Opposition rally calls for ending operation: Kohlu killing condemned

www.dawn.com/2006/09/11/top6.htm

By Ashraf Mumtaz

LAHORE, Sept 10: Opposition leaders and thousands of their supporters from various cities of Punjab expressed solidarity with the people of Balochistan on Sunday night, condemning the killing of Jamhoori Watan Party chief Nawab Akbar Bugti.

At a public meeting at Minar-i-Pakistan, they said that those responsible for the Kohlu tragedy had noting to do with Punjab.

Some Baloch leaders also attended the meeting which was presided over by Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD) chairman Makhdoom Amin Fahim.

Almost all Baloch and the Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders proposed that opposition parties should resign their assembly seats and launch a decisive struggle against military rule in the country.

Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) leader Hafiz Husain Ahmed proposed that the ARD chairman should announce the formation of a grand opposition alliance, which should meet on Monday and quit their seats en masse the following day.

The ARD chairman, however, did not make even a passing reference to the idea. Also, he stopped short of supporting the call for a grand opposition alliance.

The six-hour public meeting ended at about midnight.

MMA leaders Qazi Husain Ahmed and Maulana Fazlur Rehman did not turn up, although the ARD leaders were expecting that they would.

London-based PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif addressed the rally on phone, but PPP chairperson Benazir Bhutto didn’t.

Mr Fahim said democratic forces should bear in mind the dangers of ‘one-man rule’ and added that the right to rule lay with those elected by people.

“Better sense should prevail and the army should honourably return to the barracks, confining its role to that mentioned in the Constitution,” said the ARD chief, calling for an immediate end to the military operation in Balochistan.

PONM leader Qamar Bhatti said Punjab had been wrongly accused of connivance with the establishment against smaller provinces.

Abdul Hayee Baloch said the youth in Balochistan felt they were being treated like second-rate citizens. “They will not accept this treatment any more, nor surrender their rights.”

He said the prevailing situation in Balochistan was graver than the one which had led to the dismemberment of Pakistan in 1971. “If the federation is to be kept intact, Punjab will have to lead the way for the restoration of parliamentary system.”

He said opposition MPs should resign immediately.

Rauf Mengal, who recently quit the National Assembly, said that Baloch people considered all those sitting in the federal and Balochistan cabinets responsible for Nawab Bugti’s killing.

He said the protest by Punjab over the killing was inadequate.

Mr Mengal said the ARD and MMA would be adding to their prestige by quitting assemblies. By adopting this course, he emphasised, the current protest wave could lead to a revolution.

Sardar Yaqoob Nasir of Balochistan said people of Punjab had demonstrated through this largely attended meeting that they wanted to keep the federation intact. He said the map of an independent Balochistan was with ‘friends’ of Gen Musharraf and had not been recovered from Nawab Bugti.

NWFP PML-N leader Pir Sabir Shah said today’s demonstration in Punjab had actually saved Pakistan.

ARD secretary-general Iqbal Zafar Jhagra, Balochistan PPP president Nawab Lashkar Raisani, Ghulam Mustafa Khar, Aitzaz Ahsan, Begum Abida Hussain, Khwaja Saad Rafiq, Maimoona Hashmi, Shah Mahmood Qureshi, Tehmina Daultana, Sahibzada Fazle Karim, Liaquat Baloch, Nawabzada Mansoor Khan, Hameeduddin Mashraqi, Zulfiqar Ali Khosa and several other leaders also spoke.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Balochs have no option but to part ways with Pak: Mengal

www.zeenews.com/articles.asp=

Quetta, Sept 11: A senior Baloch leader has said that the Pakistan Government was “firm” on making it impossible for the Balochs to live in Pakistan, and the situation evolving in the province had reached such levels that the two sides would have to soon part their ways.

“The killing of Nawab Bugti and his controversial burial have disappointed us very much. We are now convinced that the Baloch cannot live with Pakistan in the long-term.

We have to part ways, as we can’t stand under the same green flag with the killers of our elders. It’s an undeniable fact that we never wanted to join Pakistan. Our accession was forcefully made.

Despite that, we never protested and clung to the hope that the Pakistani rulers would treat us justly,” the Daily Times quoted Balochistan National Party (BNP) President Sardar Akhtar Mengal, as saying while addressing a public rally.

He called upon all political parties and people from all provinces to help end the ongoing military operations in the Marri and Bugti tribal areas.

“The political role of the army must end immediately. Otherwise, it will cause further damage to the country. The country has already been divided and more hatred has been generated by the army due to its excesses against the people of smaller provinces,” he added.

He added that currently the assemblies were being held hostage by the military and were, therefore, totally powerless.

Bureau Report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Power transmission line blasted in BALOCHISTAN

www.chinaview.cn 2006-09-11 18:36:14

ISLAMABAD, Sept. 11 (Xinhua) -- The 220 kilovolt (KV) power transmission line in Pakistan's southwest Balochistan province was blasted through an improvised device, which has triggered tormenting loadshedding in over 10 districts of the Balochistan province, local Geo TV reported Monday.

The power transmission line running from Sibi, 80 km southeast of capital of Balochistan province Quetta, to the capital was blasted through an improvised device, while the 132 KV pylon was severely damaged.

Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) officials said that some unknown persons, through an explosive device, had blasted the two pylons of the 220 KV Sibi-Quetta transmission line in the night between Sunday and Monday.

The thud of the explosion also severely damaged the two towers of the 132 KV transmission tripping its one of the two circuits, resulting in a worst power breakdown that had plunged a vast area of the province into pitch darkness, the report said.

However, electric supply to Quetta was restored late at night, some districts' power supply could only be restored partially, while the other areas still remained plunged in darkness.

QESCO's chief executive Brigadier Tasadduq Hussain said that the devastation of 220 KV transmission line has created 350 megawatt of power shortage forcing 8-10 hours of grueling loadshedding everyday in over 10 districts of the province.

He said that the replacement of the two pylons of 220 KV would cost 1 million rupees (about 16,666.67 U.S. dollars) and that of 132 KV nearly 500,000 rupees (about 8333.33 dollars) according to initial estimates, while QESCO would incur 300 million rupees (about 5 million dollars) revenue loss per day.

He said that the repair work would soon be taken up, which could take several days for completion. Enditem
news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-09/11/content_5077832.htm

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pak Opposition holds massive rally against Bugti killing

www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp

Islamabad, Sept 11: Stepping up their agitation on the killing of Baloch tribal leader Nawab Akbar Bugti, Pakistan`s Opposition Parties held a huge rally in Lahore accusing the military of "ganging up" to establish their writ without taking into account the people`s ethnic sensibilities.

Leaders of the Opposition parties including Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy (ARD), Islamist alliance Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and the Pakistan oppressed Nations Movement (PONM) who took part in yesterday`s rally warned people against anti-state conspiracies allegedly hatched by some army generals.

PML-N leader Nawaz Sharif asked the gathering over phone from his exile in London to join hands against President Pervez Musharraf and not to give the "dictator" a chance to prolong his tenure.

He said all of Pakistan was with the people of Balochistan in their hour of distress, especially after the "murder" of Bugti in a military raid on Aug 26.

Accusing the Army of spreading the ethnic discord between the four provinces, he said those who were trying to weaken the case of Punjab would not be spared.

It was the moral duty of the people of Pakistan to snatch rifles from those who were using it against the masses as the people had to pay the price of adventurism of the rulers, he was quoted as saying by the news daily.

He said by killing a "patriot" in Balochistan, the "dictator" had proved he had nothing to do with the solidarity and sovereignty of the country but to prolong his rule.

Bureau Report

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bombs down power lines in southwestern Pakistan; no injuries reported
The Associated Press

Published: September 11, 2006

QUETTA, Pakistan Bombs damaged a post office and toppled high-voltage power lines in southwestern Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province, but no injuries were reported, police said Monday.

A bomb blast Monday damaged a post office in Kharan, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) west of Baluchistan's capital, Quetta, said police officer Mohammed Sarfaraz Khan.

Separately, two homemade bombs knocked down two towers supporting high-voltage wires near Quetta late Sunday night, cutting power to the city and 22 Baluchistan districts, said Jibraeel Khan, a spokesman for the state utility Water and Power Development Authority.

Power was restored after about an hour, the spokesman said.

Earlier Sunday, a bomb attack outside a crowded Quetta restaurant wounded 14 people.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Tension has been high in Baluchistan since Aug. 26, when an explosion crushed tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti's cave hide-out, killing Bugti and an unspecified number of his supporters, as well as security forces. The government says the forces had been chasing weapons smugglers in the area.

The government has denied targeting Bugti, but had labeled him a terrorist.

Many in Baluchistan see Bugti as a hero. He led a sometimes-violent campaign for more wealth from resources such as gas and oil extracted from the impoverished, underdeveloped province on the Afghan border.

Violent protests over his death have left several people dead in the area. A number of academics and commentators across Pakistan have criticized the government's handling of the chieftain's death.

Rebel Baluchistan tribesmen have been blamed for small-scale bombings and rocket attacks against government installations in Baluchistan in the past few years.

On Friday, a bomb in another Baluchistan town killed at least five people.

QUETTA, Pakistan Bombs damaged a post office and toppled high-voltage power lines in southwestern Pakistan's restive Baluchistan province, but no injuries were reported, police said Monday.

A bomb blast Monday damaged a post office in Kharan, about 250 kilometers (150 miles) west of Baluchistan's capital, Quetta, said police officer Mohammed Sarfaraz Khan.

Separately, two homemade bombs knocked down two towers supporting high-voltage wires near Quetta late Sunday night, cutting power to the city and 22 Baluchistan districts, said Jibraeel Khan, a spokesman for the state utility Water and Power Development Authority.

Power was restored after about an hour, the spokesman said.

Earlier Sunday, a bomb attack outside a crowded Quetta restaurant wounded 14 people.

No one claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Tension has been high in Baluchistan since Aug. 26, when an explosion crushed tribal chieftain Nawab Akbar Bugti's cave hide-out, killing Bugti and an unspecified number of his supporters, as well as security forces. The government says the forces had been chasing weapons smugglers in the area.

The government has denied targeting Bugti, but had labeled him a terrorist.

Many in Baluchistan see Bugti as a hero. He led a sometimes-violent campaign for more wealth from resources such as gas and oil extracted from the impoverished, underdeveloped province on the Afghan border.

Violent protests over his death have left several people dead in the area. A number of academics and commentators across Pakistan have criticized the government's handling of the chieftain's death.

Rebel Baluchistan tribesmen have been blamed for small-scale bombings and rocket attacks against government installations in Baluchistan in the past few years.

On Friday, a bomb in another Baluchistan town killed at least five people.


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Pakistan’s trouble with Baluchistan

www.organiser.org/dynamic/modules.php
By Balbir K. Punj

The recent killing of Nawab Akbar Bugti in a targeted army action by Pakistan government has put a question mark on the future of both the existence of Pakistan as a country and also that of its President General Musharraf.

Media reports since the Bugti assassination have highlighted the long struggle of the Baluch tribes against the federal government in Islamabad. They have predicted the Baluch nationalism and its three tribes realigning under the leadership of one of the other customary tribal leaders. The Bughti, Marri and Mengal tribes constituting the Baluchis have their own customary leaders. Each of them has carried on a living conflict with the federal government getting in and getting out of the power circle in Islamabad at different times in the last 60 years.

The expectation is that with Akbar Khan as the martyr they have now a symbol to consolidate their struggle against Islamabad and Pakistan President in particular. Marri tribal leader Sardar Akhtar Khan, a former Chief Minister of Baluchistan has been quoted in The Friday Times predicting that “this incident has cut our last link, if there was any, with Pakistan”. If that prediction accurately reflects the Baluch feeling, Pakistan has much to fear for its future. Bugti was hardly the illiterate tribal warlord living on extortion and armed rebellion. Oxford-educated Bugti was an ardent fan of Pakistan and mainly responsible for the accession of the several tribesmen into Pakistan fold. Why then did he and his tribesmen rebel?

It is said that the rebellion was mainly on account of the differences between the local people and the federal government over sharing of natural resources of the Baluch area. These differences got caught in the army-politician divide in that country ever since Pakistan was formed. Though the Bugti and his followers had joined the Pakistan government several times in the past, there was invariably a separation. The 50-year-old revolt of the Baluchis reveals the inconsistency in the claim on which Pakistan was formed—that the Muslims of undivided India constituted a separate nation of their own by virtue of their religious affiliation and hence the partition.

At the beginning of the army take-over under Musharraf, the ultra-conservative were with him as the army was deeply involved in the support and sustenance of Islamic orthodoxy and the training and direction of terror groups for action in Jammu and Kashmir and other places. The army take-over meant a return to the days of the last military dictator Zia-ul-Haq, who set up the orthodox clergy as a counter to the politicians and a string of madrasas with their government-supported staff of ulemas as his support base.

The fundamentalists would thus support Musharraf and his army cohorts against the politicians. Before 9/11, the army-Taliban entente provided a strong bargaining chip for Musharraf with the US Administration on the one hand and a powerful force for his domestic battle against the traditional politicians who were demanding return to democracy on the other. The frontier with Afghanistan was the cocktail of tribal passions, religious orthodox and terror outfits.

With two failed assassination attempts reminding General Musharraf that he is skating on thin ice, the expected revolt in Baluchistan could become the last straw that could fell his regime, which needs to get a new vote in 2007. He is accused of being too close to the American regime, which is the current demon in Pakistan, especially of the mullahs and maulavis who are behind the terror machines exercising daily in that country.

The General himself has been patronising the terror machine. However, following 9/11, the Americans twisted his arms and forced him to change sides, beginning with the ouster of the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. So the political environment is full of cries of “betrayal” against the General Musharraf. The army’s own loyalty to him is of suspect. The last two assassination attempts at him revealed the hidden linkages between the army and the terror groups.

There is little doubt that Musharraf is doing a tight rope-walk. He is under tremendous pressure from the global community to come down hard on the terror network. His domestic compulsions force him to take an opposite line. How long Musharraf can manage this balancing act is anybody’s guess. The fate of both—Pakistan and its current President—hangs in balance.