Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on October 25, 2007 · 2 Comments
In our last conversation, Dr. Samina Ahmed, South Asia Director of the International Crisis Group, said Islamabad was not very pleased with their earlier report on Balochistan. In the meanwhile, Ali Zaman, an analyst working with the ICG, visited Quetta telling me that they wanted to update the ICG report in Balochistan. “ Because we think Balochistan is not getting enough attention now,” said Ali.
Now, the Report Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan, is out. Like it or not, ICG has very rightly pointed out:
“Although the military has retained control through force, it is fast losing the campaign to win hearts and minds,” says the report, adding “ the insurgency now crosses regional, ethnic, tribal and class lines.”
Islamabad has still not taken Balochistan very seriously. Violence in the province has not subsided but it’s the poor coverage the events get in the media due to several other more important issues.
Filed under Malik Siraj Akbar
Speaking of the ICG, it might be of interest for you to note that yesterday on Capitol Hill , Pakistani Americans were using the ICG report as a reference to wave in the pro-Mushraff team comprising of Naseem Ashraf and Kashmala Tariq etc just before the Hill deliberates on whether or not to reduce Pakistan’s aid.
On a side note, why have’nt you updated the blog ?
Well, no one reads the blog. So find it meaningless to update it.