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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| India monitoring Baluchistan festivities |
| 2005-03-30 |
| India is keeping a close watch on a dramatic spurt in violence in Pakistan's largest province of Balochistan, an area of strategic importance to Islamabad as well as Taliban remnants still active in neighbouring Afghanistan. Policy makers and Pakistan watchers say while it may be an exaggeration to compare the insurgent activity in Balochistan with the events that led to East Pakistan's secession in 1970-71, the situation is serious and could trigger more turbulence in a region where the proposed Iran-India gas pipeline is to be located. "While Pakistan has more than enough capability to deal with the problem in Balochistan militarily, the situation could certainly threaten the stability of the country, if not unity," G. Parthasarathy, a former envoy to Pakistan, told IANS. "As far as India is concerned, the violence in Balochistan has serious implications for the proposed gas pipeline as it has to pass a couple of hundred kilometres through Balochistan. If they (Pakistan) cannot protect their own gas fields, how are they going to guarantee the security of the pipeline?" With insurgent groups routinely carrying out attacks on gas and other state-run installations and Islamabad threatening a vicious crackdown (which some believe is already under way), allegations of a "foreign hand" are already being aired. For once India, Pakistan's favourite whipping boy, is not the chief suspect. The needle of suspicion is directed at Iran, which along with Afghanistan shares a border with Balochistan and is now in the US line of fire over its nuclear programme. Tehran denies any involvement in the steadily escalating violence. Balochistan, one of Pakistan's four provinces, the others being Punjab, Sindh and North West Frontier Province, accounts for 43 percent of Pakistan's land area but just six percent of the population. It is a mineral rich, feudal region where tribal chieftains, called Sardars, still hold sway, maintaining private armies to back up their clout. It is also the poorest of Pakistani provinces and saw insurgency and counter-insurgency in the 1970s, claiming hundreds of lives. The latest violence has been blamed on three militant groups: Baloch National Army, Baloch Liberation Army and People's Liberation Army. Of this, the Baloch Liberation Army is reportedly the strongest. All three are linked to Sardars known as Baloch nationalists. Their strength is not known but Pakistani media has reported their number could run into hundreds. Weapons possessed by the groups range from the ubiquitous assault rifles to rocket launchers. Violence last year reportedly claimed some 650 lives, including that of nearly 30 security personnel and three Chinese engineers. But the clashes have shown a sharp upswing this year. The immediate trigger was the Jan 2 gang rape of a local doctor, the culprits being a Pakistan Army captain and three soldiers. The incident set aflame passions in a region where large numbers have over the years passionately believed that Islamabad discriminates against Balochistan in favour of the dominant Punjab. The central government in turn accuses a few but influential Baloch leaders of trying to preserve their fiefdoms by levelling reckless allegations against the Punjabi-dominated establishment despite rising Pakistani investment in the province, including building of new cantonments and highways. Baloch leaders say the benefits accruing from most new projects invariably go to outsiders, particularly Punjabis. Whatever the truth, since the start of this year, militants have stepped up attacks on state-run installations, inflicting heavy losses on the economy. Their activities have affected gas supplies to the rest of Pakistan. The main trouble spots have been Sui, Pirokh and Loti. Violence has also been reported from the coastal town of Gawadar, where a new port is under construction. A clash between Pakistani security forces and militants on March 17 left some 60 people dead, including an undetermined number of Hindus. Pakistani parliamentarian Sherry Rehman has described the situation in Balochistan as "alarming". One Baloch leader, Nawab Khair Bux, has openly advocated armed struggle. Another, Nawab Akbar Bugti, is calling natural resources in Balochistan as "Baloch assets", not national assets. Pakistan cannot afford to let the violence continue. For one, it is a province where Al Qaeda's elusive chief Osama bin Laden is known to come and go, thanks to its porous border with Afghanistan and because of Islamabad's tenuous control over large tracts. The killings and disaffection can only strengthen bin Laden's hands. Secondly, the unrest will put a question mark on Islamabad's ability to deliver gas from Iran to India, a project vital for its own economy. Third, some Baloch politicians are defiantly threatening to accept help from foreign countries including India. With the A.Q. Khan scandal and the unresolved Kashmir dispute still plaguing him, President Pervez Musharraf cannot afford to let Balochistan burn. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 Perv's gotta burn some of these tribal warlords - starting weith |
| Posted by: Frank G 2005-03-30 4:06:27 PM |