It is to be mentioned here that at least three people have been killed and over 40 including women and children injured in a blast near railway station in Lahore.

http://www.thenewstribe.com/2012/04/24/lashkar-e-balochistan-claim-responsibility-for-lahore-blast/#.T5fNpdXWW70

He said people lacked knowledge of actual on-ground situation in Balochistan, which, he added, is a home to four percent population of Pakistan. “Sixty percent of this population supports Pakistan,” he added. He said that he had established four universities and three cadet colleges in Balochistan and given 10,000 to students holding masters degree and also were given jobs.

The former president claimed Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) was being supported by foreign elements.
Ends-SANA-ZS
=============

http://www.sananews.net/english/musharraf-rules-out-balochistans-separation/

The multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline is meant to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters of the Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

“There appears to be a visible decline in the Pakistani government’s interest in the IP project due to mounting pressure by the United States,” Pakistan’s financial daily Business Recorder quoted officials privy to the deliberations related to the project as saying on Wednesday.

Pakistan’s Petroleum Ministry has indefinitely postponed a visit to Iran by Minister of Petroleum and Natural Resources Asim Hussain that was planned for mid March, after the World Bank approved a $1.09 billion loan for Islamabad on March 20.

The paper cited an official of National Engineering Service Pakistan (NESPAK) that is working on the IP project as saying that the Islamabad government has not yet adopted any measures indicating that it would defer the IP project.

“NESPAK and ILF Germany are still working on the project and the Inter State Gas System, the state-run organization responsible for completing the IP and Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India gas pipeline project, recently deputed two additional mid-level officials in Lahore to enhance the pace of work at the IP project,” he added.

The official noted that the Pakistani government may postpone the tendering of the project due to increasing US pressure, emphasizing that there is no delay on the part of the NESPAK and ILF.

Pakistan is facing a serious energy crisis that has already damaged its economy. The government has failed to rise up to the challenge of addressing the problem in the course of the past four years.

Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari said on Monday that Islamabad would go ahead with the IP gas pipeline project, in defiance of US unilateral sanctions against the Iranian energy sector.

Energy-hungry Pakistan is looking to increase its fuel imports from various sources, including Iran, to reduce power shortages that have crippled the country’s industries and shaved percentage points off its GDP growth.
In addition to importing oil from Iran, Islamabad has been in talks with Tehran over the construction of a gas pipeline that will transfer Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.
The multi-billion-dollar gas pipeline aims to export a daily amount of 21.5 million cubic meters (or 7.8 billion cubic meters per year) of the Iranian natural gas to Pakistan.

The maximum daily gas transfer capacity of the 56-inch pipeline, which runs over 900 km of Iran’s soil from Asalouyeh in Bushehr Province to the city of Iranshahr in  Baluchestan Province of Iran, has been estimated at 110 million cubic meters.

However, the problem is that when it comes to documentation the task is not as easy as some people suppose. When HRCP filed the petition for missing persons in the Supreme Court in 2007 the number of verified cases did not exceed a little over 400. Then several cases had to be deleted because the requirements of documentation under the UN protocol and the court regime could not be fulfilled.

HRCP has no intent to deny the claims of families of missing persons and has never claimed that the figures compiled by it constitute an exhaustive list of cases of disappearance. It has consistently stated that the figures it cites are only those that it has been able to verify.

Sometimes figures received from various sources get mixed up and the possibility of error becomes greater. In December last, due to a typographical error HRCP had stated that it had verified 107 cases of enforced disappearance in Balochistan when the total number of cases the Commission had been able to verify in the province by that time was 167.

There is an apparent discrepancy in figures used in several documents. For instance, the number of cases before the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances that is at work now was 471 from across Pakistan in March 2012.
HRCP cannot vouch for those figures. We are trying our best to ascertain as many cases as of disappearance as we can and in this we seek the cooperation of the families, civil society organisations and indeed all concerned

HRCP also calls upon the government to redouble efforts to ensure that all those in illegal detention of government agencies are released without delay and the illegal practice is stopped forthwith.”

]]> http://www.balochmedia.org/en/hrcp-stresses-for-the-verification-of-disappearance-cases-in-balochistan.html/feed 0 http://www.balochmedia.org/en/more-police-and-rangers-check-posts-to-be-established-in-karachi.html http://www.balochmedia.org/en/more-police-and-rangers-check-posts-to-be-established-in-karachi.html#comments Sun, 01 Apr 2012 14:43:22 +0000 Baluch http://www.balochmedia.com/?p=3765 more »]]> KARACHI: After a high level meeting of law enforcement agencies, headed by the Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah and Federal Home Minister, Rehman Malik, authorities have agreed for more action to restore peace in the city.

Federal Minister for Interior Rehman Malik

The meeting was held at the Chief Minister House Karachi. It was decided to built more check posts of police and rangers and to remove the flags of all political parties from the city.

The IG Sindh briefed the Chief Minister and Home Minister and said that workers of political parties are involved in the recent wave of violence in Karachi.

Rehman Malik ordered for strict action against criminals whether or not they are involved with any political party. He also ordered to draft a list of sensitive areas of Karachi. He said that a third hand was involved in the violence occuring in the city.

The IG Sindh said that all three political parties never sit with the police and Rehman Malik ordered the IG to meet the parties separately.

Malik further said that political parties could select a ground for holding protests, but should avoid a day of mourning. He said that FC, rangers and police have been issued powers to curb violence in the city.

The latest bout of sanctions against Iran is hurting that country whose commercial life is being squeezed out as it cannot conduct any dollar-based transactions.

India’s political establishment has not savoured the recent outburst by Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state and chief US negotiator on India’s nuclear deal, who criticised India’s alleged soft stand on Iran. Burns described India’s unwillingness to play along with the US sanctions as a ‘failure’ to realise its potential for global leadership, thus ‘impeding’ the building up of a strategic relationship with the US.

India’s tight-rope walk as it tries to strike a balance between its long-term strategic partnership with the United States and its oil dependency on Iran, is being criticised for breaking international sanctions and not doing enough to pressure Iran.

The cosy ties between New Delhi and Washington after a Cold War-conditioned bilateral relationship may prove to be short-lived if India ignores the US message to the rest of the world: Iran’s nuclear ambitions must be stopped at all costs.

The latest bout of sanctions against Iran is hurting that country whose commercial life is being squeezed out as it cannot conduct any dollar-based transactions.

India’s political establishment has not savoured the recent outburst by Nicholas Burns, former undersecretary of state and chief US negotiator on India’s nuclear deal, who criticised India’s alleged soft stand on Iran. Burns described India’s unwillingness to play along with the US sanctions as a ‘failure’ to realise its potential for global leadership, thus ‘impeding’ the building up of a strategic relationship with the US.

Indian diplomats say that this criticism ignores India’s own economic and domestic political compulsions: the nation derives some 12 per cent of its oil from Iran. India, Burns reminded, had “many years to find new suppliers”. Washington has suggested that India should, instead, consider importing oil from Saudi Arabia to compensate for the loss of Iranian crude. But many of India’s state-owned refineries are heavily dependent on processing Iranian crude. India will need huge investments if it retrofitted its refineries to other sources.

India’s reluctance to estrange itself from Iran is also based on strategic considerations. In response to China’s presence in Gwadar city of Balochistan port in Pakistan, India is seeking access to Balochistan’s Chabahar port which is being built with Indian assistance and can be linked by rail to Central Asia through Hajigak, a mineral-rich area in Afghanistan where India has obtained mining concessions. Chabahar port will help India maintain strong ties with Afghanistan’s Northern Alliance.

Regional domination

India also believes it would be a strategic mistake to abruptly cut off oil purchases from Iran because China would step in to fill the vacuum left behind by India.

American policymakers see in Tehran a regime that pursues an atomic weapon capacity while also aiding America’s enemies in Iraq and Afghanistan, and supporting Hezbollah, Hamas and the highly unpopular Syrian regime, besides threatening to close the Strait of Hormuz. An Iranian nuclear weapons capacity, many US policymakers fear, could embolden Tehran to pursue an even more aggressive drive for regional domination in the Middle East.

The new US-led sanctions push may put Washington and New Delhi on opposite sides of this critical issue. A falling out over Iran could have repercussions for the budding strategic partnership, and make everything else — from trade to defence cooperation to diplomatic coordination — more difficult, though Delhi and Washington have so far also underlined areas of agreement such as their unity in casting the International Atomic Energy Agency votes, their shared opposition to an Iranian nuclear weapon, etc.

A genuine partnership on the Iran issue should see India nudging the Iranian leadership to tone down its nuclear rhetoric and aspirations, while the West, particularly the US, could learn from Indians on how to deal with the Iranians.

Unfortunately, India’s foreign policy has become lacklustre and is drifting into a state of inaction and passiveness. India’s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a financial genius, lacks leadership qualities and the vision to make the country’s foreign policy a beacon in world affairs. India’s mediocre foreign policy has flopped because of the leadership’s appeasement of regimes in Myanmar, Pakistan, China, Iran, etc. The latest gaffe by India, which forcibly removed Tibetan demonstrators from Delhi’s streets as visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao was being serenaded during the Brics summit, can hardly vindicate India’s claim as the world’s largest democracy. India wore the ugly mask of a totalitarian country during Hu’s visit.

India wants to be America’s true friend without jeopardising its commercial relations with Iran. But is it possible to play “true friend” to two sworn enemies? In a recent editorial, The Wall Street Journal called New Delhi “the mullahs’ last best friend”, criticising it for casting its lot with Moscow and Beijing “for a handful of rupees”.

India cannot put its head in the sand and stay aloof from things happening around it. It needs to defuse the standoff between Iran and the West, and urge Iran to sit down and talk to the West. Even if it did not succeed, India would have impressed many that it has the resolve and capability to be a world power. India will be taken seriously only if it takes an active interest in world affairs.

 http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/india-s-iranian-dilemma-1.1002259

NEW YORK – An American writer has denounced as thoughtless the bid by Republican Congressman to stir up trouble in Balochistan when the United States was in the process of rebuilding relations with Pakistan, an ally in the war on terrorism.“The already strained relations of Pakistan and the United States witnessed another low last month after (Congressman Dana Rohrabacher) submitted the controversial resolution in the (House of Representatives) for debate,” Stephen Manual, a reporter for AllVoices, an online news services blending traditional media and citizen journalism.

“At a time when the US and Pakistan are struggling to keep the friendly relations intact to break backbone of terrorists, the congressmen like Rohrabacher can spoil the efforts through their thoughtless moves,” he said in a commentary.

“The leadership of the US and Pakistan should discourage the hawkish elements in their ranks and move forward to normalise the ties between both the countries.”

Regretting that Rohrabacher labelled Pakistan as an “enemy” of the US in Tuesday’s press conference at National Press Club in Washington, Manual wrote, “Pakistan has suffered huge financial and life losses in the war and is still fighting it against Taliban and Qaeda-linked militants. Civilian leadership of Pakistan even sought help of the US in finding out a plausible solution to the issue of Balochistan, where Pakistan believes ‘foreign hands’ are involved. India has also been blamed for a number of times for exploiting the Balochistan situation and funding dissident Baloch leaders.”

Noting that the resolution presented by Rohrabacher in the house was referred to the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, he wrote, “India and US State Department have also issued statements, saying they respect territorial integrity and sovereignty of Pakistan and were not involved in any conspiracy against the country. The US State Department also lowered importance of the resolution, saying it was an act of a lone Republican and does not reflect views of the whole House or government policy”.

According to reports, Rohrabacher, who was accompanied by Congressman Louis Gohmert, another Republican, was cornered at his press conference by Washington-based correspondents of Associated Press of Pakistan and a Pakistani newspaper over his controversial stand on Balochistan.

Asked if he would also support the people of Kashmir, where India’s was involved in the gross violation of human rights, the way he was supporting the people in Balochistan. Losing his temper, Rohrabacher blamed the journalist for “covering up” the Balochistan issue by linking it to the Kashmir dispute.

“Yes. I introduced several legislations supporting the rights of the people of Kashmir but it is despicable” to link the two issues, he said.

Congressman Gohmert disagreed with the suggestion that demanding the right of self-determination for the people of Balochistan was a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty. “The sovereignty rests with the people. If you are murdering your people, talking about them is not a violation of sovereignty.”

Rohrabacher, who mispronounced Baloch as “Bal-ook” for the entirety of the press conference, rejected allegations that he was being paid by a lobby or an individual to raise the Balochistan issue. Instead, he claimed Pakistan was murdering women and children in Balochistan. He said that his trips to the region came from the committee funds that were in turn financed by US taxpayers.

To a question he said: “I don’t see a sea change. They have become more an ally of China against the US,” said Rohrabacher. “But no matter what happens to US-Pakistan relations, the people of Balochistan should be given their right to self-determination.”

Congressman Gohmert said that if Pakistan changed its policies towards the US, “it will also become friendlier with its people”.

According to the preliminary findings of Pakistan’s latest census, the country’s population has increased by 46.9 per cent between the period of 1998 and 2001.—AP Photo

According to the report in Times of India, the number of households experienced an increase of 50.4 per cent since 2011 whereas the population increased from 130,857,717 in 1998 to 192,288,944 in the same year.

The results did not include three districts of Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan, South Waziristan and certain areas of Kashmir. However, the inclusion of these areas will shoot the results further up to 197,361,691 in 2011 as opposed to 134,714,017 in 1998.

According to the report, Balochistan’s population increased by 139. 3 per cent, whereas Sindh witnessed an 81.5 per cent increase.

The population of Federally Administrated tribal areas (Fata) increased from 2,746,490 to 4,452,913, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa from 17,743,645 to 26,896,829, Islamabad from 805,235 to 1,151,868 and Punjab from 73,621,290 to 91,379,615.

The lanes of MA Jinnah Road from Tibet Centre to Mazar-e-Quaid were filled with people holding flags of JSQM and wearing traditional Sindhi caps

This demand came in a ‘Freedom March’ rally organised by the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), a Sindhi nationalist party, led by Bashir Qureshi. While it was not possible to give an exact estimate of participants of the rally, both the lanes of MA Jinnah Road from Tibet Centre to Mazar-e-Quaid were filled with people holding flags of JSQM and wearing traditional Sindhi caps.

Most of the participants had though come from interior Sindh, a sizeable number of people from city’s localities of Lyari, Ibrahim, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Malir, Gadap, Keamari and Baloch Colony were also present.

Recalling that Sindh had joined Pakistan under the resolution of March 23, 1940 voluntarily, JSQM chief Bashir Qureshi said that this resolution has lost its value as it failed to give autonomy to the federating units.

“It is therefore not logical and moral to remain with Pakistan. We now say goodbye to this country,” Qureshi said adding that Sindh contributes 80 per cent to federal budget and produces 69 per cent gas and 75 per cent oil. But people of Sindh are deprived of all opportunities.

Referring to Urdu-speaking people, he said that “they are our berths and part of Sindhi nation. But “they should give up their obsession with two-nation theory and start supporting genuine issues of Sindh.” The anthem of Jeay Sindh was also played at the rally.

Qureshi in his address not only demanded independence for Sindh, but said that Balochistan should also be recognised as a separate homeland and the Baloch as a distinct nation.

He said that Pakistan’s territorial boundaries were not sacred and it was always possible change and alter it. Criticising ‘Punjabis,’ Qureshi said “people of Sindh have always fought against the invaders and will not let any one loot and plunder the resources of the soil.”

He also criticised the extremist religious groups who, according to him, were forcing Hindu girls to convert to Islam. JSQM leader called it yet another conspiracy against Hindus of Sindh, who are masters of this land.

“At the time of partition, communal riots were designed to compel 1.3 million Hindu to migrate. In the meantime, settlers were allotted 2.5 million acre land of Sindh under bogus claims.”

The participants of the rally who came via national and super highways first gathered at Gulshan-e-Hadeed before reaching Numaish Chowrangi from where from they marched to Tibet Centre.

They were chanting slogans “Na Khapi na khapi, Pakistan Na Khapi” (We don’t want Pakistan). Other slogans they chanted included: “Tuhinjo Desh, muhinjo Desh, Sindhu Desh, Sindhu Desh” (Your country, my country is the country of Sindhu Desh) and “Tuhinjo Rahbar, muhinjo Rahbar, GM Syed, GM Syed” (Your leader, my leader is GM Syed). Many families along with children were present in March, which had come from different districts of Sindh.  Activists of other nationalist parties were also present on the occasion.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 24^th, 2012.

However, teargas shelling was intensified after the police were attacked and the locality echoed with the sound of increased gun firing. Police were successful in dispersing the protestors after five hours, where as tyres were burnt in Naya’abad, Kamila Stop and Khadda market areas of Lyari.

Protestors complained that the police were harassing the Baloch residents area, arresting innocent Baloch people where as criminals roamed scot free.

Police claimed to have arrested more than a dozen agitators and additional police was deployed in the affected areas.

Last year Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani expressed concern at the rapid increase in number of polio cases in Balochistan. In just one year, there was a 50 percent rise in the number of cases. There is no debate in the Pakistani mainstream media and political discourse, but polio has become a source of Pakistan’s shame in the world, says PINFO. Since 2008, Pakistan is the only country in the world where polio cases are on the rise. In year 2009, a total of 116 cases were reported while in 2010, this number surged to 144.

Khyber Agency’s tehsil (subdivision), Bara is the only place in whole of Asia where “Type-3” poliovirus is being reported since 2010. World Health Organization (W.H.O.) called on the government to take “immediate and imperative” actions to counter the situation.

President Asif Ali Zardari in January 2011 declared a “national emergency” against polio and received assistance from the U.N. and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for the polio vaccination. But by the year end, W.H.O. estimated that nearly 200,000 children were not administered the polio vaccine and it resulted in 197 reported cases. India in 2011 reported 44 cases where the number was 250,000 three decades ago.

Pakistan started receiving heavy international assistance from 2000-01 but even after a decade, the polio cases keep mushrooming. This creates serious doubts among the donor countries/organizations about the transparent utilization of assistance given to Pakistan.

In 2011, China sealed the Xinjiang border with Pakistan when 10 cases of polio were found there. The polio virus was found for the first time since 1999. As of February 29, 2012, a total of 12 polio cases were reported in Pakistan and this has alarmed the new Regional Director of the W.H.O., Dr. Ala Alwan.

He is expected to visit Pakistan as his top priority given the recurring failure to control polio and a news report mentioned that knowing the reasons from the Government about the poor performance on Pakistan’s National Emergency Action Plan on Polio.

According to a news report on March 7, 2012, the performance of polio eradication campaign in 21, out of 29, emergency districts in Pakistan was termed “dissatisfactory.” PM Gilani expressed his displeasure on the failure and ordered both an inquiry in the failure and stepping up the anti-polio campaign.

South Asia and Nigeria are two regions in the world where poliovirus is found and Pakistan leads poliovirus cases in South Asia. Even Sudan and Myanmar are rid of the virus.

According to a W.H.O. report on February 14, 2012, there were a total of 8 cases of polio reported all over the world; 7 were from Pakistan.

On February 4, 2012, it was reported that the Government has been informed that a ban could be imposed on travel to and from Pakistan because of the fear that the virus could “travel” to other countries.

The national anti-polio campaign was started in 69 districts on March 12, 2012. According to a news report on March 17, the government officials, for the first time ever, arrested six men in Orakzai Agency for hindering the campaign.

Pakistan;s Inter-Services intelligence has launched an international campaign to malign the C.I.A . for the failure of the polio vaccination drive. A Pashtun medic Shakil Afridi and his family, including his American wife, have been forcibly disappeared by the I.S.I. for helping the C.I.A. in identifying Osama bin Laden through a fake vaccine drive.

Balochistan is also in the throes of a dirty war that is far worse than Argenitine and Chile, according to Mehran Baluch, Balochistan’s unofficial representative at the U.N. Human Rights Council.

QUETTA: Forced conversions to Islam and increasing incidents of kidnapping have instilled a deep sense of insecurity among the Hindu community in Balochistan, said Minister for Human Rights and Minority Affairs Basant Lal Gulshan.As many as four girls and three boys of the Hindu community forcibly converted to Islam in 2011. “At least 50 Hindu families have migrated from Quetta alone,” Gulshan told The Express Tribune. “The families migrated to rural Balochistan and Sindh because their rights were not safeguarded in Quetta.”

The minister claimed that investigations have not begun in the conversion cases reported in Loralai, Chaman and Sibi.

He criticised the Balochistan government for its lack of interest on minority rights and said: “I took up the issue with Chief Minister Aslam Raisani and also discussed it on the provincial assembly floor, but they are not serious in addressing the grievances of minorities.”

He added that at least 25 people of his community have been kidnapped for ransom this year. “There were 55 cases last year and we are witnessing a sharp rise this year.”

Dr Rajesh Kumar, a pharmacist, was kidnapped in broad daylight from outside the Bolan Medical College Complex in Quetta approximately one and half month ago. His whereabouts are still unknown.

According to a rough estimate, around 200,000 Hindus reside in different parts of Balochistan and most of them are either businessmen or traders. “Criminals consider Hindus an easy target for earning money.”

Gulshan assured that as a member of the provincial cabinet, he will continue to raise his voice for his community, regardless of his reservations being ignored. “My colleagues in the cabinet often say that this is not happening only with Hindus and that Muslims are being kidnapped as well. In some way, they justify the abductions.”

In a statement, the Human Rights Organisation of Pakistan (Balochistan chapter) expressed strong concern over the kidnapping of Hindus and urged the government to curb this menace. The kidnapped pharmacist was also a member of the HRCP. They organisation has blamed influential people for the kidnappings.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 19^th, 2012.

While addressing a seminar here, the PPP stalwart said the Balochistan issue has become critical and stressed for the need to resolve the matter through negotiations with the Baloch leaders.

“The federal intelligence agencies working in Balochistan should work hand in hand with the provincial government,” he added.

After the passage of the 18th Amendment, he said, 85 per cent of resources had been shifted to provinces.

As the US and Pakistan struggle to patch up frayed ties, plans for a Pakistani-Iranian natural gas pipeline further threaten the fragile partnership.Pakistan desperately needs new energy sources and has made it clear it plans to forge ahead with the pipeline to bring in natural gas from Iran, despite warnings from the US that Islamabad could be hit with economic sanctions.

”If built, [it] could raise serious concerns under the Iran Sanctions Act. We have made that absolutely clear,” the Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, told a congressional hearing last month. ”We believe that actually beginning the construction of such a pipeline, either as an Iranian project or as a joint project, would violate our Iran sanctions law.”

Pakistan’s leaders appear unmoved. At a recent news conference, the Foreign Minister, Hina Rabbani Khar, said talk of sanctions would not deter Islamabad from increasing its co-operation with Iran.

”We cannot afford to be selective about where we receive energy from,” Ms Khar said.

More than half of Pakistan’s manufacturers use natural gas to power their factories, and no other country relies as heavily on natural gas to fuel its cars, buses and trucks. About 21 per cent of the country’s vehicles run on compressed natural gas.

Yet Pakistan produces only 30 per cent of the natural gas it needs. Neighbouring Iran, meanwhile, has the world’s second-largest natural gas reserves.

The US has touted an alternative pipeline project to transport natural gas from Turkmenistan through Afghanistan and into Pakistan and India. But with Afghanistan mired in a 10-year-old war, experts in Pakistan doubt that pipeline will ever be built.

Source: Sydney Morning Herald

Pakistan's Ambassador to the US expresses serious concerns in a letter to US House speaker. PHOTO: FILE

According to the official sources, the letter says that such “statements and resolutions in contravention of UN charter and international norms could undermine Pakistan-US relations.”

The letter comes after Congressman Rohrabacher introduced a House Concurrent Resolution in February, calling upon Pakistan to recognise the Baloch right to self determination

Rohrabacher, who is also the Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, had earlier chaired a Congressional hearing on human rights violations in Balochistan.

The Republican Congressman also introduced bills calling for Dr Shakil Afridi, the doctor who helped the CIA in confirming Bin Laden’s identity, to be given US citizenship and be awarded the Congressional Gold Medal.