|
Balochistan
:Target Killings bring BLA support into new focus
QUETTA: Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani’s
continued stance that the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is not
behind the recent “target killings” in the province despite the
BLA’s claims to the contrary appears to disprove the government’s
claims of minimal support for the underground organization.
Last week, the BLA killed 10 people in three separate incidents of
“target killing” in Quetta. The most disturbing of these was the
murder of six youths playing cricket in front of the Federal
Investigation Agency (FIA) office. The BLA killed the men, who all
hailed from the Hazara community, on charges of being spies for the
Military Intelligence and the Inter-Services Intelligence.
The first two incidents of the past week claimed the lives of four
Punjabi settlers. In response, the victims’ families marched in
front of the Chief Minister’s House to protest. They blocked all
rail and road traffic in the city to vent their anger. In the third
attack, the relatives of the youths ransacked the reception of the
Civil Hospital and blocked the road to register their protest.
However, in the backdrop of these incidents, the fact that the BLA
is recognized as “a hope against hopelessness” by Baloch leaders —
who either support parliamentary politics or armed resistance —
remains indisputable.
Initially, Raisani assured the families of the victims that the
culprits who had kidnapped their loved ones would be brought to
justice. However, he categorically ruled out the involvement of the
BLA in such attacks. Despite the proud reiteration by the BLA of its
involvement in the killing of the six Hazara men, the CM maintained
that the BLA could not target “innocent people”. The Baloch CM
sincerely believes that the BLA came about as an outcome of the
injustices done to the people of Balochistan in the past. Reading
between the lines, the CM appears to be saying that the BLA is
“fighting for a just cause”. Therefore, it can’t attack “innocent
civilians”.
The government also appears to waver between refusing to acknowledge
the existence of the BLA or holding “external forces” responsible
for destabilizing Balochistan. On its part, the BLA appears to be
offended by Raisani’s remarks. One of its spokesmen, Bibarg Baloch,
told Daily Times that the CM was discrediting the “Baloch freedom
fighters” of their “heroic actions”. The underground organization
has recommended that the CM should rather speak out against the
federal government, as well as the army, which he claims is still
carrying out a military operation in certain parts of Balochistan.
Similarly, while there was “selective condemnation” of the killing
of Punjabi settlers and the young cricketers by the Awami National
Party (ANP), the Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMP) and the Hazara
Democratic Party (HDP), the Baloch nationalist parties preferred to
remain ‘neutral’ in uttering their reaction to the assault. Even if
they were not pleased with the murders, they could not at the same
time afford to offend the BLA, which most followers of these parties
believe are “fighting the Baloch war on a more practical front”.
According to sources, the BLA underwent a paradigm shift after the
killing of Nawab Muhammad Akbar Khan Bugti on August 26, 2006. At
that time, most BLA operations were confined to the rural areas of
Balochistan. Meanwhile, the organisation reportedly put extra
efforts into urbanising its operations. It is this reason that the
BLA-factor, which one appeared to be mainly a rural phenomenon
concerning the Marri and Bugti Tribal Areas, has now shifted to
public places of Quetta. According to insiders, the Baloch
armed movement did not become urbanized until they had spent a lot
of time brainwashing the Baloch people, especially the women and
children. Today, it is largely believed that a BLA activist would be
wholeheartedly welcomed into any Baloch household if he needed
protection. In today’s Balochistan, there is an increasing belief
that political parties have become irrelevant and only the armed
groups can provide justice to the families of the displaced or
kidnapped Baloch masses. Prominent Baloch leader Brahamdag Bugti,
the grandson of late Akbar Bugti, categorically said last week that
the newly formed Balochistan Republican Party (BRP) would extend
“100 percent support” to the Baloch armed groups.
(Source:Daily time Pakistan;By Malik Saraj Khalid: June 02,2008)
Unrest continued in Quetta, Turbat, Noshki, Panjgur and Dera Bugti,
police sources said. — AFP
|
