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However, there’s definitely more to it than what meets the eyes in the Mastung carnage. A saying among Baloch and Sindhis goes the Pashtun wines and dines with the Punjab, that is shares power and perks with the Punjab, but whines with the Baloch and Sindhis, that is acts as an oppressed nation and cries for rights. According to Baloch politicos the biggest beneficiary of a free Balochistan would be Pashtuns – or Pakhtuns as they are called in the north. The main reason is compared to Baloch, Pashtuns have better education and a more aggressive spirit of enterprise, but they seem to have contented themselves to play the role of Punjab’s second fiddle and watchmen in Balochistan for quite some years. This, despite the fact that army generals at the Rawalpindi GHQ and Aabpara headquarters of the ISI, in cunning acts for more than quarter century not missed a single opportunity to harm the Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Khyber Pashtunkhwa province. It was not without reason that overwhelming majority of Afghans were livid on reports that the Afghan secret service had signed an agreement with the ISI when Premier Sharif was chaperoned to Kabul by army chief General Raheel Sharif and ISI chief Lt. Gen Rizwan Akhtar earlier this month.
Baloch politicos say there’s a dire need for Pashtuns to do some real soul searching on the Balochistan question. “The killings damaged the Baloch movemnet and must be condemned,” said former fisheries minister Kachkol Ali, who is a leader of the Baloch National Movement. However, he urged the Pashtuns to correct their political course of action with regard to the Baloch question. “Pakistan army is an international mercenary while the Frontier Corps paramilitary soldiers are acting as the mercenaries of the Punjab,” Ali, whose son Nabeel Ahmed has been a victim of enforced disappearance since August 30 last year, said. The former minister, whose two houses in Turbat were occupied by the Frontier Corps, said on phone from Oslo, Pashtun politicos need to do more to discourage the Frontier Corps. The Baloch are also tormented by the fact that senior officers of the ISI and Military Intelligence, who are ethnic Pashtuns, are responsible for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Baloch freedom fighters or Sarmachars.
Former Balochistan assembly speaker speaker Waheed Baloch, who was elected from Quetta, capital of Balochistan, in a posting on Facebook said for almost half decades Pashtun politicians, along with army generals and civil servants have become a party to ISI moves to isolate the Baloch. He expressed anger that while Balochistan assembly had passed numerous motions against the Kalabagh Dam, Pashtun leaders under Asfandyar Wali Khan, president of the Awami National Party, called a conference on the CPEC in Quetta to rub salt on Baloch wounds. The CPEC, a vision of Chinese president Xi Jinping, is basically meant to connect Gwadar with Kashgar, but the Baloch say they are resolved to fight against it. “Everybody knows the port of Gwadar (under Pakistani occupation) will spell the death knell for the Baloch,” the former speaker said.
Baloch politicos say there’s a dire need for Pashtuns to do some real soul searching on the Balochistan question. “The killings damaged the Baloch movemnet and must be condemned,” said former fisheries minister Kachkol Ali, who is a leader of the Baloch National Movement. However, he urged the Pashtuns to correct their political course of action with regard to the Baloch question. “Pakistan army is an international mercenary while the Frontier Corps paramilitary soldiers are acting as the mercenaries of the Punjab,” Ali, whose son Nabeel Ahmed has been a victim of enforced disappearance since August 30 last year, said. The former minister, whose two houses in Turbat were occupied by the Frontier Corps, said on phone from Oslo, Pashtun politicos need to do more to discourage the Frontier Corps. The Baloch are also tormented by the fact that senior officers of the ISI and Military Intelligence, who are ethnic Pashtuns, are responsible for committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against Baloch freedom fighters or Sarmachars.
Former Balochistan assembly speaker speaker Waheed Baloch, who was elected from Quetta, capital of Balochistan, in a posting on Facebook said for almost half decades Pashtun politicians, along with army generals and civil servants have become a party to ISI moves to isolate the Baloch. He expressed anger that while Balochistan assembly had passed numerous motions against the Kalabagh Dam, Pashtun leaders under Asfandyar Wali Khan, president of the Awami National Party, called a conference on the CPEC in Quetta to rub salt on Baloch wounds. The CPEC, a vision of Chinese president Xi Jinping, is basically meant to connect Gwadar with Kashgar, but the Baloch say they are resolved to fight against it. “Everybody knows the port of Gwadar (under Pakistani occupation) will spell the death knell for the Baloch,” the former speaker said.
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