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			<title>Tribal elders among 8 killed in Bolan IED blast</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/981804/tribal-elders-among-8-killed-in-bolan-ied-blast</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/981804/tribal-elders-among-8-killed-in-bolan-ied-blast#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 29 Oct 15 19:16:45 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=981804</guid>
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				<![CDATA[Convoy of Mir Gul Khan Marri and Bahwal Khan Marri was hit by a timed device]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least eight people, including two tribal elders were killed in an IED blast in Manwar area of Bolan district of Balochistan on Thursday.

According to Balochistan Levies, a convoy of Mir Gul Khan Marri and Bahwal Khan Marri was on way when a timed device exploded, killing eight people on the spot and destroying two vehicles.

Balochistan unrest: 7 bullet-riddled bodies found in Quetta, Pishin

Sources said the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) officials had called Marri to hold negotiations and surrender.

The BLA has also claimed responsibility for the attack.]]>
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			<title>A ray of hope</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/946631/a-ray-of-hope-2</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/946631/a-ray-of-hope-2#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 28 Aug 15 21:49:02 +0500</pubDate>
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				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
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			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[Let none of the interested parties put rocks in the road — here is a real opportunity to create a win-win]]>
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				<![CDATA[There may be movement in the logjam that is Balochistan. For more than a decade, Balochistan has presented successive governments of Pakistan with one of their more intractable problems. But even the most intractable of problems is capable, if not of resolution, then being potentially soluble. It only takes one of the parties to the dispute to make a positive move for the logjam to begin to ease, and Brahumdagh Bugti is the man who just might make all the difference. Hitherto he has been implacably opposed to dialogue, but has now announced from his UK base that he is open to dialogue and may be willing to withdraw his demand for an independent Balochistan state.

This is no small move. In the past, his insistence on the only solution being armed struggle has locked the province in a violent spiral from which there seemed to be no escape. Now, in an interview with the BBC he has said that 10 to 15 years of violence in Balochistan had solved nothing — and he is right, it has not and has done nothing but create wells of anger and bitterness — to say nothing of impeding development in the least developed province of Pakistan. The comments by Bugti have lobbed the ball squarely into the government court. Although he has denied contacts with Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, who is coincidentally in London, there are almost certainly going to have been back-channel discussions between the interested parties. He has said he is willing to engage politically, and that if the people of Balochistan are ready to choose to “stay with Pakistan” then he is willing to support them. War has not worked and there was never any likelihood that it would. It is now for the government of Nawaz Sharif to identify and engage the mechanisms of peace, complex and challenging as they may be. Let none of the interested parties put rocks in the road — here is a real opportunity to create a win-win that must be grasped with both hands.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th,  2015.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Three killed as police convoy comes under attack in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/927326/three-killed-as-police-convoy-comes-under-attack-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/927326/three-killed-as-police-convoy-comes-under-attack-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 27 Jul 15 12:24:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Mohammad Zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=927326</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Police spokesperson says SP Sariyab was on his way to a hospital when armed men opened fire on his vehicle]]>
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				<![CDATA[At least three people, including two policemen, were killed on Monday during an attack on Sariyab Superintendent of Police Zahoor Ahmed Afridi’s convoy at Sabazal Road in Quetta.

“SP Sariyab was on his way to a hospital when armed men opened fire on his vehicle," a police spokesperson told The Express Tribune.

Read: 7 security officials dead in separate attacks in Balochistan, K-P

"Two policemen were killed as a result of the attack, however, the SP miraculously escaped the attack," he added.

The spokesperson further said one of the attackers was killed and another injured in retaliatory fire by security forces, while others managed to flee.

Meanwhile, police and Frontier Corps (FC) cordoned off the area and started a search operation.

Read: Nine alleged militants killed, five held in Balochistan search operation

Earlier this month, seven security officials were killed in two separate incidents in Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. In the first incident, unidentified men had attacked a check post in Dukki area of Loralai district in Balochistan, gunning down five personnel of Frontier Corps (FC). In the second incident, unidentified armed men had opened fire on a police mobile, killing two police officials and injuring another in Chamkani area of Peshawar. On retaliation by the police, one of the attackers was killed while the others fled.]]>
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			<title>Provinces must hold local body elections by September: Chief Justice</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/578610/provincial-govts-must-hold-local-bodies-elections-not-later-than-sept-cj</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/578610/provincial-govts-must-hold-local-bodies-elections-not-later-than-sept-cj#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 18 Jul 13 08:51:00 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[The chief justice remarks that any date beyond September will not be acceptable.]]>
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				<![CDATA[All provincial governments must hold local bodies (LB) elections not later than September, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry said on Thursday.

Chief Justice Chaudhry made this statement while hearing a case regarding the worsening law and order situation in Balochistan.

The court had earlier issued notices to the provincial governments to submit a statement today telling the date on which the LB elections would be held. However, the governments failed to give an exact date.

The chief justice, today, remarked that any date beyond September will not be acceptable.

He further said that the governments seem to delay the elections till 2014.

The bench had underlined that the LB polls are important in maintaining a contact between people and the government.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan law and order case: Supreme Court asks for LB elections date</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/578546/balochistan-law-and-order-case-supreme-court-asks-for-lb-elections-date</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/578546/balochistan-law-and-order-case-supreme-court-asks-for-lb-elections-date#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 17 Jul 13 21:36:33 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mudassir.raja]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=578546</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[All provincial govts, except Sindh, say they are willing to hold local bodies’ polls.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The provincial governments have been dilly-dallying on the local bodies (LB) elections. On Wednesday however, the Supreme Court asked the provincial administrations, Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) for a ‘definite date’ on the LB polls across the country.


A three-judge bench – headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry – passed the order while hearing a case regarding the worsening law and order situation in Balochistan. The bench underlined that the LB polls are important in maintaining a contact between people and the government.

“We will appreciate if the provinces and the ICT hold the local bodies’ election simultaneously,” observed Justice Chaudhry. He regretted that even though new administrations were in place in all the provinces, no concrete steps have been taken thus far for holding LB elections.



“It is necessary to hold the local bodies’ elections not only to fulfill a constitutional command but also to ensure participation of people for good governance,” the bench observed.

The apex court had asked the law officers of the provincial governments at a previous hearing to seek instructions from their respective governments on holding the local government elections.

Barring Sindh, all provincial governments and the ICT assured the bench on Wednesday of their willingness to hold LB elections but did not give a date.

Deputy Attorney General Sajid Ilyas Bhatti, representing the ICT, submitted a statement before the bench suggesting that the ICT was willing to hold LB polls in the rural areas under the Capital Territory Local Government Ordinance, 1979. But Justice Chaudhry directed him to ensure LB elections were held in the rural as well as urban areas of Islamabad without any distinction.

The court issued notices to the provincial governments to submit a statement by Thursday telling the date on which the LB elections would be held. The bench also asked the ECP for a date it could hold these elections.



Earlier during the hearing, Shahid Hamid, representing the Balochistan government, admitted that a lot more needed to be done for the restoration of ‘complete peace’ in Quetta and the rest of the province. The bench, however, observed that it was the duty of the state to provide security to its citizens.

Hamid conceded that the provincial government was not in a position to take proactive action in the absence of a special force against at least 48 ‘Farrari’ camps situated in the border districts of the province.

“According to the estimates suggested during a special briefing to the previous government, about 5,000 to 8,000 members of the banned Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) have disappeared in such camps,” he recalled.

Provincial Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad told the court that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his recent visit to Balochistan had asked to revamp the provincial police force.

The police, according to him, have been infiltrated by criminals who have launched attacks on the chief secretary, provincial police chief and other members of the provincial administration.

He disclosed that the June 15 attack on the Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University bus was in fact a revenge for several police raids on the hideouts of terrorist organisations. He added that terrorists from other provinces have also found a safe haven in these hideouts.

The chief secretary said that the police, Levies as well as the Frontier Constabulary were taking action against these hideouts. At the same time he regretted that government officials from other provinces were unwilling or reluctant to serve in Balochistan. The prime minister has assured support to address this issue, he added.

Justice Chaudhry expressed dismay over the law and order situation in Balochistan in the backdrop of the recent terrorist attacks.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>The Balochistan conundrum</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/574723/the-balochistan-conundrum-3</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/574723/the-balochistan-conundrum-3#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 09 Jul 13 18:51:52 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=574723</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[There is a critical need for the provincial government to take full charge of the security.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Pakistan’s largest province, Balochistan, continues to bleed. Decades of neglect and exclusion have created a sense of alienation in its population, which partly fuels the insurgency in the region. There is also the spectre of the involvement of foreign powers in the province. The recent statement of Sardar Akhtar Mengal about foreign hands’ involvement in the province is telling. Long, porous borders with Afghanistan and Iran make Balochistan vulnerable to movement of arms and people and the state capacity to track these movements is limited. Nevertheless, the state has yet to show evidence of this interference.

Sadly, the state has not been dealing with the genuine grievances of the population politically. Instead, what we have witnessed are military operations, compounding the resentment against the federation. Recent elections have renewed the hope for a political rapprochement between the estranged Baloch people, their leaders and the state. Due to its strategic importance and growing role of China in the region, Balochistan is also an arena where Pakistan claims that it is fighting external intervention and support to the insurgents. Also, the upper districts of Balochistan have become a hub of sectarian violence due to the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi’s activities. Reportedly, the Afghan Taliban have also operated from the province. This makes Balochistan a complex area to be governed. The absence of state institutions also makes it more difficult for civilian administration to maintain law and order. There is a critical need for the provincial government to take full charge of the security and build the institutions of governance with public support. It is vital for the civil and military leadership to view Balochistan, not from the short-term “insurgency” lens, but from the long-term perspective of giving Baloch, Pashtun, Hazara and other communities in the province, their due political and economic rights.

The prime minister in his recent visit also issued the right directive: that the intelligence agencies should coordinate better and report to the provincial government. PM Sharif realises that this may be the last chance to solve the Balochistan problem. Pakistan must not lose this opportunity of reconciliation and strengthening the federal structure.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>This is not a Test</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/573359/this-is-not-a-test</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/573359/this-is-not-a-test#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 06 Jul 13 19:21:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=573359</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hazara killing is not only the Balochistan government’s problem. It is everyone’s problem.]]>
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				<![CDATA[The prime minister said that the most recent carnage in Hazara Town is a “test case”. This is better than nothing. However, it makes one wonder what are we testing for? Testing for limits of human indifference to slaughter? What is the threshold that will make us snap? What do these high powered committees look for? The condemnation of the “perpetrators” comes uniformly from all quarters. Prompt First Investigation Report is registered against “unknown” terrorists. What cruel charade is this? Does everyone in power miss the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) taking responsibility gloatingly and warning of another attack soon, do they miss it every time? The killing of the Hazara is an abstract distant phenomenon to Pakistan proper; the murdered nothing but a statistic, the murderer some disembodied, amorphous entity. The Hazara graveyard has a picture on every grave; these beautiful people have been killed by sectarian fanatics who we know of. This is not a test, this is as real as it gets.

What is the position of the “chatty” crowd on the systematic murdering spree of the Hazara? Is the entire Hazara population an expert group of drone operators? Are the Hazara the frontline regiment of “imperialism” in “America’s War on Terror”? Is it possible, that the LeJ is just irritated at the empire and this violence is an expression of political dissent? Can they be pacified by an attentive ear, handshake and a hug? Should action be taken against them only when each and every child slow on uptake in the entire country agrees that something, perhaps, needs to be done? Utterly revolting and disgusting line of reasoning and questioning, is it not? In the alternate, there is a simpler and truer explanation. The LeJ is group of sectarian murderous brutes. And a simpler though not easy solution; that decisive force be used against them.

We are supposed to be careful in language; calling them “brutes” has not enough nuance of the conflict and might even hurt fragile, intellectual and apologetic sensibilities. You know, nobody should be “demonised”, etc. Not even people who kill three-year-old kids and attack vans full of girl medical students. Nope, they need to be “understood”. However, we do demonise people. We demonise the Hazara. Nelson Mandela is not dead yet. His spirit is certainly dead in Quetta. Some time ago, there was a news item about public transport operators refusing to allow Hazara passengers to board since that would make the vehicles targets, schools refusing admission, nobody willing to rent houses, etc. How does this not bother us, make us freeze? The most frequently targeted place in Quetta is called “Hazara” Town, and it is largely what the name suggests, a housing settlement full of Hazaras. “Apartheid” is not a term to be used lightly ever, yet the lesson taught by it runs the risk of becoming meaningless if it is not used for examples like these.

For everyone who has not been to Hazara Town and wants to engage in the “complex” debate over whether or not our state is complicit or, at least, looks the other way, let someone who has been there draw a sketch with markings of the FC check posts and the places of attacks. It is not much of a debate. However, it does not matter. Why tamper with a purely intellectual pursuit by bringing in trivial specifics like the distance of a few feet between FC check posts and targeted killing sites, again and again. How a thousand kilogrammes of explosives are stealthy enough to pass through these check posts, again and again. Let us keep it academic, shall we, US war on terror, drones, imperialism, corruption, national consensus, etc. Let us hope that there are still a few Hazaras alive to be grateful if and when we reach the carefully thought out consensus that something needs to be done to protect them.

Coming back to names, the “Jhangvi” in Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, perhaps, does not get enough attention. The parent organisation of the LeJ, the Sipah-e-Sahaba (SSP) (now ASWJ) was formed at Jhang, Punjab, in the 1980s. The LeJ faction split because the SSP was not “militant enough”. Which is saying something by the way, since the SSP did not exactly comprise tree-hugging pacifists either. The difference was on strategy, not on ideology. The ideology was, and is, that Shias should be eliminated. The long overdue operation has to simultaneously begin in Balochistan and Punjab, also dismantling the ideological hub. There is no consensus needed. Anyone who does not agree with the idea of an operation against the sectarian organisations murdering the Hazara is someone you don’t want to agree with in any event.

Much has been said about the proper use of the term “genocide” and if it is applicable to the Hazara killing. The question is an important but theoretical one with quibbles on international law definitions. Practically, it is instructive to read Samantha Power’s chillingly brilliant essay, “Bystanders to Genocide” on the Tutsi genocide in Rwanda. To quote Power, “A determination of genocide turns not on the numbers killed, which is always difficult to ascertain at a time of crisis, but on the perpetrators’ intent.” The perpetrators’ intent in the case of the Hazara can only be missed by someone who is trying really, really hard to miss it.

The mention of genocide reminds of the phrase, now hollowed by breach “Nie Wieder” (Never Again). It is important to recall it as we pass through another July 5th, the date when that psychopath Ziaul Haq illegally took over. One lesson from the Zia era has been that islands of intolerance and hate don’t work; they spill over, across national and provincial lines. During his reign, amongst innumerable heinous acts, one was the patronising of the sectarian terrorists by the state. Mian Nawaz Sharif was Zia’s prodigy. Once upon a time, long before the “War on Terror” and invention of drones, Mian Sahib was the chief minister of Punjab where these outfits were gaining initial strength. Mian Sahib knows their history all too well. Well enough to know that the Hazara killing is not only the Balochistan government’s problem. It is everyone’s problem. We are repeatedly told that Mian Sahib is his own man now. We want to believe that. Yet, he will still have to prove it. The time for consensus building and all parties’ conferences on dealing with sectarian terrorism is long gone. Either the security establishment is compelled to change its world view and the hobnobbing with these medievalists or there is a showdown. Thousands of Hazara lives are certainly worth having that confrontation. Our notion of State and Country, it seems, is now confined to the security establishment. So to our Guardians, Tujh ko kitnon ka lahu chahiye ae arz-e-watan, jo teray aariz-e-bayrung ko gulnaar karen, kitnee aahon say kalejaa tera thunda ho gaa, kitnay aansoo teray sehraaon ko gulzaar karen.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Sadness in excess</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/572508/sadness-in-excess</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/572508/sadness-in-excess#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 04 Jul 13 18:08:32 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.shafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
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			<description>
				<![CDATA[It hurt to see the Residency partly burnt; but it hurt more seeing the injured girls, jawans, grieving relatives.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[I was to give you “far sadder stuff” from my trip to Quetta with the HRCP, in continuation of my piece of last week, wasn’t I? Well, a most sad event, yet another killing of yet more innocent Hazaras took place mid-week just as I was marshalling my thoughts and feelings.

So, the dark glasses and the burqas and the helmets didn’t help, did they? For when we met Hazara political leaders just 12 days ago, they said that whilst they were generally a liberal, educated, outgoing people, even their women and girls had begun to wear burqas to hide their Hazara features.

The men and boys wore dark glasses all the time for the same reason, and those who owned motorcycles wore helmets even while buying/delivering stuff in the marketplaces, even in the intense heat for the same reason.

But none of that helped did it? For the murdering, heartless sectarian terrorists hit them while they were at prayer at an imambargah, where you would only find Shias. What would the Hazara do now? Which cave will they now cower in? Sitting ducks poor things, who gave us our second Commander-in-Chief; courageous fighter pilots; and excellent soldiers with a sense of duty par excellence.

WHEN will the mayhem end? And why not sooner rather than later when the perpetrators are known by their OWN admission of guilt? Punjab is the largest, most powerful province in the country which professes that it will look after the other smaller, more challenged ones, Balochistan leading. Well then, why not straightaway; why not today, when one of the heads of the hydra-headed monster stares us in the eye?

But back to our mission; the first stop of which was a call on the new chief minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik. I liked him instantly: light and quick of step; straight backed; bright eyes that looked directly at you; a quick wit and an earthiness that only comes with years of very middle-class political activism. May God and nature be kind to him, and may he be able to (or is “allowed to” the word I want?) do the good work he is surely cut out to do.

The recent visit of the prime minister’s to Balochistan and his reiterating that all the agencies of the State must help the new government by following its instructions, is a step in just the right direction. Indeed, I was most heartened to see that possibly the most important person in this whole blessed tamasha, the only English equivalent being “shemozzle”, of Balochistan, the DG ISI was also asked to be there by the PM.

The man who holds all the strings of all the puppets, the IG Frontier Corps (who refused to interact with us, BTW! Indeed, who didn’t even return our telephone calls for a meeting!) had to be there willy-nilly too, which can only spell good for poor old Balochistan.

Our next visit was to the Balochistan Medical Complex (BMC) where the dead, dying and injured girls from the Women’s University (ages 16 to 23, shame on you gentlemen and women terrorists), just down the road, were taken after the blast in their bus. You have to see the site of a suicide bombing to believe it, which is all I will say.

Immediately after, we went to the Women’s University where the tragedy took place and met Vice Chancellor Mrs Sultana Baloch who, strong woman though she is, was still in tears talking about her girls. One was in tears oneself hearing her recount the ordeal they all went through: the complete panic that even the university for young Balochistani girls from all over, even Zhob, was not safe in the monstrous place we have made our country.

It was great to see the HRCP volunteer the services of trauma counsellors from Lahore and Karachi at its own expense if the University thought it would be helpful for those most affected by the mental anguish that such an event surely generates. The thing that stood out most was the spirit with which the young girls wanted the University to reopen and classes to restart. Maybe this generation that has seen the worst of it will, in the end, defeat the monsters?

We then visited the CMH to see the three girls being cared for there and were impressed by the quality of care and of the equipment, second to none in the country, that was being used. All three were in great spirits and wanting to return to their university like their other fellow-students. We also saw a police DSP and a Havildar of the FC, also gravely injured in the attack at the BMC and were told by the smart Lt Col, who was taking us around that, the police officer had barely survived.

The next day at 7.30 in the morning saw us on our way to Ziarat to visit the blown-up Residency in which the Quaid-e-Azam spent some few days when he was mortally ill. It is a hulk of what it was, burnt to ashes, even parts of the two great chinars in the front lawn, charred. Brought back memories when two friends. Lts Sabir Ali and Abdul Haque, and I of the same rank, actually stayed in rooms right adjacent to the Residency itself in August 1967.

It hurt to see part of our national heritage burnt down; but it hurt infinitely more to see the distraught VC of the Women’s University; the injured girls and jawans, and the grieving relatives of the dead. Buildings can be rebuilt; the dead cannot be brought back and the lives of their loved ones cannot be put together again.

P S: Might one suggest to the PkMAP gentleman who said buildings such as the Quetta Residency brought back memories of the Raj (which is why it was destroyed) to burn down the Quetta Governor’s House and destroy the rail line to Quetta too? Listening, Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai?

Published in The Express Tribune, July 5th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan crisis: Nawaz directs ISI, IB to catch Hazara town bombers</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/571395/hazara-tragedy-nawaz-sharif-visits-quetta-to-discuss-security-situation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/571395/hazara-tragedy-nawaz-sharif-visits-quetta-to-discuss-security-situation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 02 Jul 13 13:26:54 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=571395</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Nawaz Sharif assures provincial government of centre's support in maintaining law and order in Balochistan.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Tuesday said that he has directed law enforcement agencies including the ISI and the Intelligence Bureau to treat Sunday’s bombing as a test case and catch the culprits.

Addressing a combined press conference after a day of meetings with the provincial government and law enforcing agencies in Quetta, the premier said that the acts of violence in the province were not acceptable anymore.

“This [attacks] is not acceptable for the provincial government, nor for the federal government.”

Nawaz said the governor, the chief minister, interior minister and heads of security forces including the intelligence services Inter-services intelligence and the intelligence bureau were present in their meetings.

“The administration here needs to bring improvement in their governance and the authorities in police need to realise their duty.”

Nawaz said that Quetta was a small city of around 20 lanes and that it should not be too hard to secure such a place.

Assuring the Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik of all support from the federal government, including the best police officers in the country, Nawaz expressed his determination to combat terrorism.

“If we keep fighting them in such a determined manner, we will manage to end the terrorism.”

The prime minister said that he will keep visiting the province to keep an eye on progress made.

Prime Minister has also constituted a task force to maintain law and order in Balochistan.

Addressing a high level meeting in Quetta on Tuesday evening‚ he directed all the security agencies to ensure close coordination to curb terrorism.

Earlier in the day, prime minister Nawaz Sharif reached Quetta to discuss the security condition of the city in the aftermath of the attack on the Hazara community, Express News reported on Tuesday.

Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan, Abdul Qadir Baloch, Mahmood Khan Achakzai and Senator Mir Hasil Bizenjo accompanied the premiere on his one-day visit.

On reaching Quetta, Sharif was taken to the governor house, where he headed a high level meeting on the law and order situation.

The governor, chief minister Balochistan, Inspector General Police, IGFC and interior secretary were also present in the meeting.

The prime minister will also visit the injured of the recent Hazara Town blast getting treatment in Combined Military Hospital (CMH).

On Sunday, a suicide bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body amid a crowd of people near an Imambargah in Hazara Town of Quetta shortly after Maghrib prayers.

At least 29 people, among them nine women and three children, were killed and 65 injured, nearly half of them critically.

A banned sectarian extremist group, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ), which has carried out most attacks on the Hazara community, claimed credit for Sunday’s bombing in a phone call to media offices in Quetta.]]>
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			<title>A heart-breaking trip into the past</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/569176/a-heart-breaking-trip-into-the-past</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/569176/a-heart-breaking-trip-into-the-past#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 27 Jun 13 18:11:10 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[kamran.shafi]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=569176</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Quetta was a happening place in the 70s with the two most important schools of instruction.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[I first visited Quetta in 1967 to attend a course at the School of Infantry and Tactics in 1967 and then was posted in the School in 1970, and served there and in my battalion that had moved there by the time I was finishing my instructional tour of duty, for a total of four years and some months.

In the field (please recall that we were there at the height of the ’70s insurgency), we served in Chaman, Kalat and Khuzdar, where we spent the most time with a Company each at Nal, Jebri and Mashkai, and Battalion HQs with Alpha and HQs Company at Khuzdar. 70 Brigade HQs, commanded by Brig (later Lt Gen) Fazal-e-Haq was at Khuzdar too with our lone L-19 piloted in turn by my course-mates Javed Khan of Rehana and Khurshid of Karachi. Point to note: the most notable “action” we saw in Khuzdar was the rescue of Sardar Doda Khan Zarakzai from “miscreants”, an “action” that turned out to be a damp squib, commanded by yours truly with a Company-plus, including our Regimental Medical Officer (RMO) — popularly known as “doctor”.

But by golly, was it tough going: our Brigade Major, who was a gunner, took a flight by the L-19 and in the briefing said it would take us four hours to get there, an hour extricating the Sardar, and four back. All a neat nine hours. Starting at Khuzdar at 2am, we were to arrive at the debussing point at 4am and then take it from there.

We debussed at 4.10 and forming up and sending scouting/picket parties ahead, started our march. After one of the hardest, toughest walks I have been on, we got to within a mile of the village where Sardar Doda Khan was holed up, at 1.30pm, four and half hours behind schedule, thank you very much! However, while I was setting up our battalion mortars in case of need, we saw several white flags waving furiously from behind walls, which were still almost a mile and a bit away.

We waited at the ready for the flag-wavers to approach, who gave us the Sardar’s good wishes and bade us welcome. They had also brought along donkeys and camels to carry our heavy equipment as a gesture of hospitality, which we refused, and after inspecting the men and asking them to get out their food and eat it, were then led into a mud-walled compound (oh, there’s that dreaded word again!) in which there was a spacious mud-walled house on the floors of which were laid carpets and along the sides, colourful bolster cushions.

We were welcomed with the customary Baloch hospitality by the Sardar, who lay on one of the cushions, his arm in a sling. Our RMO, after inspecting the wound, told us that the sten-gun bullet went right through the Sardar’s arm between the radius and the ulna, damaging neither. There was hardly any loss of blood but that we should get him to hospital asap.

I started to get up to give instructions to the men to get ready and asked the Sardar to ready himself to move as it was already 2.30pm on a winter’s evening and would soon be dark when we would need to send up pickets along our route. “Major Sahib,” the Sardar says, “Yeh pahar kissi kay baap kay hein? Yeh hamaray pahar hein; koi picket-wicket ki zaroorat nahin. Bethein, aap kay liey aur aap kay jawanon kay lie sajji ban rahi hai,” saying which he issued a series of authoritative commands and lo, 10 minutes later, steaming dishes of rice and sajji and roti were being placed before us.

After we had all gorged — the jawans eating two lunches — we set off, the Sardar on his camel surrounded by his bodyguard and we marching along as best we could. We reached our embussing point at one in the morning and found the Brigade Commander waiting for us along with our CO.

That was the operational side of things: Quetta was a happening place in the 70s with the two most important schools of instruction — the vastly more advanced Command and Staff College and the SI and T. There were many Allied officers, Australian, Iranian, Arab, American and British at the Staff College, sometimes two from the same country.

We used to have Sunday breakfast rides where the officers would ride their horses over the hills towards Hanna Lake and around it to the apple orchards where the mess detachments and the ladies had already got there by transport and have picnics. This was just to fill my reader in on what I knew of Quetta in the 70s and how I saw it just five days ago as part of an Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) team led by the inimitable Asma Jahangir to take stock of the situation after the horrific attacks on the women’s university bus and the Bolan Medical Complex.

The delegation included famous journalist Ghazi Salahuddin, who needs no introduction from me; Nazish Brohi, a researcher, who has done much work on Balochistan, its tribes and mores, and on Afghanistan and Iraq; the diligent Rafia Asim, who works as a researcher at the HRCP, and yours truly.

What I saw in Balochistan broke my heart into little bits. Roadblocks everywhere — I have to take you back again — when my wife and I, kids of 25 and 20, used to drive home to our hut opposite the Chiltan Market at 11.30pm from the home of good and great friend Munir Afridi (RIP) after a late dinner at his house off Sariab Road.

When there were monthly get-togethers and dinners at the gentle home of the late Mr Kaikobad Ardeshir and Mrs Mehrbano Marker, my senior friend Minoo’s parents, which too lasted well beyond 10.30 and it was safe to drive anywhere in Quetta from there.

And what do you see now? Bullet-proof behemoths with unreadable number plates; darkened windows, Kalashnikov barrels poking their ugly snouts from them; and at least three or four “follow vehicles” with men with faces covered bandit-style, guns pointed at you? Point to note: while civilians — men, women and children — stand in line in the scorching sun being searched, these juggernauts go roaring through.

Next week: Far sadder stuff.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Fact-finding: Jahangir calls for paradigm shift in Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/568462/fact-finding-jahangir-calls-for-paradigm-shift-in-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/568462/fact-finding-jahangir-calls-for-paradigm-shift-in-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 25 Jun 13 21:54:59 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=568462</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says security agencies should work within the ambit of Constitution.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Amidst rampant allegations of extrajudicial killings and unabated militant violence in Balochistan, famed rights campaigner Asma Jahangir has appealed to the security and intelligence agencies to work within the ambit of the Constitution.

“The government will have to avoid a pro-security policy, and formulate pro-peoples policies,” Jahangir, the former president of the Supreme Court Bar Association, told a news conference in Quetta on Tuesday.

It would be disastrous for democracy if the role of security agencies did not change in Balochistan, she added. Jahangir was flanked by columnist Kamran Shafi, Advocate Zahoor Ahmed Shahwani and Advocate Tahir Hussain.

Referring to the rising attacks on settlers, Jahangir said the killing of hairdressers, doctors and teachers was not the solution to the problems in Balochistan. Retaliating to an atrocity with atrocity would have disastrous results, she added.



“People have taken to the mountains due to the [security] operations and excesses in Balochistan,” said Jahangir, who was formerly the chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). She was referring to Baloch separatists who have been fighting an insurgency since 2004. However, she appealed to the separatists and resistance leaders in the province to shun violence for a certain time period.

Security agencies have been blamed for rampant extrajudicial killings of workers of Baloch nationalist parties. But Jahangir said the ‘kill and dump policy’ would only stoke hatred towards the security agencies.

She said a high-level HRCP fact-finding mission was visiting Balochistan following the recent grisly attacks in Quetta and Ziarat to evaluate the gravity of the problem. The mission has met with government officials, families of the missing persons, students, doctors and nurses to hear their grievances.



On June 15, a suicide bomber detonated the explosives in a bus carrying students from Sardar Bahadur Khan Women’s University in Quetta, killing 14 female students. When the victims were shifted to the Bolan Medical Complex, over a dozen terrorists stormed the hospital. Four paramilitary troops and a senior administration official were killed in the subsequent firefight and suicide blasts. Earlier in the day militants destroyed the Quaid-e-Azam’s residency in Ziarat in a bomb attack.

Jahangir recalled that an HRCP mission had visited Balochistan before the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti and had warned the then government of the disastrous consequences of a military operation in the province.

“Had the reservations of the civil society been heeded, the situation would not have been so worse now,” she added.

The HRCP mission, she added, would present detailed reports on the Quetta and Ziarat incidents, which would also incorporate police reforms, custom duties and other proposals.

Jahangir said the new government was a ray of hope for the people of Balochistan. However, she said the killing of four missing people on the day of the searing-in of the new provincial government was a sign that the particular policy had not changed.

She called for an end to the “double standards of the government and security forces” and recommended the provincial government recruit human rights advisers to address peoples’ grievances.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 26th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Rights lawyer leads HRCP fact finding mission in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/567701/rights-lawyer-leads-hrcp-fact-finding-mission-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/567701/rights-lawyer-leads-hrcp-fact-finding-mission-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 24 Jun 13 16:29:26 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Mohammad Zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=567701</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Asma Jahangir says time has come decide who will rule the country, politicians or the military.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[As extra judicial killings and bullet riddled bodies continue to be found in Balochistan, the time has come to decide who would run this country, politicians or the military, lawyer and human rights activist Asma Jahangir said on Monday as she led a fact finding mission to the troubled province on Monday.

Addressing the Balochistan Bar, Jahangir said that the lawyers have always played a positive role on Balochistan’s issue and always raised their voices against the ongoing atrocities in the province.

“The extra judicial killings and mutilated bodies are being found in Balochistan, which is a negative step.”

Jahangir added that time has to come that we decide who would really run this country, politicians or the military leadership on gun point.

She said the recent general elections have proved that the people of the country believed in democracy despite the immense challenges facing people who took part in the elections.

The former Supreme Court bar association president said that previous governments made such policies, which have made today’s democratic government stronger and independent, and that it is time for everyone to play their due role to make the country prosper.

“The Balochs are as patriotic as any other,” she said, adding that they need to be given their rights.

Jahangir said that the incumbent provincial government has given the chance to the Baloch nationalists, which is a good sign for the province, but the provincial government still needs to do more.

Jahangir is leading the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) high level fact finding mission to Balochistan in light of the  terrorist attacks in Quetta and Ziarat earlier in June.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan: Getting it right</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/567028/balochistan-getting-it-right</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/567028/balochistan-getting-it-right#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 22 Jun 13 19:48:20 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=567028</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Balochistan requires fresh and bold initiatives by the governments in Quetta and Islamabad.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The thorny issue of civil-military imbalance came under public spotlight when Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan recently admitted in the Senate that the attacks on Ziarat Residency and the Bolan Medical Complex in Quetta were a result of “serious security lapse” and “lack of coordination” between security and law-enforcement agencies. PPP Senator Raza Rabbani has appreciated concerns of the interior minister but demanded that security forces should be under the provincial government, especially after the Eighteenth Amendment. Senator Rabbani added that the situation would not improve until the security apparatus was brought under parliamentary and civil control. However, he failed to mention that during the previous tenure of the PPP, it could not achieve this task. In fact, the PPP has been accused of abdicating several security-related issues to the military during its tenure.

The truth is that the security apparatus in Balochistan reports to the civilians in name only. The Supreme Court’s attempts to examine this did not bear fruit, especially on the matter of missing persons. At the same time, the civilians have been unable to develop a consensus on tackling this issue and lack the will to take the initiative. Civilian governments do not invest enough in the capacity of the key ministries and parliamentary committees meant to tackle civil-military relations.

Balochistan requires fresh and bold initiatives by the governments in Quetta and Islamabad. A policy that only has a component of force to deal with the situation will not work. Instead, a political solution to the crisis must be found. The banned militant outfits in the province need to be checked and controlled, for which there needs to be a dialogue between the political parties, as well as the civil-military leadership. The status quo is only fuelling alienation of the Baloch population, which was reflected in the low turnout during the recent elections in the province. The situation won’t improve until the Baloch develop a sense of ownership in the province.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 23rd, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Fighting terrorism</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/565523/fighting-terrorism</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/565523/fighting-terrorism#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 19 Jun 13 18:09:46 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ayesha.siddiqa]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=565523</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[There is a need to identify sources of radicalism, get stakeholders on board, to counter such ideological forces.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The terrorist attack on the residency in Ziarat, Balochistan, where Muhammad Ali Jinnah spent the last days of his life has created a lot of anxiety in some parts of the country. Made by the British, the building was pleasing to the eyes and part of Balochistan’s heritage. However, the alacrity with which some people mourned a dead building as compared with the 26 people who died in various terrorist attacks the same day, was amazing. It seems that we have grown so insensitive to human loss, especially in a distant part of the country as Balochistan, that the brutality of the jihadis does not make us turn and look. Sadly, a building is more of a symbol of national ideology than the people of the country.

The provincial government has promised to reconstruct the building in three months. However, there is lesser clarity regarding the fate of the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) jihadists who kill people almost every single day. Due to our peculiar focus, we will not even be inclined to ask how a province and people known for liberal religious traditions got occupied with takfiri jihadis who, like the German fascists, believe in killing anyone that does not subscribe to their values and scheme of things. Poverty and poor governance, of course, are obvious but simple explanations. These two factors can drive people towards frustration and violence but not necessarily of the kind that seems to be growing in Balochistan. People can get frustrated due to poverty and vent their anger against the state for what they may consider as brutal negligence but not necessarily become part of the religious-ideological jihadi network that has grown exponentially in the province, especially in the past few years. The state has played no part whatsoever in questioning or stopping the systematic growth of Deobandi and Salafi jihadi networks in Balochistan or even the rest of the country. Why are we so silent when we see the Salafi LeT/JuD network or the Deobandi SSP/LeJ/JeM network penetrate Balochistan and Sindh and gain ground in these territories?

Ethnic politics and nationalism is comparatively a solvable issue. The jihadis who now want to change the future of the state are far more difficult to negotiate with. The LeJ in Balochistan is busy exploiting and recruiting Baruhis to fight against the Baloch. Interestingly, al Qaeda, to which the LeJ is also connected, is trying to provoke Baloch nationalism. In the recent publication Al Hateen, the local al Qaeda has talked about an independent but Islamic Balochistan. This politics is transforming society and so, as a result, we even see some Baloch political parties aligning with the ASWJ/LeJ political network. This is certainly out of political expediency, but the formula is as bad as in any other part of the country, especially Punjab and Sindh.

While we mourn the damage done to a building where the founding father spent some time, we forget that the takfiris and their radicalism, which seems to be spreading gradually, will kill the Pakistan which Jinnah envisioned, that is if it has not happened as yet. The al Qaeda that we dislike now has local franchises that, in turn, are ingrained in society. We continue to draw a distinction between the good and bad jihadis, not understanding that ultimately, they all tend to drift together on the basis of their ideology. The explanation for giving protection to certain religious radicals or their groups is that the military leadership does not want to start a civil war in the populated parts of the country, while it is busy sorting out the war in the tribal areas. Nonetheless, this does not explain why the security establishment continues to tolerate the ideological expansion of these groups and the fact that they are constantly recruiting people. Surely, the banners calling for jihad posted on government hoardings on the National Highway in Punjab do not indicate an intention of these groups to stop their struggle to capture society.

Surely, the recipe that the new government is most likely to entertain is negotiations with these groups. But what is there to negotiate except the future of the country? Will Hafiz Saeed and Masood Azhar, along with their gangs, settle at anything less than a drastic change in the ideological direction of the state? This is not about wanting or not wanting Islam on the basis of which this country was made but about the capture of a religious ideology by vulgar extremism.

The new interior minister has to be clear on one thing at least, that he cannot save buildings unless he can protect people from such vile extremism. This requires for him and his government to construct a solid policy on terrorism and counter-radicalism. There are several necessary steps which ought to be taken, starting from building consensus and cooperation amongst the various intelligence agencies. To get them on the same page, nonetheless, requires clarity on the issue. The government now has a tool that it can work with in the form of the National Counter Terrorism Authority and the relevant Act. There is a need to identify sources of radicalism and get various stakeholders on board, including the media, to counter such ideological forces. The government must focus on countering radicalism as this is an even larger issue than terrorism. In fact, acts of violence indicate the tip of the iceberg of radicalism. You cannot remove one without removing the other. This consistent ideological transformation that started during the early 1950s but speeded up after 1979-80 must stop if the country has to be made livable for most. It’s nothing to do with sacrificing the Islamic character of the state but is about taking the violence out and making it a place worth living for future generations.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 20th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan unrest: In a surprise outburst, Nisar hits out at security agencies</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/564621/balochistan-unrest-in-a-surprise-outburst-nisar-hits-out-at-security-agencies</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/564621/balochistan-unrest-in-a-surprise-outburst-nisar-hits-out-at-security-agencies#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 17 Jun 13 22:11:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[umer.nangiana]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=564621</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[PkMAP chief calls for ‘reining in the establishment before it’s too late’.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Presenting a preliminary probe report on Saturday’s terror attacks in Balochistan, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan warned that in establishing peace in the province, the government would not care for anyone’s ‘displeasure’.


On Monday, the National Assembly saw Chaudhry Nisar and other senior lawmakers taking security agencies to task for the ‘dismal law and order situation’ in the country in general and Balochistan in particular.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government wants to seek advice from the house and the parliamentary heads on countering terror threats, particularly in Balochistan, Nisar told the lower house of Parliament.

A national security policy would be devised on June 20 in a meeting of the ‘civil armed forces’, he added. “The government will listen only to this house and no one else. I promise I will not conceal any fact from the house once the investigations are complete,” said Chaudhry Nisar in his briefing on the Balochistan incidents to the house.

All parliamentary leaders pledged their support to the government on improving law and order in the country.



Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, however, cautioned that clocks were ticking and the issue should be swiftly dealt with.

“Rein in the ‘establishment’ before it is too late. This house will be useless if it cannot control intelligence agencies,” said Achakzai while pointing to what he called Pakistan’s meddling in Afghanistan’s internal affairs.

“I would prefer quitting this house if the establishment is not reined in within the next two years,” he added.

“Our intelligence agencies are otherwise capable of tracing a needle in a muddy puddle, then why is the security situation so deplorable in this country? Is this country to be disintegrated?” questioned the fiery PkMAP leader.

The entire world has become our enemy, our neighbours, including China, are unhappy with us, Achakzai went on to add. “It is time we drop the policy of good and bad Taliban. The US is not mad for using a multimillion dollar drone (technology) in our tribal areas,” he added.

For establishing durable peace, Achakzai suggested involvement of the US in initiating peace talks with the Taliban. However, he asked the US to suspend drone attacks for the period that dialogue does go on.

The interior minister in his briefing also questioned the conduct of the security agencies and their ability to arrest outlaws in Balochistan.

“If so many agencies, with so many resources, cannot handle the security situation what else can our government provide them?” asked Nisar. He said he would table all facts before the house and the people.

All parliamentary leaders pledged their support to the interior minister for restoring peace in the country and Balochistan in particular.

Opposition Leader Syed Khursheed Shah also blamed security agencies for the worsening law and order situation in the province.

Awami Muslim League (AML) chief Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed suggested a comprehensive counter-terrorism mechanism and said that the government looked serious in tackling the problem.

Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao called upon the government to come up with a national security policy as soon as possible.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) deputy parliamentary leader Shah Mahmood Qureshi asked for Chaudhry Nisar’s assurance that the government would fix responsibility for the Balochistan terrorist attacks.  He said his party would support the government on the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Ban urges Pakistan to do 'all it can' to bring Quetta attackers to justice</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563841/ban-urges-pakistan-to-do-all-it-can-to-bring-quetta-attackers-to-justice</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563841/ban-urges-pakistan-to-do-all-it-can-to-bring-quetta-attackers-to-justice#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 15 Jun 13 21:18:53 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[World]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=563841</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[UN secretary general notes that &quot;violence against women and educators has increased in recent years&quot;.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Saturday strongly condemned the series of deadly attacks targeting a bus, a hospital facility and a national monument Balochistan, which left at least 20 civilians dead, many of whom were female students.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson, Ban said no cause justifies such violence, and noted 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.”

The banned militant organisation Laskhar-e-Jhangvi claimed that it had attacked the bus carrying female university students in Quetta via a suicide bombing. As the dead and injured were rushed to hospital, gunmen stormed the hospice. At least 25 people were killed in the series of attacks which also saw the national monument, the Quaid-e-Azam residency being blown up.

Ban called on the Pakistan government “to do all possible to bring the perpetrators to justice” and expressed the UN's solidarity “in the face of continued terrorist violence in Pakistan.”]]>
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			<title>Bombing our history</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563606/bombing-our-history</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563606/bombing-our-history#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 15 Jun 13 19:35:41 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=563606</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It can be assumed that the attack was a carefully planned one, intended to send out a clear message by the insurgents.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The rocket attack, which killed one policeman and destroyed the structure of the Jinnah residency, as a fire broke out quickly engulfing the wooden building, marks a tragedy. The residency, located in the hill town of Ziarat, was a national heritage site, as the place where the founder of the country, Muhammad Ali Jinnah, had spent his last days, nursing serious sickness, before his demise in September 1948. The image of the residency also represented the province of Balochistan, on postcards, in textbooks, on stamps and in other places. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for the attack.

It can be assumed that the attack was a carefully planned one, intended to send out a clear message by the insurgents who have wrecked peace in the province and have for years been locked in a struggle against the state. According to Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar, the residency was attacked by five militants, who had removed the Pakistan flag and raised the BLA flag in its place. The rocket, which hit the building on the morning of June 15, also resulted in damage to nearby houses as a fierce blaze broke out. This is the first action by insurgents in the province since the new government led by Dr Abdul Malik Baloch took charge. Chief Minister Baloch, a highly respected politician, has said he will do all that he can to resolve the conflict in Balochistan. It is now clear his task will not be an easy one. Quite obviously, militants have no intention of ending their campaign or changing their tactics.

Together with the central government, the provincial set-up will need to think through all the dimensions of the Balochistan issue. We all know it is a complex one, with many issues tied into it. The strategy required to sort it out will not be easy to devise. But this is something we will simply have to do if we are to solve a problem that, in so many ways, threatens the very foundations of the state. If these are to be saved from further damage, decisive action is needed quickly — so that we can restore peace in Balochistan, a province that currently stands poised at the very edge of a steep precipice, from which it could tumble at any time.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Dear Quaid, I am sorry ...</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563626/dear-quaid-i-am-sorry</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/563626/dear-quaid-i-am-sorry#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 15 Jun 13 17:34:04 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Jamaluddin]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=563626</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It was a symbolic act of terrorism. An act to show the world that the militants don't want Quaid's Pakistan anymore.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[June 15, 2013 will be remembered forever. On this day, the beautiful building that adorns our hundred rupee note was burnt and destroyed by militants, who flung hand grenades at Jinnah’s residency in Ziarat. All the historical photographs and furniture were destroyed. As always, the militants, who committed this despicable act of senseless violence, escaped unhurt.

The Ziarat residency was constructed in 1892 with the idea of it becoming a sanatorium due to the presence of a Juniper forest in the area in which it was constructed. Later on, it was converted into a summer residence of the agent to the governor general. But, it being the building where Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah spent his last days is what it makes it truly historical. Nations all around the world preserve such places, securing them, guarding them from any calamity — man-made or natural. However, we failed to protect our revered founder’s second-last earthly residence.

It was a majestic building, with much history attached to it. Its walls were privy to the musings of the ailing leader, who was concerned about the genocide that was occurring along the border; who was worried about the future of the newly-created state; who was constantly pondering over who would replace him in the future and whether he would be able to keep the ship of Pakistan afloat. Its walls saw Jinnah fighting bravely against tuberculosis, unwilling to give up. The house is now a pile of rubble and Jinnah’s memory from it has been torched.

The very fact that the founder of the nation’s residence has now been burnt down to the ground, speaks volumes about what we as a nation have come to since 1948. It is not just about the priceless archives, photos and Quaid’s furniture; it is not about the loss of a tourist hotspot in Ziarat. It’s about preserving the memories of a man who gave his all for our freedom. It is about preserving the idea of Pakistan, where every ethnicity and religious group is free to live and practice its customs, because this has nothing to do with the business of the state.

Yet, when intolerance and tyranny seeps in, it destroys the ideals on which this state was founded upon. Burning down the Ziarat residency was a symbolic act of terrorism — an act by militants to show the world that they don’t want the Quaid’s Pakistan anymore. By burning down the Ziarat residency, terrorists have shown that the idea of being part of the Quaid’s Pakistan is abhorrent to them.

In a way, the burnt down hulk of Ziarat residency is a perfect metaphor for the state of Pakistan’s affairs. Pakistan lies burnt to the ground with militancy, corruption and nepotism rife. I hope our authorities will take appropriate steps to ensure the security of all places associated with the Quaid-e-Azam. I think we owe him, at least, this much! For now, Dear Quaid, I am sorry we couldn’t protect your legacy despite all that you gave us.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 16th, 2013.

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>Towards a ‘naya’ Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/561384/towards-a-naya-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/561384/towards-a-naya-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 10 Jun 13 18:36:36 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[naseer.memon]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=561384</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Immediate challenge for new government will be to ensure no more dead bodies are received, missing people retrieved.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The political sagacity of stakeholders in Balochistan has rekindled the fading hopes for restoration of peace and prosperity in the province. For the last several years, Balochistan has remained a tinderbox, with hundreds of people brutally killed in an orgy of extrajudicial murders and targeted shootings. The state had virtually abdicated the province and left it at the mercy of an assortment of militant outfits and corrupt politicians. Local people, especially the educated young, are frequently picked up and their mutilated bodies are dumped and often brutalised by carnivores in desolated areas. Dozens of young Baloch are still missing and their familes are inconsolable — no state institution has as yet been able to adequately address their demands despite making skyrocketing claims.

Hopes were attached with the previous regime when the PPP government was ruling both the province and the centre. Although a series of measures were introduced to sedate the restive province, a lack of political will stymied the desirable results. Aghaz-e-Huqooq Balochistan, the 18th constitutional amendment and 7th National Finance Award (NFC) all failed to alter the grotesque ambience. Huge financial resources were funnelled and a special job quota was allocated for the province, but the cesspool of corruption and bad governance eroded all potential benefits. The share of Balochistan increased from 5.1 per cent in 2006 to 9.09 per cent in the wake of the 7th NFC. As a result of that, Balochistan’s share increased from Rs45 billion in 2009 to Rs83 billion in 2010, Rs93 billion in 2011 and Rs114 billion in 2012-13. The province also received an additional Rs10 billion against a surcharge on natural gas. In 2012-13 the province earmarked 35.8 billion for development projects and this year, Balochistan was the only province with a surplus budget, yet only a pittance reached the masses.

The Balochistan conundrum merits a genuine effort and not empty overtures. While the previous government made generous financial allocations for the province, it installed a corrupt and inefficient team to fix the issues of the province. Ghost projects, unbridled crime and unhindered piling of dead bodies sufficiently testify to the lack of sincerity on the part of the previous regime. The province remained a hotbed of violence and crime and Islamabad remained mostly indifferent. Not even a semblance of government was felt there for the last five years, which engendered persistent despair and anguish among the local people.

The choice of Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, a consensus candidate with proven integrity, as the chief minister of Balochistan augurs well for the province. With a credible Baloch nationalist as chief minister, a pro-democracy progressive PkMAP representative in the Governor’s House and a sensitised and steadfast government in Islamabad, there would be in place the best possible combination to extricate the province from the quagmire of crisis. An immediate challenge for the new government would be to ensure that no more dead bodies are received and missing people are retrieved to pacify the enraged and traumatised Baloch. A transparent governance structure would be the next desire of the people of Balochistan. Judicious use of development spending can bring some solace for the disgruntled masses. Dr Malik’s government would have to confront a number of other irritants. In the long run, the right over decision-making and benefits accruing from Gwadar port and other coastal resources would make up the political agenda of the province. Education, health and drinking water services are also in tatters. The province merits a long-term development plan by harnessing the enormous potential of mineral resources of the province. Projects like Saindak and Reko Diq should benefit the local population on priority. A leadership with prescience and commitment can bring Balochistan back from the brink.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11th, 2013.                                                                                         

Like Opinion &amp; Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.]]>
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			<title>12 security men die in Quetta explosion</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/553756/12-security-men-die-in-quetta-explosion</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/553756/12-security-men-die-in-quetta-explosion#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 23 May 13 22:58:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=553756</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Five women killed in Sibi firing incident.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A bomb, planted in a rickshaw, tore through a vehicle of the Balochistan Constabulary near Quetta Thursday morning, killing at least 12 personnel and a driver.


Another 17 people were also injured in the attack, which targeted a bus carrying around 21 personnel of the Rapid Response Group (RRG) of the Balochistan Constabulary, according to the police.

The blast occurred when the bus, which usually transports the personnel from Qasim Line to the main city for early morning duty, reached the Badini Road near Bussa Mandi in the Eastern Bypass area.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, security forces have launched a manhunt in different parts of Quetta and have detained six people for interrogation.

Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told The Express Tribune that the remote-controlled bomb was planted in a rickshaw, which was parked at the roadside.

He regretted the intelligence failure in preventing the assault and assured that the culprits would be arrested.

Talking to reporters at the blast site, Deputy Inspector General police operation Faiz Ahmad Sumbul said, “Around 100kg of explosive material was used in the attack.”

Inspector General Police Mushtaq Sukhera told the media that terrorism could not be eradicated without the support of people. The sacrifices of the Balochistan Constabulary personnel would not go in vain as they have sacrificed their lives for the safety of people, he added.

The police chief praised security forces for performing their duties to ensure peace in the province. “A new security plan will be put in place in view of this incident,” he said.

Meanwhile, both Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Magsi and Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai condemned the attack, while Home Secretary Akbar Durrani announced compensation of Rs3 million each for the family of the deceased victims.

The victims were shifted to the Civil Hospital and Combined Military Hospital (CMH), where Health Secretary Mir Nasim Lehri declared emergency.

Funeral prayers for the deceased victims were offered at the Quetta police line, and were attended by Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fath Muhamamd, Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani, IG Police Musthaq Shukera, Personal Secretary to the CM Sarwar Javed, Quetta Commissioner Usman Gul, Balochistan Constabulary Commandant Ahsen Mehbob, and DIG Operation Fayaz Sumbul. The victims’ bodies were dispatched to their native towns for burial.

The deceased were identified as ASI Abdul Baqi, Constable Gul Mohamamd, Constable Javed Ahmed, Wakeel Ahmed, Sanaullah, Raz Muhamamd, Tahir Hussain, Ishaq Ahmed and the driver, Abdul Qadir, an employee of the civil secretariat.

Six killed in Sibi 

At least six people, including five women, were killed, while two others sustained injuries in a firing incident on Noorpur Road, an area of Bakra Mandi of Sibi, on Thursday, Sibi Police Station Official Rahim Bakhsh, told The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Repeating Balochistan in Sindh</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/543995/repeating-balochistan-in-sindh</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/543995/repeating-balochistan-in-sindh#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 13 18:52:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[naseer.memon]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=543995</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[With an entirely different sociopolitical outlook, Sindh can stoke a violence of unfathomable ramifications.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The recent spate of violence in Sindh attained yet another traumatic dimension when the brutalised bodies of two young students were found in Dadu district. In a typical Balochistan-styled episode, both activists of a nationalist party, Amir Khahawar and Sajjad Markhand, were picked up in Larkano a few days ago and their tortured bodies were later found on the roadside.

National media, being too occupied with election mania, ignored the incident but the grisly news made rounds on Sindhi television channels. In a similar incident, another political activist, Muzaffar Bhutto, was found dead after a protracted disappearance and four other activists were killed near Sanghar in broad daylight.

The recent incidents triggered a wave of violence, protests and a paralysing strike in large parts of the province. Kidnapping and dumping lacerated and mutilated bodies of political activists turned Balochistan into a vortex of violence and now, the same mistake is being repeated in a relatively sedate province. Similar incidents snowballed a political conflict into a secessionist movement in Balochistan.

The province has been made an open cemetery of political workers and yet, the insurgency has refused to subside. Past insurgencies in Balochistan were mostly confined to a few tribes and their areas, but this time, ceaseless killings have propelled the insurgency and bestowed it with broader ownership of lower and middle class people. An inept policy of using gun power to handle political conflict has not only sullied the country’s image in the international community but fuelled a fire that has become difficult to douse.

A nationalist movement in Sindh started in the early 1970s when GM Syed initiated the Jeay Sindh movement in the aftermath of the debacle of Bangladesh. However, a discrete identity of this movement has been its peaceful demeanour in consonance with GM Syed’s philosophy of non-violence and peaceful coexistence. As a result of that, nationalist parties and splinter groups of Jeay Sindh, in spite of having serious political disagreements, never resorted to mass violence. On April 25, GM Syed’s death anniversary was observed where about half a dozen groups of the Jeay Sindh movement held separate parallel gatherings in Sann and no untoward incident was reported.

Millions of non-locals are living peacefully in rural areas of Sindh and no one has been targeted on ethnic grounds. A similar peaceful coexistence prevailed in Balochistan till recent years. This peace was shattered when abduction and dumping dead bodies of political workers became ubiquitous. Every dead body was reciprocated with a macabre incident and that provided longevity to the bloodbath in the province. An ineptness of matching magnitude is being perpetrated in Sindh where a semblance of peace is already resting on the edge of a precipice. With an entirely different sociopolitical outlook and political ambience, Sindh can stoke a violence of unfathomable ramifications. People are already highly frustrated due to the lacklustre performance of mainstream parties. The outgoing elected government only multiplied the miseries of the people. Yet, the people seething with indignation are still clinging to forlorn hope in the proliferation of democratic dispensation in the country.

Pakistan is already confronting ignominy in the international community due to the spike in terrorism, disrespect for human rights, targeting of minorities and plummeting human development indicators. Repairing this besmirched image needs a saner approach and fratricide would certainly be a disservice to the country. At this juncture of history, the country can ill-afford further internal instability. Reckless incidents that can add fuel to the fire must be avoided at all costs.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Election manifesto: BNP-M to end Balochistan violence</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/544004/election-manifesto-bnp-m-to-end-balochistan-violence</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/544004/election-manifesto-bnp-m-to-end-balochistan-violence#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 03 May 13 15:50:42 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=544004</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Manifesto promises to promote peace and tolerance in Balochistan.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) on Friday announced their party manifesto in Quetta for the upcoming general elections, Radio Pakistan reported.

The manifesto promised that the party, if elected to power, would work on improving the law and order situation and eliminate the social evils plaguing Balochistan. The manifesto claimed that BNP-M would put a stop to instances of targeted killings in the province.

The manifesto added that the political party would regularise the gas supply to Balochistan and help create an environment that fosters peace and tolerance in the region.

BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal had earlier boycotted the 2008 elections and had been living in self-exile in Dubai. He recently returned to Pakistan to lead his own faction of the BNP in the upcoming elections.

He also wrote an open letter to the chief justice requesting him to play a role in conflict resolution between the Pakistani establishment and the Baloch nationalists seeking their inalienable national rights.]]>
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			<title>Bringing the Baloch in</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/535842/bringing-the-baloch-in</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/535842/bringing-the-baloch-in#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 15 Apr 13 17:34:23 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rasul.bakhsh.rais]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=535842</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It'll be a step forward when Balochistan people elect candidates as party flags, colours flow in fresh political air.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[One of the functions of elections is to resolve conflicts. Intractable issues like representation, rights of regions and peoples and clashing claims over distribution of resources require representatives to negotiate with. Balochistan is inflicted with many problems because of almost a decade of insurgency that former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s tunnel vision and dictatorial mindset ignited. Political transition from Musharraf’s rule to an elected government had raised some faint hope that the problem of Balochistan would be resolved. Nothing constructive happened except the passing of the Eighteenth Amendment, a great achievement in itself. We did not see any visible movement towards reconciling the angry Baloch nationalists — one of many failures.

We have haplessly been watching bloodshed in Balochistan, targeted killings, body dumping and sectarian terrorism. The Balochistan Assembly and the government did nothing except dole out money among its members. The Assembly and most of the members didn’t genuinely represent the Baloch people. They rose to power through phony politics and with the help of invisible hands that had been at work during the military regime of Musharraf. Quite a few of them had a tribal social base that they bargained for power. Buying off individual loyalties of the Baloch chiefs in this troubled province has been an age-old tactic. Musharraf, for his personal interests, destroyed every democratic institution, but the most damage he did was to the flourishing political party system. Balochistan didn’t escape his divide and rule strategy either.

Even dummies must know that democracy cannot function without political parties, which take time to develop. All military dictators have destroyed the political party system of Pakistan as well as targeting the judiciary. Military rule is not possible without disrupting the natural evolution of these institutions.

Balochistan received yet another setback when the nationalist parties decided to boycott the 2008 elections. Balochistan’s representation in the constitutional institutions, from the provincial to the National Assembly has remained a murky issue at best.

The return of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, former chief minister of Balochistan, and his decision to contest elections, marks a new beginning. It is going to be a fresh start — yet another opportunity to resolve the Baloch conflict that started with the brutal murder of Sardar Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti. Sadly, the history of Pakistan is replete with tragic examples of how individuals in military uniform captured power for personal interests and ruled the country like Mughal kings. At least, quite a few of the Mughals were graceful, sagacious and just, and connected with the peoples and communities by embracing local cultures. None of the military rulers of Pakistan had any of these merits — just the arrogant show-boys burning with vengeance against the genuine representatives of the people. No authentic Baloch spared.

Sardar Mengal and other nationalists have serious reservations about the intrusiveness of what they call the ‘security establishment’. It is time that their concerns and fears are addressed. They are not wrong in pointing fingers. We have a history of military dictators stealing elections and popular mandates. It will be a step forward when the people of Balochistan elect their representatives with party flags and colours flowing in fresh political air. Only authentic Baloch representatives can exercise moral and political authority and engage with the militant factions — mostly the estranged Baloch youth that has been driven to take up arms.

Baloch leaders with power and popular mandates can resolve the conflict and establish peace in Balochistan. All others, from state institutions to political parties, should listen to them and follow their steps.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 16th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan elections: Premier Khoso reaches out to nationalists</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/534033/balochistan-elections-premier-khoso-reaches-out-to-nationalists</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/534033/balochistan-elections-premier-khoso-reaches-out-to-nationalists#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 13 21:42:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Mohammed Zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=534033</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Says participation of all parties will send out a positive message to the world.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The caretaker prime minister, Mir Hazar Khan Khoso, has called upon all Baloch nationalist parties to take part in the May 11 elections, promising them security and a level-playing field.


“Participation of all nationalist parties in the elections will help restore peace in Balochistan and also send out a positive message to the international community,” Khoso told leaders of mainstream and nationalist parties during a meeting in Quetta on Wednesday.

Balochistan has been plagued by a low-level insurgency since 2004 where Baloch insurgents have been fighting for more financial autonomy and ownership of the region’s resources. The insurgency became deadlier after the killing of Baloch chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006.

Most Baloch nationalist groups had boycotted the 2008 elections to protest Bugti’s killing and the ‘military operation’ in the province, raising questions about the legitimacy of the democratic process.

Premier Khoso held out an assurance to all nationalist leaders that his administration would ensure their security in the upcoming parliamentary elections. The government will address security-related reservations and take steps to abolish ‘no-go’ areas in the province, he added.

Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting included Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mehmood Khan Achakzai, Balochistan National Party-Mengal’s Senior Vice President Dr Jahanzaib Jamaldini, National Party President Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Pakistan Peoples Party leaders Mir Amin Umrani and Mir Naseer Khan Mengal, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid’s Saeed Ahmed Hashmi and Awami National Party leaders Eng Zamaruk Piralizai and Aurangzeb Kasi.

Khoso said he would personally monitor implementation of the suggestions laid out by the nationalist leaders during the meeting. He urged them to promote ethnic, linguistic and provincial harmony in the province.

He said all political parties – including Baloch and Pakhtun nationalist groups – were participating in the 2013 election which would send out a positive signal to the outside world. “The federal government wants to see nationalist politicians in mainstream national politics,” he added.

However, the premier also warned that his administration, which has been tasked to hold free and fair elections in a trouble-free atmosphere, would not allow anyone to interfere in the election process. Khoso said he has directed law-enforcers and senior administration officials to take action against troublemakers in all constituencies, particularly in the sensitive areas.

The premier also asked Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi and Caretaker Chief Minister Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Barozai, who also attended the meeting, to provide foolproof security to all political leaders and ensure peaceful elections.

Chief Secretary Babar Yaqoob Fateh Mohammad, Home Secretary Capt (retd) Akbar Hussain Durrani and IGP Mushtaq Sukhira briefed to the caretaker premier on the security situation and the measures taken by the government to maintain peace in the province. The premier was also briefed about various projects, including the Gwadar deep-sea port, Gwadar Development Authority, Kachhi canal, and the Naulang and Mirani dams.

Khoso said the ongoing Rato Daro-Khudzar highway project was crucial for connecting Gwadar to the rest of the country.

“The Gwadar port will not only play a significant role in the progress of the province but will also usher the entire nation into a new era of development,” he said. “The federal government will also look into a proposal for the appointment of the Balochistan chief minister as chairman of the Gwadar Port Authority,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Balochistan’s crisis</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/533734/balochistans-crisis</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/533734/balochistans-crisis#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 10 Apr 13 16:51:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=533734</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[All Baloch political parties need to be brought together to ensure that polls can go ahead in the province.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The omens coming in before the May 2013 elections from Balochistan, where blood continues to spill even as plans for balloting go ahead, are not good. They could well be signalling very real dangers ahead. In a warning that should not be ignored, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, chief of his own faction of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) and a former chief minister of the province, has said that the BNP could pull out of contesting elections if things in Balochistan did not improve. This would be a disaster for the province, which has veered further and further away from mainstream political events.

Mr Mengal’s concerns about law and order, and a possible attempt by Baloch nationalist forces whom he calls “friends”, to derail the process are shared by the interim chief minister of the province, Nawab Ghous Baksh Barozai. Mr Barozai has said that he may travel overseas to talk to exiled Baloch leaders, including the Khan of Kalat, Brahamdagh Bugti, Hyrbyair Marri and others. He has also been contacting key Baloch leaders at home, but disputes Mr Mengal’s allegations that lashkars backed by the establishment are attempting to sabotage the BNP campaign. Mr Barozai also remains adamant that polls in the province will go ahead, despite the odds.

These odds are considerable. Mr Mengal has spoken of tortured, mangled bodies still turning up in towns across Balochistan and has lamented the fact that the Baloch people continue to go missing. Like Mr Barozai, he believes that the centre is largely responsible for the situation.

We desperately need to think harder about Balochistan. All Baloch political parties need to be brought together to discuss the situation and propose steps to ensure that polls can go ahead in the province. Otherwise, we may see a situation developing which will plunge the entire country into deep trouble. The clear words, signalling the risks, must be taken note of if such an outcome is to be avoided.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 11th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Army should be deployed in Balochistan: Caretaker interior minister</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/530716/army-should-be-deployed-in-balochistan-caretaker-interior-minister</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/530716/army-should-be-deployed-in-balochistan-caretaker-interior-minister#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 03 Apr 13 17:44:28 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=530716</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib says clean, good officers need to be deployed, sidetrack controversial ones.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Caretaker Interior Minister Malik Habib said on Wednesday that Balochistan was top priority and that army should be deployed in areas inhabited by the Hazara community, Express News reported.

He called for the army to be deployed in the province, particularly in areas where the Hazara community resides.

"Good officers should be deployed. I have heard that some upright officers were sidelined and I am looking into this."

The caretaker minister said he would sidetrack those security officers who were political or integrity wise controversial or were irregular appointments.

"Free and fair elections can only happen if we provide a good security environment."

Habib was selected in Caretaker Prime Minister Justice (retd) Mir Hazar Khan Khoso’s 15-member cabinet and was officially sworn in on Tuesday.]]>
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			<title>At stroke of midnight: Governor’s rule expires in Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/520611/at-stroke-of-midnight-governors-rule-expires-in-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/520611/at-stroke-of-midnight-governors-rule-expires-in-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 13 Mar 13 22:09:24 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=520611</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Constitutional experts say Raisani govt stands restored.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Ousted Balochistan chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani is all set to make a comeback as governor’s rule in Balochistan ceases to be in force today.
And even though confusion surrounds the exact date and time of the expiry of governor’s rule, Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Durrani confirmed to The Express Tribune on Wednesday that the restoration of Raisani’s government was certain given that President Asif Ali Zardari’s proclamation of governor’s rule in the province was set to expire on March 14.

Article 234 of the Constitution, which allows the president to impose governor’s rule in a province, provides for a two-month period of governor’s rule, after which any extension has to be approved by a joint sitting of Parliament.

“A proclamation issued under the Article 234 shall be laid before a joint sitting and shall cease to be in force at the expiration of two months, unless before the expiration of that period it has been approved by resolution of the joint sitting and may by like resolution be extended for a further period not exceeding two months at a time; but no such proclamation shall in any case remain in force for more than six months,” reads clause (3) of the same Article.

The provincial assembly in the insurgency-hit province, which has also been the focus of rising sectarian violence, is due to complete its term on April 5, unless it is dissolved at an earlier date.



Raisani, who was earlier being persuaded to voluntarily resign, will take the centre stage in setting up an interim government with restoration of the provincial government. However, efforts to obtain a resignation from the ousted chief minister had failed and Raisani, who has been holding negotiations in Islamabad since his return from the UAE, was likely to call a meeting of his supporters in the provincial assembly today (Thursday), The Express Tribune learnt.

As a result of the negotiations between leaders of coalition partners it has been decided that the PML-Q will be recognised as the main opposition party in the Balochistan Assembly.  Another senior official, requesting anonymity, said all the matters pertaining to the caretaker chief minister of Balochistan will be decided in Islamabad in consultation with the PPP leadership.

PPP, PML-Q and Maulana Fazlur Rehman’s JUI-F are major parties in the provincial government. To install a caretaker government either the PML-Q or JUI-F would have to occupy the position of leader of opposition in the provincial assembly.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi had a hectic day himself in the federal capital where he met Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf to discuss all the technicalities surrounding the caretaker set-up.

On the other hand, Balochistan Advocate General Amanullah Kanrani said the provincial government would be restored at the stroke of midnight on March 14.

‘’Constitutionally the sixty days time period of  governor’s rule will come to an end on March 14, therefore the provincial chief minister and his cabinet will be reinstated automatically,” he said.

However, he went on to add that the assembly could be dissolved by the provincial governor on the advice of the chief minister under Article 112 of the constitution, after which the caretaker government in Balochistan can be formed.

Besides being heavily censured by the Supreme Court for struggling to maintain the law and order situation, the provincial capital of Quetta has also been hit by two huge bombings this year targeting Shia Hazaras that have killed nearly 200 people.

President talks

President Asif Ali Zardari has begun final consultations with the leaders of allied parties on the interim set-up, which is scheduled to be in place at the centre and in provinces by the end of this week. The president along with his key aides held a detailed meeting with the top leadership of PML-Q to discuss the contours of the upcoming interim government, according to sources.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 14th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>In cold blood: District election commissioner gunned down</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/519986/in-cold-blood-district-election-commissioner-gunned-down</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/519986/in-cold-blood-district-election-commissioner-gunned-down#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 12 Mar 13 22:19:38 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=519986</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf condemned the murder of Qasmi.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The district election commissioner of Quetta was gunned down in an act of target killing in the busy area of Chandni Chowk in Satellite Town in the provincial capital of Balochistan on Tuesday.


Chief of Satellite Town police station Tanveer Ahmed told The Express Tribune that DEC Muhammad Ziaullah Qasmi was on his way home in a rickshaw and upon reaching Chandni Chowk, unidentified men opened fire on the three-wheeler. Qasmi received multiple bullet wounds and died on the spot, while the rickshaw driver sustained minor injuries. The victims were rushed to Civil Hospital where the DEC was pronounced dead on arrival. Qasmi belonged to Sargodha in Punjab.

The rickshaw driver said he was dropping Qasmi home when they both suddenly heard the firing. “Both of us ducked down. I could not see who they [the attackers] were and where they escaped,” Habibullah said.

Hearing of the incident, Balochistan Chief Election Commissioner Sultan Bayazeed rushed to Civil Hospital. Speaking to the media outside the hospital, Bayazeed said that despite owning a car, Qasmi almost always travelled around in a rickshaw due to security concerns, “but unfortunately today he was targeted”.

“He may have received some threats but he did not inform us. Everyone knows elections are drawing nearer and we have security concerns,” he claimed.

Police surgeon Dr Noor Baloch said that the district election commissioner was shot more than four times, killing him instantly.

Family sources said he would be taken to his native town for burial.

Police said a case had been registered against unidentified assailants and an investigation was under way.

ECP chief pays condolences

Hearing of the killing of DEC Qasmi, Chief Election Commissioner Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G Ebrahim and members of the Election Commission of Pakistan condemned the killing and grieved over his death.

“On his death, the ECP has lost a dutiful and vigilant officer who served the ECP with exemplary commitment and distinction,” said a press release issued by the Commission.

ECP also demanded authorities to immediately investigate the matter, arrest those responsible and take swift action against the culprits.

PM Ashraf deplores killing

Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf also condemned the murder of Qasmi. The prime minister said his government was determined to eliminate militancy from the country. He added that such incidents could not deter the government’s resolve to fight terrorism. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM APP)

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Without a trace: Abductors dressed in FC uniform  kidnap ANP leader</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/516525/without-a-trace-abductors-dressed-in-fc-uniform-kidnap-anp-leader</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/516525/without-a-trace-abductors-dressed-in-fc-uniform-kidnap-anp-leader#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 05 Mar 13 22:18:29 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=516525</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Senator Adeel claimed that the kidnappers brought Tareen to Quetta and were demanding Rs500 million as ransom.]]>
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				<![CDATA[A group of armed men dressed in Frontier Corps uniform kidnapped Balochistan Assembly member and leader of the Awami National Party (ANP) Malik Sultan Tareen in the Bostan area of Pishin district on Tuesday.


The abductors intercepted Tareen’s vehicle and held him, his guard and driver at gunpoint before driving away in the vehicle. Minutes into their getaway, they set his guard and driver free before escaping to an undisclosed location with the MPA.

Deputy Commissioner Pishin Hashim Gilzai confirmed the incident, saying that “Malik Sultan Tareen was heading towards his native town of Harnai in his official vehicle from Quetta when armed men intercepted him at Ziarat cross of Kuchlak. The kidnappers have probably taken away the minister,” he told The Express Tribune. Gilzai said a case had been registered against a person whose identity he would not disclose. “The brother of the minister, Malik Sher Mohammad Tareen, filed an application to register the case,” he added.

Quoting Sher Mohammad, the deputy commissioner said that the same person against whom the case has been filed made two failed attempts to kidnap Tareen. “We are going to arrest him and interrogate him in order to clear the situation,” he stated.

Sher Mohammad claimed that he was unable to understand who would kidnap Tareen. “We have no enmity with anybody. Rather we are the followers of Bacha Khan and his policy of non-violence.”

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Head Constable of Police Control Line Syed Muhammad said that according to Tareen’s guard, they left Quetta at 6:30pm in a car bearing the number plate AFQ-479 and at 7:30pm they reached Kili Mirza Khan Bazai of Bostan District, when approximately 20 to 25 unidentified men in FC uniforms intercepted them. The guard then went back to Sher Mohammad’s residence after being released to inform him about the incident.

ANP’s Balochistan chapter President Aurangzaib Kansi criticised the provincial government for its failure to protect the Baloch people. He said ANP workers were being targeted for a reason and the governor’s rule was not improving the situation either.

Central ANP leader Senator Haji Adeel claimed that the kidnappers brought Tareen to Quetta and were demanding Rs500 million as ransom.

But Kansi stated that there had been no such demands yet. Dozens of ANP activists took to the streets of Harnai to protest the kidnapping and demanded his immediate release.

However, provincial Home Secretary Captain (retd) Akbar Hussain Durrani revealed the identity of the person against whom the case has been registered. Tareen’s relatives nominated Wakeel Kayal in the case. Kayal is a resident of the Sharag area in Harnai.

“A committee headed by commissioner Quetta has been formed for the recovery of Tareen and where his relatives would suggest, raids would be carried out,” Durrani added.


Published in The Express Tribune, March 6th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Into thin air</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514821/into-thin-air</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/514821/into-thin-air#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 02 Mar 13 19:43:44 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=514821</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[We must quickly &amp;amp; methodically act to save Balochistan before it disintegrates into further disarray before our eyes.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The possibility of going missing, and suddenly vanishing into thin air in Balochistan, seems to be increasing. We now learn that the top prosecutor of the province, Wasay Tareen, has joined the list of those who are missing. According to reports, he was last heard from while travelling through the  Zhob district on his way from Islamabad to Quetta several days ago. His family says that nothing has been heard of him since.

The Balochistan High Court Chief Justice, Qazi Faez Essa, has taken suo-motu notice of the matter and expressed concern over the issue as have organisations of lawyers across the province. Given the situation that prevails there, it is difficult to say what the motives behind the disappearance may be. Mr Tareen could have been picked up for criminal motives or for others linked to the general unrest in Balochistan. The lawlessness that exists there is shocking and is having a wider and wider impact on the lives of the people.

This incident has caught the attention of many in the country. The reality is that people continue to go missing in Balochistan with little notice taken of this. Their stories have now been told by prominent novelists, as well as newspersons and rights activists. But despite this, nothing has changed. The question is, how this change will come. It can happen only if, at both the central and provincial levels, a full-fledged strategy for the future of Balochistan is put in place, with the concerns of its people given greatest priority rather than any other game of power being played out in the area. The ethnic, nationalist, sectarian and political tensions which travel across Balochistan have now come close to destroying it. The latest act of crime just shows that those behind such acts are gaining greater and greater confidence. There is no longer any time to wait. We must quickly and methodically act to save the province before it disintegrates into further disarray before our eyes. This is what is happening right now.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2013.]]>
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			<title>A broken land</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512397/a-broken-land</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512397/a-broken-land#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 13 19:12:35 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512397</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The key issue is whether state has capacity; will to calm sectarian, nationalist and ethnic tensions in Balochistan.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Things have gone so badly wrong in Balochistan it is hard to know if they can ever be fixed. The degree of violence sweeping across the province is overwhelming and it is now clear that there is no evidence it is dying out. The Governor’s Rule imposed by the centre a month ago has had no impact on killings in the province. In the latest gory incident to stain the province with still deeper marks of crimson, six labourers working on the Makran Coastal Highway, about 25 kilometres from the town of Pasni, were ordered out of their camp by unknown gunmen, lined up along the roadside and shot-dead in cold blood. All the victims were from Zhob district.

The motive behind this atrocity is unclear. The Makran Coastal Highway links Gwadar with Karachi. The port has recently been handed over to a Chinese firm. But it is impossible to say if this factor was in any way linked to the death of the labourers, who could naturally have played no role in the decision. They had been brought in from Zhob, a few days before, to make repairs to the road. Their bodies have now been sent home. A 12-year-old boy present at the site was spared.

Local authorities hint there had been some warning of an attack. Some fingers point towards Baloch nationalists engaged in an insurgency in the province. Other voices speak of a possible Indian hand, given that country’s opposition to any involvement by China in Gwadar. The truth is impossible to know. Things in Balochistan are too complex to reach conclusions quickly. The key issue is whether our state has the capacity and will to calm the sectarian, nationalist and ethnic tensions that have crushed Balochistan. So far, there is no indication that this capacity exists. The dismissal of the provincial government last month has made no difference at all, and we need to think about what can be done to end the unrelenting violence which continues across a province where there are still no signs that the rule of law can be made to prevail.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Steely resolve of Hazaras: ‘We are not victims — we choose to live and to fight’</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512117/steely-resolve-of-hazaras-we-are-not-victims-we-choose-to-live-and-to-fight</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512117/steely-resolve-of-hazaras-we-are-not-victims-we-choose-to-live-and-to-fight#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 13 05:22:43 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[rabia.ali]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Sindh]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512117</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Quetta attack victims who came to Karachi for treatment vow to keep dreams alive.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[Trauma alone from a blast such as the one which took place in Quetta on February 16 can leave an individual paralysed with fear - but the girls of Hazara, the community which was targeted in the attack, have found resilience and strength after surviving it.


Their injuries range from broken backs to severed toes to burnt arms but they are adamant to go back home and join their schools.

“Last night, I had a dream that I was in my class and when I woke up, I called the nurse at 4am and asked her to give me a pen and paper as I wanted to write,” said a smiling Zubeida Mohammad, after she removed her oxygen mask to speak at the hospital in Karachi where she is being treated. “I can’t wait to go back to school.”

Amongst the 37 injured, who have been brought to Karachi for treatment, are young girls who were at an English learning centre when the bomb ripped through the area.

The deadly attack, which killed more than 80 people, injured the girls physically but gave them boundless courage to start their lives and education again.

“Before the blast I wanted to be a doctor - now I want to be a journalist. I will write about all the things that are not mentioned in the media about us and I will write of how we are suffering,” said the determined student of grade nine.



Shamsia Hussain, 14, who is being treated at the children’s ward of the hospital, recalled that they were learning the definition of prepositions when the roof of the Cambridge Educational Academy caved in.

With a broken back, making it impossible for her to walk or sit, she also recalled the blood-stained bodies and screams after the attack - yet she is not scared of going back to her class.

“I will study even harder now. In fact, I will study as long as I am breathing,” she said. “Children should not stop from going to school. Malala didn’t stop when the Taliban threatened her. We will also not be discouraged.”

Hussain wishes to be a female police officer when she grows up, so that she can catch all the criminals who are attacking the Hazara community.

In another ward lies Gul pari who took up the English classes because no one taught the language at her private school. “It is an international language and I felt it was important to learn for my further studies,” said the girl, covering her bandaged leg with a white sheet.

She had only class left to completing the course when the blast took place. “One more class and I would have gotten the certificate,” said the teary girl.

As fate would have it, when the blast occurred, the girls were having a discussion about target killings and pondering over why their community was being targeted. Gul Pari, who practices English language in front of the mirror and with her friends, is hopeful that things will eventually take a turn for the better. “Everything will be okay - I will go to college one day.”

An activist of the Hazara community, who preferred to stay anonymous, said that the people of Hazara always cling to two things - education and loyalty to the country. He said that terrorist attacks will never discourage the students from pursuing education. ‘Today, it is our people who have the highest literacy rate in Quetta.”

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Peace overtures: ANP ponders holding direct talks with TTP</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512136/peace-overtures-anp-ponders-holding-direct-talks-with-ttp</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512136/peace-overtures-anp-ponders-holding-direct-talks-with-ttp#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 25 Feb 13 04:40:48 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[qaiser.butt]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512136</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[ANP leaders are worried about their security, particularly after their rule in K-P expires next month.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[The Awami National Party will have to initiate a peace dialogue with the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan in case the federal government fails to host peace talks between the two groups, president of Balochistan chapter ANP’s  Aurangzeb Kasi has argued.


The government’s ally in the centre and the ruling party in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa has come under frequent attacks from the militant group. Most recently, the TTP-led assassination bid on ANP leader and provincial minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour forced the political party to convene an All Parties Conference (APC) to evolve a national strategy for peace talks with the TTP.

However, in case the peace talks fail, Kasi said that the party “will have to disassociate themselves from the war against terror before inviting TTP for direct peace talks.”



The ANP has already asked people at the helm to invite TTP leaders for a trilateral peace dialogue (between the government, ANP and TTP), Kasi disclosed. In his party’s view, the army should also be invited to the talks. “However, if the government does not consider our demand, we will be left with no option but to talk to the TTP on our own,” the ANP leader warned.

On February 14, the ANP convened an All Parties Conference (APC) in Islamabad supporting government-TTP peace negotiations.

“We are no longer in a position to suffer more human losses in the wake of terrorism, therefore, we asked the government and army to involve TTP leaders in peace negotiations,” Kasi said.

ANP leaders are worried about their security, particularly after their rule in K-P expires next month, and they will lose all official security arrangements, the leader admitted.

“The irony is that only ANP leaders and activists are facing targeted killing. We cannot afford to tolerate such losses further. We are forced to think about means to prevent ANP targeted terrorism and violence,” he said.

The move to carry out talks with the Taliban may also be tainted in Pakhtun nationalist elements.  “Being Pakhtuns, the ANP leaders and Taliban are mature enough to resolve all of our differences ourselves,” Kasi said. “Being Pakhtun ourselves, we will also have to decide our destiny if we feel that our future is threatened by terrorism or violence.”

“The  Pakhtun [are in] such a complicated and difficult situation as they are facing terrorism and violence, on the one hand and an indifference on the part of federal government to defend them against terrorists, on the other,” Kasi said, adding that they warned the establishment that the country could not afford another Balochistan-like situation on Pakhtun land.

He went on to add that the Pakhtun youth also felt that being the largest political organisation, the ANP’s identity is being endangered by the establishment policies.

“The Pakhtun are not willing to surrender their rights for the interest of any superpower in the region, nor will they compromise their independent political policies,” Kasi concluded.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Grisly attack: In cold blood, gunmen kill six labourers in Pasni</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512172/grisly-attack-in-cold-blood-gunmen-kill-six-labourers-in-pasni</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/512172/grisly-attack-in-cold-blood-gunmen-kill-six-labourers-in-pasni#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 24 Feb 13 22:25:49 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=512172</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[The victims were repairing a highway that connects Gwadar with Karachi.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Gunmen shot dead six labourers in Gwadar district in the wee hours of Sunday in a grisly attack that came over a month after President Asif Zardari declared governor’s rule in Balochistan to stem the rising tide of ethnic, sectarian and militant violence in the province.

“Gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire on the labourers who were working on the Makran Coastal Highway in Shadi Kaur area, some 25 kilometres from Pasni city,” Assistant Commissioner Naeem Gichki told The Express Tribune. The attackers, however, spared a 12-year-old boy at the site.

The Makran Coastal Highway connects Gwadar port city with Karachi. The strategically located Gwadar deep seaport was recently handed over to China – a move disfavoured by India.



Another district administration official contradicted Gichki’s account. “The labourers were forced out of a roadside camp and lined up before being shot dead by the attackers,” the official said requesting anonymity.

All the labourers died on the spot. Levies personnel, later, shifted the bodies to the Pasni hospital before sending them to their hometown for burial.

“The incident took place at around 2am on Sunday,” Gichki said, adding the
labourers were brought in from Quetta to work on the highway. He identified the victims as Abdul Haleem, Muhammad Yousaf, Muhammad Yaqoob, Nooruddin, Kahlo Jan, Yameen and Rehmatullah, all residents of Zhob district.

“A local contractor brought them (the labourers) from Quetta a day earlier to repair the highway,” Sayed Ghayazuddin, the district police officer (DPO) confirmed to The Express Tribune.

He claimed Gwadar’s deputy commissioner had warned against such an attack in Pasni in a February 21 official communication.

“The deputy commissioner had ordered the establishment of checkpoints at the entry and exit points of Pasni to thwart such an attack … the checkpoints were being set up when this attack took place,” he added.

Police registered the case and, according to DPO Ghayazuddin, a manhunt has been launched for the attackers.

Relatives of the victims, meanwhile, staged a protest outside the Quetta press club and demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far. But Baloch insurgent groups have been blamed for such attacks in the past.

Balochistan has been in the grip of a low-level insurgency since 2004. The insurrection, however, became deadlier following the killing of Baloch chieftain and Jamhoori Wattan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti in a military operation in 2006.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 25th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>No point in using the army?</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511603/no-point-in-using-the-army</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/511603/no-point-in-using-the-army#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 23 Feb 13 18:41:02 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[anwer.mooraj]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=511603</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Hazara have only one option, they will have to stand up and fight like the heroic Polish Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto.]]>
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				<![CDATA[There is a band of analytical writers in Pakistan that believes that the army should not be called in to stop the orgy of killing that is taking place in Quetta and other parts of the country — because there is really no point in rolling out the tanks when you just can’t spot the enemy. That, at least, is the basic logic behind the reasoning. But if you scratch below the surface, there is a much more sinister explanation. Once the lads in uniform get a foot into the door, there is a strong chance they will be around for the next 10 or 11 years, pulling the strings that make the marionettes dance. And so, nothing will really change, except, of course, the faces and perhaps, the rate of exchange against the dollar because the military brass would have got rid of all the freeloaders in the assemblies that get paid for doing no work, and there would, therefore, be less deficit financing.

Ejaz Haider is a member of the more enlightened group of writers and I found his essay, published in The Express Tribune on February 20, illuminating. Places, periods and people were conjured up in depth and detail and I felt there was a warm, genuine concern for the Hazara community that is being decimated for no fault of its own. However, Mr Haider feels that bringing in the army is no solution, and one of his reasons centred on the premise that this wouldn’t be a case of a conventional conflict but would involve targeting an invisible enemy that strikes where and when it wishes. He is, of course, absolutely right. In open combat, the terrorists wouldn’t have any chance whatsoever against a modern, well-equipped army.

The article was scholarly and well-argued in the cold white light of reason, as all of Mr Haider’s articles are, and the ball was hit on both sides of the net. But when I got to the end of the piece, I felt a little frustrated. Though the arguments didn’t quite get swamped in the tinsel as often happens, the conclusion I drew from the piece was that the Hazaras will simply have to hang around until the next bomb blast and hope this time it won’t be so severe. Because nobody is really going to do anything to protect them. Assurances by the government don’t count because the government has lost all credibility and anyway, appears to be partisan. Mr Haider did dwell on the need for intelligence and for astuteness in gathering information. The question is, who do the Hazaras go to for this intelligence? It would be naïve to think that the Pakistan military didn’t have the necessary information. But the government has told the chaps in uniform to stay in their barracks and not to get involved.

So, in my opinion, these settlers from Afghanistan are left with only one option. They have to stand up and fight like the heroic Polish Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto. They have to try to get financing from abroad so they can hire mercenaries who can track down these militants and give them a taste of their own medicine. And they have to become guerillas. Only then will they be able to, in the words of Mr Haider “ … penetrate the groups. Surprise them. Make them jittery. Take the initiative away from them. Make them distrust each other. Force them into making mistakes.” In other words, they have to take a page or two out of Mao’s book. With the administration being paralysed, they might just get away with it.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Pakistan’s ‘strategic’ backwaters</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/510087/pakistans-strategic-backwaters</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/510087/pakistans-strategic-backwaters#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Wed, 20 Feb 13 18:43:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[ayesha.siddiqa]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=510087</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[No one wants to deal with the law and order problem but the Balochistan’s natural resources are just another matter.]]>
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				<![CDATA[It seems that Balochistan is no one’s responsibility when it comes to dealing with crisis but everyone else’s responsibility when it is a matter of taking critical decisions. Thus, no one wants to deal with the law and order problem but the province’s natural resources are just another matter. Eventually, no one does anything meaningful for the province. One of the biggest examples of the above-cited attitude is the federal government’s signing of a deal with China to develop and run Gwadar port or the MoU signed with Iran for the gas pipeline through Balochistan. Both the projects are great and will hopefully bring some level of prosperity to the region. However, it is the manner in which both actions have been taken, which must be questioned; the federal government signed off control of the port without any major involvement of the provincial government.

Was it that the provincial government was too absorbed in dealing with the Hazara killings of last month and thus it could not attend to such an important matter? Or is it that the federal government thought it was in a better position to negotiate interests? Such behaviour is odd especially after the much-propagated Eighteenth Amendment to the 1973 Constitution, under which major ports and shipping falls under the list of subjects that are shared responsibility of the federal and provincial governments. This means that the Balochistan government should have been included in the negotiations and part of the signing process. Surely, there are many who would draw attention towards the capacity issue. They would argue that a government that cannot protect its citizens, like the Hazaras, does not have the capacity, hence the right, to be part of the process. However, capacities don’t grow on trees and unless people are made to take responsibility, they will never learn. Pakistan’s 66-year history has also been that of crowding out of regions and institutions by the more powerful ones, so in the end things remain where they are because those who are supposed to do the work don’t know how to do it. In any case, there shouldn’t have been any fear of opposition from a fairly pliant provincial government. According to an expert, who works on devolution of power from the centre to the provinces, with a pliable government in Quetta, there was no likelihood of anyone raising any question, so why not include the province just for the sake of appearance. Indubitably, the provincial government’s capacity to protect its Hazara population should not be used to take away its right to decide the use of its resources.

Intriguingly, no federal institution is ready to take responsibility for securing law and order in the province for which everyone, including the highest courts, would like to blame the inept provincial government or the prime minister who does not really control various forms of the security establishment in the country, especially those operating in Balochistan. Raja Pervaiz Ashraf has a lot to answer for but he certainly does not control the various militant outfits like the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) operating in the province. The LeJ operates in Karachi in its various forms — it is running wild in Balochistan and is expanding happily in Punjab and Sindh without anyone stopping such proliferation. Malik Ishaq, who is one of the leaders of the LeJ, sits happily in Punjab with full knowledge that nothing serious can happen against him except for being jailed under the MPO. He knows fully well that the only case in which he was caught was of the murder of an Iranian diplomat in Multan in 1997, and this case was closed by the Supreme Court in 2011. The SC not only released Ishaq but overturned his death sentence by the anti-terrorism court (ATC). Sadly, the case dragged on until the time that the ATC judge giving the sentence escaped the country and the LeJ walked around merrily shooting down each of the about a dozen eyewitnesses who had given evidence in the case, including a senior police officer from Gujranwala, Ashraf Marth.

Now, the security agencies happily hide behind the artificial classification of ‘controlled’ versus ‘uncontrolled’ LeJ. The narrative being popularised is that there is a good LeJ headed by Ishaq that sits in Punjab and is friendly to the Pakistani state versus the LeJ International (al-Alami) that is stationed in North Waziristan and attacks the state and its citizens. However, it is also very odd that the intelligence agencies and the security establishment has not done a thing in using Ishaq to negotiate with the bad LeJ as was done during the attack on the GHQ in 2009. Ishaq was flown in to buy time from the assailants to secure senior army officers stuck in the headquarters. The larger argument is that the good militants are used to negotiate with the bad militants. Intriguingly, this is the same formula suggested for Afghanistan in some of the papers written and supervised by the establishment types and sold to the public as consensus document.

Those buying into the ‘good’ versus ‘bad’ militant argument forget that the LeJ and other militants have always been and remain conduits of state actors. Pakistani scholar and former police officer Hassan Abbas’s book Pakistan’s Drift into Extremism (M E Sharpe, 2005) is essential reading to understanding some of the connections. The author lays out the connection between our prime intelligence agency, America’s CIA and the LeJ in the killing of an Iranian diplomat in 1997. There was a money trail from the US to the LeJ’s Riaz Basra responsible for the killing. Leafing through the book, one is forced to think if the same logic or relationship prevails now. The LeJ in Balochistan could happily take cover of the shared suspicion of Iran by Islamabad and Washington to kill the Hazaras that many in the Pakistan establishment consider as being close to Iran or (even trained by the neighbour). A similar suspicion of the above linkage in the 1980s had resulted in a Shia massacre in early 1988 in Gilgit-Baltistan, which was then suspected of becoming too autonomous of the state and going under Iranian influence.

Sadly, with no one taking responsibility of security and foreign policymaking, the Hazaras and Shias or other minorities may continue to be killed.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21st, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Bringing in the army is no solution</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/509621/bringing-in-the-army-is-no-solution</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/509621/bringing-in-the-army-is-no-solution#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 19 Feb 13 18:36:31 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[Ejaz Haider]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=509621</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Armies like to pack a punch. But landing a punch requires a cheek. This enemy refuses to present a target.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Quetta is burning again. In a surreal replay, we once again have men, women, children killed brutally and gratuitously in the name of some demonic ideology. We once again have hapless Hazara families mourning and protesting and refusing to bury their dead. And we once again have decent citizens, Shia and Sunni alike, protesting countrywide yet another atrocity.

To what end, one should ask.

Last time we asked that the incompetent government of Aslam Raisani be removed. It took the federal government some three days to concede that demand, rather reluctantly and under pressure. The government also gave the Frontier Corps policing powers. It was thought that the government had done both the necessary and sufficient to ensure that the Lashkar-e Jhangvi (LeJ) terrorists will slink away.

Well they haven’t. If anything, they have middle-fingered the government and the entire decent population of Pakistan.

So, what now? This time, the demand is to hand over Quetta to the army (there are voices asking for much the same for Karachi). Pulling in the army is no cure. The army neither has the capacity nor the required set of skills to deal with this situation. It is stupid to try and kill flies with a sledgehammer. The enemy in this case is both known and elusive.

Armies like to pack a punch. But landing a punch requires a cheek. This enemy refuses to present a target. He is cowardly; he lurks in the shadows; he sends in suicide bombers, the ultimate smart bomb. And how will the army tackle that?

Let’s take its standard MO. It will establish pickets; start patrolling; restrict movement. But, for how long? This is not a riot situation and the army cannot be given this task with no end in sight to that deployment.

The LeJ is a terrorist group. It plans carefully and executes ruthlessly. It is not out to capture territory physically. Its aim is to break the state’s will to fight. Its plan requires psychological dominance. It instils fear; its use of the suicide bomber is meant to tear asunder the social bonds and trust that are the mainstay of the functioning of any society.

And Quetta or Mastung are just two places where it operates. But what it is doing is not to be seen in isolation. Its actions are part of the larger agenda of the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), allied with the remaining leadership of al Qaeda in Pakistan’s tribal areas. With most of the Arab foot soldiers having relocated to Yemen, Syria and Somalia, al Qaeda has found more fanatic cadres from among the Punjabi Taliban.

Would the state deploy the army everywhere, which is neither possible nor advisable? While Quetta is mourning, up in Lahore, a Shia doctor and his 12-year-old son were assassinated. This could be the beginning of a trend. The terrorist moves swiftly and uses the element of surprise. He can strike, hunker down, and then strike again. What made Hannibal win at the battles of Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae against much-larger Roman armies? Speed, deception, surprise.

The TTP has put its agenda on the table, clearly and repeatedly. It knows the state doesn’t have the will to fight. The political parties are in disarray over what to do. The religio-political parties lie through their teeth. The state wants to negotiate, but to what end? As noted by friend Feisal Naqvi, negotiations presuppose give and take but the TTP has made it amply clear that it only believes in taking.

One should never shy from talking; very often a strategy relies on talking and fighting. But knowing when to talk is crucial. Fear must never be the basis of talking.

Let it then be said — and I take a broad overview of the situation here, this being no position paper — that deploying the army to fight ghost terrorists is no answer. It will solve nothing. The strategy has to have many prongs.

Take Quetta. It is sad that for long the city has been divided along ethnic lines. But given this situation, concentration of population also makes it easier to start by protecting Hazara areas. Designated army units should be on standby but the lead has to be taken by the intelligence agencies. Flies can never be swatted through brute force but with a deft hand. Actionable intelligence is the most crucial ingredient of this fight. There should be better coordination among different branches and between analysts and field operatives.

We had ample time to develop efficient anti-terrorist units within the police but that opportunity has been squandered. On the plus side, there’s still time to begin to put such units together. The most important baseline is simple: action has to be discriminate and effective. Home in on the flies; take them out with a deft hand and at a time when they are least expecting it.

This requires a set of skills and capability which is currently sorely lacking. Our only response is to send in heavily armed units for fire-fighting. That is an important part of a solution but not the primary one. The terrorists groups send in groups of two or four. They manage, through a superior plan and surprise, to engage hundreds of troops. The pattern has by now been repeated ad nauseam. Sending in the troops hasn’t worked before and it won’t work next time either.

Penetrate the groups. Surprise them. Make them jittery. Take the initiative away from them. Make them distrust each other. Force them into making mistakes.

All of this is a function of superior intelligence and selective use of force, not heavy contingents of army pooping off thousands of rounds of ammo in a fire fight against two or four or six attackers after they have done the damage. “All the terrorists were killed.” Big deal. What does it mean when the objective for which they had come was achieved? And almost always, they come with the knowledge that they will be killed. They have to be captured or killed before they bring the war to us.

And the army, if it’s still not clear enough, cannot do that.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 20th, 2013.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/509621-EjazHaiderNew-1361296451/509621-EjazHaiderNew-1361296451.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			<title>64 killed, over 180 injured in blast on Kirani Road in Quetta</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/508261/blast-on-kirani-road-in-quetta</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/508261/blast-on-kirani-road-in-quetta#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 16 Feb 13 13:23:09 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[afp]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=508261</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Lashkar-e-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the attack.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A massive bomb targeting the shia Hazara tore through a busy Quetta market, killing as many as 63 people on Saturday including women and children and wounding 180 others, police and officials said.

The bomb, planted in a tanker on a tractor trolley ripped, through a packed bazaar in Hazara town, on Kirani road located on the outskirts of Quetta at around 6:00 pm.

"At least 63 people have been killed and 180 injured. Most of them were from the shia community," Quetta city police chief Zubair Mehmood told reporters.

The police chief said the tanker full of explosives was placed near a pillar of a two-story building, which collapsed due to the force of the blast. Sources say between 800 and a 1000 kilogramme of explosives were used.

"We fear that several people have been trapped inside. Rescue work is ongoing but I see very little chance of their survival," Mehmood said.

Senior police official Wazir Khan Nasir said the bombing "was a sectarian attack, the shia community was the target".

A spokesperson for the banned Sunni Muslim extremist group Lashkar-e-Jhangvi claimed responsibility for the bombing.

Provincial home secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani said the dead and injured included women and children, and confirmed reports of people trapped under rubble at the site of the collapsed building.

"We fear more casualties. We have announced an emergency in hospitals," he told AFP. Most of the injured were rushed to the Civil-Military Hospital (CMH). Some were rushed to the Bolan Medical Complex (BMC.)

Officials and witnesses said an angry mob initially surrounded the area following the bombing and were not allowing police, rescue workers and reporters to reach the site.

"They were angry and started a protest, some of them pelted police with stones," Durrani said, adding that authorities and medical personnel were eventually able to gain access.

Sayed Qamar Haider Zaidi, a spokesperson for shia groups in the area, condemned the Pakistani government for not providing protection to the community, and announced three days of mourning and protest over the attack.

Majlis Wahatul Muslemeen has announced to observed strike tomorrow as a protest against the Quetta's blast.

Meanwhile, President Asif Ali Zardari telephoned Balochistan Governor and directed him to utilise all resources for the protection of Hazara community.

The Balochistan governor, under whose charge the province had been placed last month, announced Rs1 million as compensation to heirs of each of the victims. He said that those who were critically wounded would be shifted to Karachi for better treatment.

_______________________________________________

[poll id="1035"]]]>
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			<title>A province under fire: CJ says extraordinary measures needed in Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/508099/a-province-under-fire-cj-says-extraordinary-measures-needed-in-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/508099/a-province-under-fire-cj-says-extraordinary-measures-needed-in-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 13 19:57:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=508099</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Chief Justice says the confidence of those who have left Dera Bugti must be restored in the government.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Supreme Court on Friday asserted that Balochistan has become a hub of illegal activities, and there can no longer be any compromise on its law and order situation.

This was stated by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry as he addressed senior officials while heading a three member bench on Balochistan security.

“The situation of the province is not normal and there must be extraordinary measures to control it,” he said.

The chief justice further observed how the province has now become a haven for criminal elements and sectarianism, even though there was no sectarianism in the province just a few years ago.

According to him, the confidence of the people who have left Dera Bugti must be restored in the government. For this, mere advertisements in newspapers are not enough.

“Why is action not taken against those who are involved in abduction of people in the province?”he asked. “If people are fearful of FC officials, then action should be taken against those officials who are involved in abductions.”

Balochistan home secretary informed the court that two recovered persons said in their statements that they were abducted by men in uniforms.

To this, the Balochistan government’s counsel Shahid Hamid said that security agencies had indentified the abductors of seven missing persons.

Furthermore, the chief justice said that governor’s rule has not been validated by the Parliament as yet. He said the court was in favour of democracy, but noted how many compromises must be made in a democratic set-up.

Chief Justice Chaudhry also emphasized the role of illegal SIMs in helping facilitate incidents such as kidnapping for ransom, bomb blasts, and targeted killings. He noted that these SIMs are openly sold on roadsides, without any documentation or record trail of the purchaser. Even children sell the already activated SIMs.

“These illegal SIMS ultimately used for terror-related activities’,” he said.

According to him, the Taliban are also using these means for communication and for implementing their violent plans.

The DIG of the Criminal Investigation Department of Balochistan said that 700 SIMs were purchased by a single person in a single day.

In response, the counsel for the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) Raza Kazim said that such a large number of SIMs is never sold by the PTA to a single person, but by franchises. He said that the PTA should be given the authority to block the illegal SIMs.

Justice Gulzar Ahmed also shared his thoughts on the issue as he observed the ease with which crimes are being carried out. All a militant needs now are a mobile phone and a bomb.]]>
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				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/508099-SupremecourtBalochistan-1360958084/508099-SupremecourtBalochistan-1360958084.JPG" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Illegal usage of mobile SIMs continues unabated in Balochistan: DIG</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/507736/illegal-usage-of-mobile-sims-continues-unabated-in-balochistan-dig</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/507736/illegal-usage-of-mobile-sims-continues-unabated-in-balochistan-dig#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 15 Feb 13 08:59:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=507736</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Supreme Court urges serious action by telecom operators to curb illegal usage of mobile phones]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Balochistan police, Mohammed Saleem Lehri has told the Supreme Court that unregistered Subscriber Identity Modules (SIMs) are being used to create more trouble in the province. 

While presenting his assessment in the apex court that was hearing a case on the selling and usage of illegal and unregistered SIM cards across Pakistan, the DIG alleged that the situation in Balochistan was such that on any given day, more than 700 SIM cards were being registered by the trouble makers.

He added that they were using the electoral registration lists of the National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) to further their designs.

Adding his remarks to the case, Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry said that today SIM cards were being sold at general stores, pharmacies and even on footpaths across the nation. He said that  illegal SIM cards were being used to incite sectarian violence, targeted killings, terror activities and for kidnappings across Pakistan.

He ordered the mobile phone companies to take urgent corrective measures in order to ensure that SIM cards were only sold through responsible means. He also instructed them to take actions in order to curb the illegal usage of SIM cards and mobile phone services in general.

Earlier, the representative lawyer for the telecom operators said that implementation of these court orders would adversely affect these companies and their business.]]>
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			<image>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Only the elected representatives can solve problems of the people: Magsi</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/505829/only-the-elected-representatives-can-solve-problems-of-the-people-magsi</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/505829/only-the-elected-representatives-can-solve-problems-of-the-people-magsi#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 11 Feb 13 16:23:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=505829</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Governor Balochistan says that governor rule in the province is just temporary.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Governor Balochistan Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi has said that the governor rule in the province is temporary and it is for those elected by the public to solve problems of the people.

Magsi, while meeting with a delegation from the All Parties and Tribal Action Committee in Harmzai, said  that he hoped that the elected representatives repeat mistakes committed in the past.

“The tribal and political people should spread awareness among the people about the honest people and elect them.”

The elected representatives, Magsi hoped, would work for the people and serve them in a judicious manner.

All Parties and tribal action committee tehsil Hamzai briefed the governor about the problems of the area. They said that the former provincial government did not work for development in the area. They supported the decision to impose governor rule in the province and hoped that their problems will be solved soon.]]>
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			<image>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Games of rule</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/504572/games-of-rule</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/504572/games-of-rule#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Fri, 08 Feb 13 20:59:17 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[editorial]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Editorial]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=504572</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Unless genuine civilian rule can be established, the problems of Balochistan will not go away.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[It has now been nearly a month since governor’s rule was imposed in Balochistan, following a protest by the Hazara community over the massacre of over 100 of its members in twin bomb attacks. A campaign by the Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazal to have a new chief minister put in place continues, with uncertainty over whether this move will succeed or not. The question though is, what has governor’s rule achieved in Balochistan, and has anything been done under Nawab Zulfikar Magsi’s period in power to improve the situation for people in the province? Is the threatened Hazara community any better off than before? The answers probably lie almost entirely in the negative column. Incidents of lawlessness have continued and the Hazaras have effectively barricaded themselves in the areas lying around Alamdaar Road — where the majority of Hazaras live. No one is allowed in, for fear that the person may be a spy and fewer Hazaras dare venture out. The fear they have faced for years, continues.

The same is true for many other residents of Quetta. Tensions remain high, streets are deserted as the sun sets and from various parts of the province, news of more bodies found in streets come in. Certainly, there has been no sea-change as far as law and order goes, and no evidence that any kind of strategy has been put in place to bring one about.

The reality also is that, in the present circumstances, change seems unlikely to come. Control of Balochistan is, after all, not in civilian hands. The FC patrols the province, calls the shots and is not accountable to the government. The hatred for this force among the people only adds to the problems and it seems obvious that unless genuine civilian rule can be established, the problems of Balochistan will not go away. In that province, the issue is not one of competent governance alone — with Magsi’s track record on this count being a somewhat dubious one — but also of bringing all forces together and persuading them to help save a province already in chaos from falling into a still greater state of disarray as violence continues to rip it apart.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9th, 2013.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/504572-balochistanassemblyphotonni-1360355266/504572-balochistanassemblyphotonni-1360355266.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Balochistan Unrest: Abducted taxi driver freed, two men slain</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503812/balochistan-unrest-abducted-taxi-driver-freed-two-men-slain</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503812/balochistan-unrest-abducted-taxi-driver-freed-two-men-slain#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 13 05:30:12 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=503812</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Balochistan crisis prevails with killings and kidnappings.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Police rescued a taxi driver from captivity and arrested two kidnappers after an encounter near Nasirabad.

The taxi driver Asghar Ali was kidnapped two months back from Sindh, police said.

In another incident, unidentified men shot dead a man at Eastern Bypass area of provincial capital.

According to police, the victim identified as Muhammad Jaffar, resident of Baloch Colony was on way to the City when armed assailants riding a motorcycle opened fire on him.

Separately, a man identified as Muhammad Tahir was shot dead in Killi Kamalu near Mir Ghahi Khan chowk in Sariab locality of Quetta.

Relatives of Muhammad Tahir held a demonstartion outside Quetta Press Club to condemn the murder.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2013.]]>
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			<image>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Balochistan insurgency: Provincial panel orders ‘tough’ action</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503807/balochistan-insurgency-provincial-panel-orders-tough-action</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503807/balochistan-insurgency-provincial-panel-orders-tough-action#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 07 Feb 13 04:48:57 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=503807</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Rs50 million set aside to woo reconcilable militants.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[A top provincial committee has ordered tough, targeted and indiscriminate action against militants to improve the law and order across the troubled province.


The Provincial Apex Committee was formed late last year on the recommendation of the federal cabinet’s panel on Balochistan to ensure a coordinated and integrated approach to law and order matters.

The high-powered committee comprises the governor, corps commander, Frontier Corps and police chiefs, and chief secretary.

In Wednesday’s meeting, the committee called for better coordination and cooperation among the law-enforcement agencies in order to ensure peace in the volatile province.

The committee was told that the government has set aside Rs50 million for the rehabilitation of reconcilable insurgents. Of this amount, Rs5.5 million has already been released and will be given as a stipend to militants who renounce violence and end ties with banned outfits.

The committee observed that there were only 88 missing persons in the province and efforts to locate them were ongoing, according to a handout.

The committee was also told that there has been a marked decline in the kidnapping-for-ransom cases and security forces had launched targeted operations against anti-social elements. It also appealed to the ulema to play a part to ensure sectarian harmony in
the province.



Governor Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, who chaired the meeting, said that the families of the Quetta blast victims were being given compensation and the process had already started.

The committee reviewed the security situation at prisons across Balochistan and decided to boost security to pre-empt terrorist attacks.

The committee was briefed on the role and functioning of the Balochistan Levies and Balochistan Constabulary and the governor ordered both forces to be more efficient and effective in maintaining public order.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2013.]]>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Suspended Balochistan chief minister tenders resignation</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503022/suspended-balochistan-chief-minister-tenders-resignation</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/503022/suspended-balochistan-chief-minister-tenders-resignation#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 05 Feb 13 15:58:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=503022</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Raisani sends his resignation to mediator JUI-F's Muhammad Khan Shirani.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Suspended chief minister of Balochistan Nawab Aslam Raisani sent his resignation to Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani on Tuesday, Express News reported.

Sources told Express News that government and opposition parties of the Balochistan assembly were protesting against the imposition of governor rule and suspension of the assemblies. Some quarters in the government though had reportedly proposed that if Riasani resigns as chief minsiter, the government will restore the assemblies and a new leader of the house could be elected.

In view of this, Raisani reportedly sent his resignation to regional Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazal chief Maulana Muhammad Khan Shirani. Shirani's party had initiated talks with with political parties for support to vote against the governor’s rule, calling it an undemocratic step of the Pakistan Peoples Party-led government.

The federal government had invoked imposed governor rule in mid January after terrorists executed multiple bomb blasts in capital Quetta, killing over 100 people in a single day in what was the single bloodiest day of terror in the country.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/503022-NawabRaisaniBANARASKHAN-1360079229/503022-NawabRaisaniBANARASKHAN-1360079229.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Balochistan violence: Four gunned down in Dera Bugti</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/500884/balochistan-violence-four-gunned-down-in-dera-bugti</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/500884/balochistan-violence-four-gunned-down-in-dera-bugti#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Thu, 31 Jan 13 06:55:03 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[our.correspondent]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=500884</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on four persons in the Nok Tarani area near Pir Koh.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Gunmen shot dead four people in Dera Bugti area of the volatile Balochistan province on Wednesday.


Gunmen opened indiscriminate fire on four persons in the Nok Tarani area near Pir Koh, killing them on the spot, Tehsildar Bahram Khan Bugti told The Express Tribune.

The dead were taken to the PPL Hospital Sui for autopsy where they were identified as Naik Muhammad, Nooruddin, Mazhar Khan and Sabaz Ali, all belonging to Notani clan of Bugti tribe. The motive behind the quadruple killings was not immediately known.

Some sources, however, alleged that these four men were kidnapped from Dera Bugti on December 19 during a search operation carried out by the paramilitary Frontier Corps.

They were abducted for their alleged links with Baloch Republican Army and were being tortured, sources added. A case has been registered against unknown persons and investigation is under way.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31st, 2013.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/500884-bullets-1359615289/500884-bullets-1359615289.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Four gunned down in Balochistan</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499682/four-gunned-down-in-balochistan</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499682/four-gunned-down-in-balochistan#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Mon, 28 Jan 13 10:06:01 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[web.desk]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Pakistan]]></category><category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=499682</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[Three of the victims were labourers, belonging to Punjab.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[Four people were killed and one injured during a firing incident in Balochistan, Express News reported Monday.

Unidentified men opened fire in a market located in Pasni in the Gwadar district, killing three.

The victims were reportedly labourers belonging to Punjab.

In a separate incident, a man was shot dead while another was injured during firing on Bugti Street located on Jan Muhammad Road in Quetta.

Earlier on Saturday, at least three members of a voluntary peace force, including one of its commanders, were killed and four others were kidnapped when Baloch insurgents attacked their camp in Dera Bugti.]]>
			</content:encoded>
			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/499682-bulletsshellinggunweaponviolenceattack-1359369639/499682-bulletsshellinggunweaponviolenceattack-1359369639.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
            </image>
			</item><item>
			<title>Balochistan violence: Insurgents kill 3 peace force personnel</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499283/balochistan-violence-insurgents-kill-3-peace-force-personnel</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499283/balochistan-violence-insurgents-kill-3-peace-force-personnel#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sun, 27 Jan 13 06:05:21 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=499283</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[At least three of its members, including a commander, were killed.]]>
			</description>
			<content:encoded>
				<![CDATA[At least three members of a voluntary peace force, including one of its commanders, were killed and four others were kidnapped on Saturday when Baloch insurgents attacked their camp in Dera Bugti, Balochistan.


According to Balochistan Levies sources, dozens of armed insurgents assaulted the post of the pro-government tribal militia post in the Tilli Mat area of Dera Bugti in an early morning raid. As a result, at least three of its members, including a commander, were killed.

The assailants managed to kidnap four others and whisked them away to an undisclosed location. Two of the victims were identified as Mureed and Sachal while the third remained unidentified.

“Armed men running into several dozen attacked the post and whisked away five members of the tribal force in their vehicles after forcing them to surrender,” Balochistan Home Secretary Captain (retd) Akbar Hussain Durrani said. One man who resisted was shot dead by the assailants, he said.

Local administration chief Syed Faisal Shah confirmed the raid, saying security forces had been rushed to the area and a search operation had been launched.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

Last month, an insurgent leader by the name of Bishku had surrendered to the security forces.

Meanwhile, after being tipped-off about their location, security forces started chasing the insurgents. But their vehicle struck a landmine in Tili Mat area of Dera Bugti district, killing a security official and critically injuring another. (WITH ADDITIONAL INPUT FROM AFP)

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2013.]]>
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			<image>
				    <img src="https://i.tribune.com.pk/media/images/499283-checkpostexpress-1359266702/499283-checkpostexpress-1359266702.jpg" class="featured_image"/>
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			</item><item>
			<title>Our Little Worlds</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499083/our-little-worlds</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/499083/our-little-worlds#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Sat, 26 Jan 13 17:52:50 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[saroop.ijaz]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Opinion]]></category>
			<guid isPermaLink="false">https://tribune.com.pk/?p=499083</guid>
			<description>
				<![CDATA[It's patronising, insulting when people make inaccurate, generalised observations about us. Yet, we do the same.]]>
			</description>
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				<![CDATA[In a recent appallingly bad Hollywood movie, Pakistanis are shown conversing in Arabic, you know, because that is what ‘brown Muslim’ people speak. Rudyard Kipling, whose death anniversary passed a few days ago, has certainly not been forgotten. The movie is thoroughly unwatchable for multiple reasons. Yet, it does show the liberties that people will take with societies that they do not know or do not care enough to know. The film-makers did not need in depth research on the ground to know that Arabic is not the language of everyday chit-chat in Pakistan or Abbottabad is not exactly a 45-minute drive from Islamabad. (Although, on the language question, watching people dressed in Arab clothing and riding on camels on January 25, the particularly gullible can perhaps be cut some slack.) Basic Google search would have unravelled the mystery. Also, it shows that there are not many Pakistanis working in Hollywood. It is patronising and insulting when people make grossly inaccurate, generalised observations about us. Yet, it does not stop us from doing the same.

For example, those living outside of urban centres are not only uneducated but ‘medieval’, their cultures ‘primitive’, their judgment flawed (hence, one man/woman, one vote is not applicable to them). The territory is ruled by uncouth, gun-totting feudal overlords raping women and shooting peasants for sport. This is not to suggest that there are not problems in rural cultures, yet many people who will use these generalisations will be considerably more nuanced when opinionating about societies that they know or consider their ‘own’. Similarly, a lazy and dangerous conflation is between the ideology of religious extremism and ‘Pashtun’ culture, falsely portraying the fight to be rooted in ‘culture’ as opposed to religious ideology. This not only has tremendous condescension but is also deeply disrespectful to the honourable, valiant culture of the Pashtuns (Bacha Khan’s death anniversary also just passed and he can be looked up as an example). And the assumption is not really that different from Pakistanis speaking Arabic. Nowhere is this mindset of knowing the ‘natives’ more than they know themselves more obvious than in our discourse on Balochistan.

I do not have any expertise or enough knowledge to talk about Balochistan with authority. Yet, some of the ignorance can be attributed to our media’s blackout of the province. It takes a catastrophe, something really earth-shattering, to make us talk and perhaps, even think about Balochistan. Akbar Bugti’s assassination, a hearing in the United States Congress, a hundred people killed in a terrorist attack, etc. Generally, the event that forces us to talk is of such a magnitude, that our brief attention, sometimes outrage, is captured only by the event itself, removed from the context. The Hazaras protesting in sub-zero temperature with the bodies of their loved ones was one of the most moving and chilling things this country has seen. The solidarity displayed, the hope that honest, decent people can stand up and force the state to act, without a shot being fired. However, it was somewhat depressing to see that all that the protests got us in tangible terms was ‘Governor’s Rule’ and not a commitment by the state to initiate a crackdown on the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ). The chief minister, Nawab Raisani, was not only criminally incompetent, but insensitive to the point of callousness and he will not be missed. Yet, the imposition of governor’s rule and handing over the province to the FC has largely been allowed to go unexamined. The province was already under the control of the FC, admitted by all stakeholders, and it was not working. Now, it formally is. The lack of debate has a tinge of something ‘colonial’ about it.

From a purely instrumental view, human tragedy and military operations are generally a favourite of the media, as it is good business. Curiously enough, apparently this is not true when it comes to Balochistan. First, the military operation in Mashkai, then in Mastung or the general conflict in Balochistan, is always a side story, if they are mentioned at all. What would explain that? First, is the cynical explanation that the media is coerced to toe the line of the establishment when it comes to Balochistan. This is probably partially true. Secondly, it can be explained by a heightened (perhaps, even misplaced) sense of nationalism, which compels them to not even acknowledge the possibility that there might be a ‘nationalist’ struggle going on. An example of an elementary question not asked in the mainstream media is, how come the armed forces and the military establishment who remain ‘efficient’ and ‘clinical’ in dealing with the Baloch nationalists (evident by the number of missing Baloch) are suddenly clueless and helpless about the whereabouts of the LeJ operatives? There might be possible answers to that question, but we have not heard them because the question has not been asked.

How much time is given to the Baloch ‘nationalist’ narrative on the national media, not necessarily to endorse it, but to at least inform the general public of what specifically is the nationalist position? The answer is, not enough. The answer also has a related question, how many mainstream, new anchorpersons or editors are Baloch? This, perhaps, will explain the apathy. I do not allege malice (for the most part). The explanation might be simpler, people generally care less about ‘them’, the other, are less critical in examining the information and become more confident in pontificating. In the interest of fairness, one cannot put the blame solely on the media. How many federal secretaries, ambassadors, or for that matter, generals are Baloch? This should not be too hard to find, for our vibrant cadre of investigative reporters and experts, of course, if it catches their fancy and they get the time. Someone can go even further and do these numbers for the past 65 years. They can be compared with other provinces and we can see the proportion (even to population) of the representation. I do not know what the numbers are. Yet, perhaps, this will reveal that the Baloch have no meaningful representation in real policymaking, both internal and foreign. More disturbingly, it may even bring to light that the Pakistani State does not really trust the Baloch, never has. Perhaps, this will reveal some answers to what the conflict is all about.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 27th, 2013.]]>
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			<title>Political crisis: MPAs slam patrons of governor’s rule</title>
			<link>https://tribune.com.pk/story/497294/political-crisis-mpas-slam-patrons-of-governor%e2%80%99s-rule</link>
			<comments>https://tribune.com.pk/story/497294/political-crisis-mpas-slam-patrons-of-governor%e2%80%99s-rule#comments</comments>
			<pubDate>Tue, 22 Jan 13 04:57:25 +0500</pubDate>
			<dc:creator>
				<![CDATA[mohammad.zafar]]>
			</dc:creator>
			<category><![CDATA[Balochistan]]></category>
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				<![CDATA[JUI-F parliamentary leader accuses NAB of blackmailing provincial assembly.]]>
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				<![CDATA[Provincial legislators on Monday mounted a blistering attack on political entities who are currently celebrating the imposition of governor’s rule in Balochistan, saying they had as good as signed their own political epitaphs – at least electorally.


The actions of such groupings are regrettable, the legislators said.

They also insisted that representatives of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) and Balochistan National Party (BNP-Awami) would win the upcoming election and form the next government.

They alleged that “some forces are paving the way for the National Party (NP) and Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMPA)” to sweep the next election. That is why cases have been fabricated against the JUI-F and BNP-Awami, they explained.

Only 14 out of 65 members attended Monday’s assembly session which went on despite a lack of quorum. In normal circumstances, at least 17 members are required to complete the quorum and run the business of the house.

The session—chaired by Speaker Syed Matiullah­—opened about one and a half hour behind schedule.

Monday’s session follows demonstrations and rallies held by political and religious parties on Sunday across Balochistan against the imposition of governor’s rule in the province. The session was summoned by the speaker on the requisition of 19 members.



Blackmail charges

JUI-F parliamentary leader Maulana Abdul Wasay voiced criticism against the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) and claimed that it was blackmailing the Balochistan Assembly.

“NAB can arrest and sling mud on the members of the Balochistan Assembly but it cannot eliminate them from the hearts of people,” proclaimed Wasay.

Asad Baloch of BNP-Awami was also critical of the imposition of governor’s rule in Balochistan and said that the province was being run “like a colony of the British Empire.”

“Following the imposition of governor’s rule, the funds for members’ constituencies were stopped,” Baloch said, adding that as members of the provincial assembly, their funds should be provided otherwise the assembly should be dissolved.

 Published in The Express Tribune, January 22nd, 2013.]]>
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