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27.08.2008
KARACHI: Baloch activists reaffirm resolve to accomplish Bugti’s mission
KARACHI, Aug 26: Nationalist parties and groups in the city observed the second death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti, chieftain of the Bugti tribe and a former governor of Balochistan, by holding memorial meetings, protest rallies and demonstrations in different parts of the city on Tuesday.Nawab Bugti, along with some of his close associates and relatives, was killed during a military action in Sangseela Mountains, near Dera Bugti, on Aug 27, 2006.The Nawab and his companions had barricaded themselves in a cave to escape arrest by the security forces chasing the defiant chieftain into the mountains.The hideout caved in under mysterious circumstances causing death of all those present insi... details >>
26.08.2008
Two years after Bugti, divisions and disunity
By Malik Siraj AkbarQUETTA: Balochistan is marking the second death anniversary of its former chief minister and governor, Nawab Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti, today (Tuesday). The actual causes of the death of the 79-year-old Baloch tribal elder are still shrouded in mystery but its relations between the Centre and the country's largest province continue to degenerate. The late Nawab, who also headed the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), a purely political organisation that had representation in the provincial legislature, the National Assembly and the Senate of Pakistan, was forced by security forces to take shelter in the mountains of Balochistan. Until his last breath, Bugti insisted that neither ... details >>
25.08.2008
Self-determination of Balochistan: Looking Back and Looking Forward
BY: Aziz Baloch
Each year on August 14th, the people of Pakistan start celebrating their independence day. On the other hand the people of Balochistan hold a “Black Day” because they never abandon and look back at their land and notice it has been forcefully annexed therefore looking forward to full fill their right of self-determination.
While looking back, the history of Balochistan tells us that on August 4th 1947 the British government, Khan of Kalat (now Balochistan) and Pakistani rulers had signed an agreement that clearly states;
"Kalat State (now Balochistan) will be independent on August 5, 1947, enjoying the same status as it originally held in 1838, having friendl... details >>
25.08.2008
HYDERABAD: Balochistan can’t be won over by force: JWP
HYDERABAD, Aug 24: The general secretary of Jamhoori Watan Party, Mr Rauf Sasoli, said on Sunday that no one could ‘conquer Balochistan by force’ and talks were the only way to win over the Baloch people and settle the province’s burning issues.Mr Sasoli said at a news conference at the press club that the Baloch people had not seen any change in the political situation in their province in the wake of and as a result of general elections.He laid stress on solving the simmering issues of Balochistan and the NWFP through negotiations and complained that the leadership of Punjab and Sindh had so far taken no practical steps to improve the situation in the troubled province. “Balochistan cannot... details >>
22.08.2008
Is that Balochistan nationalist parties are really nationalist?
By: M.Sarjov
Some people have argued that Balochistan nationalist parties (apart from one or two chieftains) are professionals , who have used agrarian and Baloch peasants in order to break their isolation and associated their aspiration with the Baloch intellectual and Baloch historic sentiment and quest for independent state. Baloch intelligentsia is subordinate central state rule, for the last decade or two Intelligentsia has been discriminated and not been trusted by central authorities.
Following are some facts you can use to make your own conclusion;
Throughout history, ethnic ties and sentiments have helped to shape men’s loyalties and group affiliations, from n... details >>
22.08.2008
Editorial: Balochistan simmers
THE resignation of the Musharraf-appointed governor of Balochistan, Nawab Zulfikar Ali Magsi, should not be read as just another act in the clearing of the Musharraf stables. On Independence Day, the governor had given his first public indication of his intention to resign, citing the depressing law and order situation in Balochistan. Speaking to the media, the governor had all but admitted that the attempts by the civilian administration in Balochistan to pacify the province had failed. Aug 26 will be the second death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Bugti and any hope that the new political dispensation after the February elections would alleviate the grim situation in Balochistan has ev... details >>
21.08.2008
The Story of Safdar Sarki
Reporting: PakistanPAKISTAN'S TORTURE OF AMERICAN MAN RXPOSES NATIONAL SCHISMS by Ahmar MustikhanAmerican Reporter CorrespondentWashington, D.C.
WASHINGTON -- He was forced to live like a blind man in a dark dungeon for eight months, so completely denied daylight that he could not know if it was day or night, after Pakistan's Military Intelligence secretly abducted him on suspicion of promioting U.S. interests.
"I literally lived like a blind man," says Sohrab Sarki, 43, bursting into tears. A motel business owner from Yuba City, Calif., he recalls the horror he felt when he first saw his face in the mirror after 20 months of army torture. "I never cried as much [in my life]. I could not ... details >>
21.08.2008
Crossing the rubicon
By Munizae Jahangir
(Courtesy: The Friday Times, Lahore)
The establishment has been forced to forget the sins of Asif Zardari and Nawaz Sharif, but other politicians have not been so lucky. One such politician is Khair Baksh Marri's son, Gazain, who has been living in exile in Dubai for the last eight years. When I finally meet him in the lobby of a hotel, Gazain is a man in his late 40s, worn out and frail. He greets me nervously and gestures towards a corner table, where we sit. After the pleasantries, I ask him how life changed for him when President Musharraf took over in 1999."My wife and children have been shuttling back and forth from Pakistan. I have seen my child... details >>
19.08.2008
Aga Khan Help on Baluchistan sought
American Friends of Baluchistan
A voice for peace in southwest Asia
WASHINGTON DC: A Baluch organization has sought the help of a world-reknowned British celebrity and the Aga Khan for the peaceful balkanization of Pakistan by giving the right of self-determination to the people of Baluchistan. Ahmar Mustikhan, journalist and founder of the American Friends of Baluchistan, has written to Eddy Shah, founder of Today newspaper, friend of Rupert Murdoch, and a close relative of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV to help the Baluch as Shah believes in doing justice to people all over the world. He said the Aga Khan was the main founder of Pakistan, while Jinnah was a show boy with whom the Baluch... details >>
19.08.2008
Musharraf's Resignation Recalls His Staged Appearance At UN, Impunity Questions Loom
Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN: News Analysis
UNITED NATIONS, August 18 -- As Pervez Musharraf belatedly resigns as president in Pakistan and talks turns to immunity or sanctuary in Saudi Arabia or Turkey, his appearance two years ago at the UN General Assembly comes to mind. On September 20, 2006, Musharraf in a UN press conference claimed that unrest in the Baluchistan region is on the wane and "has already died." He called the region peaceful, as well as being "feudal and tribal" and needing more democracy. He said the situation in Baluchistan was a result of a "political game" set off by people trying to capitalize on the death of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, long... details >>
16.08.2008
Pakistan army, I.S.I. put on mat over Baluchistan, Afghanistan
By Shehmir Gorgej
WASHINGTON DC, August 15: As the Pakistani army operations continue in Baluchistan, Islamabad is also busy with a discreet jihad or undeclared war inside Afghanistan in spite of officially being allied with the U.S. in the war on terror and receiving $12 billion in U.S. taxpayers’ monies, two Baluch organizations told a Press conference at the National Press Club here Friday afternoon heard.
The American Friends of Baluchistan and the Baloch Society of North America, were joined by Dr. Nazir Bhatti, editor of the Pakistan Christian Post in observing Pakistan's 61st birth anniversary by holding a Press Conference “Killings and Persecution of Baluc... details >>
15.08.2008
‘Balochistan govt cannot stop target killings’
* Balochistan chief minister says whole country in grip of violence, province not an exceptionQUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani acknowledged on Thursday that his government could not stop target killings in the province."Law and order is not only Balochistan's issue. The whole country is in the grip of unabated violence. Therefore, we should not think that Balochistan is an exception," the CM told reporters. Raisani said the 1973 Constitution, tailored by Pakistan People's Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, had envisaged equal rights for all provinces. Under the constitution, it was promised that all powers would be granted to the provinces within ten years but successiv... details >>
13.08.2008
Baluchistan natural ally of ISAF, McKiernan told
by Shehmir Gorgej
The resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan is neither God-ordained nor accidental. This is the result of meticulous planning at the I.S.I. head office in Pakistan.
WASHINGTON D.C.: The American Friends of Baluchistan has lauded the CNN interview of General David McKiernan, commander of International Security Assistance Force, in which he openly accused the Inter Services Intelligence spy agency for fomenting trouble in Afghanistan. In a letter to General McKiernan, A.F.B. founder Ahmar Mustikhan said to attribute deadly actions against Afghanistan to rogue elements within the I.S.I. was totally erroneous. "The state of Pakistan, as a whole, is resolved to defeat the I.... details >>
12.08.2008
China wins, and gets a port on the Arabian Sea
Shaukat Qadir
A hundred years ago, when the European empires were at their height and “wider still and wider” was the motto of every one of them, Britain and Russia were locked in a contest that became known as the Great Game. According to its unwritten rules, Russia had to attempt to secure a land passage through Persia or Afghanistan to the warm waters of the Gulf or Arabian Sea, providing its navy with a year-round port – and a means of threatening British India. The British, of course, had to try to stop them.
Surprisingly, a century later, when everyone thought the Great Game was now no more than a footnote of history, it seems a winner is finally about to be declared. Even more surp... details >>
11.08.2008
United Nations: It’s Contribution to the Everlasting Balochistan Crisis
By: Aziz Baloch
Once I travelled from Eastern Balochistan, Pakistan to the Western part of Balochistan, Iran to offer my condolences to a family who lost their loved one. It was a short one and half hour drive. As soon as we reached the famous Goldsmith border line which has been drawn back in the 19th century, Balochistan was divided among Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan by the British Empire’s “divide and rule” policy.
Baloch leaders have referred such border as “artificial.” In fact, these artificial borders are very unpopular among the Baloch people due to many decades of tyranny that has been pressed upon them. Indeed Iran and Pakistan have both failed to win the hearts and... details >>
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