Indian intrusions in Balochistan

Indian intrusions in Balochistan

Khalid Khokhar

WHILE the kidnapping of John Solecki, chief of the UN Human Rights Commission in Balochistan entered its third week, it is clear that the current complexion of the struggle has emerged in response to establish greater control over the resources than demand for provincial autonomy. Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF), a nationalist organisation, has set a deadline to kill John Solecki, if 1600 hardcore militants under custody of the Government were not freed. Earlier, the 24 demands presented by Talal Akbar Bugti, son of late Nawab Akbar Bugti and President of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), that pertained to an end to the military operation in Balochistan, removal of the military cantonments from Balochistan and the rights of Balochistan on its mineral resources and natural gas, confirms the change in the campaign. Since the 1970s, Balochistan has seen multiple insurgency movements against successive Pakistani governments that were generally tied to issues of provincial governance and autonomy. In contrast, the most recent and ongoing insurgency concerns with the Government's handling of Balochistan's key natural resources. Needless to say there are considerable differences between the present movement and that of the 1970s. Now the struggle is over the fate of Balochistan's natural resources without any share for the locals, the building of military cantonments in the province, and "mega development" projects. Balochistan needs more resources and authority to exercise its choice to develop a strategy of its own for economic and social development. Moreso, Balochistan also needs "area" and "level of development" of the province to be the criteria while distributing federally collected financial resources between the federation and federating units in the new National Finance Commission (NFC).

A host of mind-boggling questions, however, agitates an inquisitive mind. Why Balochistan has been gripped by insurgent violence since 2002? The things started to go wrong when the Centre launched fast track developmental projects aimed to bring the area into socio-economic mainstream. The militants are supported by a handful of tribal chiefs bent on resisting socio-economic development and progress of Balochistan. They challenged the writ of the Government by targeting national installations. Therefore, it was necessary to protect the population at large against a "handful of irresponsible, ignorant and anti-development elements" led by some "tribal warlords". The favourite targets of insurgents were energy production sites - such as Sui in Dera Bugti - and energy infrastructure that supplies natural gas to other parts of Pakistan. According to Pak Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS), at least 7,997 killed and 9670 injured in various clashes during 2008. The highest number of attacks, were seen from NWFP (1009), followed by Balochistan (682) and then Fata (385). Similarly, 381 rocket attacks, 46 incidents of beheading, 112 remote control attacks, 110 landmines incidents, 451 incidents of firing and 373 improvised explosives related incidents were recorded during last year.

Pakistan is facing turmoil in Balochistan because of the Indian meddling in Pakistan's affairs leading to the dismemberment of Pakistan. In a bid to destabilise Pakistan, few rebel tribal chieftain such as, Zamran Marri have being coordinating with India and Afghanistan to get all kinds of resources, wealth and arms to strengthen anti-state elements. The statement of Brahamdagh Bugti, grandson of late Akbar Bugti, that he would accept any "moral help and material support" from India to defend Balochistan from Islamabad's designs of capturing the riches of Balochistan, is very alarming. There is strong evidence of Indian support in planning, commissioning and preparing acts of terrorism in Balochistan through setting up of 26 centres of terrorism (consulates) along the western border in Afghanistan. Reliable sources have revealed that explosives were brought in by India under the garb of building of a road by Border Roads Organisation (BRO) into Afghanistan through Iran to be used for sabotage acts against Pakistan. Gwadar deep seaport has become sore in the eyes of Indian strategists who want to obstruct the developmental growth in Balochistan at all cost. Amongst others, India is opposing the Gwadar Port on the following three reasons: (1) Gwadar port would empower Pakistan to control strategically important energy sea-lane on the Persian Gulf. (2) Will enable Pakistan to have a strategic depth southwest from its naval base in Karachi that has long been vulnerable to blockade by the Indian Navy. (3) Increased Chinese presence in the region. India has taken following steps to put a brake on the ongoing developmental activities in Balochistan: (1) Widening the gulf between Punjabis and Balochis on the Gwadar Port by making it believe that the project is aimed at turning the Balochs into a minority (2) Cultivating in the minds of the Baloch nationalists that China is depriving the Baloch by "globalising" their natural resources. (3) Instigating foreign-based Baloch outfits to commit acts of terrorism in Balochistan by highlighting the so-called miseries of Balochis. (4) Downplaying the establishment of three cantonments in different areas of the province in Balochistan.

In order to resolve their grievance once and for all, a dialogue is needed between the Baloch people and the central government. The continued operations in Balochistan diverted important military resources that could be used in the fight against terrorism in the tribal belt bordering Afghanistan. Equally it is important to remove the mistrust between the Baloch and the Federation by adopting following measures before attempting a negotiated settlement: (1) First one is to develop Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) amongst the stakeholders by: (a) Open acknowledgement of all injustices committed to the Baloch people. (b) Release of political workers and tribal people. (c) Inquiry into facts regarding the demise of Nawab Bugti and Mir Balaach Marri. (d) Rehabilitation of Marri and Bugti tribes in a fair program of compensating individual victim. (2) After adoption of some important CBMs, the next step should be the cessation of hostilities or suspension of all violent activities from both sides. (3) After creating a positive environment, the negotiation on actual demands for Baloch rights should begin. However, there is a need to identify the Baloch representatives who can influence the outcome of any negotiation.

It is on record that Balochistan opted for Pakistan through a clear democratic process, therefore, Balochistan is not a political issue, but it is an economic one. It is true that past governments were responsible for the present situation in Balochistan and India is just exploiting the bad situation. The greatest sin of our rulers has been that they have never tried to better the economic and political conditions in Balochistan despite repeated promises from them since the creation of Pakistan. Balochistan remains the most neglected province and 88 per cent of its population lives in subhuman conditions. Rural poverty in Balochistan was estimated to be 42% with a literacy rate of 36 percent against the national literacy rate of 53 percent. Some districts in Balochistan have among the lowest enrolment and literacy rates in the world, with one district recording only two percent enrolment at the primary school level. During the last six years, the Government initiated a number of mega development projects in Balochistan including Gwadar Port, Coastal Highway, Mirani Dam, Kachhi Canal and Sandak Copper Gold project. Indians designs to impede development activities in Balochistan need to be strategized effectively. The "development and incentive package" for Gwadar is a step in the right direction. The Government is investing millions of rupees into Balochistan with the aim of turning the province into a regional economic and energy hub. Mega projects in Balochistan are to improve the quality of life of the people of Balochistan. These measures will go a long way to bring the neglected area at par with the developed areas of the country.

Confession by Hindutva terror

Afshain Afzal

A DAY ahead of Mumbai attacks on November 25, 2008, Sudhakar Dwivedi Panday of Abhinav Bharat outfit, who was a prime accused of Malegaon blasts, got his confessional statement which was duly signed by him and properly tape recorded by Anti Terrorist (ATS). The confessional statement came as a result of investigations carried out by ATS Chief Hemant Karkare who was murdered few hours later in Mumbai attacks. In the statement Sudhakar Dwivedi said that during one of the initial meeting held at Deolali in August 2007, his outfit focused on how to carryout attacks during annual Urs at Panipat where a large number of cows are slaughtered. The said meeting was also attended by other co-accused Lieutenant Colonel Prasad Purohit, Sudhakar Chaturvedi, Colonel (Retired) 5.5. Raikar and Major (Retired) Ramesh Upadhyay. Dwivedi stated in his confession that Lieutenant Colonel Purohit was supplying firearms in return for money and one of Dwivedi's disciples namely Ashok hailing from Bhopal procured weapons from him. Ashok deposited the money in Lieutenant Colonel Purohit's ICICI bank account. An amount of Rs 5 lass was also paid to Lieutenant Colonel Purohit for another arm consignment. Dwivedi confessed of attending several meetings including at Ujjain, Bhopal, Jabalpur and Deolai in which members of Abhinav Bharat discussed incidents where Hindus had been killed by Muslims. In order to take revenge from the Muslims, Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur made demand to Lieutenant Colonel Purohit for the supply of explosives. Dwivedi stunned the investigators when he took the name of a former Member of Parliament for his role in terrorist activities against Muslims and other minorities.

Although after the murder of ATS Chief Karkare in Mumbai attacks, the Malegaon blasts investigations against Hindutva terror has gone to dogs. The first surprise came on February 18, 2009 when ATS submitted confessional statements of Dwivedi and Rakish, two main accused in Malegaon blasts. Dwivedi is said to have given statement before Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Zone-II that during meeting at Pune in August 2008, he met Sayiam Aptay who told him that two members of RSS Muslim Wing namely Indresh Kumar and Baghwat were receiving financial aid from Pakistan's Inter Services Intelligence (ISI). Lieutenant Colonel Purohit instructed him to kill both the members of RSS. Lieutenant Colonel Purohit took the responsibility to provide the explosive while Chaturvedi was to arrange a suicide bomber. Surprisingly, Chaturvedi who had earlier confessed that Lieutenant Colonel Purohit provided explosives while Sadhvi Pragnya Singh Thakur carried out Malegaon bomb blasts told the court on February 18 that his confessional statement differs from the one he actually said. Thus all the efforts of slain ATS Chief Karkare is back at square one. However, since the earlier confessional statement was duly signed as well as properly tape recorded so it would not be difficult to get the truth divulged.

The latest confessional statement reflects modus operandai of Hindutva terror under the supervision of Indian MI and RAW. It would be more appropriate to mention here the letter dated November 13, 2006, initiated by Nashik Police Commissioner Himanshu Roy to Lieutenant Colonel Purohit to have a clear idea how Hindutva groups win the public support for their terrorist activities. Roy wrote 'This is to put on record, the assistance and cooperation experienced between the Nashik City Police and MI of Southern Command represented by you for over a period of last one-and-a-half-year." He further writes, "You (Purohit) have shared information of vital and sensitive nature with the Police which has proved useful to both the organizations. An educative workshop comprising of Islam, SIMI and ISI conducted by you on November 11 was also of great help to our organization. The workshop reflects the depth of your knowledge regarding your specialized subjects of Islam, SIMI and ISI. I am confident that we will continue to get such cooperation in future also." Since Lieutenant Colonel Purohit had good grip over subjects of Islam, SIMI and ISI so he also learnt the art to manipulate them. Now if we place the confessional statement of Dwivedi in which Sayiam Aptay told him that two members of RSS were receiving financial aid from ISI, Lieutenant Colonel Purohit got a chance to instigate the Hindus present in the meeting to kill both the members of RSS. Thus in this manner he was able to build a Hindutva terrorist force against Indian minorities as well win the support of common orthodox liberal Hindus. It is early to comment with confidence what are the exact motives of Hindu extremist organizations like Abhinav Bharat but generally speaking, Hindus are peace loving people and there must be a foreign hand behind exploitation of masses which is encouraging them to adopt hard course of terrorism.

Holbrooke warning not to be taken lightly

C. Uday Bhaskar

AMBASSADOR Richard Holbrooke, the United States' special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who made a brief stop in New Delhi on February 16, made a very short statement, which is as significant as it is terse. After meeting External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, he noted: "For the first time in 60 years since Independence, your country, Pakistan and the United States all face an enemy that poses a direct threat to our people." This enemy is represented by the extreme religious fervour of the Taleban, which has used violence to intimidate the local people to follow their diktat and the Pakistani security forces have not been able to effectively counter this challenge to the writ of the state.

The Holbrooke observation came a day after the Pakistani government has found it necessary to seek a truce with the Taleban in the Swat Valley, and ?this has been achieved on the condition that Sharia law is enforced in the ?entire region. But even this temporary 10-day ceasefire is tenuous and the very next day, on Feb 17, it was reported that at least three people were killed by a car bomb, which exploded outside the home of a government official in the northwestern Pakistan. It is undestood that the bomb targeted a local anti-Taleban official, Fahim-ur-Rehman in the suburb of Bazidkhel near the city of Peshawar who survived the attack.

It is pertinent that the Holbrooke assessment of Pakistan has been echoed by the US Secretary of State. Hilary Clinton, also. On her first foreign visit, she met with the Japanese leaders in Tokyo and cautioned: "We believe that the activity by extremist elements in Pakistan pose a direct threat to the government of Pakistan as well as the security of the United States and a number of other nations." That the internal situation in Pakistan is indeed very precarious is borne out by an interview that President Asif Ali Zardari gave to an American TV channel (Feb 15), where he conceded: "We're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else."

Zardari also added that the Pakistan Army was backing the government in its war against terrorism along the restive border with Afghanistan. He paid a compliment to the army, and said ?otherwise the Taleban would have ?overrun Islamabad. This is no exaggeration, for in mid 2007, the then president Pervez Musharraf who was also the Army Chief was severely tested by Islamic extremist elements who had taken hostages and holed up in a mosque (Lal Masjid) in the centre of the capital - Islamabad. Ultimately it was a determined action by the military that cleared the mosque - but it may be averred that this was the beginning of the end of the long Musharraf reign.

Popular sentiment in Pakistan is now virulently anti-American and the continuing missile attacks will only exacerbate the situation. The Zardari government has been pilloried by the street for allowing sovereignty to be trampled, and kowtowing to the United States. Pakistan Army is reported to have had deep reservations about conducting robust operations against the terrorists, and till recently there was a facile view that if the US stopped its military strikes, the Islamist right wing would be assuaged and the situation within the country would soon ?return to normal. The Zardari interview and the Holbrooke-Clinton assessment paid to this kind of reasoning and have unambiguously identified the nature of the threat that Pakistan is now facing. It is the very survival of the state - and this is an assertion of very grave significance.