Apologising to Balochistan:
IT is never too late to make amends for past mistakes or misdeeds. While the exigencies of power politics doubtless played a part in its timing, the PPP’s ‘apology’ to the people of Balochistan is both welcome and warranted. It would be folly to doubt the sincerity of the gesture at this crucial juncture where every seed of hope planted by any hand must be given a chance to blossom. True, Mr Zardari’s party is trying to win hearts and minds so it can cobble together a government in Balochistan, the only province where the PML-Q retained its numerical superiority after Feb 18. Although the PPP’s announcement must necessarily be seen in this context, it nonetheless bodes well for national reconciliation and the future stability of the federation. By apologising for “atrocities and injustices” committed against the Baloch people — excesses which no fair-minded person can deny — the PPP has acted not only in its own interest but also that of the country. The olive branch extended on Sunday also promises the release of all political prisoners, a halt to the military operation in Balochistan and a pledge to work towards giving “maximum provincial autonomy to the provinces” as envisaged in the 1973 Constitution. All these measures, long overdue, are critical to the redressal of genuine grievances and inter-provincial harmony.
The PPP’s apology — “on behalf of the people of Pakistan” — is in its very wording illustrative of the sense of separateness that pervades Balochistan and perhaps even the way it is viewed by outsiders. Unwittingly, no doubt, a distinction has been made between the Baloch and other citizens of the state. Semantics aside, Balochistan’s neglect at the hands of the centre and the resulting alienation felt by the people of the province are sadly all too real. Right from the post-independence regency days and through the seventies to the military crackdown by the army under President Gen Musharraf, the Baloch have felt exploited, subjugated and otherwise hard done by. For want of other voices and outlets, their disillusionment has come to be channelled through nationalism and occasionally even insurgency. Resource-rich Balochistan, whose natural gas has fuelled the engine of the national economy for decades, remains the most socio-economically backward province in the country. Committees have been formed to redress grievances and special packages announced for economic uplift but implementation has been lacking over the years. Greater provincial autonomy and control over natural resources, as promised by the PPP, can go a long way in restoring trust and righting historical wrongs. A start must be made and followed through.
http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/26/ed.htm#2
Editorial: PPP’s policy in Balochistan
As PPP in Balochistan makes a flanking move to deny PMLQ a government in Balochistan, co-chairman of the party Asif Ali Zardari in Islamabad has lent a helping hand. A resolution passed together with the Balochistan PPP leader, Mr Lashkar Ali Raisani, says: “The PPP, on behalf of the people of Pakistan, apologises to the people of the province of Balochistan for the atrocities and injustices committed against them and pledges to embark on a new highway of healing and mutual respect”. The effort is to converge with the agenda of the liberal parties and keep the conservatives with a larger vote out of the government.
The PMLQ has the largest number of seats (18) in a house of 51. If it gets together with the MMA (7) it collects a total of 25 seats and misses the majority by a single vote. On the other hand, PPP with 7 seats counts on getting all the independents (12), the Balochistan National Party Awami (BNPA) (5) and ANP (2) to reach the majority of 26 out of 52, thus making the government on the basis of a single vote. If however the PMLQ-MMA combine shows solidarity and gets two seats from the independents, the PPP project is doomed. The slice is cut too thin for the PPP, but its call for the resolution of the Balochistan crisis might get the job done yet.
The problem here is that the PMLQ has ruled in Balochistan from 2002 with a firm coalition manufactured out of the MMA and BNPA. The PPP will have to encourage the formation of a forward bloc within the PMLQ and woo BNPA with the slogan of provincial autonomy. The news coming in from Balochistan is that the PMLQ is finding it difficult to hold itself together after being forced to sit in the opposition in Islamabad. The rumour that elected PMLQ members are in the defection mode all over the country these days is going to anoint the wheels of change in Quetta too. That is where the PPP of Mr Lashkar Raisani rests his case.
The bait is enormously attractive. If PPP gets Balochistan it gets to rule at the centre and in at least two provinces, Sindh and Balochistan. In the NWFP it has overcome the temptation of ruling with the help of incompatible partners and accepted to form the government under an ANP chief minister. With NWFP in the bag, it bids fair to preside over a provincial autonomy consensus with a centre strongly inclined to grant it. Co-chairman Mr Asif Ali Zardari has also declared that the BNP leader Akhtar Mengal should be released and the province reverted to “B Area” status with levies providing security instead of the police.
Mr Akhtar Mengal, the son of a prominent Baloch politician, Sardar Ataullah Mengal, former chief minister and the head of nationalist Balochistan National Party, has been detained and kept in a prison in Karachi since December 2006. He is supposed to be facing trial at an anti-terrorism court for allegedly abducting two undercover agents of the security agencies. Mr Mengal and 500 other BNP activists were arrested in November 2006 before President Musharraf’s visit to Balochistan “to prevent the BNP from holding a peaceful long march against the military operation, illegal arrests and forced disappearances”.
Yet another PPP resolution from Islamabad has pledged to “work to give maximum provincial autonomy to the provinces within the framework of the 1973 Constitution”. But it is not going to be easy to get the radical Baloch groups to stop blowing up the Sui gas pipelines by promising the kind of autonomy available in the 1973 Constitution, especially after the Musharraf establishment has failed to push back the offensive of Balochistan Liberation Army run by popular-heroic leaders belonging to the province’s sardari system. The Mengal-Marri formula made public so far demands all subjects from the centre, apart from currency and defence. That would take a re-writing of the Constitution which is not possible in the current environment.
But Balochistan is in dire need of reconciliation. A government with an ability to appeal to the nationalist cause will be in a position to bargain on the provincial demands that have become stiffer and stiffer as the military operation has dragged on without any conclusive results. The PPP is credible when it says it will move to grant the maximum level of autonomy to the provinces. Once this process begins, with Sindh leading the way, the extent of “sharing” of resources with the centre may be redefined in such a way as to make the Baloch see themselves as winners. The ANP is going to push hard for a new deal on the royalty of natural resources, and if Balochistan gets a deal that beefs up its kitty, the people of Balochistan might convince the nationalist parties to move away from their separatist agenda. *
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008 226story_26-2-2008_pg3_1
Khan Jan Baloch, comments
Let`s accecpt the Freedom of Balochistan !!!
" I shall be proud to be killed by my own Balochs, as they shall put my corpse under the shadow of a tree"......a famours Balochi proverb. Come to Balochistan - the Zordari Baloch and the Balochs of Sindh & Panjab - and kill us. Don`t let coward dummies to indiscriminatly massacre Balochs and later, following the cowardly heinous deed to miss & dishonour their holy corpses !!!
"Cowards kill the weak ones to manifest their bravery"..... a popular Balochi proverb.
Listen Balochs of Panjab & Sindh !! Balochistan, your mother, respects and loves all of you but please don`t put salt on the wounds of my children. On one hand, the retarded minds are binding the hands of Balochs and beating them vehemently but on the other hand, Generals are putting their mighty words in the mouths of our weak democratic politicians. How the PPP or any other innocent Pakistani shall appologize to the sufferings of Balochs while they are themselves droping tears of blood?..... be it a Pashtun or a Sindhi or a Panjabi, leaving alone a handful greedy street boys of MQM whose "command & control" is in the hands of the retired General, Musharaf.
Those who sit on the back of the lions are used to be eaten-up by them, finally....John F. Kennedy.
We know there is difference of power between two parties but the "slave`s mutiny" shall put a great leverage to the economical & political kaos and disstablity in whole of Pakistan in general and the Panjab province in particular as noted by respected S. Baloch.
Pakistani Generals are amusing with poor public and their powerless politicians. They are continuing the track of evils and are defaming the politicians of Pakistan with their God given tactics and the Setan given heinous crimes !!!!
Balochs feel deep sorry, beg pardon and apologize to 160 million people of Pakistan, who have suffered, who are still suffereing and who shall be suffered by the Draculian hands of Pakistani Military & Police & F.C. & others.
1973 constituion did not help to save Mr. Z.A. Bhutto, his family members alongwith the massacre of thousands of political workers and leaders. Hundreds of thousand innocent citizens of Pakistan were killed and the so-called 1973 constitution, too, has embraced death after her countless failed operations.
Virtually, the independence of Balochistan shall lead peace and prosperity in Pakistan. The friendship among nations shall be overhauled. Each & every house-hold and industry in Panjab & elsewhere shall get abundent Gas and other natural resources...... with astonishing cheap prices. Citizens of the neighbouring Provinces, including Panjab, shall get easily food, shelter and other necessities of life. Their commerce & industry shall flourish. Curtailing a large un-necessary Army, Panjab & other Provinces shall be more prosperous because they shall be exempted from un-necessary taxes levilled to them - to feed a large army which is eroding the whole budget of the country.
Above of all, the citizens of the remaining Pakistan shall enjoy real democracy and acheive their civil rights....forget it not...Pakistan is not like Burma, run by iron fists of Army !!!
Why not recognise Balochistan as an independent State? Let Balochs, all over the world including those who are linving in Panjab & Sindh, to be proud to have their home-land. Let`s accept the total freedom of Balochistan which shall be our good neighbour, a right hand in the time of our need and a friend indeed. Forget it that Balochistan shall fly-away in the high skies, after his independence !!!!
( Friends of Balochs )
Panjab & Sindh Zone.
S Bloch <sblochch@yahoo.com> wrote:
A lot of water has run under the bridge since autonomy for Balochistan was once a demand. Now the only demand of the Baloch is that the illegal and forcible occupation of Balochistan by Pakistan army, since 1948, be put to an end. The army should, like the Soviet army from East Germany, peacefully withdraw from Balochistan. Position of Balochistan, as it was after the declaration of its independence in 1947, be restored without further loss of life and property. It is in the benefit of all the parties concerned. This will pave the way for friendly relations between the countries of Balochistan and Punjab without which the economies of the new countries would not be able to flourish. And if the economies do not flourish, independence would prove to be a mirage.
Shaukat Baloch
Che Mureed <hat21@yahoo.com> wrote:
Good news is all those who advocated election as a solution to Baluch problem are now eating dust. Pakistani agencies took full advantage of the security situation in Baluchistan and ensured only government puppets are elected. Army was orchestrating massive rigging at an unprecedented level.
Baluch people need to be prepared for all eventuality, we must not derailed by the false promise of autonomy. We have tried autonomy route in 1972, only 10 months later the founder of PPP Zulfiqar Ali Bhoto dissolved Baluchistan government on a ludicrous charge of smuggling. For 60 years Punjabis have been in charge of Pakistan and failed to control smuggling. By the same token Pakistan should be dissolved. The question of smuggling was put to senator Sanaullah Baluch by BCC hard talk. Unfortunately senator answer was vague and apologetic.
Mr Zardari offering us autonomy, where are the safeguard with the offer of autonomy? The real power lies with the military not with Zardari or Nawaz Shariff. Twice Musharaf kicked Nawaz out of the coutry. Zardari served a long sentence in jail. People who backed Musharf are still loose. It was the hardliner in military who supported Musharaf¢s tuff role..
In a nutshell Zardari and Sharif are not in a position to offer autonomy. Pakistan army does not answer to anyone; it is law on to itself. All Zardari can do is to fool the Baluch people by this false paradise. Army is very keen to weaken BLA, BRA and BLF; offer of autonomy is a false promise. Army has lost, Army has failed to quash the Baluch Independent Struggle, army has bombed Baluch indiscriminately, and chemical as well as conventional weapons were used. Baluch are winning. Baluch have the upper hand. This is why they are offering carrots, because the stick approach has failed. By offering the carrot of autonomy they are hoping to weaken BLA, BRA and BLF.
If they are serious about autonomy then they should have no problem in accepting following terms.
·Pakistani troops in Baluchistan must surrender to BLA
·47% of All Armed forces at all LEVEL must be from BLA
·BLA be given the responsibility of protecting the Borders of Baluchistan.
· Over the years Pakistan has looted Baluchistan and built Islabad, Lahore and Ralpindy. Therefore key industry such as Jet Airplane, Rocket, Tank and nuclear technology to be moved to Baluchistan under Baluch control.
· Each province to have political control, Mineral resources and land. Central government cannot interfere. Each province must be armed to defend its border
·Invite UN to implement this mandate.
Tariq.
Dear Tariq,
I welcome you aboard, and wish you continue to contribute to this forum.
I agree with you that PPP is not in position to give what it offers. And Baloch needs and demands are not offered either.
I instead suggest demiliterization of Balochistan. And UN involvement to implement it. This will solve great amount of issues relating the question of liberation or autonomy of Balochistan.
Regards
Koulmir
Mir Raza <mirsalimraza@yahoo.com
The apology is the only good act of PPP till today...it seems that PPP has learned a bit from the past...
Now the Chief of Army Staff and the President of Pakistan should announce the same and than it depend on baluch People, how they react...
The State of Pakistan should admit ALL there Crimes (since 1948 ) against Baluchistan.
Gul Agha <gul.agha@gmail. com> wrote:
Pakistan still hasn't apologized for the genocide in Bangladesh (never mind its continuing massacres in Balochistan) .
But as the PPP was elected by Sindhis, their silent complicity in the Pakistani crimes against the Baloch in the 1970s was a source of embarrassment and humiliation for Sindhis.
The apology is most welcome.. It is the only honorable way.
A resolution passed by a meeting of the PPP provincial parliamentary party held in Islamabad and chaired by co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari said: "The PPP, on behalf of the people of Pakistan, apologises to the people of the province of Balochistan for the atrocities and injustices committed against them and pledges to embark on a new highway of healing and mutual respect."
In other resolutions, the party pledged to "work to give maximum provincial autonomy to the provinces in the framework" of the 1973 Constitution, and demanded deployment of traditional local levies instead of police in Balochistan.
The move was in line with a recent statement by Mr Zardari that the party would like to talk even to people "who have gone to mountains" (to fight) in search of a national reconciliation and the thinking of assassinated PPP leader Benazir Bhutto who had specially gone to Balochistan after her return home from self-exile to offer condolences over the killing of former provincial governor Akbar Khan Bugti in a military operation in August 2006. (Dawn)
How long will the murderous military thugs let Saaiin Zardari be?
His statement is showing more courage than his father in law ever mustered to speak truth to power in Pakistan (except in a few passages about Bangladesh and Balochistan in his memoirs from the gallows).
Our Islamabad correspondent Afzal Khan adds: A representative gathering of the PPP elected members of provincial and national assembly from Balochistan held under party co-chairman Asif Zardari, resolved that after coming into power, the PPP would end the military operation in the province and launch a vigorous initiative for reconciliation with rebellious youth and other insurgents who have taken up arms for an independent Balochistan.
Zardari, himself an ethnic Baloch, told the meeting that once he is free from government formation, he would visit Balochistan to initiate dialogue with Baloch nationalists and the youth who are engaged in near-insurgency in the province under the banner of Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).
He said the PPP would address grievances of the people of Balochistan who have suffered long years of neglect and deprivation. Zardari regretted that Baloch nationalist parties had boycotted the elections and believed that the assembly in its present shape was not representative of the people in real terms. He vowed to take the Baloch nationalists along in the governance both at the centre and in the province.
The meeting also demanded provincial autonomy for Balochistan as an essential pre-requisite to build their stake in the federation of Pakistan. In a resolution adopted at the meeting, the PPP apologised to the people of Balochistan over the excesses they have suffered during the military operation.
Zardari said democracy, provincial autonomy and ownership of their natural resources could alone keep the people of Balochistan bound to the federation.
He said no issue could be resolved through use of force, adding that negotiations and persistent dialogue should be the main instruments of bringing the Baloch into the mainstream politics. (Khaleej Times
--
Gul Agha
Champaign, Illinois, USA
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