FRESH AIR STRIKES IN BALOCHISTAN

by B. Raman

Even six months after President General Pervez Musharraf ordered his Army and the Air Force to suppress the freedom struggle launched by the Baloch nationalist elements, the freedom struggle continues to gather strength with no sign of any impact on the freedom-fighters despite the large-scale use of heavy weapons and air strikes. Their motivation and determination to achieve independence remain as strong as ever. There has been a steady flow of volunteers to the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other groups carrying on the freedom struggle and the military operations have not been able to disrupt the training of the new volunteers by these organisations in the liberated pockets set up by them.

The ban imposed by the Army on the BLA has had no effect on it. On the contrary, it has only further increased its popularity among the Baloch people and demonstrated the ineffectiveness of the army and its inability to have the ban enforced. The freedom-fighters have not been short of funds and weapons. While the funds have been coming from the Baloch diaspora abroad, the arms and ammunition have been seized by the freedom-fighters from the stocks of the security forces during raids on their posts.

In the face of international concern over the large number of civilian casualties due to the military operations, the Pakistani military had suspended the use of Air Force planes and helicopter gunships for a while. Helicopters were used only for logistics purposes and not for strikes directed against the freedom-fighters. But for the last few days, the use of air strikes has been resumed and over eight helicopter gunships have been going into action against the freedom-fighters resulting in many casualties. Air strikes have been directed against not only the armed freedom-fighters, but also against villagers suspected of assisting them. While the air strikes have been taking place in many parts of the province, they have been particularly concentrated in the areas inhabited by the Bugti, Marri and Mengal tribes. The freedom-fighters have claimed to have shot down two helicopters, but the shooting down of only one has so far been confirmed.

There has been no change in the modus operandi of the freedom-fighters. It continues to consist of attacks on the posts of the security forces, ambushes of military convoys, attacks on gas pipelines and railway lines. They have taken care to ensure that their operations do not cause civilian casualties. The freedom-fighters have denied responsibility for an explosion with an improvised explosive device outside a roadside tea stall near Quetta on June 12, 2006, in which five bystanders were killed and 17 others injured. They have accused the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of having organised this explosion with the help of people brought from outside the province in order to discredit the freedom struggle.

The Army had moved in a large number of Balochs living in Punjab and Sindh into the province and distributed to them the land vacated by the members of the Bugti tribe who had run away from their places of residence due to suppression by the Army. The Army was hoping that these re-settled Balochs would help it in fighting against the freedom-fighters. Its hopes have been belied. Many of the re-settled Balochs, who faced the hostility of the local population, have run away to where they were brought from.

The anti-Chinese anger amongst the Balochs continues to be as strong as ever, but the moves for a joint freedom struggle by the Balochs, the Shias of Gilgit and Baltistan and the Uighurs of Xinjiang have not made much headway so far, but the contacts are continuing. There are two groups of Uighur militants. One group, like the Balochs, is fighting for independence for the Uighur homeland. It is not pan-Islamic and does not accept the ideology of Al Qaeda. Another group is pan-Islamic and has accepted the leadership of Al Qaeda in the International Islamic Front (IIF). The move is for co-operation between the Balochs and those Uighurs, who are fighting for independence for their homeland, but do not accept the pan-Islamic ideology of Al Qaeda.

Faced with increasing threats to their existing projects in Balochistan such as the ones for the construction of the Gwadar port and the development of the copper mines, the Chinese are reported to have expressed their inability to help Pakistan in the construction of a nuclear power station in Balochistan. During his present visit to China to attend the summit of the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, Gen. Musharraf is expected to discuss with the Chinese  a Pakistani request for a Chinese-aided 600 MW nuclear power station at Karachi.

The Chinese continue to evince interest in the construction of a pipeline from Gwadar to Xinjiang, a road linking Gwadar with the Karakoram Highway and a huge  oil refinery complex at Gwadar, which would partly meet the requirements of Pakistan and Xinjiang. A proposal for the emergency evacuation of the Chinese personnel working in Balochistan by sea should the situation in the province deteriorate seriously is also under discussion between the two countries. Though Gen. Musharraf has assured the Chinese that such a situation is unlikely to arise, the Chinese reportedly do not want to take risk and want to keep a drill for emergency evacuation ready.

The proposal is that Pakistani helicopters and ships would be used for the evacuation, if it becomes necessary. There is at present no proposal to station Chinese helicopters and ships for that purpose. A team of Chinese naval and intelligence officers is reported to have visited Islamabad, Karachi and Balochistan for discussions in this regard.

It has been reported that the Baloch freedom-fighters are disappointed that after its initial expression of concern over the military operations against the freedom-fighters, the Government of India has not come out with any other statement on the continuing suppression of the Balochs by the Pakistani military establishment. The freedom-fighters have been closely following the reports of the discussions involving India, Pakistan and Iran on the construction of an Iran-Pakistan-India gas pipeline. They are determined not to allow this pipeline or any pipeline from Turkmenistan to pass through their territory unless they are also involved in the talks on the subject and part of the transit fee is paid to them. Similarly, they are determined to oppose any pipeline to Xinjiang. The Government of India should at least have discussions with the overseas representatives of the Baloch freedom-fighters on this subject in order to find out their thinking.

The situation in Balochistan and the progress of the freedom struggle are attracting increasing attention abroad. It is learnt there were recently discussions on the subject at the International Institute For Strategic Studies (IISS), London, and the Congressionally-funded US Institute of Peace in Washington DC. Delhi-based think-tanks should invite the overseas Baloch leaders in order to educate Indian public opinion on the on-going freedom struggle in Balochistan. India should not hesitate to extend its political, diplomatic and moral support to the Baloch freedom-fighters. 17.6.06

(The writer is Additional Secretary (retd.), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com