balochistan issue

THE BALOCHISTAN ISSUE



On December 27, 2005 India noted with “concern” the heavy military action in Balochistan and added that Pakistan should “exercise restraint” and address the grievances of the people of the region through peaceful discussions. This has become the new frontier for Pakistan and for India an opportunity to pay the diplomatic game in the war of words in an engagement, otherwise confined to talking of Confidence Building Measures, and Jammu and Kashmir.


Pakistan’s immediate response was to blame India for the troubles in Balochistan and reacting sharply alleged that “India is supporting the miscreants” in Balochistan. The diplomatic response from Pakistan was perhaps natural given the fact that India’s statement caught them off guard. Resenting India’s call for Islamabad to exercise restraint led them to say this was a interference in its internal affairs. And this response came not only from the members of the Pakistan cabinet, but also from former Chief of Army Staff Aslam Beg and ex-Chief of ISI Gen (Retd) Hamid Gul. Both the Army Chief and former ISI chief charged both India and the United States with fomenting trouble in Balochistan.

“The terrorists who are fighting in Balochistan are friends of India and foes of Pakistan. That is the only reason the Indian government expressed concern against military operations in the province,” Gul was quoted by the Frontier Post. The News International states that, "The words used by the Indian foreign ministry about what is Pakistan''s internal matter are shockingly provocative and come at a time when the two countries are seriously engaged in a constructive dialogue".

There have been reports that India’s remarks amount to indulging in the internal affairs of Pakistan as also that there is a subtle message in India making statements like Pakistan should stop military operations in Balochistan. Such argument is certainly not justified as it must be remembered that the proposed Iranian gas pipeline is to pass through Balochistan and since there have already been eight attacks on the gas pipelines and in December 2005, rebels blew up a gas pipeline supplying a major power station, it is natural that India should express its concern over the security of the proposed pipeline. The News International sees India as losing interest in the gas pipeline project. “...Balochistan is where the Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline will pass. Or is it that, despite its repeatedly expressed eagerness about it, India is beginning to lose interest in the project for some reasons,” the editorial argues.

The present troubles in Balochistan can be traced to January 2003, when four Pakistan soldiers allegedly raped a doctor, employed by Pakistan Petroleum at the Sui gas field. When the authorities failed to file a case, Bugti tribesmen attacked the gas field. Other tribes joined in, hitting the port at Gwadar as well as railway lines and military facilities. The Pakistani Army then responded in strength and for a while it seemed that things had quietened down till the troubles once again started at the end of 2005.

The Pakistan military began an assault in December 2005 after a rocket attack was launched on a rally held by General Musharraf in the town of Kohlu. Soon after the Pakistan Army began its assault, insurgents opened fire on a helicopter carrying the Inspector General of the Frontier Corps, Major General Shujaat Zamir Dar, and his deputy which brought the wrath of the Frontier Corps i.e. both the paramilitary and regular Army units, backed by helicopter gunship, and they launched full-scale attacks on the insurgents.

In January 2006, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the chief of the Bugti tribe which has been at the forefront of the war with Pakistani troops in the province of Balochistan, said it was incorrect for President Pervez Musharraf to say that India was providing support to the rebellion. “President Musharraf is using his favorite weapon — lies," Nawab Bugti told a prominent Indian daily in an interview. “His objective is to defame the legitimate demands of the people of Balochistan,” claimed Bugti.

In an interview to an Indian television channel in January 2006, Musharraf claimed that there was proof of India providing support to the Baloch nationalist forces, whom he described as “anti-government and anti-me.” The Indian involvement in Balochistan included "financial support" and "support in kind," claimed Musharraf, which has been denied by Nawab Bugti. He suggested that the weapons being used by the rebels had come into the region when the United States financed the jihad in Afghanistan. He blamed Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for making these weapons freely available. Pointing to the easy availability of small arms in northern and western Pakistan, Bugti said the cost of acquiring weapons was minimal.

Bugti’s role in the current impasse is straightforward. He wants payment for the gas being taken out from the Sui gas field. For him, the constitutional provision that all minerals or below surface assets belong to the government is meaningless. Basically, Bugti wants no government interference within his domain. In other words, the feudal and tribal culture should be supreme and the presence of Islamabad there should be minimal or even non-existent. For Bugti and other chieftains in the area, the only thing that matters is the tribal code of justice and no amount of Pakistani pressure, like the one of 10 March 2006 when a wedding party of 30 civilians perished after the bus in which they were traveling was hit by a landmine in the Dera Bugti area of Balochistan will deter the resistance movement