It would not be an overestimation if it were to be said that the so-called “Baloch sympathizer” Mr. Rohrabacher has actually drawn the attention of the US’ master planner, the CIA, to gear up the project of establishing a “Greater Balochistan” which was designed during Bush era.
Ralph Peters in his testimony supported the idea of an independent Balochistan as per his article “Blood Borders” published in the Armed Forces Journal in June 2006 with a map of “Free Balochistan” (comprising the Balochistan provinces in Pakistan and Iran and parts of Afghanistan).
For its strategic importance, the province of Balochistan remains all the time in the vortex of fiercely rivaling international spy agencies for infestation. Due to the strategic importance of Balochistan, particularly for the Central Asian States and Afghanistan, the US thinks that holding, capturing or creating an independent state in the Balochistan region will provide her remunerative strategically advantages like easy excess to the Gulf through the Gwadar Port, disintegration of lonely nuclear Islamic state, dominance over China, Russia, the Persian Gulf and other Islamic countries.
Charity begins at home, goes the old adage. How about the US starting with giving Afghanistan complete independence or unconditionally withdrawing all boots from Iraq? Or breathe some sense into the warmongering executives of the US military-industrial complex before they get an almost bankrupt America entangled in another war in the Middle East?
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On January 31, Zamur Domki, wife of Balochistan Assembly member Mir Bakhtiar Khan Domki, daughter Janan Domki and family driver Barkat Baloch were cold bloodedly murdered by some unidentified persons in Karachi.
It is sad to note that whereas the tragic incident of cold-blooded murder caused irreparable loss to the Domki family it also provided an opportunity to dissident elements and nationalist parties to settle their score against security forces.
Since then the situation of law and order in Balochistan is volatile. It is so unfortunate that the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Baloch Republican Party (BRP) and Baloch National Party (BNP) have used the murder of the the Domiki women belonging to the Bugti family to vent their hatred against security forces and Punjabi settlers in Balochistan, overruling the possibility of theemurder being the result of family enmity.
From 30th January to 12th February, 37 people have been killed, including 21 civilians, 15 Frontier Corps (FC) soldiers and one army personnel in the restive province of Balochistan, according to Balochistan conflict monitor.
The extraordinary event of the killing of the Domki women followed by a series of violent attacks on security forces and the masses has generated great interest among followers of “greater Balochistan”.
This interest group includes the US, India, local and international non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and the Baloch nationalist parties who have their own vested interests in free Balochistan.
For instance, on 15th January the State Department spokeswoman, Victoria Nuland expressed America’s deep concern over the ongoing violence in Balochistan, especially targeted killings, disappearances and human rights violations.
Most surprising was the Congressional Hearing on 8th February 2012 convened by the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs for an exclusive discussion on the Balochistan situation.
The hearing that was chaired by Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher and the co-author of an article expressing support for an independent Balochistan, termed the issue a matter requiring urgent attention. It would not be an overestimation if it were to be said that the so-called “Baloch sympathizer” Mr. Rohrabacher has actually drawn the attention of the US’ master planner, the CIA, to gear up the project of establishing a “Greater Balochistan” which was designed during Bush era.
Other than this, the congressional hearing also included a three-member panel comprising defence analyst Ralph Peters, Dr. Christine Fair and Ali Dayan Hassan – Director of Human Rights Watch (HRW) Pakistan - in order to testify to the issue before the US’ representative committee.
Ralph Peters in his testimony supported the idea of an independent Balochistan as per his article “Blood Borders” published in the Armed Forces Journal in June 2006 with a map of “Free Balochistan” (comprising the Balochistan provinces in Pakistan and Iran and parts of Afghanistan).
However, Christine Fair not only termed the congressional hearing on Balochistan US’ meddling in the internal affairs of Pakistan, but also said that given the ethnic diversity of the province, its complicated history, and the existing geographic constraint, an independent Balochistan was untenable. She further added that “while she understood emotions ran high, targeted killings are also being carried out by Balochis”.
In the view of Mr. Ali Dayan, Balochistan presents a hydra-headed conflict situation. There are multiple actors perpetrating violence there. But the engine of human rights abuse no doubt is the Pakistani military, paramilitaries and intelligence agencies.
He also accused Pakistan’s security forces and its intelligence agency for the forced disappearances of ethnic Baloch.
T. Kumar of Amnesty International said: “What’s happening to the Baloch people, it’s a kill-and-dump operation, it’s a terror mechanism that the Pakistani military and the intelligence officers used to terrorize the local population”.
Would the national and international media and NGOs like to answer about the Ferrari camps/detention centers being run by Baloch sardars and insurgents. What about the number of militants who were either sent to Afghanistan or India for training? These questions will likely remain unanswered as reality will unveil many ugly faces. Also it is easy to malign Pakistan’s security forces for anything that goes wrong anywhere, be it America, India, Afghanistan or even on its own home front.
For its strategic importance, the province of Balochistan remains all the time in the vortex of fiercely rivaling international spy agencies for infestation. Due to the strategic importance of Balochistan, particularly for the Central Asian States and Afghanistan, the US thinks that holding, capturing or creating an independent state in the Balochistan region will provide her remunerative strategically advantages like easy excess to the Gulf through the Gwadar Port, disintegration of lonely nuclear Islamic state, dominance over China, Russia, the Persian Gulf and other Islamic countries.
The objective behind the US House of Representatives’ Congressional hearing is to create a great deal of negative publicity for Pakistan.
According to some political experts in Washington DC, the Republicans are bringing up the Balochistan issue to castigate Democratic President Barack Obama in order to take advantage of the situation during the elections.
As a matter of fact, a significant part of the unrest in Balochistan is being actively supported and funded by a well-known American proxy. Instead of preaching what is best for Pakistan or Balochistan in the long run, both the US houses should take a good, long look at the state of affairs in their own country and the foreign (mis)adventures they are currently embroiled in.
Charity begins at home, goes the old adage. How about the US starting with giving Afghanistan complete independence or unconditionally withdrawing all boots from Iraq? Or breathe some sense into the warmongering executives of the US military-industrial complex before they get an almost bankrupt America entangled in another war in the Middle East? Or provide healthcare to the 50 million or so uninsured Americans? The list is endless and this brings me to my next point: with so many problems plaguing America, one would surely hope that the US Congress might spend more time addressing domestic rather than foreign issues, wouldn’t it?
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