NP and Aasap
Well, i always thought it was coming...our so-called middle class political party finally lost the patience with only media outlet that can be called a baloch media outlet.

Aasap is a urdu-language newspaper, published from Quetta and Turbat. It is the only newspaper which actually is of the baloch, for the baloch, and by the baloch. Without any government support, rather under constant watch of agencies, this newspaper has struggled to be the voice of Baloch. No, i am not saying that it is the best thing out there. It has its drawbacks. Some think that it is biased towards BNP-Mengal. This brings us to the events that happened yesterday in turbat. Why will NP accepts any good words towards any other Baloch party??

So, yesterday, a few thugs of BSO-Assef went and offloaded copies of aasap from street news hawkers. Check this, this assef guy has a faction of BSO under his own name. His faction also operates as the student wing of NP. Aasap has written about it here.

Is there no way that these thugs can be reined in by their masters (Dr. this, and dr. that)? Why do they even exist??? what do we need a bso-ASSEF for?

UPDATE: 3rd August 2005

Daily Intekhab, the other great baloch newspaper, (which sometimes publishes half-page Ads for PAKISTAN NAVY), has put forth a statement from BSO-ASSEF decrying yellow journalism.

UPDATE: 5th august 2005

So, there is more to the story. Some people don't think that it is just a simple skirmish between a newspaper and its opponents. A Baloch commentator highlighted the issue as "Aasap Vs Baloch Kids'. WOW. I wonder if he would have said the same if those kids actually didn't belong to NP, a party that he adores.

Malek Towghi, a somewhat eccentric and controversial Baloch intellectual and poet, calls it a case of BNP-Mengal Vs NP-Hayee. In saying this, he has deliberately called Aasap a mouthpiece of BNP-Mengal. Newspapers are not supposed to take sides, or have opinions?? Ever heard of a newspaper with no bias?? The same guy who has been citing all Aasap articles, praising Aasap in his other emails decides not to be on the side of Aasap when some thugs try to intimdate it. Aasap is a mouthpeice, if of any party, of BSO-United. Just see how many times the name of Allah Nizar is in every edition of Aaasap.

Malek Thowghi, advises us;, "Please, don't take side in this new Hayy-Akhtar controversy". I tell you, " Please do". Be on at least one side. Doesn't matter which one. If we are silent now that BSO-Assef has attacked a baloch newspaper, we are giving a license to everybody who doesn't like what gets reported about them to do the same.

Newspapers get attacked everywhere. Here is our first case. This is no conspiracy of BNP Mengal VS NP-Hayee. Lets not call it one.

UPDATE: 9th August 2005

It seems that higher-ups of NP decided to hush up the issue, and sent an apology letter ( Daily Jang's report) to Journalists associations of Balochistan. In response, Aasap took back its references against the thugs. BUT WAIT, this isn't what Intekhab thinks how it went. By the way, Intekhab was the only newspaper in Balochistan which didn't boycott the BSO-Assef Press releases during the last few days.