The Reluctant Nationalist
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on May 15, 2013 · 2 Comments
The Balochistan National Party (B.N.P.) of Sardar Akhtar Mengal has rejected the results of May 11 polls and launched a massive protest campaign against what it calls as the rigged polls. The Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party and the National Party, which performed beyond expectations, are neither a part of Mr. Mengal’s protest nor are they … Read more
How Nawaz Sharif Can Help Balochistan
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on May 14, 2013 · 1 Comment
Political parties that won Saturday’s general elections in Balochistan have already initiated contacts with other parties to form a coalition government. According to the results announced by the Election Commission of Pakistan, the Pashtunkhawa Milli Awami Party has emerged as the largest political party with 11 seats in the Balochistan Assembly which is followed by … Read more
National Party-J.U.I-F Nexus
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on April 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment
The National Party (N.P.) has taken a dramatic decision to support the right-wing Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (J.U.I.-Fazal) in Khuzdar district against the candidate of the Balochistan National Party (B.N.P.-Mengal). This move has attracted considerable criticism from Baloch nationalist quarters for a number of reasons. Firstly, the J.U.I.-F was a part and parcel of the past two … Read more
Filed under Malik Siraj Akbar · Tagged with Baloch, Baloch Musla Defai Tanzeem, Balochistan, Balochistan National Party, Dr. Malik Baloch, Khuzdar, Malik Siraj Akbar, National Party, National Party-J.U.I-F Nexus, religious radicalization in Balochistan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Shafiq Mengal, The Baloch Hal
Repression is Unlikely to Make Baloch Proud Pakistani Citizens: Dr. Frederic Grare
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on April 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Dr. Frederic Grare is the author of the recently published report Balochistan: The State Versus the Nation published by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington DC-based think-tank where he is the Director and Senior Associate of the South Asia Program. Dr. Grare had previously written another important report on Balochistan,Pakistan: The Resurgence of Baluch Nationalism. The Baloch Hal editor-in-chiefMalik … Read more
Teachers’ Decision: An Extraordinary Setback For Elections
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on April 30, 2013 · Leave a Comment
Two weeks before the upcoming general elections, the Government Teachers’ Association (G.T.A.), the biggest union of public school teachers in Balochistan, hasannounced that its members will not perform election duty on May 11 due to security concerns. The G.T.A. says as many as 18,441 government school teachers in 11 Baloch-dominated districts of Balochistan will not offer … Read more
Editors Get a Seat at Pakistan’s Top Table
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on April 16, 2013 · Leave a Comment
An article by Amanda Hodge of the The Australian newspaper published on April 15 quoted my Huffington Post article about the appointment of two of Pakistan’s veteran journalists Arif Nizami and Najam Sethi in the caretaker governments in Pakistan and wondered if their appointment would end censorship in Pakistan, including lifting the ban on The Baloch … Read more
Filed under Malik Siraj Akbar · Tagged with Amanda Hodge, Arif Nizami, Editors get a seat at Pakistan's top table, Huffington Post, Malik Siraj Akbar, Najam Sethi, The Australian newspaper, The Baloch Hal
Who Needs Another Closed-Door Session on Balochistan?
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on December 6, 2012 · Leave a Comment
By Malik Siraj Akbar The Interior Minister, Rehman Malik, is scheduled to address a closed-door session of the Balochistan Assembly today (December 3) in Quetta. The session will focus on the state of unrest and lawlessness in the province. The upper and lower houses of the parliament, the provincial and federal cabinets and top military … Read more
Filed under The Baloch Hal Editorials · Tagged with Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Asla, Balochistan conflict, Malik Siraj Akbar, Rehman Malik on Balochistan, The Baloch Hal
Aslam Bhootani: Rebel or Opportunist
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on December 6, 2012 · Leave a Comment
By Malik Siraj AKbar There is consensus across the board that the Balochistan government is facing a constitutional crisis. What is unclear is the chicken or the egg causality dilemma. Did the Supreme Court ruling, which stated that the Balochistan government had failed to meet its constitutional obligations, cause the constitutional crisis or has the … Read more
Three Years of The Baloch Hal
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on December 6, 2012 · Leave a Comment
By Malik Siraj Akbar On its third birthday two weeks ago, The Baloch Hal was a sick boy lying in a computer lab nursing two robust attacks from the hackers within ten days. We have remained officially blocked inside Pakistan for the past two years. Attacks by hackers is a new challenge confronting us, as … Read more
Filed under The Baloch Hal Editorials · Tagged with Balochistan conflict, Balochistan media, Balochistan newspapers, Malik Siraj Akbar, online newspapers of Balochistan, Quetta, The Baloch Hal
The Problem With Mengal’s Six Points
Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on September 30, 2012 · Leave a Comment
By Malik Siraj Akbar Soon after his much-hyped return to Pakistan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, Balochistan’s former chief minister and the president of the Balochistan National Party (B.N.P.), has submitted six points before the Supreme Court as a minimum Baloch demand for deescalating tensions in his native province. Mengal has dramatized the situation by emulating Shiek … Read more
