The State of Baloch IDPs August 26, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: Baloch IDPs, Balochistan, Humshehri, Malik Siraj Akbar, Quetta
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بگٹی مہاجرین کسمپرسی کی حالت میں
قبیلے کے اندرونی اختلافات نے صورت حال مزید پیچیدہ کر دی ہے
ملک سراج اکبر
آٹھ سالہ شکیل بگٹی کو ابھی تک مارچ 2005ء کی وہ رات بخوبی یاد ہے جب اس کے والدین نے اسے نیند سے بیدار کر کے مطلع کیا کہ وہ سوئی (ضلع ڈیرہ بگٹی) میں واقع اپنا گھربار چھوڑ کر ایک ایسی منزل کی طرف نقل مکانی کر رہے ہیں جس کے بارے میں خود انھیں بھی وثوق سے کچھ پتہ نہیں تھا۔ اس کا کہنا ہے کہ والدین نے اسے گھر بار چھوڑنے کی محض ایک وجہ بتائی کہ ان کے علاقے میں ”جنگ“ چھڑ گئی ہے اور اب ان کا وہاں رہنا محال ہو گیا ہے۔ شکیل کا گھرانہ کسی دور میں علاقے میں اپنی خوشحالی کی وجہ سے جانا جاتا تھا۔ گھر کے بڑے اراکین پاکستان پٹرولیم لمیٹڈ (پی پی ایل) میں نوکری کر کے گھر کا خرچہ چلاتے تھے اور شکیل خود پی پی ایل کے زیر اہتمام اسکول میں زیر تعلیم تھا۔ اپنے علاقے سے نقل مکانی کرنے والوں میں شکیل کے گھرانے کے ساتھ ساتھ علاقے کے کوئی تیس اور گھرانے بھی شامل تھے۔
شکیل نے نیند کے عالم میں جو سفر شروع کیا تھا وہ تین دن تک جاری رہنے کے بعد قریبی ضلع جعفرآباد میں ختم ہوا۔ یہ ایک انتہائی کٹھن اور تکلیف دہ سفر تھا۔ اس وقت ان کا پورا گھرانہ جعفر آباد ضلع میں مری فارم کے علاقے میں جھونپڑیوں میں رہ رہا ہے۔ سندھ اور بلوچستان کی سرحد پر واقع اس علاقے کا شمار جنوبی ایشیا کے گرم ترین علاقوں میں ہوتا ہے۔ تاہم ان مہاجرین کے پاس اس میدان میں ڈیرے ڈالنے کے سوا کوئی اور چارہ بھی تو نہیں ہے۔ یہاں ان کے لیے زندگی ڈیرہ بگٹی کے مقابلے میں یکسر مختلف ہے۔ گرمیوں میں شدید گرمی کے باعث مہاجرین کے بچے لو لگنے کی وجہ سے شدید بیمار ہو جاتے ہیں اور علاج معالجے کا اس علاقے میں دور دور تک کوئی انتظام نہیں ہے۔
مری فارم کے عارضی محلے میں نقل مکانی کرنے والے بگٹی قبائلیوں نے اپنی مدد آپ کے تحت ایک ”جھونپڑی سکول“ قائم کیا ہے تاکہ بچوں کی تعلیم میں کوئی خلل نہ پڑے اور وہ اپنی تعلیم وہاں سے شروع کریں جہاں سے انھیں سابق فوجی سربراہ جنرل پرویز مشرف کی طرف سے بگٹی قبیلے کے سربراہ نواب اکبر خان بگٹی کے خلاف شروع ہونے والے فوجی آپریشن کے باعث تعلیم ترک کرنا پڑی تھی۔
جب شکیل سے پوچھا گیا کہ وہ ملک میں نئی جمہوری حکومت آنے کے بعد واپس اپنے گھر جانے کی تیاری کر رہا ہے یا نہیں تو اس نے سر ہلا کر نفی میں جواب دیا۔ ”حکومت ہمیں دوبارہ سوئی میں آباد کرنے کے بجائے ہم پر یہ مہربانی کرے کہ ہم پر بمباری بند کرے، ہمارے لوگوں کو مارنا چھوڑ دے، ہمارے گھروں کو تباہ کرنا چھو ڑ دے۔ “
شکیل کے ساتھ اسی سکول میں تین ایسے بچے بھی زیر تعلیم ہیں جن کے گردے نکال دیے گئے ہیں۔ ان بچوں میں ساجن ولد نیک بگٹی، اسلم ولد پالول اور محمد امین ولد موسیٰ بگٹی شامل ہیں۔ ان کے سرپرست عیسیٰ بگٹی نے بتایا کہ ان بچوں کے گردے ڈیرہ بگٹی میں ہونے والی بمباری، گندہ اور آلودہ پانی پینے کی وجہ سے ناکارہ ہوگئے تھے۔ جب ان بچوں کی تکلیف میں کوئی خاطر خواہ کمی نہیں آئی تو انھیں جیکب آباد کے ایک ہسپتال میں لے جایا گیا جہاں ڈاکٹروں نے ان کے گردے نکالنے کا مشورہ دیا۔
بلوچستان میں ڈیرہ بگٹی اور کوہلو کے اضلاع میں نقل مکانی کا سلسلہ 2004ء میں اس وقت شروع ہوا جب پرویز مشرف کی حکومت نے علاقے میں ” ترقی مخالف“ سرداروں کی سرکوبی کی خاطر فورسز کی تعداد بڑھادی اور فوجی آپریشن کا سلسلہ شروع کیا۔ تاہم یہ سلسلہ باضابطہ طور پر اس وقت شروع ہوا جب فورسز نے سترہ مارچ 2005ء کو نواب اکبر خان بگٹی کے قلعہ پر حملہ کردیا جس کے نتیجے میں نواب بگٹی خود تو بچ گئے لیکن ان کے قلعے کے آس پاس رہائش پذیرہندو برادری کے تیس کے لگ بھگ ممبران ہلاک ہوگئے جن میں خواتین اور بچے بھی شامل تھے۔تب سے دو لاکھ کے قریب مری و بگٹی مہاجرین سندھ ، بلوچستان اور پنجاب کے مختلف علاقوں میں در بدری کی زندگی گزار رہے ہیں۔ سندھ میں ان مہاجرین نے جیکب آباد، سانگھڑاور کراچی جب کہ پنجاب میں ڈیرہ غازی خان اور راجن پور کے علاقوں میں عارضی سکونت اختیار کی ہے۔ اسی طرح بلوچستان میں مہاجرین کی اکثریت قریبی جعفر آباد اور نصیر آباد کے اضلا ع میں رہ رہی ہے۔ علاوہ ازیں مہاجرین بولان، مچھ اور کوئٹہ کے علاقوں میں بھی روزگار کی تلاش میں نظر آتے ہیں۔
ڈیرہ بگٹی سے نقل مکانی کرنے والے ایک نوجوان سعید بگٹی کا کہنا ہے کہ جب وہ اپنا گھر بار چھوڑ کر نکلے تو انھیں یقین تھا کہ وہ جس بھی علاقے میں جائیں گے لوگ انھیں کھلے دل سے خوش آمدید کہیں گے کیوں کہ ان کے قبیلے کا نواب (اکبر بگٹی) اور ان کے ساتھی بلوچوں کے حقوق کی خاطر حکومت سے جنگ کر رہے تھے۔ لیکن یہ ان کی خوش فہمی تھی جو جعفر آباد پہنچ کر ہی ختم ہوگئی۔ یہا ں آکر پتہ چلا کہ بلوچیت پر قبائلیت کا غلبہ زیادہ تھا اور مقامی لوگ انہیں بلوچ کے بجائے بگٹی سمجھنے لگے۔ اس کا کہنا ہے کہ ” علاقے کے لوگ ہمیں حقارت کی نظر سے دیکھنے لگے۔ کوئی ہمیں ’مہاجر‘ کہنے لگا تو کوئی ہماری مجبوریوں سے ناجائز فائدہ اٹھانے کا سوچنے لگا“۔
-جن مہاجرین کے پاس وسائل تھے کہ وہ کرایہ کے گھر میں رہیں انھیں مکان کرایہ پر لینے کی تگ و دو کے دوران پتہ چلا کہ مقامی مالک مکان تو ان لوگوں پر اعتبار کرنے پر ہی تیار نہیں تھے۔ وہ انھیں ”تخریب کار“ سمجھ رہے تھے اور ان کے خیال میں اگر وہ اپنے مکان میں کسی مری یا بگٹی کو جگہ دیں گے تو شاید وہ کل کو ان کے لیے مسائل پیدا کریں۔ اور اگر کوئی مکان دینے کے لیے راضی ہوتا بھی تھا تو اس کے عوض وہ ان سے کرایہ کی رقم زیادہ مانگتا ۔نقل مکانی کرنے والے تمام خاندانوں کی مالی حیثیت انھیں اس بات کی اجازت نہیں دے رہی تھی کہ وہ کسی کرایہ کے گھر میں رہیں، چنانچہ ایسے لوگوں کے لیے ایک ہی راستہ باقی تھا کہ وہ کسی میدان میں جھونپڑی قائم کر کے عارضی طور پر سکونت اختیار کریں۔
جھونپڑیوں میں رہائش اختیار کرنے والے ایک شخص نے بتایا کہ یہاں بھی وہ آرام کی زندگی گزارنے سے رہے، کیوں کہ ”مہاجرین کی اکثریت ناخواندہ افراد پر مشتمل ہے اور ہمارے پاس اپنے بچوں کا پیٹ پالنے کا ایک ہی راستہ ہے کہ ہم محنت مزدوری کریں تو ہم زیادہ تر مقامی کھیتوں میں کام کرتے ہیں، لیکن ہمیں مقامی مزدوروں کے مقابلے میں تعصب کا سامنا کرنا پڑتا ہے اور کم مزدوری دی جاتی ہے۔ اسی بات کے پیش نظر ہم گھر کے چھوٹے بچوں کو بھی اپنے ساتھ کام پر لگا لیتے ہیں تاکہ مشترکہ کمائی سے آمدن میں اضافہ ہو اور گھر میں چولہا جلے۔ بچوں کی تعلیم اب ہماری ترجیح نہیں بلکہ ہماری اوّلین ترجیح گھر کا خرچہ پورا کرنا ہے۔“
مری بگٹی مہاجرین کا کہنا ہے کہ حکومتی خفیہ ایجنسیوں نے ان کے لیے زندگی مزید مشکل بنا دی ہے۔ جب کبھی نصیر آباد یا جعفرآباد کے علاقوں میں کوئی پر تشدد واقعہ رونما ہوتا ہے یا بم دھماکہ ہوتا ہے تو سب سے پہلے مقامی پولیس ان کی آبادی پر چھاپہ مارتی ہے جب کہ خفیہ اداروں کے اہل کار گھروں میں گھس کر روزی کمانے والے نوجوانوں کو اٹھا کر نامعلوم مقام پر منتقل کرتے ہیں جہاں انھیں شدید تشدد کا نشانہ بنایا جاتا ہے۔ اس کا خاندان کو یہ نقصان ہوتا ہے کہ ان کے گھر میں کوئی کمانے والا مرد باقی نہیں رہتا جبکہ جب کچھ عرصہ خفیہ اداروں کے زیراہتمام ٹارچر سیلز میں گزارنے کے بعدیہ نوجوان رہا ہوجا تے ہیں تو وہ جسمانی تشدد کے باعث کام کرنے کے لائق ہی نہیں رہتے۔
ان مہاجرین کا سب سے بڑا المیہ یہ ہے کہ وہ جس جس ضلع میں رہائش پذیر ہیں وہاں کی مقامی حکومتیں انھیں بطور آئی ڈی پی تسلیم کرنے کو تیار نہیں ہوتیں تا کہ ان افراد کی کسی طرح سے امداد کی جائے۔ ان افراد کو شکوہ ہے کہ جب انھوں نے عالم جنگ میں اپنے گھر چھوڑ دیے تو ان کے پاس اتنی مہلت تک نہیں تھی کہ وہ اپنے بچوں کی اسناد و کوائف نامے بھی اپنے ساتھ لے آتے اب وہ جن جن اضلاع میں رہائش پذیر ہیں وہا ں کے سکول مہاجرین کے بچوں کو داخلہ دینے پر راضی نہیں ہیں ۔ سکول سربراہان کا مطالبہ ہے کہ بچوں اور بچیوں کے سابقہ سرٹیفکیٹ لائے جائیں تب سکول میں ان کا داخلہ ممکن ہوگا۔ اس صورت حال کے پیش نظر بہت سارے مری و بگٹی مہاجر بچے اور بچیاں ترک تعلیم پر مجبور ہیں اور مقامی حکومتیں اس صورت حال میں ان کی کسی قسم کی امداد کرنے کو تیار نہیں ہیں۔ جعفر آباد کی ضلعی حکومت اس بات سے مکمل انکاری ہے کہ ضلع میں کوئی ” مہاجر“ موجود ہے۔ اس کے برعکس حکومت ان افراد کو ”خانہ بدوش“ کہتی ہے۔
تاہم حقیقت اس کے بالکل برعکس ہے۔ کوئٹہ سے بذریعہ روڑ سفر کرکے جب آپ جعفر آباد کے مین روڑ پر پہنچتے ہیں تو آپ کو بہت سارے مری و بگٹی بچے بھیک مانگتے ہوئے نظرآتے ہیں جب کہ باقی لوگ مقامی ہوٹلوں میں چارپائیوں پر دراز نظر آتے ہیں۔ ان سے اگر بات کی جائے تو وہ کہتے ہیں کہ علاقے میں روزگار کے مواقع بالکل نہیں ہیں۔ مقامی لوگ انہیں تعصب بھری نظروں سے دیکھتے ہیں۔ وہ واپس اپنے گھروں میں جانے کی خواہش تو رکھتے ہیں لیکن یہ سو چ کر خیال ترک کردیتے ہیں کہ فرنٹےئر کور اور فوج نے مبینہ طور پر ان کے گھروں اور املاک کو لوٹا ہے اور ان کے پاس اب کوئی چارہ بھی تو نہیں ہے ۔ بہت سارے اس بات پر غیر یقینی صورت حال کا شکار ہیں کہ اگر وہ اپنے گھروں میں واپس جائیں گے تو وہاں ان کے لیے فوری طور پر روزگار کے مواقع ہوں گے یا نہیں۔
اسی طرح گھر واپس نہ جانے کی ایک وجہ بگٹی قبیلے کے بڑوں کے درمیان پائے جانے والے اختلافات بھی ہیں۔ بہت ساروں کو یاد ہے کہ جب سترہ مارچ 2005ء کا واقعہ پیش آیا تو وہ نقل مکانی کرکے ڈیرہ بگٹی سے نکل گئے اور پھر درمیان میں ایک مختصر عرصے کے لیے واپس بھی آگئے تھے لیکن اس کے بعد فوجی آپریشن کیا گیا اور لوگ ایک بار پھر وہاں سے بھاگنے پر مجبور ہو گئے۔
حکومت پاکستان کی طرف سے بھی ان مہاجرین کے حوالے سے بدستور انکار کیا گیا ہے اور حکومت کہتی ہے کہ ڈیرہ بگٹی اور سوئی کے مہاجرین اپنے اپنے گھروں کو لوٹ چکے ہیں۔ تاہم ان مہاجرین کے حوالے سے اقوام متحدہ کے ذیلی ادارہ یونیسف کی ایک رپورٹ منظر عام پر آچکی ہے کہ بلوچستان میں 84000 افراد، جن میں سے 59000خواتین اور بچوں کی ہے، نقل مکانی پر مجبور ہوگئے ہیں۔ مذکورہ رپورٹ کے مطابق مہاجرین میں پیش آنے والی طبعی اموات میں 80 فیصد پانچ سال سے کم عمر کے بچوں اور بچیوں کی ہے۔اقوام متحدہ کے ذیلی ادارے عالمی ادارہ برائے صحت کے اندازے کے مطابق مہاجرین کی حالت ”تشویش ناک“ تھی اور انھیں فوری طور پر امداد کی ضرورت تھی۔
حکومت نے یونیسف رپورٹ کے منظر عام پر آنے پر شدید برہمی کا اظہارکیا لیکن اس کے باوجود حکومت پر دباؤ بڑھتا گیا کہ وہ ان مہاجرین کی امداد کرے۔ حکومت نے بین الااقوامی تنظیموں کو اس شرط پر کام کرنے کی اجازت دی کہ وہ ذرائع ابلاغ کو ریلیف آپریشن کے بارے میں کوئی اطلاع نہیں دیں گی۔ دسمبر 2006ء کو اقوام متحدہ کے ذیلی اداروں نے ایک ملین ڈالر کے امدادی پیکیج کے تحت ان مہاجرین کی امداد کا سلسلہ شروع کیا۔ اس ضمن میں57 فیڈنگ سینٹرز بھی قائم کیے گئے۔ اسی طرح ایدھی فاؤنڈیشن نے بھی کچھ دنوں تک علاقے میں مہاجرین کی فلاح و بہبود کے لیے کام شروع کیا لیکن جب اقوام متحدہ کے ذیلی ادارے کے اعلیٰ اہلکاروں نے کراچی میں ذرائع ابلاغ کے نمائندوں کو بتایا کہ یہ کام تو بہت پہلے ہونا چاہیے تھا کیونکہ علاقے میں بحران سنگین ہوتا جا رہا ہے تو اس پر حکومت ِ وقت نے برہمی کا اظہار کیا اور یونیسف سمیت ایدھی فاؤنڈیشن کو حکم دیا کہ وہ علاقے میں تمام سرگرمیاں معطل کر کے علاقہ چھوڑ دیں۔ تب سے اب تک، علاقے کے لوگوں کا کہنا ہے کہ، حکومت نے بلوچ مہاجرین کی فلاح و بہبود کے لیے کوئی کام کیا ہے اور نہ ہی کسی غیر سرکاری فلاحی تنظیم کو کام کرنے کی اجازت دی جاتی ہے۔ تمام غیر سرکاری تنظیمیں اس بات کی پابند ہیں کہ وہ بلوچستان کے محکمہ ِ داخلہ اور قبائلی امور سے ایک این او سی حاصل کریں اور تب کہیں جاکر علاقے میں کام شروع کریں۔ کئی اداروں کو شکوہ ہے کہ وہ جانتے ہیں کہ ان مہاجرین کو صحت کے شعبے میں شدید مشکلات کا سامنا ہے اور ان کی فوری امداد کی ضرورت ہے لیکن حکومتی خفیہ ادراے مستقل طور پر علاقے میں مصروف ِ عمل ہیں جس کے باعث وہاں کام کرنا مشکل ہی نہیں ناممکن بھی ہے۔
تاہم انہی حالات کے باوجود بلوچ نیشنل فرنٹ نامی سیاسی اتحاد نے خفیہ طور پر ایک مفت طبی کیمپ لگایا جس میں متعدد بیماروں کا علاج کیا گیا۔ اسی کیمپ میں خدمات فراہم کرنے والے ایک ڈاکٹر کا کہنا ہے کہ ان مہاجرین کی ایک بڑی تعداد ہیپاٹائٹس بی اور سی کا شکار ہے کیونکہ یہ وہی گندا پانی پیتے ہیں جو جانور بھی استعمال کرتے ہیں۔ ”دوران کیمپ ہم نے کچھ ایسے گھرانوں کے لوگوں سے بھی ملاقات کی جنھوں نے بتایا کہ ان کی خواتین زچگی کے دوران بروقت علاج معالجے کی سہولیات نہ ملنے کی وجہ سے ہلاک ہوگئی ہیں۔ اُن کا کہنا تھا کہ حکومت کی جانب سے کسی طرح کی امداد نہیں مل رہی۔“
جب کوئٹہ میں پاکستان ریڈ کریسنٹ سوسائٹی کے صوبائی سربراہ میجر (ر) صابر درانی سے رابطہ کیا گیا کہ ان کا ادارہ بلوچ مہاجرین کی امداد کیوں نہیں کرتا تو انھوں نے سرے سے ہی اس بات کو رد کیا کہ ڈیرہ بگٹی یا سوئی سے لوگوں نے نقل مکانی کی ہے ۔ انھوں نے واضح الفاظ میں کہا کہ ہمارے علم میں ایسی کوئی بات نہیں ہے اور جو لوگ اس طرح کا ”پرو پیگنڈہ“ پھیلا رہے ہیں ان کے اپنے ”پوشیدہ مفادات“ ہیں اور وہ ڈیرہ بگٹی کے علاقے میں اپنے مقاصد حاصل کرنا چاہتے ہیں۔
دوسری طرف اقوام متحدہ کے ادارہ برائے مہاجرین یواین ایچ سی آر کے ایک ذرائع نے بتایا کہ ان کا ادارہ تو کب سے بلوچ مہاجرین کی خدمت کرنے کے لیے بے تاب ہے لیکن مسئلہ یہ ہے کہ بلوچستان حکومت نے خود اس سلسلے میں ان سے کوئی رابطہ نہیں کیا ہے۔ یو این ایچ سی آر کے مذکورہ اہل کار کا کہنا تھا کہ ہمارا طریقہ کار یہ ہے کہ حکومت ہم سے اپیل کرے کہ ہم کسی خاص جگہ میں پہنچ کر لوگوں کی امداد کریں تب ہی ہماری طرف سے کوششیں شروع ہوسکتی ہے۔ بصورت دیگر یہ یو این ایچ سی آر کے مقاصد میں شامل نہیں کہ وہ خود سے کسی علاقے میں جا کر کام شروع کرے۔
بلوچ ری پبلیکن پارٹی (بی آر پی) کے مرکزی کمیٹی کے رکن رفیق کھوسو کا کہنا ہے کہ جب سے پیپلز پارٹی کی حکومت اقتدار میں آئی ہے تب سے خفیہ اداروں کی سرگرمیوں میں تیزی آئی ہے۔ پہلے تو سیاسی مخالفین کو گرفتار کر کے نامعلوم مقام پر منتقل کیا جاتا تھا لیکن اب تو انھیں گرفتار کرتے ہی قتل کر دیا جاتا ہے اور ان کی لاشیں ویرانے میں پھینک دی جاتی ہیں۔
بگٹی مہاجرین کی تکلیف دہ زندگی کی تاریخ اس وقت سے شروع ہوتی ہے جب نواب اکبر بگٹی مرحوم نے اپنے صاحبزادہ سلال اکبر بگٹی کے قتل کے الزام میں کلپر اور میسوری قبائل سے تعلق رکھنے والے مخالفین کوایک ’متفقہ‘ فیصلے کے تحت ڈیرہ بگٹی بدر کردیا تھا۔ نواب بگٹی کے مخالفین عرصہ دراز تک سندھ اور پنجاب کے سرحدی علاقوں میں مہاجرین کی زندگی اس وقت تک گزارتے رہے جب تک جنرل پرویز مشرف کے دور حکومت میں ان کو دوبارہ لاکر آباد نہیں کیا گیا۔
پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کی حکومت نے اقتدار میں آتے ہی بلوچستان میں مفاہمتی عمل شروع کرنے کا وعدہ کیا اور یہ بھی کہا کہ تمام بگٹی مہاجرین کی اپنے گھروں میں واپسی کا بندو بست کیا جائے گا۔ تاہم حکومت کو اس وقت مایوسی ہوئی جب نواب بگٹی کے پوتے نوابزادہ براہمداغ بگٹی اور نواب بگٹی کے فرزندوں جمیل اور طلال اکبر بگٹی نے حکومت کی پیشکش رد کر دی۔ ان کا مطالبہ تھا کہ ڈیرہ بگٹی سے سیکورٹی فورسز کا مکمل انخلا کیا جائے اور نواب بگٹی کے مخالفین کو وہاں سے نکال دیا جائے جن کو بقول اُن کے پرویز مشرف کے دورِ حکومت میں لا کر اس لیے آباد کیا گیا تھا کہ وہ اسلام آباد کی ”لڑاؤ اور حکمرانی کرو“ کی پالیسی کو عملی جامعہ پہنائیں۔
اس موقع پر حکومت کو میر عالی بگٹی کی حمایت حاصل ہوگئی جو ڈیرہ بگٹی جانے پر راضی ہوگئے۔ میر عالی بگٹی نواب اکبر بگٹی کے سب سے بڑے بیٹے سلیم اکبر بگٹی مرحوم کے بیٹے ہیں اور قبائلی روایات کے مطابق بگٹی قبیلے کی نوابی کا حق انہی کا بنتا ہے لیکن دوسری طرف جو لوگ نوابزادہ براہمداغ بگٹی کو اس عہدے کا حق دار سمجھتے ہیں ان کا کہنا ہے کہ نواب اکبر بگٹی نے اپنی زندگی ہی میں براہمداغ کو اپنا جانشین مقرر کیا تھا۔ علاوہ ازیں چونکہ براہمداغ پچھلے تین سالوں سے سکیورٹی فورسز سے لڑ رہے ہیں اس لیے ان کی حمایت اور شہرت ڈیرہ بگٹی سے نکل کر پورے بلوچستان میں پھیل گئی ہے۔
اب جب کہ میر عالی بگٹی اپنے قبیلے کے نواب مقرر ہوگئے ہیں اور وہ اپنے ساتھ کچھ مہاجرین کو تو واپس لے جا چکے ہیں لیکن بیشتر مہاجرین تاحال اپنے اپنے گھروں میں واپس جانے پر آمادہ نہیں ہیں کیوں کہ میر عالی اور براہمداغ بگٹی کے درمیان اختلافات عروج پر پہنچ چکے ہیں اور دونوں ایک دوسرے کے وفاداروں کو نقصان پہنچانے کی حتیٰ الوسع کوشش کر رہے ہیں۔ فریقین کے مابین پرتشدد جھڑپیں کسی وقت بھی پیش آ سکتی ہیں۔
حال ہی میں نوابزادہ براہمداغ کے ایک قریبی ساتھی اور بی آر پی کے مرکزی کمیٹی کے رکن مرید بگٹی کو نامعلوم افراد نے سندھ کے ایک سرحدی گاؤں میں ہلاک کر دیا۔ اپنی زندگی میں مرید بگٹی نے بتایا تھا کہ ان پر دباؤ بڑھ رہا ہے کہ وہ نوابزادہ براہمداغ کی حمایت ترک کردیں ورنہ انہیں مار دیا جائے گا۔ بی آر پی نے الزام لگایا کہ مرید بگٹی کو میر عالی کے لشکر نے ہلاک کیا ہے لیکن 23 جون کو خود کو کلپروں کا ترجمان کہنے والے وڈیرہ خیر دین نے صحافیوں کو بتایا کہ انھوں نے مرید بگٹی کو قتل کیا ہے کیونکہ مرحوم کلپروں پر ہونے والے مظالم میں براہِ راست شریک تھے۔ اگرچہ کلپروں نے بعد میں اس بیان سے لاتعلقی کا اعلان کیا لیکن اس سے ڈیرہ بگٹی میں پائی جانے والی سنگین صورتحال کا بخوبی اندازہ لگایا جا سکتا ہے کہ قبائلی اختلافات اس حد تک بڑھ گئے ہیں کہ عام مہاجرین کے لیے مستقبل قریب میں بھی دربدری کے سوا کوئی اور راستہ نظر نہیں آتا۔ ڈیرہ بگٹی کے لوگوں کا کہنا ہے کہ علاقہ میں ابھی تک ایف سی اور آرمی کا کنٹرول ہے اور بحالی ِ امن کی کوئی صورت نظر نہیں آتی۔
(Courtesy: Weekly HumSheri, Lahore)
http://humshehri.com/DetailStory.aspx?ID=1877
26 August: 3 Years after Nawab Bugti August 25, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: 3rd anniversary of Nawab Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti, Amanullah Kanrani, Baloch, Balochistan, Balochistan issue, Balochistan National Party, conflict in Balochistan, independence movement in Balochistan, Jamori Watan Party, Malik Siraj Akbar, Mir Aali Bugti, Mushahid Hussain Syed, National Party, Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti, Parliamentry Committee on Balochistan, Quetta, Rauf Mengal
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By Malik Siraj Akbar
What is being enormously remembered today on the eve of the third death anniversary of Baloch leader Nawab Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti is the absence of an undisputed political figure that could bridge the gap between the province of Balochistan and the center. Baloch nationalist parties are marking the death anniversary of Nawab Bugti, a former chief minister and the governor of Balochistan who was killed in a military operation on August 26, 2006, with a “black day” today (Wednesday) all over the province.
In these three years, distances between disgruntled Balochistan and the federal government have tremendously skyrocketed. While Nawab Bugti was willing to negotiate with parliamentary committees, headed by Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed and Senator Wasim Sajjad, to peacefully resolve the Balochistan issue, the situation in today’s Balochistan displays a gloomy picture for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party. Not many Balochs now seem to be prepared to join PPP’s efforts to resume a process of dialogue.
Rauf Mengal, a former MNA who was also a member of the parliamentary committee that met Nawab Bugti in 2004, tells this blogger that all Baloch political parties were so enthusiastic in then for a political solution to all the outstanding issues that they had submitted their collective list of grievances and demands to the parliamentary committee even before the formal commencement of the committees’ work.
“Now, our younger generation in Balochistan is unwilling to talk about parliamentary politics and provincial autonomy. In response to his willingness to negotiate with Islamabad, Nawab Bugti was rewarded with his brutal death,” said Mengal, “now people in Balochistan are talking about independence.” Senator Mushahid Hussain Syed, the secretary general of Pakistan Muslim League (Quaid-e-Azam), told me that during talks with Nawab Bugti along with Chaudhary Shujaat Hussain, “we found Nawab Bugti positive, willing to talk and ready to negotiate with Islamabad on the matters pertaining to his area (Dera Bugti) and the province of Balochistan. These negotiations continued in a period of great threats and tensions.”
According to Syed, negotiations between Nawab Bugti and the federal government culminated in March-May 2005 in the reopening of the road between Dera Bugti and Sui, defusing of tensions between the Frontier Corps (FC) and the Bugti tribesmen and the removal of unnecessary FC check posts.
“We achieved all this without even firing a single shot,” flaunts Syed, who believes the killing of Nawab Bugti in August 2006 was “a big blow to the building of trust and confidence between the center and the province.”
Political observers believe Nawab Bugti left two legacies, one of dialogue and the other of armed resistance.
“While there has been no replacement of the towering political figure that Bugti was who symbolized the whole province and possessed the capability of speaking undisputedly on the behalf of Balochistan, the philosophy of armed resistance given by the late Nawab to his followers remains unlettered,” says former Senator Amanullah Kanarani, who remained the spokesman of Nawab Bugti till his death on August 26, 2006.
Kanrani recalled Nawab Bugti’s willingness to negotiate with Islamabad despite withdrawing from the parliamentary committee because of large number of arrest of Baloch students and the rape of Dr. Shazia Khalid of the Pakistan Petroleum Limited allegedly by a military captain.
The Nawab had assured that he would still support any positive measure the government took to ease tensions in Balochistan. The aging leader began to lose hope in Islamabad after the recommendations of the parliamentary committee were not announced and implemented to normalize Balochistan.
Kanrani, the former information secretary of the Jamori Watan Party (JWP), said his last telephonic conversation with Nawab Bugti took place on August 23rd. “It was the first time I felt that the Nawab had become disappointed with Pakistan. He had lost faith in the government and tended to remain utterly indifferent to all political affairs,” he recollected. Nawab Bugti’s death galvanized the Baloch nationalistic movement in the province and attracted more young people towards separatist tendencies. Bugti has now become the much-celebrated martyr on whom many of the movements largely depend in this part of the world. However, the biggest loser in the meanwhile became the Bugti family and the political party he had founded, the Jamori Watan Party (JWP).
The Bugti family, soon after the murder of Nawab Bugti, fell victim of infighting between the sons and the grandsons of the illustrated leader. Likewise, this party broke into three factions: One faction was soon headed by Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti who renamed it as the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) which shunned parliamentary politics and championed the cause of an independent Balochistan. The other two remaining factions of the JWP are now being respectively led by the Nawab’s eldest son, Talal Akbar Bugti and Mir Aali Bugti, the current chief of the Bugti tribe.
BNP’s Rauf Mengal agrees with the notion that the killing of Nawab Bugti bode bad for the federation of Pakistan by distancing the Balochs from the federation. In his words, the worst part of it is Islamabad’s unwilling to be apologetic about its old mistakes. “Even today, no one truly admits that the killing of the Nawab was a mistake, so was the use of force against the Baloch people,” points out Mengal, who resigned from his National Assembly seat in protest against the killing of Nawab Bugti.
What is the way forward for Balochistan three years after the murder of Nawab Bugti? “Forming another committee on Balochistan is a mere joke,” says PML-Q Mushahid Hussain Syed who recommends that the PPP government should wholeheartedly implement the recommendations of the parliamentary committee which Syed had led because its recommendations, according to Syed, reflect the true aspirations of all segments of the Baloch society.
The newspaper editor-turned politician suggests that all politically motivated case against the Baloch leaders, whether they are currently living in Kabul, New Dehli, Dubai or London, should immediately be withdrawn. Likewise, the all the missing persons should be brought public and an explanation about their whereabouts be given.
“Balochistan desperately needs a heeling touch,” concedes Mushahid Hussain Syed, during whose government Bugti was assassinated and denied a dignified burial.
“Ithafak” say “asaap” thak by Hassan Mujthiba of BBC Urdu Service August 25, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: Baloch, Balochistan, BBC Urdu Service, Daily Asaap, Dr. Naseer Dashti, Hassan Mujthiba, Jan Mohammad Dashti, Malik Siraj Akbar, Quetta, Siege of Balochistan newspapers.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/urdu/2009/08/post_489.html
چند برس قبل نیویارک میں پاکستان سے آنے والے صحافیوں کے حقوق کی تنظیم کے ایک رہنما سے میں نے پوچھا تھا ‘آپ لوگ لاپتہ بلوچ ٹی وی جرنلسٹ منیر مینگل کی رہائي کے لیے آواز کیوں نہیں اٹھاتے؟’ تو صحافی رہنما نے کہا تھا ‘پہلے تو یہ پتہ کرنا ہے کہ منیر مینگل صحافی ہے کہ نہیں؟
منیر مینگل خلیج سے پاکستان آکر بلوچ ٹی وی چینل شروع کرنا چاہتے تھے۔۔۔ اپریل دو ہزار چھ میں جب وہ دبئي سے کراچي ائيرپورٹ اترے ہی تھے کہ انہیں مبینہ طور پر خفیہ ایجینسوں گرفتار کر لیا تھا اور پھر حکمران پرویز مشرف کے سامنے پیش کیا گیا تھا۔
پاکستان ميں جو پریس کی نام نہاد آزادی کے بڑے بڑے دعوے کیے جاتے ہیں اسکی کئي مثالیں تو پرویز مشرف کی سابقہ فوجی حکمرانی میں دیکھ چکے ہیں جب وکلاء کی تحریک کی کوریج کے دوران صحافیوں کے خلاف بھی آمریت اپنا ننگا ناچ ناچی تھی۔ قبائیلی علاقوں میں کام کرنے والے صحافیوں کے ساتھ تو بغداد پہلے سے ہی ہو رہا تھا اب بلوچ صحافی ملک سراج اکبر کے بلوچستان کی شورش پر لکھا آرٹیکل ‘ٹائمز آف انڈیا’ میں چھپنے پر صحافی کے خلاف بھونچال برپا کیا ہوا ہے۔ کیا فوجی ایجنسیوں کے فرشتے کیا ان کی کاسہ لیس ‘قومی پریس’ ہر طرف ‘غدار غدار’ اور ملک دشن کی ہاہاکار مچی ہوئي ہے۔
اور اب کوئٹہ سے نکلنے والے روزنامہ آساپ (بلوچي میں ‘آس’ آگ اور ‘آپ’ پانی کو کہتےہیں) نے روز روز کی نگرانی، جاسوسی اور ہراساں کیے جانے کے بعد احتجاجاً اخبار ہی بند کرنے کا اعلان کیا ہے۔ پہلے اخبار کے چیف ایڈیٹر نصیر دشتی پر مبینہ طور ایجینسوں نے قاتلانہ حملہ کروایا تھا۔ کوئٹہ سے نکلنے والے اس اردو روزنامے نے گم شدہ بلوچوں کی فہرست شائع کی تھی اور زرینہ مری کے ساتھ ریاستی تحویل میں ہونے والی مبینہ زیادتیوں کا پردہ چاک کیا تھا۔ ملک سراج اکبر اور ‘آساپ’ صحافیوں کے حقوق کی تنظیموں کے راڈار پر نہیں کیونکہ ان کے پاس ان کی طرف سے حب الوطنی کا سرٹیفیکیٹ نہیں ہے۔ اس سے پہلے سابقہ مشرقی پاکستان میں ڈھاکہ کےاخبار ‘اتفاق’ کے ساتھ ایسا ہوتا تھا۔
پاکستان میں پریس کی آزادی بلوچوں یا بلوچوں کی بات کرنے کے لیے نہیں ہے کہ اس سے قومی نظریاتی ریاست کی بنیادیں ہل جاتی ہیں۔۔۔ پاکستان جیسا نظریاتی اور نیوکلیائي طاقتور ملک بلوچی زبان کا نجی چینل برداشت نہیں کرسکا!
…even Dr. AQ Khan plagiarizes August 24, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: Dr. Abdul Qadir Khan, Dr. AQ Khan plagiarizes
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I doubted the the people who said that the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, Dr. AQ Khan, stole ideas from a western country where he worked and then made his country a nuclear power. Later on, this fellow indulged in proliferation. Now he has become a newspaper columnist. However, the following letter published in The News seems to indicate that the Dr. plagiarizes majority of his columns. Interesting piece.
Careless neglect?
Monday, August 24, 2009
This is with reference to Dr A Q Khan’s column “Science of computers — part I” which appeared in your pages on Aug 19.
1. Dr Khan writes: “The computer is an essential part of 21st century life. Computer science is a fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and often challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computer systems requires the skills of a knowledgeable and versatile computer scientist. Artificial intelligence — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing reference on computer system design. Distributed systems, networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing, presenting both technical and social challenges.”
Now compare this to the first paragraph of Undergraduate Prospectus 2009, University of Sussex(www.sussex.ac.uk/units/publications/ugrad2009/subjects/computing):
“Computing is an essential part of 21st-century life, and is an exceptionally fast-moving subject that gives rise to a range of interesting and challenging problems. The implementation of today’s complex computing systems, networks and multimedia systems requires the skills of knowledgeable and versatile computer scientists. Computer networks and the internet are now central to the study of computing and information technology, presenting both technical and social challenges. Artificial intelligence (AI) — the study of intelligent behaviour — is having an increasing influence on computer system design.”
2. Dr Khan writes: “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are all questions as fundamental as the sub-atomic structure of matter. These are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to solve them. Computing is not just about the big questions; it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of science and the satisfaction of engineering.”
Now compare this to the first paragraph of Imperial College London website (www3.imperial.ac.uk/engineering/teaching/exploringengineering/computing): “How do we understand, reason, plan, cooperate, converse, read and communicate? What are the roles of language and logic? What is the structure of the brain? How does vision work? These are questions as fundamental, in their own way, as questions about the sub-atomic structure of matter. They are also questions where the science of computing plays an important role in our attempts to provide answers. The computer scientist can expect to come face-to-face with problems of great depth and complexity and, together with scientists, engineers and experts in other fields, may help to disentangle them. But computing is not just about the big questions it is also about engineering-making things work. Computing is unique in offering both the challenge of a science and the satisfaction of engineering.”
3. Furthermore, Dr Khan writes: “Computer science is an inter-disciplinary subject. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. Computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems, digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operation systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the motion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software and the theory of communicating system.
Again the University of Cambridge website (www.cam.ac.uk/admissions/undergraduate/courses/compsci) contains the following text: (First paragraph) “Computer science is interdisciplinary. It is firmly rooted in engineering and mathematics, with links to linguistics, psychology and other fields. [...] (Second paragraph) Practical computer science is concerned with constructing hardware and software systems: digital electronics, compiler design, programming languages, operating systems, networks and graphics. Theoretical computer science addresses fundamental issues: the notion of computable function, proving the correctness of hardware and software, the theory of communicating systems.”
4. The second half of Dr Khan’s article (paragraph 7 onwards) can be found in ACM’s Computing Curricula 2009. Although he credits ACM but doesn’t clarify that he is directly copying sentences from a document. Also, in the beginning of his piece he does acknowledge one of his former colleagues, an Engineer Nasim Khan, for input for the article — however, it is not clear whether this input is the reason for the apparent plagiarism.
Fahad Rafique Dogar
PhD student, Carnegie Mellon University
Pittsburgh, PA, US
Let’s hope that the nuclear scientist comes up with a ‘confession’.
DAY 3: Khakis Press, Repress, Suppress August 23, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: Amensty International, Amin Yousuf, APNS, Baloch, Baloch insurgency, Balochistan, Balochistan Express, CPNE, Daily Asaap, Daily Azadi, Frontier Corps, Human Rights Commision of Pakistan, Jamil Akbar Bugti, Jan Mohammad Dashti, Karachi Union of Journalists, Malik Siraj Akbar, Nawab Mohammad Akbar Khan Bugti, Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, President Asif Ali Zardari, Quetta, reconciliation in Balochistan, Shamsul Islam Naz, Siddiq Baluch, siege of Baloch newspapers, state of press freedom in Balochistan, state of press freedom in Pakistan, the problem of Balochistan
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Daily Balochistan Express
By Malik Siraj Akbar
The Frontier Corps (FC) personnel continued the siege of the offices of Daily Balochistan Express and Daily Azadi on the third consecutive day on Friday. The siege included body search and intense questioning of the newspapers’ staff members on their arrival at and departure from the office. They had blocked the main entrance of the small colony in which offices of the newspapers are located and stopped all the vehicles and persons visiting the newspaper offices.
The siege of two vocal newspapers in the conflict-torn province of Balochistan comes days after the forceful closure of an Urdu language newspaper, Daily Asaap. The offices of Daily Asaap were besieged by the Frontier Corps (FC), a federal paramilitary force notorious for harassing the people of Balochistan, for two weeks until the newspaper management surrendered and decided to shut the newspaper forever. The Asaap management said had it not decided to close down, the FC would physically harm its journalists and implicate them in false ‘sedition’ cases.
In its last edition, the newspaper charged the state intelligence agencies with attempting to kill the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, Jan Mohammad Dashti, a leading Baloch scholar, in February this year in order to coax the newspapers to give up publication.
Except for the BBC Urdu Service, all major media outlets in Pakistan and organizations working for the rights of journalists and freedom of expression deliberately kept quite on the forceful closure of Daily Asaap by the FC. The unwillingness of these important media organizations to report and condemn the closure of the newspapers in Balochistan implicitly indicates the state of controlled media in Pakistan even under a so-called democratic government of the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP).
One does not have to be an Isaac Newton to understand why the PPP government is reacting so madly towards the Press in Balochistan. Because the PPP has not been able to reverse the repressive polices of General Pervez Musharraf in Balochistan. The oil-rich province still continues to face a deadly military operation in Mand, Dera Bugti and Kohlu areas. The provincial government has been overwhelmingly overpowered by the Frontier Corps that makes decisions. Political dissent is being crushed while opponents are being randomly picked up and put inside jails.
PAKISTAN FEDERAL UNION OF JOURNALISTS (PFUJ)
It is encouraging to see a statement of condemnation of the siege by Mr. Shamsul Islam Naz, the secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ). Given below is the PFUJ statement:
“ISLAMABAD, Aug 23:- The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has expressed its dismay and grave concern over terrorizing and harassing the editorial and other staff members of a Quetta-based English Daily “Baluchistan Express”, and an Urdu Daily Azadi, and termed it a direct attack on freedoom of expression and press.
In a statement issued here on Saturday, the PFUJ said that reports reaching in the PFUJ Secretariat revealed that a heavy armed contingent of the law enforcement agencies had cordoned the premises of the English Daily – “Baluchistan Express”, and an Urdu Daily Azadi, newspapers for more than 50 hours and terrorized the staff members of the newspapers and visitors under the garb of locating “some wanted persons”.The law enforce ring agencies also conducted a body search of each and every staff of both the newspapers and other visitors to the office. Not only this, the law enforcing agencies also reportedly compelled the visitors and staff to sit on the road for hours together before they were allowed entry into the newspaper office. They were also publicly disgraced and humiliated.
Such a high handedness by the law enforcing agencies with the media persons with the support of guns and uniforms caused mental torture to media persons on the one hand and on the other hand “sent a signal ” to the entire press of the province that if any of the excesses of the law enforcing agencies was made public they will have to face same degree of humiliation.”
The PFUJ said that the journalist community would not allow such uncalled for and abuse of law and shameless treatment with the media persons and would raise a strong voice it before all the forums both within and across the globe.
The PFUJ said it is not only a serious condemnable case of human rights violations but was tantamount to usurping fundamental and basic rights of the citizens which made it obligatory that the “state shall be responsible to protect grace, honour and dignity of the citizens and allow every one to freely join any profession of his choice”.
The PFUJ further pointed out that being signatory of the Human Rights and Freedom of the Press Declarations, the Government is under obligation to facilitate the media persons to ensure a conducive environment for carrying out their professional assignments.
According to the PFUJ, the unlawful act of the law enforcing agencies was tantamount to interfering in the privacy of the citizens. Regretfully, none from the provincial government nor the federal government took notice of such a serious and uncalled for incident which prima fascia indicated that the “they are also involved in this crime”.
The statement reminded that by and large population of the Baluchistan province, already having serious reservations of deprivation, and its political situation calls for a prudent approach by the law enforcement agencies as well as the government. In this backdrop, the maltreatment of the media persons and disgracing them publicly would further aggravate the sense of deprivation.
The PFUJ urged upon the Chief Justice of Pakistan to take a suo motu notice of this serious incident of high handedness of the law enforcing agencies and their involvement of violating the fundamental rights of the citizens and attempt to squaring the freedom of press in violation of the conditions and universal declarations. The PFUJ also called upon the human rights activities, and organizations to attack notice of such blatant violation of human rights and attack on the freedom of press.”
KARACHI UNION OF JOURNALISTS
The journalists’ community in Karachi has also expressed its full solidarity to the management of Daily Balochistan Express and Azadi at this critical juncture when the armed forces are out to muzzle the press. The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) issued the following statement the other day.
“KARACHI: Karachi Union of Journalists has strongly condemned the harassment of the editorial and other staff of Baluchistan Express and Daily Azadi, Quetta-based esteemed English and Urdu dailies. According to details, the law enforcement agencies have cordoned off the office of the newspapers for past two days and body searching the staff and the other visitors to the office. The staff and the visitor are forced to sit on the road for hours before they are allowed entry into the office. This is serious inflicting serious damage to the working of the newspaper besides, causing mental and physical torture to the staff of the newspapers.
General Secreatry of KUJ Amin Yousuf strongly protest such unwarranted exercise of the law enforcement agencies, which are serious breach of constitutional rights of individuals and which guarantees the dignity of man and does not allow the privacy that should remain inviolable. He said, if the law enforcement agencies might be looking for some unfounded evidences, the way they are doing again in violation of the Constitution which provides that no person shall be subjected to torture for the purpose of extracting evidences. Our Constitution also guarantees every citizen the right to move freely throughout the country.
The province of Baluchistan has long been passing through acute deprivation and its political situation calls for prudent approach by the law enforcement agencies as well as the government. Instead, this unjust is being inflicted on them, which amounts to further the sense of deprivation already exists there.
KUJ demand the government of Baluchistan as well the federal to take immediate action and end this uncalled for besiege of the newspaper office to ensure the freedom of expression under the Article 19 of the Constitution.”
For the past three days, the FC personnel did not even explain for once what they wanted out of this siege and why they were laying the siege at the offices of Daily Balochistan Express and Daily Azadi rather than doing the same thing with the drug and weapons smugglers. The staff members strongly protested over the border searches and search of their passing vehicle into the office area and termed it illegal and immoral.
Meanwhile, a meeting of the members of the Action Committee of the Newspaper Industry with Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani was cancelled as it was scheduled to discuss the crisis created by the FC troops besieging the newspapers’ office and harassing the journalists and other visitors.
Ironically, all the staff members who make several visits to their office in hours are subjected to body search every time they come or leave the offices. The journalists’ community rightly considers this as a serious attack on the Press freedom. In the meantime, top political leaders of the country had expressed complete solidarity with the Azadi and Balochistan Express asking the Government to lift the siege immediately allowing the free Press to function without any intimidation.
Nawabzada Jamil Akbar Bugti, the eldest son of Nawab Akbar Bugti, has condemned the siege of newspaper office in strong terms and demanded its immediate withdrawal. He advised the government not to intimidate the free Press and the avoid curbing the Press freedom.
Both Daily Balochistan Express and Daily Azadi are member of the All Pakistan Newspapers’ Society (APNS) and Mr. Siddiq Baluch, the editor-in-chief of Balochistan Express, is holding the post of Vice-President of the Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) which self-evidently indicates the high responsibility of the newspaper and its editor conducting the professional affairs in disseminating information. Thus, there is no question that the newspapers or the staff members are involved in any unlawful activities or undermining the interest of Pakistan and its people in any way. The main purpose of these two newspapers is dissemination of information in the service of the people of Pakistan and in a very responsible manner. The papers had never been charged on professional misconduct by anyone during the past half a century in this profession. Thus, the editor and the staff members are given high respect by all the segments of the society, including members and officers of the security forces for their upright conduct and fair behaviour in conducting professional duties. The newspapers, their editors and staff members had nothing to do with any dubious character nor are they involved in objectionable activities to this date. The Chief Minister, as chief executive of the Province, should immediately order the Inspector General of Frontier Corps (IGFC) to lift the siege immediately and stop insulting the staff members for their no crime.
The management of the newspapers has assured all concerned of complete cooperation in addressing their complaints, if they had any legitimate ones.
“We hope that the security forces will use their own professional people in the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) for resolving all the issues as they are in better communication with our office for the past many decades. The FC troops should not act on mere hearsay and start insulting the journalists and newspaper staff members. The Press Information Department (PID) of the federal government or the Directorate of the Public Relations (DPR) can also offer serious help to the FC personnel in removing their grievances, if they had against the newspapers,” said Asif Baloch, the editor of Daily Azadi.
We also appeal to the president and the prime minister of Pakistan to keep all the federal government departments and institutions under the discipline of the Balochistan Assembly and its leader of the House who is also the Chief Executive of the province, for restraining them to create serious problems for the political government. The siege is a non issue. It is never explained why the FC personnel had laid the siege. Presumably, they had not taken the CM into confidence before taking action.
We would once again like to request the rulers of this country to become aware of the conspiracies of the Establishment against a democratic government. Some vested interests are trying to pit the government against the media. They want to create an atmosphere of mistrust between both the sides. Neither Zardari nor Raisani were born yesterday. They should rightly analyze the wrong actions of the Frontier Corps.
It is sincerely hoped that all journalists’ bodies across Pakistan will come to the support of the two besieged newspapers. Likewise, it is expected of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Amnesty International (AI), the Asian Human Rights Commission and all responsible human rights organizations and individuals to express solidarity with the management of the two newspapers committed to objective and impartial reporting.
Boots, guns, tanks now come to Daily Balochistan Express/ Azadi August 21, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: 26 August 2006, Aminullah Fitrat, Arif Baloch, Asian College of Journalism, Asian Human Rights Commission, Asif Ali Zardari, Asif Baluch, Asim Kaleem, Baloch, Balochi Academy, Balochistan, Daily Asaap, Daily Azadi, Daily Balochistan Express, Daily Tawar, Daily Times, Dawn newspaper, Frontier Corps (FC) Balochistan, Frontier Corps Balochistan, Habib Bank, Haji Wasi Ahmed, Islamabad, Javid Lehir, Javid Noor, Kazim Mengal, Lata Mangishkar, Malik Siraj Akbar, Najam Sethi, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani, Nawab Zulfiqar Ali Magsi, Pakistan, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Panjgur, Press Freedom, Quetta, Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal, Shahzada Zulfiqar, Siddiq Baluch, State of the press freedom in Balochistan, state of the press freedom in Pakistan, Syed Fazal-e-Haider, The Friday Times, University of Balochistan, Zahoor Baloch
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By Malik Siraj Akbar
“I told the forces deployed outside my office that I was a journalist not a “terrorist”,” recalls Rashid Baloch [name changed], a reporter affiliated with Quetta-based daily Balochistan Express. Rashid, 25, was on his way for the morning shift at the newspaper office located a few hundred meters away from the office of Daily Asaap which was forced to shut down by the Frontier Corps (FC), a federal paramilitary force, earlier this week.
“We will trust you only if you say Pakistan Zindabad [long live Pakistan],” a skinny Rashid mimicked the security officer with a toothless smile.
“It was funny,” he recollected.
“Say Pakistan Zindabad,” irately yelled the FC officer deafeningly as Rashid delayed complying with the officer’s instructions.
“For a while I, honestly, felt very sorry for this poor country which now needed my pronouncement [of Pakistani zindabad] for its survival,” he maintained, “however, I carried on.”
““Pakistan Zindabad,” I said halfheartedly as more than a dozen FC men clapped and allowed me to walk inside my office,” Rashid narrated his encounter as many of us from different newspapers surrounded him to listen to his ‘amazing story’.
The FC put under siege the offices of two more popular newspapers, Daily Balochistan Express (English) and Daily Azadi (Urdu), on Friday morning. These newspapers are owned and edited by an extraordinary Baloch journalist Siddiq Baluch. It is very appalling to see such treatment being meted out with the newspapers edited by a much respected professional journalist who has spent five decades of his life bring nothing but truth to his readers. He has been instrumental in presenting Balochistan’s case in the national and international media.
Siddiq Baluch and his newspapers do not deserve such undemocratic and arrogant attitude as this man has enormously contributed to promoting the cause of a free press.
Mr. Baloch joined Dawn, Pakistan’s most respected newspaper, in 1966 and served as Sub-editor, Edition Incharge, Roving Correspondent, Political Correspondent and Special Correspondent and Crime Reporter. He was elected Member of the Governing Body of the Karachi Press Club for over a decade. He was elected President of Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) for two consecutive terms in 1981 and 1982 and remained an active member of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) till 1988.
Mr. Baluch was elected President of the Balochistan Editors Council for two consecutive terms. At present, he is the senior Vice-President of the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) and Member of the Executive Committee of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS). Over resigning from Dawn, he brought out Daily Balochistan Express from Quetta, in 1990. Balochistan Express was the first newspaper of Balochistan to go online but its website was forced to shut by the government during the second Afghan war in 2001. Mr. Baloch is the Chairman of the Balochi Academy, the biggest literally organization of Balochi language in all over the world. He also served as the press secretary of late Ghose Baksh Bizanjo, the then governor of Balochistan. Over the undemocratic removal of the National Awami Party (NAP) government in Balochistan in 1973s by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the most autocratic face of all Pakistani politicians, Mr. Baloch spent four years inside the jail under Hyderabad Conspiracy Case along with Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Balochistan’s first ever elected chief minister, Mir Ghose Baksh Bizanjo, the ousted governor and illustrated nationalist leader Nawab Khair Baksh Marri.
According to Asif Baloch, the editor of Daily Azadi, the siege of his offices began on Friday morning. Several staff members and workers of the printing press were barred from coming to the office by the FC. They were stopped and investigated about a number of things ranging from the newspapers policy to their sources of finance.
“We believe this is now a step towards Asaap-ization of our newspapers,” he said. The security forces had forced Asaap, a widely circulated Urdu newspaper, to shut down earlier this week after its office was brought under siege for more than two weeks. The newspaper had to take the decision saying that it believed uninterrupted publication of the newspaper could harm the safety of its workers.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said in a statement issued on Friday that it urged “the government of Pakistan to order an immediate withdrawal of the FC from Balochistan province. It also urges the government to allow the Daily Asaap to resume its publication and to respect the rights of media professionals to free speech and free press. The government should prevent state agencies from interfering with the media and take effective measures to ensure a safe and liberal environment for journalists to work in. The government is strongly advised to observe the International Covenant on Cultural and Political Rights (ICCPR), of which Pakistan is a signatory.”On the contrary, one does not see any reaction by the Pakistan Peoples’ Party government in the province and at the center against such undemocratic attacks on newspaper offices which are clearly meant to tarnish the image of a democratically elected government. The Balochistan government has been overpowered by the Frontier Corps (FC) which is calling the shots in Balochistan. The FC can not be treated as a friend of democracy and freedom of expression. If they are out to close newspaper offices today then chief minister Nawab Aslam Raisani must not grumble by the time a truckload of FC men will one day attack the CM house and humiliate him. It is the very right time to control the expanding powers of the FC.
It is very unfortunate that many of reputed Pakistani media outlets have not supported the Balochs to condemn the closure of Asaap and siege of Balochistan Express and Azadi offices. Even the closure of the newspaper was not reported in many leading Pakistani newspapers while TV channels did not air the news either. Only the BBC Urdu Service reported courageously about this shameful official act. Journalists’ bodies all over Pakistan and abroad must take notice of this derogatory attitude of armed men towards the freedom of Press. We have to prove it with our deeds that we are reporters without borders. We all have struggled for our right to freedom of expression. No one has the riht to silence our pens by the help of guns.
We believe the only fault of Mr. Baloch Siddiq Baluch alas “Lala” and his newspapers is their commitment to the rights of the Baloch people. Both the newspapers never compromised on the rights of the oppressed masses of Balochistan. Even both the papers fearlessly condemned the military operation during the gruesome martial law days of General Pervez Musharraf. Such freedom of expression understandably entails its cost.
We sincerely hope President Asif Ali Zardari takes notice of the cycle of attacks on the Baloch media outlets in Balochistan. This seems to be a deliberate and selective campaign only against the Baloch newspapers. The president must know that history is a subject which is alien to forgetting the past. Nawaz Sharif as the prime minister got Najam Sethi, the editor of the Friday Times, kidnapped and beaten in 1999. Ten years, down the line, Sharif becomes embarrassed every time he talks of a free press and is then suddenly reminded of his own attitude with Najam Sethi. Likewise, history will surely ask the PPP what it did in Balochistan with Asaap, Balochistan Express and Azadi newspapers.
Several journalists of the Balochistan Express and Azadi have been kidnapped while their Khuzdar bureau chief Haji Wasi Ahmed was gunned down in March this year. I got a chance to interview Javid Lehri, the Wadh correspondent of Daily Azadi who had been picked up by the intelligence agencies. His ordeal was very touching. I wrote the following piece about him.
“Four months after his release from a nine-month long official detention, twenty-one-year old journalist Javid Lehri travels on every fortnight from his native Khuzdar district to Karachi for his medical treatment. Lehri had been whisked away by masked officials of a
shadowy force from room No. 2 of Bugti block at a college hostel, where he was staying, at around 21:00pm on November 29th, 2007 and released on August 22, 2008. The government was apparently displeased with his reports and wanted Lehri to soften the reports in favor of the government. Since his release, the journalist working with the Quetta-based Urdu newspaper, Daily Azadi, complains about insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), deep depression and eating disorders.“I have no money to bear the expenses of my medical treatment. But I have to regularly go to Karachi for treatment. I am still not the old Javid that I used to be. I regularly have nightmares. I keep receiving threatening phone calls that I should not disclose to the media what had actually happened to me inside the torture cell,” he told Daily
Times after much persuasion for his first ever interview to the media.
Around twelve truckload of officials, eye witnesses say, had raided the boys’ hostel in Khuzdar district to arrest Javid Lehri. As he was overpowered by the officials and forcefully a mask was put on his face, Javid was immediately taken to Quetta the same night.”Previously, whenever I used to receive threatening phone calls, I used ignore them by believing that my friends were just fooling me with their phone calls. But this time, it was no longer a joke. I was indeed in the custody of uncivilized officials who abused and beat me. It took me three months to know that the place that I had been moved
to was Quetta. I was kept in a fully dark 5X3 room. Later on, I came to know that I was at the Quli Camp inside Quetta cantonment area,” heinformed.
Lehri recollected that in the first three days and nights of detention, he had been hung upside down and beaten up ruthlessly. “I became unconscious time and again. After three days, I was enchained and further tortured. The torture was so unbearable that I prayed for death. I wish I could find anything inside the torture cell that I could use to commit suicide. I begged to Allah to give me death because I was too young to bear the indescribable torture,” stated a tearful Javid.
Inside the jail, Javid was asked why the newspaper he worked for was called Azadi [liberation]. His captors wanted him to clarify whose liberation the paper actually was struggling for. He was asked to get the newspapers’ name changed. “I helplessly replied that I was merely working with the newspaper as a correspondent. I could not change the name or the editorial policy of the paper. But they didn’t trust me and kept on beating me.”
While Lehri was undergoing callous suffering inside the torture cell despite the restoration of democracy in Pakistan, his family members were constantly threatened by his official captors that the former should keep quite or get prepared to receive Lehri’s dead body.
“Journalism has been my passion since childhood. Now, I am back to my job but I regret that no one, including my own media house and the media watch-dogs, came to my help during the hard time. All that I urgently need today is protection and assistance for my medical treatment at this point in my life.”
Yet, such tactics could not deter team-Azadi and Balochistan Express from pursuing their mission. I am confident that this shameful siege of a newspaper office during a democratic government will soon be lifted. Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani and Governor of Balochistan, who flaunt their democratic credentials, should apologize with the management of both the newspaper.
The media house that brings out Balochistan Express and Azadi has been the first school of many top journalists and writers of Balochistan including Shahzada Zulfiqar, Syed Fazal-e-Haider, Kazim Mengal, Manzoor Baloch, Javid Noor, Zahoor Baloch, Babar Baloch and many others. I worked for Balochistan Express as a staff reporter and an editorial writer in 2005 before I left for India to undertake a post-graduation course at the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ). My Urdu column, Gosha-e- Chasham, often appears in Azadi. The last piece I wrote for the paper was about the Baloch children who sold their kidneys, which was later on reprinted in Daily Tawar (which I believe is going to become the next victim of State repression).
Journalism aside, for many working journalists like us the office of these two newspapers is very memorable. I have adopted this place as my home. I joined Daily Times in May 2005 when the military operation against Nawab Bugti was on its peak. I had newly returned from India. I had no place to stay in Quetta. Asim Kaleem, a friend from Panjgur was kind enough to offer me (illegal) accommodation at Room Number 64 at Block # 13 at boys’ hostel at the University of Balochistan. Since I was not a university student, my stay out there was illegal. The room had been allotted to Asim and another friend of his Ghaffar, a student of MA English literature. Yet, they were kind to a let me stay with them.
At day times, I worked in the field as a journalist and in the afternoons, I would come to the Balochistan Express office to file my stories to Daily Times. I would go to the university hostel only to sleep. My stay at the university hostel was enlivened with Lata Mangashkir’s classic songs. Ham bol gaye her bath magar tera pyar nain bolye was my favorite while Asim insisted on listening to Arif Baloch’s Zabadi thi.
One evening I return to my hostel. Tired. Sleepy. Hungry. Thirsty. I receive a phone call.
“Hello Siraj. They have killed him. File the story with reactions. Immediately”
The man on was Najam Sethi, my editor.
“Killed him? Killed who?” I asked desperately.
“Akbar Bugti”
I was stunned. This was a turning point in Balochistan’s history. No exaggerations: it was the 9/11 of Balochistan. I knew Balochistan would never remain the same again.
As I walked back inside my hostel room, I told my friends in Balochi.
´Day Ishi [Pervez Musharraf] wathi mass band ko]” (Do Balochi abuses also need translation. ??? Ok it goes like this….Musharraf finally proved himelf as a motherfucker!]
My friends shouted back, “chy boo? [what happed?]
“Bugti ra koshtish [Bugti has been killed].
While I had barely disclosed the news to my friends, we felt something very powerful hitting the hostel room’s windows. It was very dominant. Broken pieces of windowpanes violently scattered everywhere in our room. We narrowly escape unhurt as we quickly turned the light off and hid under a bed. There were around eight of us. My friends suggested that we turn the light off so that our room does not get much attraction.
We felt as if rockets were being fired on the university hostel. As a matter of fact, Baloch students had begun to react as the news of Bugti’s assassination flashed on TV screens. My friends insisted that I must stay inside the room. I disagreed. Like every journalist, I was thinking about tomorrow’s lead story with my byline. I knew the ball had come to my court and it was my turn.
“Are you mad? You mean you want to leave the hostel now? The city must be under fire now,” said Aftab, a visiting friend.
“ C’mon yar. Its my job. I have to go and cover the reactions and the aftermath of the killing,” I replied.
“Fuck your job. Your job is not more important than you life. We will not let you go,” exclaimed Asim Kaleem. It was the first time I had seen him shout at me. While we continued to discuss what we should do, my phone was ringing endlessly. Boss was calling. Friends calling. Journalists calling. SMSes pouring.
Lastly, I told my friends in one long sentence.
Lookguysitisthetimeyouallgotout….
Policeisgoingtoraidhostelsandyouallwillbestuckhere….
Let’s run……
I knew I would not becoming to my hostel room at least in the next five to six months. It was not a joke. After all, they had killed Akbar Bugti who was a mythical figure even in his life time. I took all the money I had put inside my diary and picked up my passport. I walked out. The scenes at the university hostel were pretty scary. Baloch boys were crying like small kids.
“ Bugti…Bugti…Baba Bugti…Baba Bugti…”They were trying to break and burn everything that came in their hands. I saw one young man single-handedly trying to weed out a power supply pylon as he chanted Naraye Bugti [the slogan of Bugti] and more crying students approached to help him by replying Jiay Bugti [long live Bugti]. They brought the pylon on ground. They burnt the neighboring Habib Bank. They burnt more than a dozen university buses. The police did not come on Sariab Road as it truly knew the magnitude of the students’ anger.
Violence had erupted in Balochistan. History will remember that the real reactionary movement in Balochistan was actually unleashed by the Baloch students. Students awakened Balochistan. They attracted the media. They disturbed Islamabad. They woke the then chief minister Jam Yousaf up. These were the students from Balochistan University, Bolan Medical College, Polytechnic and Degree College.
Since the office of Balochistan Express and Azadi were close to the University of Balochistan, I walked to the newspaper. The newsroom had never been so chaotic. I telephoned. Telephoned. Telephoned. Telephoned. Prepared my reports.
None of us slept the whole night. The next day, an almost a curfew like situation had been declared in Quetta and many other parts of Balochistan. We learnt that the FC and police had raided the boys’ hostels at the University of Balochistan. Hundreds of students were arrested and implicated in false cases. These students had to face the courts for the next coming more than two years. I still know many students till today who have to appear before the courts for these false cases registered against them that night.
I came to know that the hostel had been shut for an indefinite period. I had literally had no place to stay in Quetta. I did not have enough money to stay in a hotel. No friends willing to host me for a prolonged period. I had to stay in Quetta to report for Daily Times. I was running out of options. Finally, I saw one sofa inside Siddiq Baluch’s office. I said I will use this as the place to sleep but I will not give up my job as a journalist. Thankfully, Siddiq Baluch agreed to provide me the space to live. Had he denied me that sofa, I would have to give up my job at Daily Times and go back home in Panjgur.
I spent the next one year in the same office. They were the best of the times. They were the worst of the times. But I was not the only one. There was this Pashtoon guy, Aminullah Fitrat, who served as the Bureau Chief of a leading news agency. Now he works with Pakistan’s most reputed Urdu newspaper, Daily Jang. He too had no place to stay. So both of us used the Balochistan Express office for our residence. I used the sofa and he slept down on the floor. One night, while preparing to sleep, Fitrat laughed and said:
“Malik, can you imagine what will be the reaction of the rulers if they come to know that these two fucking “bureau chiefs” who keep endlessly writing against the government live such a poor life?”
I said, “No. All they can do is to put us in a torture cell in Qili Camp [this notorious torture cell is maintained by the Pakistan army in Quetta]. But can life be worse than this? Do you not feel that we are already spending a life just like the inmates of a torture cell? If they[ the intelligence agencies] take us to a cell, both of us will be very comfortable out there. We have nothing to lose. No family. No soft bed. No comforts of life. So this is almost the same for us wherever we are.”
He laughed and fully agreed with me because he had been kidnapped by the Pakistan agencies around three times.
“I swear the torture cell was just like this room. So, Malik, don’t worry my dear. Close you eyes. Sleep. Chill,” said Fitrat who had been interrogated by the Pakistani spy masters on several occasions and asked where Osama bin Ladan was!
People like me and Fitrat owe Balochistan Express and Azadi a lot. The office of these newspapers served as hostels to many budding journalists.
At this critical juncture, we wish to express our solidarity with Mr. Siddiq Baluch and his team. We have faith in them. They are not alone. We are with them. We are sure they will defeat the autocrats of this shamocracy.
Bye bye Asaap August 18, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: Abid Mir, American English Language Center Panjgur, Asaap shut down, Attack on the media, Baloch, Baloch newspaper shut down in Quetta, Balochistan, Daily Asaap, Daily Asaap closed down, Dr. Naseer Dashti, Faisal Mengal Baloch, freedom of press, Frontier Corps Balochistan, Habatan Dashti, Jaffar Khan Tareen, Jan Mohammad Dashti, Khalid Waleed Saifi, Malik Siraj Akbar, Manzoor Izaat Baloch, Maznoor Baloch, Panjgur, Quetta, State of Press freedom in Balohistan, state of press freedom in Pakistan, TCS, Turbat
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By Malik Siraj Akbar
When the government of Balochistan banned the official advertisements of Daily Asaap, the newspaper said it did not care much because it still enjoyed freedom of expression.
When the government curtailed its freedom of expression by banning two books by Dr. Naseer Dashti, published by Asaap Publications, the undeterred newspaper management still insisted that it had lost nothing as long as its staff members remained alive and healthy.
When the chief editor of the newspaper, Jan Mohammad Dashti, along with his driver narrowly escaped an assassination attempt presumably by the state intelligence agencies on 23 February this year, the paper reiterated its commitment to uninterrupted publication.
Now, Asaap – the most vocal Urdu language newspaper of Balochistan – has suddenly flabbergasted us all. The newspaper has formally decided to shut down its publication for good. The decision has been taken in the wake of constant harassment. The offices of Asaap in Quetta and Turbat, two cities from where the newspaper was simultaneously published, have been under siege by the Frontier Corps (FC) and intelligence agencies for the past two weeks.
Asaap basically comes from two Balochi words Aas (fire) and aap (water). In journalistic context, it means the determination to bring truth (to the readers, of course) even if one has to walk on the fire.
Habatan Dashti, the acting editor-in-chief of the newspaper, told me that the agencies’ personnel had made it impossible for them to work. “They [the spies] used to stand inside and outside the gates of the newspaper office. Every visitor, including the staff members, were investigated, humiliated and often barred from entering the newspaper office,” he said, “the deployment of forces outside the newspaper office was complete intrusion of our professional responsibilities. They always wanted to provoke us so that our staff members shouted at them and provided the FC a chance to take action against our staff members.”
In the wake of “impossible working circumstances”, Asaap wrote the following “Media Watch” on the front page to announce its closure:
“With absolute pain and sorrow, we wish to inform the respected readers of Asaap and the Baloch people that our office in Quetta has been under siege by the Frontier Corps (FC) and security forces for the past two weeks. These forces were busy in humiliating every visitor and staff member who came to our office. Asaap is the only newspaper [in Pakistan] where security forces have been deployed. These forces are engaged in regular search and harassment of staff members and visitors.
“Since the government decided to move a tank outside the Asaap offices, it has remarkably worsened the situation. Due to this, all of our staff members are panicked and unable to concentrate on their professional responsibilities. Everyone knows that Asaap began its publication amid very unfavorable circumstances. Since the outset, the paper has stood on a clear policy about Baloch and Balochistan.
“We are committed to a very holy mission which is rooted in the Baloch land. We continued our journey despite hardships and tried to assure the government that we did not work contrary to the media laws. We simply wanted to inform the rulers of the country and the State institutions about the actual Baloch demands and the justification for making such demands. Unabated injustices, repeated military operations, the murder of thousands of Balochs have coaxed the Balochs to rethink that they are not the citizens of this country and they do not enjoy the status of equal citizens. Likewise, we wanted to remind the Balochs that they, unlike other nationalities, were not getting equal political, social, economic and cultural rights in Pakistan.
“Instead of making an attempt to comprehend the Baloch demands, the ruling elite clearly sent us a defiant message indicating that our policy and demands were unacceptable and unbearable to them.
“Earlier this year, an attempt was made on the life of Waja Jan Mohammad Dashti, the [editor in-] chief of Daily Asaap, in order to kill him. Worst still, unsuccessful efforts were made to put the blame of the assault on Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Garib Nawaz Tehreek. Jan Dashti and his friends surely know which state institutions were actually behind this attack. We had made it clear to the government that we fully abided by all media laws. However, a discriminatory attitude towards Asaap, despite our adherence to all state laws, implicitly confirmed that the state was punishing us only for being a Baloch-friendly newspaper.
“For a long time, the powerful quarters in the country have been engaged in conspiracies against Asaap, Jan Mohammad Dashti and Waja Naseer Dashti. Now, the situation is becoming more troublesome. Under the umbrella of a clear conspiracy, pressure is being mounted against us, out office is being “guarded” by the security forces, staff members being searched and threats being hurled. Since Balochistan is undergoing a military operation right now, the security forces consider every ill-mannered action as justified. They are above the law and not answerable to anyone.
“Our readers fully know how Baloch leaders, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Balach Marri, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Sher Mohmmad Baloch and Lala Munir Baloch, were brutally killed. Thousands of known and unknown Baloch women, children and youth have been subjected to “enforced disappearances”. A similar number is languishing inside torture cells with no clue about their well being.
“At such a situation, Daily Asaap is left with two options either to temporarily or permanently shut its publication or to prepare for clashes between the security forces and the staff members of the newspaper. For Asaap, the personal safety of all its staff members, majority of whom are young people, is extremely important. We want these young staff members to remain healthy and respected. We are of the opinion that the lives of these staff members would be further jeopardized in case of uninterrupted publication of Asaap. They face serious threats to their lives. There is the great possibility of physically harming the staff members of this newspaper, implicating them in false cases and applying various other harassment tactics against them.
“Hence, Asaap has no options left but to decide to shut its publication in order to ensure the safety of its own workers. Therefore, the Asaap management has decided that the newspaper will not be published from Quetta and Turbat from tomorrow and the paper will not be delivered to our valued readers tomorrow morning. We are taking this decision with great pain. We are sure our readers will understand the hardships we are facing. Our insistence to carry on with the publication of the newspaper may lead to some serious problems for our staff members. We are thankful to all our readers who gave us love and respect throughout this period. We are thankful to all our staff members who even did not care about their personal safety while working at this newspaper. Asaap is being strangulated. We know with the closure of this newspaper, the voices of Baloch people will not be heard in the print media as loudly as was done in the past. This may have a slightly negative impact on the Baloch movement. However, we are confident that that even after Asaap, the Baloch movement will continue its journey towards its ultimate destination.”
Asaap will be missed for a long time by the Baloch readers and writers. This newspaper gave birth to a new generation of Baloch writers and journalists. Before the launching of this newspaper, Baloch writers could hardly dream to get space for their works to be published. Asaap changed this trend and provided equal opportunities to all young writers of Balochistan irrespective of their ethnic affiliations. Three excellent Pashtoon young writers that Asaap groomed include Shams Mandokhel, Jaffar Khan Tareen and Nusrat Afghani. The paper encouraged these aspiring writers to think, analyze and criticize.
For me, the closure of this extremely important newspaper entails personal suffering. I was one of the lucky people who began their writing career from this newspaper. I wrote my first column in Asaap from my home district Panjgur in 2003. We, Manzor Baloch (Quetta) Manzoor Izzat Baloch (Panjgur), Faisal Mengal (Quetta), Khalid Waleed Saifi (Turbat), Shakil Baloch (Panjgur), Ismail Baloch (Gwadar), Nusrat Afghani (Quetta), Rana Saeed Advocate (Quetta) and some others whose names may not remember right now, constituted the first batch of columnists of Asaap.
Writing for Asaap was a wonderful experience despite the pros and cones involved. It was the first newspaper that paid us all Rs. 200 for each articles. I was a student at the American English Language Center in Panjgur when I got the first payment for my articles. My friend Dr. Chakar Baloch and I went to TCS to collect my envelope. By that time, it was not less than an achievement to receive a TCS dispatch in the small town of Panjgur. It was often believed that TCS dispatches could only come for VVIPs of town.
“Oh wow! You have got a TCS dispatch,” yelled Dr. Baloch delightedly, “I have never received even a registered mail in my whole life time. I know he was joking but both of us enjoyed his sense of humor.
It was one of the happiest days of my life when I got paid for the first time for a write-up of mine.
Subsequently, Asaap agreed to give me a regular space for a column in the newspaper. I began to write a column called “Harat Kada” which used to appear three to four times a week. One thing that many people still remember about that column is my bearded photo that used to appear in the newspaper. Everyone, including editor-in-chief Waja Jan Dashti, called me ‘Maulana”.
Many of us, the young writers, also had our grievances against Asaap as our articles were often unnecessarily edited and they were different from what we had actually written when they were published.
I never knew how widely Asaap was read until I went to Turbat and Gwadar where many people knew me because of my “bearded columns”. However, many people were pleasantly surprised to see me without the long beard.
In a nutshell, Asaap gave many of us the courage to think differently. It gave birth to too many new journalists and writers. I feel sorry for our coming generation of Baloch writers who will surely be deprived of such a wonderful platform to be published and guided at an early age by senior journalists. In addition, Asaap also began printing a series of books comprising of the articles published in the same newspaper. It has brought out around two dozen books so far which has enabled many young Baloch writers to proudly identify themselves as ‘published writers’.
A few days before the assassination attempt on Dashti sahib, Hababatan, the nephew of the editor-in-chief of the newspaper, told me that Waja Dashti had wished that I should write the preface of one of these upcoming books. Because of my own laziness and the subsequent attack on Dashti sahib, I could not write the preface of the book. I will never be able to do that honorable job now.
The end of Asaap is in fact the closure of a school of journalism.
The newspaper continued its journey very proudly and confidently. It raised the voice of the Baloch people without any fear and favor even during the gruesome martial law days of General Pervez Musharraf. The turning point for Asaap was the publication of the list of missing persons issued by Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) which demanded the release of missing Baloch political workers in return of UNHCR official John Solecki. This remarkably irritated the government authorities.
“I told, Dashti, they will kill you,” confided a senior journalist with me, “he said “so what? I know they are behind me”. ”
The government was further disillusioned by the Asaap’s aggressive pursuance of the case of Zarina Marri.
It is highly regrettable that the newspaper was forced to close down not under a military regime but by a government headed by a party that flaunts its democratic credentials. It is still not too late to take notice of what actually happened with the press in Balochistan. Pakistan People’s Party has people like Sherry Rehman who have such tall moral standings that they can resign from top official positions but will not compromise on press freedom. Sherry Rehmans of PPP should try to find out why the FC officials were deployed inside and outside a newspaper office in Quetta. Is this what the government pays the FC for?
I am not sure the closure of Asaap will attract much criticism from journalists’ bodies across Pakistan. On the contrary, many people would be cheering this development. This move has, nonetheless, sent a very clear message to the Baloch media organizations that they will be shut one after the other.
Lastly, I know I am not the only one who will miss Asaap.
Amid chauvinists’ propaganda August 17, 2009
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar in Malik Siraj Akbar.Tags: a home grown conflict, Baloch, Balochistan, Malik Siraj Akbar, Malik Siraj Article in Times of India, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Quetta, Times of India
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My recent article, A Home Grown Conflict, was published in the Times of India on August 11, 2009. In this write-up I have argued that the Balochistan conflict is a purely indigenous one rather than being ignited by India.
While the article was widely appreciated by Balochs and the supporters of the Baloch cause across Pakistan and abroad, a section of ultra-nationalist Punjabi chauvinists in Pakistan has initiated a massive abusive and threatening campaign against me.
This group of people, which regrettably, but understandably, includes several journalists as well. They insist I have committed “sedition” and proved to be an “Indian agent” by speaking ‘against Pakistan’ in an Indian newspaper. They are demanding that Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) should condemn the article and constitute a legal action committee against me.
Some others are endeavoring to reach my editor to get me fired from my job.
In addition, the article has brought me a lot of abusive and threatening phone calls and e-mails.
In fact, it is the first time the people are getting a Baloch perspective on the Balochistan issue. In the past, the only people who reported about Balochistan were the ones who sat in air-conditioned rooms of Lahore and Islamabad. They did not know the difference between Baloch and Balochi, Kech and Turbat but still pretended to know everything about Balochistan. They tremendously mislead the public opinion. Now, they feel threatened that anti-establishment, rather than ISPR-dictated, voices are being fearlessly raised from Balochistan.
In the meanwhile I am deeply thankful to all of the senior journalists and my readers who have stood united with me in the aftermath of the publication of the article. I would also wish to thank the Times of India management for assuring me of “full professional support” in case propaganda against me gets out of control.
Last but not the least; I still stand on every word of my article. I believe trouble in Balochistan is caused by Pakistan itself.
