Baloch youth on a pakistani tv channel

[Dinosaur Khan]

[Dinosaur Khan]

[Karachi]

^ very good speech by this women, however i thinks its too late for Baluchistan now, the stupid duffer ISI/army will never do anything for the baloch except killing them further. If pakistan will break, ISI/army will be responsible

[Michin Khel]

VIEW: Genesis of the Baloch- Islamabad conflict —Sana Baloch Unfortunately, Islamabad’s dirty policies are not just confined to exploiting Baloch wealth but the establishment is also in constant efforts to marginalise and upset the very liberal and social fabric of Baloch society Balochistan’s contribution to the country is Himalayan. However, Balochistan’s immeasurable natural wealth and strategic significance turned into a curse rather than a blessing for the Baloch people. The gravity of Baloch tribulations is deep-rooted, extending behind the minds of the political parties and educated youths to the masses that are experiencing discrimination, oppression and injustices in their everyday life. Each region, town and village has its own story of neglect, underdevelopment and exploitation. Start from the Baloch coast that hosts Pakistan’s three modern but devoid of the Baloch naval facilities including Jinnah Naval base at Ormara. Chaghai and Kharan, strategically significant regions, where the nuclear test was conducted and copper and gold are being mined, to Lasbela, an industrial town (for Karachiites) and where Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) facilities are located, to Dera Bugti known for its high quality gas production since 1953, to Quetta and Bolan where coal is being mined — and you will be confronted with a miserable social and economic state of affairs. However, all these areas have sophisticated military, paramilitary and naval facilities but none of them have modern education, health, electricity, gas or opportunities of livelihood. Fuelling the national economy for years and helping save billions of dollars worth of foreign exchange in terms of energy import, Balochistan’s 97 percent population lives without gas facility, 78 percent without electricity, and 62 percent without safe drinking water. Balochistan has just 3.4 percent of gas consumers, as compared to 64 percent of Punjab alone, which produces only 4.75 percent of natural gas. Balochistan being the major coal producing province is deprived of its benefits. During the 1960s, when Lahore was in West Pakistan, 98 percent coalmines of the province were allotted to people having no affiliation with the province. Today the local labourers in these ‘black-gold’ regions live without water, electricity, education and a health system. However, Sheikhs and Parachas are immensely benefitting from the wealth generated by the Baloch coal. The MoU signed by Islamabad with a Chinese company regarding Saindak Copper-Gold Project is a classic confirmation of the abuse of Baloch wealth and discrimination. Islamabad and the Chinese company are taking 50 and 48 percent respectively and leaving only two percent profit for Balochistan. Besides this mega exploitation, the Saindak project is a no-man’s land for local Baloch youth and guarded by non-Baloch Frontier Corps (FC). Chaghai, the gold producing region, is the poorest of the poor. Countless MoUs of such exploitative nature are inked with foreign and local companies to insistently exploit Baloch resources. These include the Duddar Lead-Zinc Project and the Reko Diq copper-gold project. Oil and gas exploration licenses are given without taking account of Baloch needs and demands. Islamabad’s desire to entirely control and effusively exploit Balochistan’s strategic land, energy resources, and economic benefits without Baloch will, desire and legitimate participation are the raison d’être behind mounting tension and mistrust between the Baloch and Islamabad Unfortunately, Islamabad’s dirty policies are not just confined to exploiting Baloch wealth but the establishment is also in constant efforts to marginalise and upset the very liberal and social fabric of Baloch society by supporting religious parties and co-opting gluttonous tribal and drug barons, which is part of the policy to retain its unquestioning control on Balochistan’s affairs. Lacking political vision and a democratic culture, Islamabad’s super- establishment is governing Balochistan through a system known as ‘control’. Control, a suppressive system, is a set of mechanisms used in multi-ethnic states by the dominant ethnic groups to contain and keep its control on dissident ethnic minorities, plunder their wealth, destroying their culture and creating mass fear through disappearances, kill and dump policies and strapping presence of military and paramilitary forces. Control is based on a rogue approach that one ethnic group takes over the state, imposes its culture on society, allocates to itself the lion’s share of resources and takes various measures, including violent means (military operations) to prevent the non-dominant group from organising politically. Control works through three interrelated mechanisms: a) Divide and rule: internally creating rifts and division among the non-dominant groups; b) economic dependence: making them permanently dependent for their livelihood on the dominant group and central government; c) Co- option: involving sections of the non- dominant elite like greedy tribal chiefs, feudal, drug tycoons, corrupt intellectuals and politicians through partial dispensation of benefits and favours. The military’s fresh, unwarranted and indiscriminate crackdown against moderate Baloch nationalists, intellectuals, students, poets, anti- establishment tribal elders, businessman and civilians is a reflection of the ‘zero tolerance’ policy against the ethnic Baloch people. All glitzy mega-projects and control developments launched in Balochistan, including those for gas development, coalmining, Gwadar Port, Mirani Dam, coastal highway, cantonments, and the extraction of copper and gold deposits do not envisage any participation or direct benefit to the people and the province. An unemployed Baloch feels more depressed and exploited when an unskilled soldier on their soil is brought and employed from another province to fill the position that is legally, naturally and constitutionally the right of a local Baloch youth. The province is of strategic importance and shares long borders with Iran and Afghanistan and a 1,700-kilometre- long coastline. But border and coastal security is 100 percent controlled by non-Baloch paramilitary forces. Around 70,000 jobs in the FC, Coast Guard, police, maritime security and the Anti-Narcotics Force are occupied by non-locals, which leave thousands of qualified Baloch youths unemployed. Baloch bitterness by all means is genuine and the continued plunder of Balochistan’s natural resources and its economic and political marginalisation and militarisation are the major causes of mounting tension between the Baloch and Islamabad. Political instability is on the rise. Islamabad’s reliance on brute force may help the central government to create short-term cosmetic calm but unrest and frustration will further lead to growing mistrust between the Baloch and Islamabad. Though physically superior, Islamabad has mock control over Balochistan, but emotionally and morally Islamabad seems terribly defeated in Balochistan. The gruesome policy of kill and dump of Baloch political activists has resulted in a permanent fracture in Baloch- Islamabad relations. No doubt, Balochistan’s attractive and rich landscape, strategic coastline, sizeable territory and its location is very central to the establishment’s strategic vision; however, in the rapidly changing geo-political scenario, overlooking the genuine concerns of the Baloch and the feelings of the people of the province will result in irreparable loss to the establishment. The writer is a Baloch leader and former Senator who resigned from the Senate of Pakistan in protest against Islamabad’s oppressive policies towards the Baloch people. He can be reached at balochbnp@gmail.com

[IamDZJ]

pa dunia ki somra bey itefaqi paida shaway dey.

[Michin Khel]

A province marked by floods
and images of burned-out
NATO tankers, Balochistan is
the land of the Baloch, who
today see their country in
southwest Asia divided by the borders of Iran, Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
Balochistan is the size of
France and boasts enormous
reserves of gas, gold and
copper, as well as untapped sources of oil and uranium.
The exploitation of these
natural resources in
combination with repressive
and discriminatory state-run
policies have led to armed uprisings in the region.
In his book "Descent into
Chaos," best-selling writer and
renowned Afghanistan
commentator, Ahmed Rashid,
says that the Baloch have instigated five insurgent
uprisings to date. These
insurgents take shelter in the
rugged mountains of
southern Pakistan and across
the border, in Afghanistan. The Baloch insurgents in
Pakistan are fragmented into
several groups: the BLA
(Baloch Liberation Army), the
BRA (Baloch Republican
Army), the BLF (Baloch Liberation Front) and Lashkar-
e Balochistan (Balochistan's
army). Several analysts say
this fragmentation reflects the
tribal element among the
Baloch. Accordingly, the BLA, BRA and Lashkar-e
Balochistan are led by the
local main clans of the Marris,
the Bugtis and the Mengals
respectively, while the BLF is a
more heterogeneous movement.
Despite the apparent fracture,
all these groups are markedly
secular movements - at odds
with the Taliban - who share a
common agenda focusing on the independence of
Balochistan. They organize
their actions around guerrilla
attacks, primarily against
military targets and
government infrastructures like gas pipelines. Growing discontent "Given that parliamentary
politics is a fake option for us,
we are forced to make politics
with weapons. Since the
partition of India in 1947, we
have had to chose between slavery and death," Khair Bux
Marri told Deutsche Welle from
his residence in Karachi. The
90-year old Marri is the leader
of the biggest Baloch tribe. His
life-long struggle against Pakistan has taken him from
years of exile in Afghanistan
to terms in Pakistani prisons.
His son, Balaach Marri, led the
BLA and was killed in 2007 by
the Pakistani army. The portrait of this guerrilla leader,
wearing a Baloch cap and
holding an assault rifle, is
almost ubiquitous in
Pakistani-controlled
Balochistan and can often be spotted alongside Hayrbyar's,
his younger brother, also
considered to be a "national
hero" by many Baloch.
From his London exile,
Hayrbyar Marri calls for the independence of Balochistan
and defends the right of "self
defence" by his people. When
asked about a possible
dialogue with Islamabad, he is
categorical. "There's only one thing to negotiate with
Islamabad and that's the
immediate pull-out of their
occupation troops," he told
Deutsche Welle from his house
in London. A major cause of discontent
among the Baloch are the low
revenues generated by the
province's vast natural
resources. Although
Balochistan is the largest source of Pakistan's energy
reserves, Baloch groups claim
that these resources
disproportionately benefit
other provinces.
The gas field in Sui district produces around 45 percent
of Pakistan's total gas but only
a fraction reaches the Baloch.
Moreover, many local families
are still cooking with wood or
dung despite living on top of Pakistan's biggest gas reserve.
Islamabad blames the tribal
leaders for the
underdevelopment of the
region but Balochistan is also
experiencing a number of military operations against the
civilian population (often
coordinated with Tehran) in
recent times. There are also an
ever-increasing number of
enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch
dissidents.
Earlier this month, Amnesty
International called on the
Pakistan government to take
"urgent steps to end killings and abductions in Balochistan,
which have increased at an
alarming rate during the past
year, resulting in the deaths of
over 150 political activists,
journalists, lawyers and students."
Last October, the organization
had expressed its concern
over the "kill and dump
policy" adopted by Islamabad.
The Obama administration has also said it is alarmed by the
apparent disappearance of
thousands of political Baloch
activists.
Some Baloch groups are
campaigning peacefully and some contest local, provincial
and federal elections,
something that has not
prevented the Baloch
insurgency from targeting
civilians whom they often accuse of "spying for
Islamabad."
"The Baloch insurgency has
picked up steam considerably
and has taken on a more
bloody and vicious tone than ever before. Baloch young
men are gunning down not
only members of the Pakistan
security forces but also non-
Baloch residents in Quetta and
other cities such as teachers and shop keepers," Ahmed
Rashid told Deutsche Welle. Fear of 'deep waters' Many experts point to the
"fragile demographic balance"
as the main reason behind the
killing of Pakistani civilians.
Also called "settlers" by the
local Baloch, they're often seen as the biggest threat to
their sparsely populated
region of between eight and
10 million inhabitants.
The deep water port project in
the southern city of Gwadar is the clearest example of that
"demographic threat." Native
Baloch fear that once the place
enjoys the benefits of a new
infrastructure, it will attract a
massive migration movement from other parts of the
country, especially from
Punjab region, something
which may end up shifting the
demographic balance in
Balochistan province. "Baloch do not want Gwadar
to become another Karachi.
Whether Balochistan will
remain true to its name
depends largely on whether
Gwadar will remain a Baloch city or not," Ahmar Mustikhan,
journalist and founder of the
Washington DC-based
American Friends of
Balochistan, told Deutsche
Welle. Gwadar seems to be of the
biggest concern for the local
Baloch. Attaullah Mengal,
leader of the Mengal tribe, has
been very critical of the Baloch
insurgent movements but he still calls for a "solid response"
against the development of
the Gwadar port.
"The killing of Punjabi civilians
in the hands of Baloch fighters
is one of the most shameful episodes of our national
struggle. Nonetheless, we
should fight against Gwadar
by any means necessary," he
told Deutsche Welle.
With the experience of over five decades in the region,
American journalist and writer
Selig Harrison has denounced
a "slow-motion genocide
being inflicted on Baloch
tribesmen in the mountains and deserts of south western
Pakistan."
Harrison also said that the
Baloch insurgency in Pakistan
enjoys sympathies in the
neighboring Sindh province which, according to the
journalist, "has brought back
the ancient dream of a state or
a Sindhi-Balochistan
federation extending along
the Arabian Sea, from Iran to India.