parliamentary elections.

Kuchlak, Pakistan Amid the sea of campaign posters plastered on a wall in this suburb of Quetta, Osama Bin Laden's face stares out at passers-by. His image has little to do with the upcoming election. It's straight-forward al Qaeda propaganda. Even a year after his death, Bin Laden remains a local hero to many in this corner of Pakistan.

Around Quetta, support for Islamic fundamentalism thrives. The city, only about 50 miles from the border with Afghanistan, functions as a haven and command center for the Taliban.

On May 11, Pakistanis will go to the polls to elect a new parliament in a vote which -- for the first time in the nation's 66-year history -- will not be directly influenced by the country's powerful military. That's a landmark. Pakistani voters tired of corrupt, cynical politics dare to hope this ballot can bring the seeds of real political change.

But there are few such hopes around Quetta. Here, there are fears that that the Taliban and its allies are poised for a violent comeback, especially with the U.S. and its allies due to pull thousands of troops out of Afghanistan at the end of next year.

"The elections will only bring fresh hope for people like us if there is security," says Khadija Khudaidad, a 21-year-old psychology student at a Quetta university. "Right now, there is no security."

Every week, Khudaidad visits her uncle's grave. He was shot along with 10 other minority Shiite Muslims by pro-Taliban gunmen. The Taliban, like the majority of Pakistanis, are of the Sunni Muslim sect. Since the U.S. military operation across the border made attacking NATO forces riskier, the Taliban has increased its attacks on soft targets at home; frequently taking aim at the Shiite minority.

On January 10, two powerful blasts at a billiards hall frequented by Shiites in Quetta killed 81 people. On February 16, at least 65 people were killed and more than 200 wounded when a bomb hidden inside a tanker blew up at a market in a predominantly Shiite Quetta neighborhood.

A senior Pakistani intelligence officer tells CBS News both attacks appeared to be the work of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), a hardcore militant group with known ties to al Qaeda and the Taliban.

"If America's mission was to take out the roots of militancy from Afghanistan and Pakistan, that's clearly been a failed mission," one senior Western diplomat in Islamabad told CBS News. He added that, in his view, Islamic militants in the region, "are all over, and they are unfortunately gaining confidence fast."

At the main bazaar in Kuchlak, men chat in front of traditional roadside cafes and enjoy the spring sunshine. They are casual observers to the daily flow of Taliban militants and supplies that is ferried on trucks, jeeps and motorcycles across the largely un-policed Pakistan-Afghanistan border nearby.

"Pakistan and Afghanistan are brotherly countries," says Shehzada Ahmedzai, a Pakistani trader who crosses the border regularly himself to sell tobacco and other everyday goods. Speaking to CBS News in Quetta, Ahmedzai calls the Taliban "our brothers."

"They cannot be stopped from going around freely in Pakistan."

Not all of Ahmedzai's countrymen are quite so at ease with the militants' presence, However. Fears that they might be poised to try and tighten their grip on the region are of particular concern to members of Baluchistan's Hazara tribe, who, like Khadija Khudaidad, are Shiite Muslims.

Hazara leaders in Pakistan warn that if the government fails to stop attacks like those in January and February, it will not just further destabilize Pakistan, but also neighboring Afghanistan.

"If such violence continues, how will you ever have peace?" asks Abdul Khaliq Hazara, a politician in Quetta from the tribe for which he is named. "The authorities know where the militants are coming from, but no one wants to do anything about it."

Mirza Mohammad Hasan, a Shiite 22-year-old photo journalist in Quetta whose brother was among the victims of the January attack, told CBS News the withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, "will encourage these people to go out and kill more of our people."

On a visit to the billiard club where his brother died, Hasan said that in some parts of Baluchistan, "militants are already out in large numbers. We have no way of dealing with this menace."

CBS News asked a senior government official in Quetta what could be done to address the festering "menace" in the province. He would only acknowledge the "difficult" challenged posed by the Taliban and its allies in the region.

Asked about the bin Laden poster displayed prominently on a wall in Kuchlak, another government official in Quetta admitted that it "puts Pakistan in a very negative light."

He added, however, that "confronting these people would mean that we begin a bloody new war. After more than 10 years in Afghanistan, even the Americans are tired. How can Pakistan, with its limited resources, start another war?"

[1980s]

BBC News - Pakistani city of Quetta in shock after double attack

A day of official mourning has been declared in the Pakistani city of Quetta after 25 people were killed by gunmen in twin attacks on Saturday.

After a bomb on a bus killed 14 female students and injured 22, militants attacked a hospital treating survivors, where they killed another 11 people.

Four attackers were also killed and one arrested, officials say.

No clear motive for the attack has yet been established but a Sunni Muslim militant group is being blamed.

A man purporting to be a spokesman for Lashkar-e-Jhangvi told the BBC the attacks were revenge for an earlier raid by security forces against the group, in which a woman and children were killed.

Quetta, a city of 900,000 people in the south-west of the country, has long been troubled by violence mainly targeting the Shia Muslim minority.

The city is reeling from a deep sense of shock, trying to make sense of Saturday's events, the BBC's Shahzeb Jillani reports.

'Unjustifiable'

Funerals are being planned for the victims of the attack while an official day of mourning is being observed across the province of Balochistan, of which Quetta is capital.

Saturday's bloodshed began when a bomb exploded on a bus carrying students at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women's University.

When survivors were brought to a medical centre, suspected suicide bombers stormed the building and started shooting indiscriminately.

A five-hour stand-off between the militants and security forces left nurses, security personnel and a senior city official dead.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks in a statement, saying no cause could justify such violence.

"The secretary general notes with dismay that violence against women and educators has increased in recent years, the aim being to keep girls from attaining the basic right to education," his spokesperson said.

Groups like Lashkar-e-Jhangvi have carried out major bombings against Shia religious minorities, our correspondent says.

The group is known for close ties with the Taliban and al-Qaeda.

[Agnostic Muslim]

Balochistan’s fighting chance
Nazish Brohi | 14 hours ago

AFTER ages, there is a note of jubilation in the discussions on the future of Balochistan. Till about a year ago, many were convinced it didn’t even have a future.

The change is the nomination of the National Party’s Dr Abdul Malik Baloch as chief minister. He will be the first ever Baloch chief minister not embedded in the structure and from an educated, middle-class background.

His credentials as a guard of the province’s interests are apparent in his growth through the ranks of the Baloch Students Organisation, the earlier leadership of the Balochistan National Movement, the foresight of merging with the National Democratic Party to form the NP, and the issues he unflaggingly raised in the Senate during his term.

Credit is due to Nawaz Sharif for the statesmanship displayed in dealing with the assertive claims to the post made by the leadership of his own party, and placing at the helm someone who was previously a political opponent. It was a potentially fractious, hence bold political decision.

The nawab of Jhalawan, Sanaullah Zehri, showed political maturity in accepting it and standing by the decision after his own strident claims and not quitting in a huff.

Had Sardar Mengal agreed earlier to an electoral alliance with the NP, it would have been the crowning triumph. Since the 2002 elections when Gen Musharraf’s regime ushered the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal into power, the Baloch nationalist groups have been on the defensive and outside the electoral fold.

The rising power of the religio-political alliance was at the cost of the nationalists. Their return to the electoral fold under a non-tribal steered leadership is significant.

This should have been the PPP’s moment. But the party squandered it in the same manner it did many others, by first showing long-term vision and making important structural changes, but then offsetting these with immediate-term governance disasters.

Dr Malik’s present nomination would have been a symbolic but politically ineffectual change of face had it not been preceded by the 18th Amendment and the consensually reformulated NFC award. It is devolution of powers and substantive budgets that will give this government political potency.

In that sense, the PPP paved the way for this historic opportunity, but negated its own potential by putting forward the inept nawab of Sarawan, Aslam Raisani, as its chief minister and the party’s political face in the province.

This will remain as the outgoing government’s imprint, not President Asif Zardari’s apology to the Baloch people for historic grievances, and not the unimplemented but well-crafted Aghaaz-i-Haqooq-i-Balochistan package.

Dr Malik now has the democratic mandate to rule, the support and goodwill of the central government, significant fiscal space and financial resources for development via devolution, the ability to take and execute decisions affecting the province, and the credibility to do so.

The proverbial spanner, or in this case, slammer in the works could be the role of the security establishment. The numbers of enforced disappearances attributed to the state vary wildly, with the outgoing home minister citing 55 and the Voice of the Baloch Missing Persons organisation saying 13,000, whereas former interior minister Rehman Malik acknowledged there to be 1,100.

Whatever the realistic count, the effect this practice has had has eclipsed Baloch narratives and produced immense hostility, fear and insecurity to the point that even those who disagree with the tactics of the sarmachar (as the nationalist armed fighters are called), concede that breaking away may be the only survival option.

Continued forced disappearances and recovery of tortured dead bodies as seen over the past five years, would invalidate any perceived forward steps and reassert the image of a predatory and repressive establishment.

There are signs that there may be a change in this policy as well. The Frontier Corps remain the most reviled of state institutions in Balochistan, along with the proxy death squads attributed to them.

Yet in post-election interviews, people I spoke to say there was no explicit or implicit coercion to vote for any particular candidate or party by the security apparatus. If anything, they say they were compelled by the sarmachar not to vote.

While the voter turnout remained relatively low, there was no evident political intrusion by state agencies. According to some people’s accounts, while dumped bodies are still being found, there has been a decline in the number of ‘new disappearances’ over the past few months.

This cannot be verified because the disappearances are not recorded, as when they happen the police refuse to register FIRs against the FC or security agencies and the media often blocks out such news.

For the new government to have a chance at healing wounds and ruptures with the state, it is imperative that the political victimisation and kill-and-dump policy halts.
Without this, no change is possible and Balochistan will remain poised on the brink.

Even if disappearances do end, it will not resolve all the problems. As in any conflict zone, the general law and order breakdown has led to a phenomenal increase in crime such as kidnappings for ransom and a near-complete collapse of the provincial economy.

This doesn’t even begin to touch upon the Hazara killings crisis and the impunity with which the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has been able to operate.

The incoming government has to also panic about the Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat, the political face of the Lashkar-i-Jhangvi being able to poll over 20,000 votes for the National Assembly from within Quetta city under the umbrella of the Muttahida Deeni Mahaz. In others places in the province, people have been able to get elected into parliament with much fewer votes.

However small and incremental a step, the nomination of new leadership has given Balochistan breathing space and a fighting chance that it hasn’t had for a decade.

The writer conducts research and analysis in the social and development sector.
[email protected]

Balochistan

[Agnostic Muslim]

Nawaz nominates Abdul Malik Baloch for Balochistan CM

MURREE: Following an hours long meeting between the coalition partners in Balochistan on Sunday, National Party (NP) President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch was nominated for the slot of provincial chief minister.

Pakistan Muslim League – Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif made the announcement during a joint press conference in Murree.

Nawaz further said that the governor for Balochistan will be from the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP).

The PML-N, despite having most seats in the provincial assembly, gave both the major slots to NP and PkMAP.

While speaking to the media, the PML-N chief said for him, “this is not a fight for power but for values.”

Today’s meeting brought the deadlock over the joint selection of a suitable candidate as the next provincial chief minister to an end.

PkMAP and NP had not directly opposed PML-N’s Balochistan chapter president Sardar Sanaullah Zehri bid for the post, but had specifically told Nawaz’s party officials that those leaders ‘known for their corrupt practices should not be nominated as the future chief minister’.

Earlier, a petition – co-signed by 172 organisations and individuals – along with two consortiums with 220-member organisations, demanded that Baloch be made the next chief minister of Balochistan.

To restore peace in Balochistan, petitioners said, it is important to hand over the reins of government to a person who is trustworthy.

Nawaz nominates Abdul Malik Baloch for Balochistan CM – The Express Tribune

======================

This is an excellent decision in my opinion. Malik Baloch is an ethnic Baloch, leading a nationalis Baloch political party and unlike many of the other Baloch leaders of nationalist political parties, is not in the mold of the usual 'Baloch Sardar's.

The fact that the PMLN chose to have the two top positions in Balochistan (Chief Minister and Governor) go to its coalition partners from Baloch and Pakhtun nationalist parties speaks highly of the PMLN's sincerity in resolving the problems of Balochistan instead of getting bogged down in haggling over the top positions.

That said, I hope the incoming Balochistan government does not engage in a farce like the previous one, of appointing so many provincial ministers that essentially every provincial parliamentarian had a ministry.

[Agnostic Muslim]

The big picture: Who will govern Balochistan?

By Qaiser ButtPublished: May 13, 2013


ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League is likely to play a leading role in the formation of a coalition government in Balochistan, according to independent analysts who are closely monitoring the post-poll scenario.

However, the key to this coalition is in the hands of the Pushtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP), which has emerged as a top winner with 9 seats in the 51- member provincial assembly, according to unofficial results. The PkMAP however contends that all of its 11 candidates have won, although officials in the provincial government do not agree and maintain it has only nine seats.

The PML-N is placed as the second largest parliamentary party with 8 seats, but it has attained the position of the single biggest party in the Baloch dominated areas of Balochistan. Two of its ethnic Baloch candidates, Nawabzada Changaiz Marri and Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch have also managed to win national assembly seats from Dera Bugti cum Kohlu and Kharan .

However, despite a high number of its members in the assembly it is bit difficult for a Pakhtoon party, the PkMAP, to take over in a Baloch dominated province. Traditionally, it is essential to be a ethnic Baloch to be the chief minister of Balochistan .

It is expected that Mir Sanaullah Zehri , president of Balochistan chapter of PML-N would be the next chief minister with a nominee of PkMAP as a senior minister. Jan Jamali , a former chief minister who recently joined PML-N is also an aspirant for the top slot.

The number of PML-N seats could increase as a few MPAs, particularly Mir Sarfraz Bugti who has been elected from Dera Bugti- Kohlu as an independent after defeating Nawab Aali Bugti could join it.

The National Party (NP) with its 5 to 6 seats can also be part of the coalition, and with the possible support of JUI-F may even be in the running for the cm slot.

However, for PkMAP, it would be hard to accept its bitter rival JUI-F in the coalition. Baloch nationalist parties would also prefer to keep the ethnic Pakhtoon members of JUI-F out of power. Keeping in view the political understanding between Mian Nawaz Sharif and Mehmood Khan Achakzai, political analysts have ruled out any tug of war between the two parties over the formation of the future government.

As the top party, the PkMAP has bright possibilities to nominate one of its Member of the Provincial Assembly (MPA) for the office of the chief minister in a coalition government with Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) and other Baloch nationalists parties and few independents .

It is pertinent to mention here that Mehmood Khan Achakzai is obliged to Nawaz Sharif for his NA victory. Nawaz Sharif had withdrawn two of his candidates, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Qadir Baloch and Nawabzada Lashkari who had filed their nomination papers against Achakzai.

PkMAP was one of those parties in Balochistan that refused to take part in 2008 general elections under military ruler Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf on the appeal of Nawaz Sharif.

The PML-N initially also had boycotted the elections but suddenly decided to contest leaving PkMAP and other parties out of the election process. Political analysts view Nawaz Sharif’s support to Achakzai as compensation for the political loss PkMAP had to suffer due to the boycott.

If the PkMAP gets the cm slot, it will be the first time that an ethnic Pakhtun nationalist party will form its government in a province where ethnic Baloch had always dominated the assembly.

The fate of BNP-M chief Akhtar Mengal is still unknown . According to media reports, the ECP has held the results of his constituency. However, it is claimed by BNP-M leaders that Mengal and his two candidates have won their seats from Gwadar and Quetta.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 13th, 2013.

The big picture: Who will govern Balochistan? – The Express Tribune

[Agnostic Muslim]

Turnout in Balochistan estimated at 35 to 40pc
From the Newspaper | Saleem Shahid |

QUETTA: Amid extensive security measures, polling for 14 seats of the National Assembly and 51 of Balochistan Assembly was held in the province on Saturday, with the turnout estimated at between 35 and 40 per cent of registered votes.

Except a few incidents of violence — including grenade, rocket and bomb attacks — the polling process remained peaceful across the province.

More than 62,000 security personnel, 7,000 of them from the army, were deployed in Quetta and other sensitive districts. Heavy contingents of army, Frontier Corps, Balochistan Constabulary and police patrolled around polling stations throughout the province.

In Quetta, a large number of voters, including women, went to polling stations to cast their votes. Long queues of voters were seen at polling stations in central areas of the city since morning.

The turnout was encouraging in the city and its outskirts. It was estimated at 30 per cent during the first four hours of polling in central areas of the provincial capital.

“We are having such a huge crowd of voters since morning that polling booths seem insufficient to accommodate them,” a presiding officer in a women’s polling station in Muslimabad told Dawn. During the first four hours of polling, 40 per cent of votes had been cast there, she said.

In the areas dominated by people of Hazara community, reporters found male and female voters casting their votes with enthusiasm.

People in large numbers thronged polling stations even in Sariab Road area, where a low turnout had been expected.

Long queues of voters, including women, were seen at the Polytechnic Institution polling station.

“We are waiting since morning to cast our votes because of limited number of polling booths,” said Abdullah, who had come from Lahore to cast his vote.

According to reports, the turnout was higher in Pakhtun areas than in Baloch areas.

According to observers, 35 to 40 per cent votes were cast in Pakhtun areas where the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party and two factions of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam have an impressive vote bank.

The polling started at 8am and continued till 6pm. However, complaints of late polling were received from some areas.

Turnout in Kech, Panjgur, Awaran and some others Baloch areas remained low because of a strike call given by the Baloch National Front, which is opposed to elections.

In the three districts, particularly in Panjgur town, most of government officials assigned polling duties did not report for because of threats issued by banned organisations.

Reports from Panjgur suggested a very low turnout as voters were apprehensive of attacks on polling stations.

Similarly, polling staff failed to reach polling stations in some areas of Kech, Awaran and Washuk districts. But the administration made alternative arrangements to start polling.

In Mand, a town on the border with Iran, polling staff did not arrive at six polling stations till 11am.

The turnout in Makran division, Kharan and Awaran districts was estimated at 20 per cent.

A comparatively higher turnout was reported from Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Kalat, Khuzdar and Sibi districts.

Turnout in Balochistan estimated at 35 to 40pc | Newspaper | DAWN.COM
===============

If the final turnout figures are around the same level, then the election could be considered a significant setback for the separatist insurgents, given that they did everything possible to prevent the elections and stop the 'peaceful' nationalist Baloch political parties from participating in them.

[Agnostic Muslim]

It’s time to hear the voice of south Balochistan

By Fouzia SaeedPublished: May 1, 2013

The writer is a human rights activist and is currently doing research as a fellow at National Endowment for Democracy in Washington DC

We have long complained about the feudals and tribal chiefs from Balochistan getting into politics and keeping this an area of dynastic rule. Each province has gone through its own dynamics but the people of Balochistan have suffered the most from the double jeopardy of undemocratic influences from Islamabad and from their own tribal elite. Provincial devolution and autonomy have opened the path for new possibilities for change.

Balochistan has always been an intriguing place. While Pashtuns in the north have a horizontal tribal power structure, the Baloch in the centre are very hierarchical, with their identities and rank tied strictly to their tribes. The southern Baloch tribal structures are not rigid and for decades, there has been a strong influence of modernism from across the Gulf. The central Baloch people remain stuck in their tribal traditions, ready to react aggressively to any deviation and always tense with Pashtuns. In contrast, the people of the south and west have been neglected by those in the central area.

Sometimes, being neglected can be a gift. The poor people of southern and western Balochistan have long gone abroad for jobs and sent back remittances for their families. This also resulted in exposure to international ideas which opened up the area to a greater diversity of values. They started educating their girls, involved their youth in productive activities and brought about change in their social hierarchies that could show the province how autonomy and not separation could be a midway to resolve Balochistan’s problems.

The ideas of the school of visionaries that developed in Balochistan from the times of Ghaus Bakhsh Bazinjo have never died. While the focus of the media has remained on separatists and big tribal leaders, the politics of ethics, vision and nationalism has survived and bloomed in the southern and western parts of Balochistan. Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, the head of the National Party, with his team of middle-class politicians, can be seen as a ray of hope that can significantly change the path of politics in the area and maybe, the nation. He set up thousands of schools when he was the minister for education and continues to groom women to join his party. Yet, he remains in the shadows of our election discussions.

In the past, such progressive and secular parties were ignored. Close to the elections, their core workers were tied down, blindfolded and thrown into remote areas for a few days to get them out of the way. This time, the Baloch militants are attacking them directly. Dr Malik narrowly escaped an attack just a few days ago and his workers also continue to be attacked. The election commission has to take notice of this and protect such parties there.

What we have been slow to realise is the change in the Pakistani nation that has gradually taken root over the past five years. Many who previously could not even dream of losing power are now at the mercy of popular opinion against them. Parties have chosen committed, middle-class people as candidates, adjusted seats with the Hazara Democratic Front, taken the risk of giving tickets to women candidates and avoided backing from major Baloch tribal powers. Observing these changes, one starts to gain faith in our democratic process.

In the coming days, we will see the election campaign unfold to its height. Provided that conditions are made somewhat safe, popular support will culminate in unexpected results. Let’s keep an eye on south Balochistan.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 1st, 2013.

It

[1980s]

Balochistan: The State Versus the Nation: Frederic Grare

The Carnegie Endowment for International Peace released this detailed report on the Baloch conflict about a week ago:

'Balochistan, the largest but least populous province of Pakistan, is slowly descending into anarchy. Since 2005, Pakistani security forces have brutally repressed the Baloch nationalist movement, fueling ethnic and sectarian violence in the province. But the Pakistani armed forces have failed to eliminate the insurgency—and the bloodshed continues. Any social structures in Balochistan capable of containing the rise of radicalism have been weakened by repressive tactics. A power vacuum is emerging, creating a potentially explosive situation that abuts the most vulnerable provinces of Afghanistan. Only a political solution is likely to end the current chaos.'

Full report: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/balochistan.pdf
Balochistan: The State Versus the Nation - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Its an interesting read, although curiously Frederic Grare omitted any reference to Allah Nazar's Balochistan Liberation Front from his list of the main actors in the Baloch-Pakistan conflict. The report also fails to mention the Quetta Shura and barely discusses the presence of the Afghan Taliban in Quetta and elsewhere in Balochistan. He does however discuss the emergence and role of Pakistani Islamists and their historic use by the state as an instrument of state policy to quell ethnic and secular politics among the Baloch and Pashtun populations and their more recent use as militant proxies against the Baloch nationalists and Hazara Shi'ite population.

[1980s]

This interview with a Baluch nationalist contains some interesting comments regarding general Baluch-Pashtun relations in and around Quetta, altho no specific mention of the Afghan Taliban and what role (if any) it may play in any future escalation of violence in Quetta among various ethnic and sectarian groups.

Full interview: Nationalists’ Participation in Elections without Set of Demands Will Go Against Baloch Interests: Whaeed Baloch

Excerpts:

Islamabad often says Pashtuns also live in Balochistan and they account for the half of the population. The Pashtuns do not seem to have an objection to the federal government’s policies and decisions about Balochistan.

All Baloch nationalists, regardless of their political belief and organizational affiliation, have consensus on the fact that Pashtuns of Balochistan live on their own historical land, not on the Baloch territory. They have been forced to live with the Baloch as a result of a historic injustice done to them and to the Baloch. Balochs furiously fought against the Pakistani occupation of Balochistan and afterward under dominion of Pakistan for different causes and demands in particular times. To quash those demands, successive Pakistani governments tried to come up with concessions and bribes instead of political solution to the Baloch question.

In those hard times, Pashtuns usually sat on the sideline and watched, demanding more share in the doll, and/or silently supported the actions of the federal government against the Baloch. Even currently, when the Balochs are taking heavy toll in the hands of Pakistan army, the Pashtuns are beating the same old drum, demanding from rights from the Baloch despite knowing that the Balochs have no control over their own fate. In fact, the Balochs have suffered more because of that historic injustice.

There are also tensions between Balochs and the Pashtuns as to who owns and controls Quetta City. What do you have to say about this?

Some Balochs tend to remain silent when it comes to the status of Quetta. The City, before the Partition in 1947, was actually the home of some tribes. The indigenous tribes who lived in Quetta among the Baloch included the Shahwanis, Langoves, Lehris, the Sumalanis and the Raisanis while the Pashtun tribes included Yasinzais in Hana Odak, the Bazis in Nosar who were actually the domestic servants of the Raisanis.

If you look at the population of the Kasis in Quetta, they are still living in the old Kasi Qila area but there has not been a significant increase in their population. Likewise, if you look at the Shahwanis, Lehris, Jattaks and Bangulzais and Langovs of Qili Almo, Qili Shabo, Qili Ismail, the Sarmasthani Balochs in Nichari and the Marris in Marriabad, their population has not increased as significantly as the population of the Pashtuns because the Pashtuns in Quetta actually came from outside the city. For example, there is no increase in the population of the Pashtun Yasinzais in Hana Odak and the Pashtu-speaking Syeds of Shiekh Manda and the Bazais.

Demographic changes in Quetta were caused by the Pashtuns migration from neighboring districts, along with the Pashtuns and Hazaras from Afghanistan. If a genuine census is held in Quetta today, it will turn out that the Balochs are still in the single majority in the city.

Who do you think benefits from the violence in Quetta?

The attacks on the Punjabis and Hazaras in Quetta directly benefit the Pashtuns. If the Hazaras or the Punjabis leave Quetta, the Pashtuns would be the first ones to purchase their property and real estate. Even if Balochs leave a place, the Pashtuns buy their property. The violence in Quetta benefits the Pashtuns and it is backed by the Pakistani intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps, which comprises of 90% Pashtuns and all their top officers, including the current and several past inspector generals were Pashtuns. There is coordination between the Pashtun political forces and the military to force the Baloch to withdraw from Quetta and even from Balochistan eventually by changing the demographic ratio.

What do you think the Baloch nationalists should do in such a situation?

I think it is the right time for the Baloch nationalists to assert their stance on Quetta. While a discussion has already begun in Pakistan about the creation of a separate Saraiki province, the Baloch nationalists should also put forward a demand that the Pashtun districts of Balochistan should be incorporated with the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (K.P.) Province, and Baloch historical territories in Sindh and Punjab return to Balochistan. However, I do not see the Pashtun leadership in Balochistan agreeing to this proposal. For example, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the head of the Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party, has not demanded even on a single occasion that the Pashtun districts of Balochistan should be made a part of the K.P. although he should have taken advantage of the opportunity provided by the ongoing debate about the creation of a Saraiki province. The reason for this stance is because the Pashtuns want to claim equal benefits from the Baloch province and its resources. The Pashtuns have even a higher claim on Pakistan than the Punjabis as they want to simultaneously get benefits from the K.P. and Balochistan.

Do you foresee a confrontation between the Balochs and the Pashtuns in the future?

Absolutely. Pashtuns are the last checkmate move of the Pakistan government to Baloch and their movement. If the Balochs do not speak up on this crucial issue at this point, it is certainly going to be a major source of discontent and confrontation in the future. If the Balochs are unable to get absolute freedom from Pakistan at this point, their preference, while living within Pakistan, should be to exert maximum pressure on Islamabad to separate the Pashtun areas from Balochistan. If the Pakistani figures are correct that Balochistan is 60% Baloch and 40% Pashtun then one does not require an additional 60% to convert the Baloch into a minority on their own land. Only 20% population can totally change the face of Balochistan’s demography by including 20% more Pashtuns, Punjabi and Muhajir from Karachi and other parts of Pakistan as soon as the Gwadar Port becomes operational. We must keep in mind the fall of Karachi to the migrants of India, Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

. . . .

What do you have to say about the new wave of religious radicalization in Balochistan? Is it going to cause problems for the Baloch nationalism in the future?

Baloch nationalism is very secular while Pakistan was founded in the name of Islam. So, the two ideas are clearly opposed to each other. They cannot coexist. Since Baloch nationalism contradicts the idea of Pakistan, Islamabad has used all methods to eliminate this movement. For this purpose, Pakistan has used radical Islam and also promoted tribal rivalries. Pakistan heavily depends on Balochistan and it is going to further accelerate radicalism in Balochistan to make sure that Baloch nationalism is contained by hook or by crook. To achieve this goal, the army is patronizing and arming tribal militias in sensitive areas to eradicate Baloch nationalist dissent.

[cataphract]

Interesting remarks made by the commander of the BLF as it relates to religious extremism, the Taliban and NATO forces in Afghanistan:



Full article: IPS – Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

If Baloch cultue is traditionally liberal as claimed by the BLF commander, how do militantly Sunni Baloch groups like Jundollah operate just across the border? Are the Balochs of Sistan THAT culturally different from Pakistani Balochs?

[Agnostic Muslim]

BRP spokesperson’s son reportedly killed

By Mohammad ZafarPublished: November 15, 2012

Sources say Haq Nawaz Bugti died in battle with security forces; officials deny incident.
QUETTA: Baloch Republican Party (BRP) spokesperson Sher Muhammad Bugti’s son was reportedly killed in a battle with security personnel in Nushki district, some 148 kilometres from Quetta, on Wednesday.

According to BRP sources, Haq Nawaz Bugti, who was not affiliated with the BRP himself, was killed in Nushki district during a fierce battle with security forces.

A spokesperson for the defunct Baloch Republican Army (BRA) who called media offices from an unspecified location also said that Haq Nawaz was killed in a clash with security personnel in Nushki. He further claimed that Baloch fighters caused heavy losses to security personnel.

District Police Officer Naz Jan, however, denied such reports altogether. “The police cover a 15 kilometre area, but so far they have received no such news,” he added. Nushki Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Jan also rejected the news, saying that if such incident would have occurred, he would have known.

The Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan spokesperson also told The Express Tribune that no such battle had taken place with Baloch fighters in Nushki.

BRP, on the other hand, has announced 40 days of mourning and province-wide demonstrations today (Thursday) after the incident. It also announced a shutter-down strike on Nov 16 throughout Balochistan.
BRP Women’s Wing leader Horain Baloch paid tributes to Haq Nawaz for sacrificing his life for the Baloch cause, saying that anti-Baloch forces were carrying out ‘a genocide’.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2012.
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Don't really care who killed him so long as yet another terrorist is dead - however, most of the background accounts so far indicate that HN Bugti was killed in a clash with another militia.

[1980s]

Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

Interesting remarks made by the commander of the BLF as it relates to religious extremism, the Taliban and NATO forces in Afghanistan:

Oct 26 2012 (IPS)

Do you coordinate with Jundullah (“Army of God”) – the Baloch insurgent movement in neighbouring Iran?

We know the people fighting in Jundullah are also Baloch but we have no relation with them. Ours is a pure nationalist war, miles away from Jundullah´s religious extremism.

. . .

The Baloch say the government in Islamabad is trying to Talibanise Balochistan in order to quell the Baloch nationalist movement.

That’s true. Balochs are basically secular, by their culture, by their tradition, by their historical background, so the Pakistani regime is trying to Talibanise the Baloch society. Just where I am right now, the ISI – the Pakistani secret service – has set up two religious militant groups against the Baloch national struggle: one is Ansar-al-Islam and the other is Tahafuz-e-Hadoodullah (Protectors of God’s Rule).

They have formed these groups in the name of Islam but their real aim is to crush the Baloch freedom movement. Pakistan is the cradle of the Taliban and the breeding ground of the Taliban. Pakistan is nourishing and funneling the Taliban and Al-Qaeda terrorists into Afghanistan, India, Saudi Arabia, Yemen… Pakistan is an irresponsible state that is putting the civilised world in danger. A free Baloch state would therefore be in the interest of the whole civilised world.

Washington is reconsidering a pullout from Afghanistan due for 2014. How will this affect the Af-Pak region?

If America and NATO pull out from Afghanistan, that will lead to turbulence and destabilisation. A weak Afghanistan will not only destabilise the region but it will be harmful for the whole civilised world.

Full article: IPS – Q&A: ‘Baloch Groups to Unite Against Pakistan’

It is interesting that Dr. Allah Nazar of the BLF mentions an extremist group purportedly set-up by the Pakistanis in Balochistan calling itself 'Ansar-al-Islam' and distances himself from Jundallah. In Iran a previously unknown militant group calling itself 'Ansar' carried out a suicide bombing in Chabahar a couple of weeks ago. To my understanding there is no record of any extremist Sunni group called 'Ansar' operating in southeastern Iran (Sistan-o Baluchestan province) until the suicide attack in October. While the response of the state media typically assigned blame to US and Israeli agents for backing 'anti-revolutionary' groups it is noteworthy that an Iranian official stated that "Certain regional countries also had a hand in the Chabahar terrorist incident directly and indirectly." according to MNA (Certain regional countries were involved in Chabahar terrorist attack - Tehran Times). While that could mean Saudi Arabia, the remarks by Allah Nazar to IPS might reveal something else.

What i feel gives some credence to the fact that this 'regional' state is hinting at Pakistan rather than Saudi Arabia is the abrupt and unexplained cancellation (after the suicide bombing in Chabahar) of the Iranian VP's trip to Pakistan: DAWN: Iran’s VP cancels Pakistan visit. Not to mention that several Iranian military officials and Ahmadinejad himself have in the recent past named Pakistan openly as being culpable (even complicit) in the activities of extremist groups like Jundallah that target Iran and Shi'a Muslims.

Anyway, if so, what this illustrates then is that there is indeed a newly formed extremist group called 'Ansar' operating in Baluch inhabited territories and as such, is not an empty allegation or the fiction of Dr. Allah Nazar. But that it appears to target both Baluch nationalists and Iran (and by extension, Shi'as) seems new, if the two 'Ansar's' are indeed the same. I should also point out that murders and attacks on Shi'as in Balochistan (Pakistan) have dramatically increased over the past year, particularly on Shi'as (usually ethnic Hazara's) travelling on buses on their way to (or back from) pilgrimage sites in Iran, which has not gone unnoticed by Shi'ite agencies there like the Ahlulbayt News Agency.

Things might well be about to get a bit messier over there.

[Tronic]

Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta

By Web Desk
Published: September 13, 2012

QUETTA: At least seven labourers were killed and some sustained injuries when unidentified men opened fire on them while they did construction work in the Dasht area of Mastung, Express News reported on Thursday.

Police and Levies were deployed to the area whereas the dead and injured were being shifted to a hospital.

Quetta remains under constant fire with target killing incidents and bomb blasts taking lives everyday.

It has also become a hub of sectarian violence.

Earlier, three members of the Hazara community in Quetta were killed and four others injured, including a two-year-old passerby, when armed assailants opened fire on the yellow cab they were travelling in on Spiny Road in the Killi Mubarak area.
Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta – The Express Tribune

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And terrorism by the separatist groups so loved by some in the US legislature (Rohrabacher and company), whose leadership continues to find shelter and support from the Afghans, US, UK, Switzerland, continues...

How do you automatically assume this attack was carried out by Baloch nationalists? The same article talks about attacks on the Hazaras and the sectarian violence. Could just as easily be the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, or the Sipah-e-Sahaba.

[Agnostic Muslim]

Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta

By Web Desk
Published: September 13, 2012

QUETTA: At least seven labourers were killed and some sustained injuries when unidentified men opened fire on them while they did construction work in the Dasht area of Mastung, Express News reported on Thursday.

Police and Levies were deployed to the area whereas the dead and injured were being shifted to a hospital.

Quetta remains under constant fire with target killing incidents and bomb blasts taking lives everyday.

It has also become a hub of sectarian violence.

Earlier, three members of the Hazara community in Quetta were killed and four others injured, including a two-year-old passerby, when armed assailants opened fire on the yellow cab they were travelling in on Spiny Road in the Killi Mubarak area.
Balochistan unrest: 7 labourers gunned down in Quetta – The Express Tribune

==========

And terrorism by the separatist groups so loved by some in the US legislature (Rohrabacher and company), whose leadership continues to find shelter and support from the Afghans, US, UK, Switzerland, continues...

[S2]

I'm increasingly suspecting that the afghan insurgency is directed from Rawalpindi. Not rogue elements. Not assistance. Controlled and directed.