Tag Archives: bullet-riddled

Human Rights, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

Violence in Kotri, Jamshoro after JSMM activists killed

1 Comment

By

HYDERABAD: Two people were killed while four others received bullet injuries as violence broke out in Kotri, Jamshoro district on Sunday evening.

The incident comes in the backdrop of the killing of two activists of the banned Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) in Khairpur Nathan Shah of Dadu district.

Their bullet riddled and mutilated bodies were found in Dadu earlier in the day. Two vehicles were torched and a train was attacked in the unfolding incidents of violence in Kotri.

JSMM has called for a province wide strike on Monday, according to a press release received through an email, to condemn the incident.

The PR blamed ISI and Rangers saying that they had picked up two activists who were busy in preparation of late GM Syed’s death anniversary on April 24. After going missing their bodies were found on Sunday in Khairpur Nathan Shah, it said.

Continue reading Violence in Kotri, Jamshoro after JSMM activists killed →

Islamabad, Pakistan, Pakistan, Politics, Religion, Sindh

Crimes against humanity in Sindh and Pakistan that have taken place during the last 4 years of PPP regime.

Leave a comment

Crimes against humanity in Sindh and Pakistan

Pakistani Foreign Minister Hina Rabani Khar has presented a rosy human rights report in the periodical human rights review session of the United Nations in Geneva, which is an attempt to hide underway crimes against humanity in the country.

SHE HAS claimed remarkable achievements regarding rights regime in Pakistan. Her report and talk at Geneva gives an impression that Pakistan has undergone a huge transformation during last four years similar to a revolution in the governance, rights regime, and legal framework.

The realities in Pakistan are entirely opposite to that report. If an analysis of last four years in Sindh province alone is carried regarding the Hindus exodus and ethnic cleansing, involuntarily disappearances, extra-judicial killings, and ethnically discriminative legislations, the intensity of the violations as well as denial of the rights under various treaties and declarations of United Nations will no doubt prove to be the crime against humanity.

Hindu Exodus and other forms of ethnic cleansing in Sindh

Thousands of Sindhi Hindus have been forced to quit Sindh, Pakistan, who have refuge or settled in the various countries mostly in India. Nearly 8000 Hindus from Sanghar district of Sindh, Pakistan have sought asylum in Rajasthan state of India during October 2012. The other form of ethnic cleansing is the target killings of ethnic Sindhi, Baloch, and Pashtun in Karachi city, which is aimed to resist these peoples settlement and force the existing population to migrate from city. The state support to an ethnic violence-making group through administrative decisions and legislative initiatives is an established reality of violating the various international treaties and declarations, which are rectified by Pakistan.

In this regards, the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide’ in Article II reads:

“….genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such: a. killing members of the group; b. causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group; c. deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part…

According to the Article III of the convention, genocide; conspiracy to commit genocide; direct and public incitement to commit genocide; attempt to commit genocide; and complicity in genocide are punishable crimes. The article IV of the treaty clearly mentions, “Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.”

Continue reading Crimes against humanity in Sindh and Pakistan that have taken place during the last 4 years of PPP regime. →

Balochistan, Human Rights, Islamabad, Life, Pakistan, Politics

U.S. Questions Islamabad’s Balochistan Crackdown

Leave a comment

The U.S. Representative to the UN Human Rights Council has expressed “serious concern” over Pakistan’s violent response to separatists in southwestern Balochistan Province.

Ambassador Eileen Donahoe told the council in Geneva on October 30 that Washington has serious reservations about human rights situation in Balochistan.

She said Pakistan Army operations there are “aimed at silencing dissent.”

She said Pakistan should ensure that those guilty of torture, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killings must be prosecuted.

Donahoe made the remarks during Pakistan’s Universal Periodic Review.

All UN members are expect to undergo such a review of their human rights record every four years.

Thousands of civilians, soldiers, and guerillas have been killed in eight years of unrest in the vast desert region where numerous ethnic Balochi factions are fighting for independence from Pakistan.

Based on reporting by Reuters and BBC Urdu

Courtesy: rferl

http://www.rferl.org/content/us-concern-pakistan-balochistan-crackdown/24756729.html 

Via – Facebook, Twitter » TF’s tweet

Balochistan, Islamabad, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Sindh, Video

Balochistan on Fire – An interview with Sardar Akhtar Mengal, former chief minister

Leave a comment

If only this interview was in English the world would understand the pain of a people of Sindh & Balochistan who have lost 14,000 dead and disappeared youth at the hands of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. The language of the interview is urdu (Hindi).

http://youtu.be/aoVHVzndpjM

Courtesy: Geo Tv (Capital Talk with Hamid Mir, 27th September 2012.)

Via – Adopted from facebook » TF’s wall

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, Pakistan, Politics

Balochistan: now or never

Leave a comment

By Farrukh Khan Pitafi

Balochistan has become the ultimate test of our national conscience. The province has been betrayed by everyone including the Pakistani state, the successive provincial governments, the sardars and even the insurgents. The case of insurgents, the dissidents or sarmachars as they are often called, is the most instructive as their betrayal to their people is not widely recognised. They have repeatedly asked their Baloch brethren to die for an independence that would take them from one slavery to another. If you have any doubts, take a look at the plight of the Baloch in the neighbouring countries. The resource-rich region is far behind in human development making it a conspicuous prey for all ambitious forces in the region. That means that the province’s opportunistic elite, right now working closely with Islamabad, might get richer but the lot of the poor Baloch will not ameliorate even if the province wins independence. Meanwhile, more blood is being spilled every moment in Balochistan.

And the state’s role has been no less obnoxious. General (retd) Pervez Musharraf and his toadies managed to transform their personal dislikes into a campaign against the Baloch people. Since then, the state has not only killed its own citizens but also gathered a motley crowd of opportunists and sycophants around it that does its best to retard the prospects of peace. This class has two subsets. The one governing the province is corrupt and totally divorced from ground realities and the other, without any substantial following, resorts to aiding and abetting the alleged kidnappings and extrajudicial killings in the province. Together they have blinded the state apparatus.

Continue reading Balochistan: now or never →

Balochistan, Current Issues, History, Politics, Sindh

The real reason for the rot – Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Leave a comment

There is absolutely no challenge to what the army does or has done in the past and this too is a natural corollary of the genesis of this state

Nations are products of long historical and evolutionary processes; most present nation states evolved thus. But when states are formed on an artificial basis of contrived nationhood or on the basis of religion, as was the case with Pakistan, Israel and Yugoslavia, they of necessity turn into fascist states, dominated by a militarist ideology. Serb-dominated Yugoslavia denied rights to other nationalities and eventually imploded. Pakistan by claiming to be the legatee of the glory of Islam burdened itself with heavy historical baggage, but then it could not have done otherwise as it was that claim that it wanted to justify its artificial existence with. Consequently, Pakistani rulers in keeping with its elite’s interests curtailed national rights of different nationalities, and forced them to rally under the banner of religion and to accept its ideology by upholding their brand of Pakistani nationalism.

The Baloch, Bengalis, Sindhis and to a certain extent, the Pashtuns resented and resisted this imposition in varying degrees. The Bengalis having had the advantage of distance and a sympathetic neighbour went their separate way in 1971, while the Baloch after an initial period of freedom have borne the brunt of military operations because of their refusal to accept the artificially imposed ideology of a Muslim nation and have so far thwarted the attempts to crush their determination for a separate entity status. The Sindhis, at first taken in by state-sponsored ideology, gradually realised that their interests did not coincide and have resisted it though erratically at best since.

Continue reading The real reason for the rot – Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur →

Balochistan, History, Islamabad, Life, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab, Video

Video of discussion about Baloch freedom fight struggle with Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Leave a comment

The aim of the Balochistan Series at T2F is to encourage open and informal dialogue about the Balochistan conflict, and especially to bring out voices that are generally not heard.

The first event in the series took place at T2F on Friday, 18th May, 2012 and featured BM Kutty and Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur. The session aimed to discuss the rise of Baloch nationalism and the major features of its history, and was moderated by Nazish Brohi. The language of the discussion is urdu (Hindi).

http://youtu.be/fRSEMrvR1q8

Courtesy: YouTube

Pakistan

Sabaa Dashtyaaree – The Liberated Soul. A tribute to Shaheed Saba on his first anniversary.

Leave a comment

A year ago Prof. Sabah Dashtiyari was  assassinated by the agencies of the deep state.

YOU HAVE KILLED ME, YOU CANT KILL THE TRUTH,

YOU CANT KILL MY SOUL, TODAY MY SOUL IS LIBERATED,

TOMORROW MY PEOPLE, MY NATION WILL GET LIBERATION.

AND…..

AND YOU WILL BE NO WHERE …. NO WHERE …

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, June 1, 2012

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, Islamabad, Life, Pakistan

Daily Times – Reminding the village idiot – Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Leave a comment

Ironically, the situation in Balochistan is already more akin to an emergency rule than to a democratic one

Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry’s pronouncement that “the Constitution will take its course if the prime minister fails to take steps with immediate effect to resolve the crisis in Balochistan,” warning that imposition of emergency could be one of the options to restore sanity to the province has sparked a wave of consternation among the Baloch people. He further said, “All major political players should keep in mind that non-implementation of the Constitution had led to imposition of martial law more than once,” and added, “Why don’t we implement the Constitution before the army imposes martial law.” The Baloch are trying to fathom the real reason behind this ominous threat, which seems to be aimed at them — who are the victims of atrocities and a slow-track genocide — and not at the ‘establishment’ and its departments who are the perpetrators; obviously, this is tantamount to urging the state to impose an ‘emergency’ in Balochistan.

There is an anecdote in Sindh that most of the inhabitants of a village were going off for an extended stay at a neighbouring village for a wedding ceremony and the village idiot was the only one staying behind. As the villagers prepared to leave the village, the elders, hoping to advise the village idiot about his conduct during their absence told him, “Now, don’t you set the village on fire while we are away.” The village idiot gleefully clapped his hands and said, “Gosh! This possibility had simply escaped my mind, thank you for reminding me!” This is what this statement has served to do; it has reminded the ‘village idiot’ that he has forgotten the possibility of setting the village on fire, i.e. step up repression by suspending whatever sham fundamental rights exist in Balochistan.

The Chief Justice’s statement has puzzled even leading legal minds. Renowned jurist Justice (retd) Fakharuddin G Ibrahim expressed his surprise over the remarks, and questioning the judiciary’s powers in this regard said, “Only the executive has the authority to declare an emergency. What powers do you have? I don’t know in which direction things are moving.” Consternation among the Baloch arises from the ominous direction that these hearings about ‘missing persons’ have taken. The hearings are aimed ostensibly at the recovery of missing persons, but could be used to give the agencies authorisation to commit atrocities under an emergency. Instead of addressing their problems, the option of suspending rights is being used; but then what one can expect of a state that is interested in Balochistan simply for its resources.

Continue reading Daily Times – Reminding the village idiot – Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur →

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, Islamabad, Life, Pakistan

Why don’t Religious Parties announce Jihad against atrocities on Baloch? Akhtar Mengal

Leave a comment

Balochistan National Party (Mengal) leader Akhtar Mengal has inquired that religious parties have made announcement against America in case of intervention in Balochistan but these elements why didn’t announce Jihad against Baloch youth abduction and aftermath their mutilated bodies throwing series, why they are muzzled about these atrocities. He inquired in his statement.

The personalities, who are providing ground to prolong the series of Baloch genocide, they are darkening the future of nation, and they will be accountable in front of history. Each conscious Baloch has desire that he mustn’t be used for enemy against his nation. Mr. Mengal said.

Baloch Nationalist leader said that there is no doubt that in ongoing atrocities on Balochs parliamentarian and present government is involved and they are responsible as equal establishment, they haven’t only debilitated Balochistan National interest but they have harmed Baloch, too. Now conscious Baloch wouldn’t want this that their future to be made dark and they to be used for succor of enemy. Those who are working for state should join National Movement and give up rival’s supporting onward, because she is committing genocide of brethren Baloch. Akhtar Mengal said. ….

Read more » Baloch Voice

Balochistan, Human Rights, Islamabad, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab

Today the Baloch nation is observing black day, I cry with the Balochs?

Leave a comment

27 March I celebrate or I cry with the Baloch? – by Salma Jafar

Today the Baloch nation is observing black day to mark its annexation to Pakistan. For me it is not a black day it is a day I want to celebrate. I want to celebrate because it gave me the occasion to grow up with these lovely people known as the Baloch. I want to celebrate my Baloch friends, my Baloch students, my Baloch relatives and many of them are my Baloch family. Had it not been for 27th March I wouldn’t have been a part of the Baloch culture, the Baloch music, the Baloch valour, the Baloch courage and the Baloch tolerance that when combined with the culture and valour of my own nation Pashtuns becomes the most beautiful combination ever. We have lived together, suffered togther hoped together, despaired together, dreamed together, and at times have been nasty to each other too – in this Baloch-Pashtun land. Well I would never want to live without them. So I don’t support Baloch independence for this very selfish reason of mine.

But yet the bitter-bitter truth is that for Baloch this is not a day of celebration it is a black day; by definition a day when something really bad and unpleasant has happened. They are observing it as a black day for being a part of Pakistan. They are angry and estranged and want freedom but why? Am not going to delve into the theory of forced annexation here but would share how Baloch have been treated, (I will today not say Balochistan as that covers Pashtun areas also and despite that Pashtuns have suffered equally but today is not our day) they have been treated as slaves (I hate to use this word but this is what Baloch think and feel) who should only obey the orders of their masters; in this case of course Punjab who has been running the shots. Unfortunately they didn’t understand the Baloch psychology they are not born to take orders or take dictations it is not in them. And that too not for any welfare but to usurp rights and carry out injustice. Balochistan is a dismal picture of social injustice all over. But if you visit the Baloch areas which I have; your definition of poverty and misery will change. People are subjugated to primitive lives with no development whatsoever.

But the Baloch did not ask you to give them anything; all they demanded is their right to their own resources. As if denying them that right and pushing them into abject poverty, illiteracy and disease was not enough the atrocious state bombarded them if they asked for controlling their own resources and controlling their own destinies, this is all they asked for; and bombarded them again and again and again. Trying new tactic to subjugate them further for last several years started the kill and dump policy, where young activists are picked up and after some time their dead mutilated bodies are found. There has been no end to this horrific game whereby hundreds of Baloch have been killed and dumped, many of them target killed and thousands are still missing; the internally displaced persons as a result of this conflict are mere refugees as the state has not granted them a refugee status to access humanitarian response; only cause they are Baloch. Raising voice for the Baloch is considered treachery by those in power; yes camouflaged as democrats.

What adds insult to injury is that amidst this very dreadful background Balochistan discourse remains as an economic and political discourse for most. There is a violent and ferocious insurgency going on in Balochistan; the Baloch are being shut up by killing them and they are killing in return too – their demand is now independence.

The wounds and scars of the Baloch are deep and the pain and agony are hard to touch – their silent screams I can hear; and a tear I shed with a prayer for their pain to end.

Courtesy: LUBP

Balochistan, News, Pakistan

New gift for Balochistan on Pakistan Day!

Leave a comment

Security: Cell phone services in Balochistan suspended on Pakistan Day

By Zahid Gishkori

ISLAMBAD: The government shut down cell phone services in Balochistan on Pakistan Day, an action that some officials claimed was taken to keep a check on militants in the province.

“Cellular services were suspended from 8am to 12am in Balochistan in an order to implement national security policy,” said Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Chairman Dr Mohammad Yasin. ….

Read more » The Express Tribune

Balochistan, Human Rights, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics

Coward! and Ex self-styled CEO of Pakistan dictator Gen. Musharraf now claims Nawab Akbar Bugti’s death was “a self-inflicted casualty”!

Leave a comment

Understanding Balochistan Part – I

By Pervez Musharraf

It is painful to see what is happening in Balochistan. It is more painful to see accusations being made against the army or the Frontier Corps (FC), Balochistan, or even me, that we were the cause of the problem. Such accusers, who are actually trying to gain political mileage, do not realise how much they are damaging the solidarity and unity of Pakistan.

There also are TV anchors and writers in the print media who with, their half-baked knowledge, cause more damage to the cause of Pakistan. My motivation for writing this article is to remove some misperceptions and distortions and expose the vicious propaganda that is misleading the people of Pakistan on the Balochistan issue. ….

Read more » The News

Via » Twitter

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, International, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics

Waking up to the war in Balochistan – BBC

Leave a comment

Attitudes are hardening in Pakistan’s restive Balochistan province against the government, but the state is now belatedly reaching out to the Baloch separatists. Writer Ahmed Rashid considers whether after years of civil war, talks could end the bloodshed.

It took an obscure United States congressman holding a controversial hearing in Washington on the civil war in Balochistan to awaken the conscience of the Pakistani government, military and public.

For years the civil war in Balochistan has either been forgotten by most Pakistanis or depicted as the forces of law and order battling Baloch tribesmen, who are described as “Indian agents”.

Just a few weeks ago, Interior Minister Rehman Malik even hinted that Israel and the US were supporting the Baloch separatists, while the army had totally ”Indianised” the Baloch problem.

On 23 February, Mr Malik did an about-face, saying that the government was withdrawing all cases against Baloch leaders living in exile and asking them to return home for talks. ”I will receive them in person,” he told journalists.

Don’t expect Baloch leaders to turn the other cheek at Mr Malik’s sudden shift – the Baloch have seen too many such U-turns before.

Brahamdagh Bugti, head of the separatist Baloch Republican Party and living in exile in Geneva, remains sceptical.

His grandfather Sardar Akbar Bugti, the head of the Bugti tribe, was killed in 2006 on the orders of former President Pervez Musharraf in a massive aerial bombardment, while his sister Zamur Domki and her 12-year old daughter were gunned down in Karachi in broad daylight just in late January – allegedly by government agents.

He told journalists last week: ”I have seen this all before… I am not an optimist.” Nevertheless, for the first time in years his face appeared on every Pakistani TV channel as he and other Baloch leaders gave interviews.

Broken promises

Continue reading Waking up to the war in Balochistan – BBC →

Balochistan, News, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

Seven blasts on railway tracks, two on gas pipelines in Sindh

Leave a comment

Balochistan-style attacks on state interests in Sindh

Seven blasts on railway tracks, two on gas pipelines

Over a dozen bombs blew up railway tracks at seven points along major railway line in Sindh on Saturday. Also coupled were two attacks on gas pipe lines supplying natural gas to Karachi and other parts of the province.

The attacks launched with home-made bombs disrupted railway traffic on main line for hours and the trains destined to Karachi and parts of Punjab were stopped on various stations between Ghotki and Karachi. ….

Read more » The Point » » The Voice of Sindh & Balochistan

Via → facebook

Balochistan, Current Issues, News, Pakistan, Politics

Michael Hughes – Pakistan takes vengeance out on Baloch after U.S. criticism

Leave a comment

After Pakistan was condemned by the U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee last week for human rights violations in Balochistan province, Pakistan’s security forces responded ruthlessly, outraged the Baloch would dare seek external help to escape a nightmarish existence.

According to Malik Siraj Akbar, editor of The Baloch Hal, on Feb. 13 the bullet-riddled body of a prominent Baloch leader was discovered who had been missing for over two years. The gruesome operation is called “kill and dump” and is the calling card of Pakistan’s spy agency – the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The victim was Sangat Sana Baloch, leader of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) …

Continue reading » Examiner.com

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

More on SANGAT SANA BALOCH » » 30 bullets in a single fragile body shows the immense of Pakistan’s hatred towards Balochs
News, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab

Javed Hashmi seems to believe that the USA, India and Israel are conspiring together against Pakistan and want to split Balochistan from Pakistan

Leave a comment

Hashmi slams US over Congressional Balochistan bill

Javed Hashmi said that US will be failed in its intentions regarding Balochistan resolution.

Talking to the media in Multan, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader Makhdoom Javed Hashmi said that the pressure will be increased if rulers will be weak.

Only those face pressure who are neat and clean, Hashmi said. He said that assemblies are bogus as no public problem is resolved in four years. …..

Read more » Duniya News

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, News, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

Brahamdagh : No talks with government, We welcome if US, NATO or India intervene, says BRP chief

Leave a comment

Baloch Republican Party chief Brahamdagh Bugti living in exile claimed Wednesday Baloch movement did not enjoy any foreign support, saying but they would welcome it, be it from the US, NATO or the India.

‘We know foreign powers have their own interests; we think of our own greater interests”, he said in a telephonic press conference at Quetta Press Club.

Mr. Bugti said Baloch women, leaders, activists, students, writers, poets, and intellectuals were being picked up and eventually being disappeared and eventually turning up dead. Under such circumstances, we would welcome the support of foreign countries for independence, he said.

Bugti backed the US resolution on Balochistan and justified it was not against the sovereignty of Pakistan as every country possessed right to intervene in another country’s affairs if that state was involved in human rights violations ….

Read more » The Point

More details » BBC urdu

Balochistan, Current Issues, History, Human Rights, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

Tyranny and Terror Cannot Last for Long…….!

Leave a comment

By: Dr. Ahmed Makhdoom, Malaysia

Today, we, the world over, are witnessing the end of this deep state. It is speeding fast towards being buried in the manhole of the history.

Tyranny and terror cannot last for long! All walls of despotism must fall! Balochistan has paid a severe and terrible price to free themselves from the mean fetters of ignominy chains of slavery. Thousands of valiant sons and daughters of Balochistan has lost their lives in the struggle of the  rights. Long live Sindh and Balochistan and down to the dictators of the deep state.

Courtesy: Sindhi e-lists/ e-groups, February 20, 2012.

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, International, Life, Media, News, Pakistan, Politics

Interview of Congressman Dana Rohrabacher at VoA with Ayesha Tanzeem

Leave a comment

Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca) on Balochistan and Dr. Shakeel Afridi with VOA’s Ayesha Tanzeem –

The U.S. Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (R-Ca), who introduced a  resolution on Balochistan along with two bills honoring the Pakistani doctor who helped the CIA catch Bin Laden, sat down with the Voice of America’s Ayesha Tanzeem to discuss some of these issues.

According to the resolution, the Baloch people have the right to self-determination. Pakistan has reacted strongly to this resolution calling it a violation of international laws and interference in its internal affairs.

The U.S. State Department has tried to distance itself from Congressman Rohrabacher’s opinions and efforts and has insisted that it does not reflect official US policy. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland insists that the US does not want to interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan.

The two bills introduced on the 17th of Feb, 2012 call for giving US citizenship to Dr. Shakeel Afridi as well as honoring him with the highest civilian honor, a Congressional Gold Medal. Dr. Afridi is under arrest in Pakistan after secretly helping the CIA to collect DNA evidence of Bin Laden’s presence in the compound. The Abbottabad commission has recommended that he be tried for treason for helping a foreign government’s secret agency.

Courtesy: Voice of America

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, International, Life, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh, Sindhi

Stop internal matter drama, Malik Siraj Akbar on Balochistan

Leave a comment

Balochistan and its ‘jealous husband’

By Malik Siraj Akbar

Excerpts;

…..

Unfortunately, ours is a history marked with lies, distortions, exaggerations and false glorification. Can’t we at least pay attention to some bitter truths and grim reminders? For all the flak that US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher (Republican from California) is getting from Pakistan’s media and official circles, the fact is that he is gaining popularity by the day, especially among the young people of Balochistan, some of whom have already set up a Facebook fan pagefor him. At last count, he had over 3,000 fans and this number will only rise.

So, the news channels are fooling and misleading the country when they show a ‘patriotic Pakistani’ from Islamabad or Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa, instead of a talking to a Baloch from Gwadar, condemning the developments taking place in Washington DC. Why is there such reluctance to trust the Baloch and speak to them to learnwhat has alienated them and what they demand? When was the first (and probably the last) time when the whole country demonstrated unity to address what is happening in Balochistan? How many long marches, breaking news stories and parliamentary resolutions are going to happen before the government addresses the matter at hand?

Let’s stop the ‘internal affair’ drama and focus on some historical facts? Since Pakistan’s inception, Islamabad has spied on the Baloch. Perhaps the Baloch did not respond to the fact that they were treated unequally and disrespectfully but over time they became pained by being billed as Russian, Indian, Afghan and even Iraqi agents. Of course, now they are going to be treated as ‘CIA agents’! Did Islamabad ever embrace the Baloch as respectful and dependable citizens of the land who could be trusted and given ownership and responsibility?

Surely, we all remember what happened in 1973 when the first-ever elected Baloch government was dismissed. As if disregard for the Baloch mandate of provincial government was not enough, the people of the province were then subjected to a horrendous military operation on the charge of having ‘extra-marital affairs’ with foreign countries. In six decades, Islamabad has not been able to present undisputed proof of Balochistan’s unfaithfulness while there are countless accounts of the formers patriarchal arrogance towards the province.

An ardent pro-Pakistan leader like Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed on suspicion of getting ‘foreign assistance’. Former chief minister Akhtar Mengal was literally put into an iron cage because General Musharraf thought he was not sufficiently patriotic. Bramdagh Bugti was called an ‘Indian agent’, and his sister and niece were killed. Hundreds of young Baloch have been found dead in recent months, dumped along roads in the province.

While a troubled relationship between a mother-in-law and her daughter-in-law can endure despite all flaws, marriage between a quarrelling couple has a painful, yet, internationally and legally acceptable choice: divorce. The Pakistani ‘patriots’ should ask themselves that are their actions pushing Balochistan to the brink of divorce.

To read complete article » The Express Tribune, February 22nd, 2012.

Balochistan, News, Politics, Sindh, Sindhi

Sindh Cabinet advocates rights for Balochistan

Leave a comment

By: Ramzam Chandio

Excerpts;

…. The Sindh govt had allotted a piece of land for the construction of Balochistan House, but later the Balochistan government sold it to the province for Rs35million. “Keeping in view the prevailing law and order situation, the Balochistan government has now requested the Sindh govt to resale it the same building or allot a piece of land on reasonable prices so that dignitaries, officers and lawmakers from Balochistan could be provided accommodation during their visits to Karachi,” added the minister.

The Cabinet approved the request, giving two options, either to resale the same building or allot land for the purpose. “A two-member committee of Revenue Minister Jam Mahtab Dahar and Local Government Minister Agha Siraj Durrani will talk to the Balochistan government about its request,” she added.

“Members of the Cabinet expressed concerns over the present situation in Balochistan and underlined the need for giving it equal rights. ….

Read more » The Nation

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/karachi/21-Feb-2012/sindh-cabinet-advocates-rights-for-balochistan

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, International, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics, Sindh

Pakistan’s festering wound – TOI

Leave a comment
On February 8, representatives of Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International testified before the Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee on Oversight and Investigations at the US Congress against grave human rights abuses committed by Pakistan’s security forces in the restive province of Balochistan. Since then, Islamabadhas used as many as 10 different channels to strongly protest against what it calls America’s “blatant interference” in its “internal affairs”.The issue has flared up further following the introduction of a House Concurrent Resolution by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher seeking the right of self-determination for the native Balochs. Pakistan has summoned the acting US ambassador to Islamabad twice in a single week at the foreign office, passed a parliamentary resolution and protested through its ambassadors in Washington DC and at the UN. Wasim Sajjad, a former Pakistan Senate chairman, while referring to HRW, has called for “immediately taking action against those NGOs or persons who are accepting dollars from the US and are pursuing their agenda on the lands of Pakistan and destabilising Balochistan.”

Although the congressional hearing and subsequent resolutions were not sponsored by the Obama administration, American diplomats still face the wrath of Pakistani officials due to utter ignorance of the American poli-tical system. Anti-Americanism is not unfamiliar in Pakistan, but bashing the Obama administration for a ‘crime’ it has not committed simply means there is something fishy in Islamabad’s cupboard.
Continue reading Pakistan’s festering wound – TOI →

Balochistan, Current Issues, Human Rights, Life, News, Pakistan, Politics, Punjab

Atrocitiess on Baloch people by the Deep State: Feel a cold shiver down your spines

1 Comment

Hypocrites, to boot

By Kamran Shafi

I have added the appellation ‘hypocrites’ to the title of my piece of last week, for that is exactly what the commanders of the Deep State are. Lying; pretending; deceiving even their friends and well-wishers; trying to be too-clever-by-half; and when caught out, donning the robes of martyrs with holier-than-thou looks on their faces. As if butter wouldn’t melt in their mouths.

Just look back over the years and see the lies and damned lies that we have been told, specially when the country has been led into catastrophes directly because of the Deep State’s own doings. If it was East Pakistan a half-century ago when that part of our country was treated like a colony and our Bengali compatriots like second and third-class citizens which moved them to hate West Pakistan (and its hapless people), it is Balochistan today where every second week broken and bashed and shot-through-the-heart bodies are dumped, making the Baloch hate the (yes, hapless) Punjabis.

Amid all of this, the Deep State goes on stupidly and blindly and cruelly, doing what it does best: ham-handedly following its own narrow and blinkered ‘strategic’ policies that have all but destroyed our country. Nothing demonstrates, yes I will say it again, this foolish cold heartedness than the fast-unravelling case of the Adiala Eleven for which kudos to My Lords the Chief Justices of Pakistan and of the KPK High Court.

Continue reading Atrocitiess on Baloch people by the Deep State: Feel a cold shiver down your spines →