"WAR-LIKE SITUATION IN BALOCHISTAN" - VOA DEBATE & AFTER by B. Raman Reproduced below are two reports carried by the prestigious "Daily Times" of Lahore on January 8 and 9,2006, on the situation in Balochistan. These two reports show how the Pakistani military authorities are trying to conceal from the rest of the world the military operation that has been going on in Balochistan since December 18, 2005. Sunday, January 8, 2006 No civil war in Balochistan, Governor tells VOA By Khalid Hassan WASHINGTON: Balochistan Governor Owais Ghani told Voice of America (VOA) in a wide-ranging discussion programme this week that there is no civil war in the province. However, he conceded that there were “disturbances” in two of the 28 districts which took a violent turn at times, but the violence had remained “limited”. The programme, anchored from the VOA’s Washington studio by Akmal Aleemi and Murteza Solangi, also featured Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) President Nawab Akbar Bugti, Senator Sanaullah Baloch, former Prime Minister Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Chairperson Asma Jehangir. Ghani said that the Government is acting against “miscreants” in training camps. “We are conducting focused action against them. We have tried a dialogue in the past, but these elements are sabotaging it. In the Marri area, 85 percent of the people want development and they are with the government. People want us to build cantonments to save themselves from rockets. They want hospitals, roads and cadet colleges,” he added. VOA interviewer Murteza Solangi phoned Bugti on a satellite phone and the man answering it said that he was in a trench because “we are being shelled”. Solangi then pulled the phone away from his ear and clearly identifiable reports of shelling could be heard. These sounds were recorded and broadcast in the programme, due to be aired again on Saturday. Bugti told VOA: “Anyone has to be insane to oppose development. We are not against development. They are imposing things on us that we don’t need. The people of Balochistan are backward. We need irrigation canals, hospitals and schools. They want to give us airfields, cantonments and helipads. The Balochis don’t need them. Is this what you call development? We don’t want that kind of development. Why do they need cantonments? Are they going to attack Afghanistan ? The US is the “God of Pakistan”. Why would it want to destabilise Pakistan ? They are dropping phosphorus bombs on us and shamelessly denying it like Saddam used to. They issue denials and then deny the denials.” Jamali said: “We have to ensure the participation of the people in development. We need to ask the people what they want, as every area has its own requirements. We need to talk to resolve the conflict by peaceful political means. I have requested (Pakistan Muslim League President) Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain to restart his dialogue (with Baloch leaders). The sardari system will wither away through the evolutionary process and not by revolutionary means. We need to be patient and listen to the people.” Senator Sanaullah Baloch told his interviewers: “A dialogue can only take place if and when people are treated as equals. The rulers of Pakistan have always treated us as third-class citizens. They are bombing our population and killing our women and children. We live in the Internet age. The pictures of the victims are on the Internet. The Governor cannot deny that any longer.” He said that the Balochistan Governor was the representative of an “administrative elite” that did not come from Balochistan, but from the outside. He said that of the 72 high administrative positions in Balochistan, most were occupied by people who had come from outside the province. The elite that rules Balochistan has a vested interest in trouble and violence, which is why there is no peace, he said. Asma Jehangir said: “The Government says that it is a low level insurgency caused by ‘miscreants’. I have gone to the Kohlu area. The Government has engaged in bombing. It is a warlike situation in that area. We have lists of those killed, which includes women and children. We went to the local bar association and they told us about people disappearing. You talk to journalists and they will tell you that they feel intimidated and harassed by intelligence agencies every day. Is this the way to establish the writ of the state? The writ of the state is not established by bombing your own people; it is established by rule of law.” The HRCP chairperson asked the Governor why a road was being built where there is no population. While he did not answer the question, he told her that the accusation that phosphorus bombs were being dropped was false. He added: “You people can come and see for yourself.” The HRCP chairperson was quick to accept the invitation and informed him that she will arrive in Dera Bugti on Sunday. When told by the Governor that she should come to Kohlu, she replied: “No, I am coming to Dera Bugti to see for myself what is happening.” Monday, January 09, 2006 Asma’s convoy attacked near Sui LAHORE : A Human Rights Commission of Pakistan team on its way to Dera Bugti was shot at by suspected security agencies personnel on Sunday, HRCP Chairperson Asma Jahangir told Daily Times. The aim of the attack was to prevent the HRCP team from visiting the area to investigate any human rights abuses in the Government offensive against militant tribesmen in Balochistan, Ms Jahangir said. According to the Government, Ms Jahangir’s car was targeted by ‘miscreants’ and was escorted to safety by security forces. Ms Jahangir denied this vehemently. She said Afrasiab Khattak, former HRCP chairman, left Multan for Sui on Sunday. They were accompanied by journalists in a separate car. The cars were photographed from Multan to DG Khan by what appeared to be security personnel, Ms Jahangir said. As the convoy approached the Balochistan border, a man pointed a torch at HRCP officials’ car and then two gunmen sprayed bullets around the car, not actually hitting it. The driver reversed the car. The journalists’ car was untouched. An FC (Frontier Corps) unit is stationed half a kilometre from the site, but paramilitary soldiers did not help the HRCP team. They drove to the FC post to report the incident. Ms Jahangir said they would spend the night there and head towards Sui on Monday. Another HRCP team went from Quetta to Sui on Sunday. They were stopped by security forces, but they managed to get there via a detour. The two HRCP teams plan to set off for Dera Bugti today after meeting up in Sui. The Labour Party of Pakistan and NGOs plan to protest the incident outside the Lahore Press Club today. (The writer is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. of India , and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies, Chennai. E-mail: itschen36@gmail.com)