All Things Considered

Bad-e-mudat usay dekha logo! March 30, 2008

A friend of mine and I did not speak to each other for almost one and half years. Surprisingly, she gave me a call this afternoon. Though the voice sounded very familiar, many things had changed since we had talked to each other two years back.

“So what is new in your life,” she asked.
“New? Well don’t know what is ‘new’ or ‘old’ in my life. After all, we spoke to each other long time back. Many things came and went away. Even the ‘new’ ones are ‘old’ now.”
“But I heard you had been to Germany. How was the trip?” she inquired.
“Oh…haha,” I giggled, “but that was long time back,” I added.
That said, life keeps changing. The conversation reminded me of what Perveen Shakir said somewhere in Khushbu.

Yea jo ajnabi ban ka guzra hey abi
Tha ksi waqat apna logo!

A lot appeared to have changed in our lives by now. It seemed we no longer had anything of mutual interest to talk about. No longer was our conversation enlivened with the old jokes. Those jokes that we used to crake at the university canteen had even now become old-fasioned jokes. Bugti had gone, so had Benazir Bhutto. How odd would it sound had I told her: “Hey Sid, you know what? They brutally killed Benazir Bhutto,” After all we used to discuss a lot of politics. Even I forgot to tell her that Sri Lanka had lost the last world cup. That may have been old for many people but still we had not talked about it.

I learn if friends do not keep in touch regularly, they, unfortunately, get replaced with new ones. I know many of you will strongly disagree. I felt the same today in our conversation. Of course, it was a wonderful pleasure, as usual, to hear from this old friend. But honestly, I think it is too late for both of us now. We have learnt to adjust ourselves in our own worlds. I am in the media and she is in the telecom industry. That I realized when both of us, who used to talk for hours, ran out of words as soon as we started to speak.

“ Or app kay say hain?” she asked.
“ Main teek…Or aap?” I added.
“Or app?”
“Bus teek taak…Or App”
“All ka shokar…aap batho”

Friends, I must tell you don’t ever lose track of your friends. The more we keep away from each other, the more distances increase. Let no dust allow to sit on the shelf of friendship.

Future Imperfect March 27, 2008

Was having a discussion with my ‘guru’ about the upcoming coalition government in Balochistan. Both of us sounded pessimistic with regards to the future of the government. Many people are simply astounded to see Nawab Raisani gain so much power in the province. I see it differently. It is reminiscent of Sardar Akhtar Mengal’s government of 1990s. I presume this government is going to collapse before the other three provincial governments.

“You know what,” said my guru, “when Akhtar Mengal was forming his government, I put two questions in front of the Elder Sardar, (Attaullah Mengal).”
“And what were those two questions?” I questioned.
He said he had asked Sardar Mengal:
“Sardar, has I.S.I (Inter-Services Intelligence) bought you? Or has it overpowered you to destroy you?”

According to guru jee, Sardar Mengal laughed and said, “You have rightly analyzed the situation. I.S.I has overpowered us simply to destroy us.”

Nawab Raisani has failed to identify his friends and foes. Those who struggled with him during the hard times, including the BNP, NP, PkMP, are not with him. And those, whose wrong deeds fueled the PPP movement, of course the PML-Q, are today sitting with the Nawab as allies. He has joined hands with very strange bedfellows. Look, they are so strange that I mean PPP and PML-Q don’t make a gay couple what to talk of forming a coalition government.

There you go. The veteran cliché goes: Power corrupts but absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now, it is the absolute mandate that is going to corrupt Nawab Raisani. Let’s wait (not for very long) and see (how Frankie is going bring him down ..down..down)

“If a book is to disintegrate a country then there is nothing that can integrate a country,” Dr. Naseer Dashti March 25, 2008

By Malik Siraj Akbar

Balochistan’s banned author, Dr. Naseer Dashti, is astonished to learn that two of his books pose ‘a threat to the very integrity of the federation of Pakistan’. Citing the same reasons, the government of Balochistan last week ordered the confiscation of all copies of the two recently published books of Dr. Dashti, besides imposing a complete ban on their display at the bookstores. Holding a PhD on Baloch health-seeking behavior from the University of Greenwich, London, 50-year old Dashti, is a renowned Baloch nationalistic scholar and a medical doctor by profession.

He compiled two books, In a Baloch Perspective and The Voice of Reason, comprising of newspaper and research articles written by several prominent Baloch scholars and journalists. However, majority of the articles in these two books are penned by Dr. Dashti himself which largely revolve around theoretical discussions on Baloch nationalism. Asaap Publications of Quetta, which has equally come under the eye of storm in the past due to its anti-government publications, printed Dr. Dashti’s ‘controversial’ books.

The government of Balochistan maintains that both the books are replete with anti-state contents. They promote national disharmony and malign the Pakistan ideology. Therefore, it is essential to prevent the readers from reading these books so that, ironically, the very ideology of Pakistan is preserved.

“Look, if a book is to disintegrate a country then there is nothing that can integrate a country,” Dashti told me, who insists that his books contain nothing misleading or factiously wrong. The factors that compelled him to compile the two books are implicitly mentioned in one of the books, In a Baloch Perspective:
“The official ‘academics’ and ‘writers’ had persistently been engaged in the deliberate distortion of history of Baloch people and obnoxious act of degradation of Baloch traditional values without any qualm of consciences. As access of Baloch writers and intellectuals had been denied to the media, the biased, one-sided picture of social, cultural and political scenario were unilaterally and erroneously portrayed as actually representing the Baloch point of view.”

The theme of the arguments pursued in both of the books is that the Baloch are a separate nation by every definition of the word. The rulers of the countries where the Baloch are inhibited viz Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, have deliberately destroyed their distinct Balochi identity by applying the repressive state machinery.

For instance, Jan Mohammad Dashti, one of the contributors and the brother of Dr. Naseer Dashti, writes in the same book in his essay The Baloch National Question:

“The Baloch is discontented because it had not been allowed the right to use its native language. The Baloch is disenchanted because it does not possess its resources. It is disillusioned because they are exploited economically and in the process is kept away from power structure of the state. The Baloch resent the artificial partition of their land into three different countries. The Baloch are disappointed because religion is manifestly used as a means for integration of the Baloch identity into broader majority nationalities of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan.

Dr. Naseer points out the ‘paradox’, as he bills it, that the government of Pakistan, on one hand, is using the sophisticated USA-made weapons to crush the ‘innocent Baloch people’ but it is, on the other hand, unwilling to let a Baloch scholar speak up freely. “I am not claming that mine is the last word. All that we need is an open discussion on historical issues. Banning a book is no solution but a lam excuse to hide pressing realities,” he stated.

“Had the books been published in a regional language, the government may not have reacted so bitterly,” Dashti says, “but since they are in English and they can expose the injustices of the ‘anti-Baloch’ forces, the government does not want the international community to know the truth from Balochistan.” The practice of banning nationalistic books is not a new phenomenon. The government of Balochistan has been scores of books in the past written about the Baloch nationalistic movement. Consequently, such restrictions have intensified the demand for such books among the readers.

The authors in both the books are extremely critical of not only the government of Pakistan but also that of Iran and Afghanistan who they accuse of suppressing the Baloch on the name of religion. Writing on page 24, the writer says: “In a Baloch context, language, which is undoubtedly the main carrier of ideas, sentiments, traditions, customs and religious dogma from one generation to another, has been the prime target. In their assimilative efforts, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan have not allowed Balochi to be the language of instruction in schools even at primary level. Balochi publications and institutions for academic research are never encouraged. Print and electronic media in these countries have been manipulated by people from dominant nationalities and all state institutions run by the non-Baloch are assigned the task for media management formulating policy approaches aimed at so-called ‘assimilation’ and ‘integration’”

When I tried to reach the concerned authorities in the Home and Tribal Affairs Department, which imposed the ban the books, no one, including the Home Secretary Furqan Bhaduar, was willing to provide a justification for the ban.

Naseer Dashti believes the next five to ten years are extremely essential in the Baloch movement. “The more you ban a book, the greater its demand becomes. The government of Pakistan needs to realize that we live in the 21st century and it is not possible to burry the truth,” he concluded.

Accept us or we will get rid of you! March 4, 2008

I am not big fan of Sardar Akhtar Mengal, a former chief minister of my province, nor that of any other Sardar. What always irks me the most is the repeated reminders from Pakistan which nastily question our loyalties to the state. Pakistan has billed every Baloch a a traitor, anti-national, Indian agent and God-knows-what-else-not. There you go. They have released a convicted Indian agent. Good for him as well as for his family. Contrarily, a former Baloch chief minister, who has been languishing in a Karachi jail in a politically-motivated case, is being denied proper medical treatment. This head of the Balochistan National Party (BNP) is denied access to his family even at a time when his family fears that the state is gradually poisoning him to death. It’s too much. Enough is enough.

My friend, Senator Sanaullah Baloch, very rightly says: “Accept us (of course, the Baloch) as equal federating units or we will get rid of you!”.By God.

‘Ghulami’ for ‘Azadi’ Reporter March 4, 2008

An Urdu newspaper journalist “disappeared” on Monday from the Pakistan-Iran border town of Taftan – the second journalist from the same paper to have gone missing in a week.

Muhammad Asif Baloch, editor of Quetta-based Daily Azadi, said Hameed Baloch’s family had said he was abducted. “No one knows about his whereabouts but one thing is certain, that he has been abducted because of his bold reporting,” he said.

Khalil Khosa, a reporter from the same newspaper, did not return from a press conference in Nasirabad four days ago. “Since then no one knows where he is,” the Azadi editor said. Asif Baloch said Khosa’s family believed “influential tribesmen” had abducted him because of his reporting. Javid Lehri, a 20-year-old journalist from Daily Azadi, disappeared on November 30 from the Wadh tehsil.

ANP unconditional support to PPP March 4, 2008

The Awami National Party (ANP) on Monday announced its ‘unconditional support’ to the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP)’s efforts to form a new government in Balochistan, whilst differences within the PPP over its chief ministerial candidate continued to reverberate throughout the day here.

The ANP would give the PPP unconditional support because it was being seen as the only party capable of uniting the federation, said ANP’s newly elected provincial assembly member (MPA) Zumruk Khan while addressing a press conference in the presence of key PPP leaders.

The ANP’s support does not necessarily have to be rewarded with ministries or perks, and the party would support the PPP whether it forms the government or remains on opposition benches, Khan added. PPP Balochistan President Lashkar Raisani welcomed the ANP.

ANP’s announcement of support came as timely good news for the PPP as the party faced an embarrassing situation at the same time — one of its senior leaders, Sadiq Umrani, nominated as PPP deputy parliamentary leader in the province, refused to accept the party’s decision.

Keen to be nominated the party’s parliamentary leader, Umrani has vocally opposed Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani’s nomination as the PPP chief ministerial candidate.

A news agency quoted Umrani as saying that Raisani was a ‘controversial’ figure who had disregarded the PPP regulations.

However, PPP provincial leaders refuted the report, saying that Umrani was supporting all the party’s decisions and there were no differences.

When Umrani was asked if he supported Raisani’s nomination, he responded with an emphatic, “no comment,” and walked away.

PPP central leader Syed Khurshid Shah told Daily Times that changing the parliamentary leader now was impossible now.

Dependently Independent March 4, 2008

There are seven members elected to the Balochistan Assembly as independents who have made up their mind to retain their independent status in the assembly. Thus, they have no plans to join any of the mainstream political parties. In a press chat yesterday, they said their support to any party was contingent on an end to the military operations in the province and the release of all detained political leaders.

The leader of the seven independent MPAs-elect, Sardar Aslam Bizanjo, told reporters at the MPA Hostel here that these independent MPAs would support parties that conceded to their demands. The seven independents, constituting exactly half of the independents elected to the Balochistan Assembly, are Bakhtiar Khan Domki, Rastum Khan Jamali, Zahoor Hussain Khosa, Shah Nawaz Marri, Qambar Gichki, Abdul Rehman Mengal and Sardar Aslam Bizanjo. The 12 independent MPAs-elect have become the centre of attention in Balochistan due to their crucial role in forming the next provincial government.

PML-Q’s nervous nineties March 2, 2008

News Analysis

By Malik Siraj Akbar

Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam) in Balochistan is on nervous nineties. Having splendidly secured the highest number of seats in Balochistan Assembly, 18, the erstwhile ruling party, known as the ‘king’s party’ in its old good days, is so close yet too far from forming the next government in Balochistan. The only province where the PML-Q succeeded in retaining its strong position is Balochistan. While the party has been pulverized elsewhere in the province, it got two times more votes than any single party in the politically polarized province.

The PML-Q stunned political the pundits and proved all of their predictions wrong. While some believed it would win majority of the seats in the center with the help of the official machinery, the others, on the other hand, contended that it had lost its support base in Balochistan. These predictions were based on a few unpopular steps taken by the federal government in the province with the overt endorsement of the previous Q-League government in Quetta. The unabated military operation, large scale arrest of political activists, unbridled violence and intermitted cases of enforced disappearances were widely linked as the gifts of Jam Yousaf government.

However, the PML-Q was lucky enough to retain its position in the province. It was not as if that the party enjoyed overwhelming public support. It’s extremely impressive victory materialized as a virtue of the election boycott by the Baloch nationalist parties, supported by the Pashoonkhawa Milli Awami Party, a popular outfit in the Pashtoon populated areas of the province, on the platform of the All Parties Democratic Movement (APDM).

More than 90% of the successful PML-Q candidates hail from exceedingly powerful tribal backgrounds. People like, Jam Mohammad Yousaf, Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magasi, Sardar Masood Looni and Asim Kurd are the uncontested chiefs of their tribes with divine following by their tribesmen. Defection from one party to the other by these tribal chiefs is no skeleton in the cupboard. Many of their illiterate voters even did not know the name of the party they were voting. All they knew was the powerful local man, who coincidently was a ticket-holder of the PML-Q.

But the post-election situation indicates that the PML-Q is most likely to lose an opportunity of scoring a century by getting run out by none other than one of its own laid-back batsman on the non striker end. With the staggering success of the Pakistan People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPPP) in the center and the three other provinces, the provincial leadership of PML-Q in Quetta smells the difficulties it is going to face in the future. While President Pervez Musharraf’s own future is murky and the PPP is certain to lead the coalition government in Islamabad, the PML-Q is now uncertain about its future role. Some leaders in Balochistan chapter have already read between the lines and decided to opt for a safer path. Thus, PML-Q is fast disintegrating and internal rifts are widening in its ranks in Balochistan. While some are cogitating to change their loyalties for a smoother five-year odyssey with the PPP, the others are continuously failing to reach consensus on the issue of the next parliamentary leader, selection of coalition partners and distribution of ministries.

Differences in the PML-Q date back to the generous assistance extended by its president Jam Mir Mohammad Yousaf to his previous coalition partner, the Muthida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA). Not many Leaguers were very happy with their provincial president who agreed to give the bulk of key ministries to the MMA in return of the office of the chief minister. This deprived a number of senior PML leaders of ministries.

Even 18 Balochistan Assembly seats have failed to unite the PML-Q which stands at cross roads today. It is confronted with a very complicated situation where the leaders see no path to get out of the existing trouble. The wearisome areas for the PML-Q are as follows.

Firstly, a forward bloc has been created in the party which is led by former Deputy Speaker of Balochistan Assembly, Mohammad Aslam Bhootani. Bhootani and as many as 8 of his like-minded MPAs-elect believe that Jam Yousaf’ s domineering role is patronizing autocratic tendencies in the party. Bhootani, without having publicly articulated his ambitions, is desirous to become the next chief minister. In case his naïve wish is spurned by the PML big wigs, which is likely to happen, then his cronies and he are probably going to support a PPP candidate for the office of chief minister.

Secondly, the appointment of a prominent PML-Q leader, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, whose name was initially being pronounced as the most potential PML-Q candidate for the office of CM, as the governor, has given currency to the feeling that a section of PML-Q important leaders has no confrontational intentions vis-à-vis a PPP chief minister.

Thirdly, a group of leaders in the party want Jam Yousaf as well as Sardar Yar Mohammad Rind, two possible Baloch candidates for the chief ministership, to withdraw their plans in favor of a Pashtoon leader in the backdrop of the appointment of a Baloch governor. Therefore, this group is lobbying for Pashtoon Leaguer, Sheik Jaffar Khan Mandokhel, for the office CM. They argue the presence of a Baloch CM and a governor simultaneously amounts to under-representing the Pashtoon population.

Fourthly, a former coalition partner of the PML-Q, the Balochistan National Party (BNP-Awami), with five general seats, is conditioning its support to the PML-Q with the coveted office of the CM. “We unconditionally supported the Q-League for the past five years. Now they should support our candidate, Syed Ehsan Shah (former provincial finance minister) to become the CM,” Mir Israr Zehri, the central president of the BNP-Awami, told me.

Fifthly, a group of eight independent candidates, led by Mohammad Aslam Bizanjo, has categorically announced it would not support the PML-Q in the next dispensation because they hold it responsible for the military operation in Balochistan during its last stint.

In the midst of increasing challenges and rapidly elapsing time, Pakistan Muslim League (PML-Q) has made no headway up till now to demonstrate its capability to forge a new alliance or form the next government. On the other hand, the PPP, which presently has only seven seats but bright prospects in the Center and the other three provinces, is wisely exploiting the situation. Continuous overtures among the PPP and various parties suggest that it has, despite its much smaller number of seats, succeeded in gaining more support against the PML-Q from Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazal (7 seats), Balochistan National Party-Awami (5 Seats), the independents (12 seats) and the (2 seats). Who knows by the time the PML-Q overcomes its internal strife, a PPP-led coalition government may have taken the oath of its office.

Ambitious Q-League March 2, 2008

A Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) parliamentary committee meeting on Sunday reiterated its determination to form the next provincial government in Balochistan.

Several Balochistan Assembly (BA) members-elect attended the meeting that was held here and presided over by PML-Q Balochistan President Jam Muhammad Yousaf. Later, PML-Q Balochistan Secretary General Arbab Muhammad Hashim Kasi told reporters that the PML-Q was in a position to form the next government with the support of its former coalition partners. He refuted reports about any internal strife in the party. [Read More]

BNP-M’s warning March 2, 2008

The Balochistan National Party (BNP-Mengal) on Sunday threatened to launch a massive protest against the government if it refused to administer appropriate medical treatment to the party’s imprisoned president and former chief minister, Sardar Akhtar Mengal. [Read More]