Marris at center stage
From Bugtis, the Marris have stolen the limelight. DIG Police Quetta has clearly named Hayrbeyar Marri the cheif and facilitator of our rocketeers. Perhaps, they will not take on Nawab Marri at Kahan any time soon, But they have already started clearing out marris from Quetta, and around. Next step might be the activation of hazari fouj in nawab's home turf. Will nawab marri wait and watch? A bomb blast, a rocket attack, here and there, are not suitable tools any more. More is needed.

This all happened because Nawab Marri didn't act, after the marri camp operation. If you have read the story of old man and his trukey, you know that the turkey has been lost. Now, we wait and see what Pakis are going to do next. We need to get proactive. Send a few marris to Multan, get the gas pipelines blown up in a mjaor way. It is simply the best way to send the message in a tone that Pak understands. Whatever you do, do it now, before they get a foothold.

God knows why Mengal and Bugti are just sitting around, when Marri's men are getting arrested almost daily?

Making some noise
I am not too fond, or sure of the role of Sindhis in our freedom struggle, but it looks like they have got something done for us.

World Sindhi Institute has organized a meet in Washinton about Human Rights in Focus: The Balochistan Example on 7th of March, 2005.

They brought in a few important people to talk about Balochistan.

Thanks guys.

Play the game!!

Jamali to Rind:

"Sardar Sab, 'don't waste your time on such issues, just enjoy your cabinet portfolio'"

Yeah guys, just play on.

Balach VS Juma
So now Balach Marri and Dr. Juma Khan Marri have inherited the personal (which they pretend is idealogical) enmity from their fathers. While commenting on that ISI-planted article, Balach brings in Mir Hazar Khan's sons.

Is it too much to ask these guys to grow up??

Magsi
Nawab Magsi...enjoys overwhelming support in the province...held in high esteem by all the sardars, nawabs as well as by the masses...enjoy cordial relations with Balochs, Pashtoons, Hazaras and settlers in the area...enjoys working relationship with the MMA leadership....a leader in the Chief Minister?s House who will cope with the challenge....the prevailing political and law and order situation demands a more active Chief Minister....

This is a funny story.

Jam and Magsi have a tough competition ahead, at proving who is more loyal to Punjab.

Qaseeda
In old times, Persian/ Mughals kings used to have poets in their darbars to sing their praises. Those poets were called Qaseeda khawans, and their poetry Qaseeda. Here is a modern time Qaseeda in balochi, about a housing project In Gwadar.

A Follow-up
I had written a post on 23rd January 2005, Titled; The Coming Storms, about what Pakistan might chose to do to the Baloch . Here, i try to follow-up on what i had said earlier. The Italics are from the original post.

I have strengthened my belief that the military operation in Balochistan might be limited, and specific. But, it will be very high on spy lane.
very true. Many people have been abducted, and nobody is aware of their whereabouts. A clear ISI mark.

I think in the coming weeks and months the government;

- will bring out the dissidents in Bugti/ Marri areas.
Ever knew of existence of Ahmadan Bugti, Khan Mohammad Kalpar, Hazar Khan Bijarani, etc before? Now you do.

- will buy smaller nawabs, and sardars for royalties, and commissions in return of loyalty.
Musharraf himself said that 73 baloch sardars are with his government.

- will activate the 'pashtoon card' i.e. threatening Baloch that Pathans can be used against them.
The people agitating against the rockets attacks, and showing happiness at marri camp operation, shown at PTV, are always pathans.

- will ignite baloch /brohi divisions.
No evidence of that yet, other than almost all brohi chiefs being with the govt.

- will assassinate smaller student leaders.
Many BSO leaders have been arrested.

- the paki media will be brining out how bad sadars are, the foolish baloch customs, the un-islamic baloch character, etc.
It is everywhere. Paki media has told us that sardars have private jails and torture cells, that baloch are lazy and anti-development, etc.

It shouldn't take much time. Hopefully, in a few weeks, we will be hearing of royalties paid to sardars, the job-ratio and water-distribution ratio among provinces and so on.
You actually now know how much nawab Bugti gets annually, his airfare, kitchen costs, etc.

Fasten your seat belts.
Please do.

Nawab Sahib, now WHAT????
Marris from New Kahan are getting paraded on TV as the wild terrorists, and retarded tribesmen. and Humayoun Marri chooses to do a press conference???

Nawab Marri Sahib, you told us that those we won't fight are cowards, and not Baloch. Now its your own house under siege.

Will you fight?

Those Journalists
The article, which i have posted earlier here, got me shocked, frustrated, disappointed, and confused. Was i being a fool? were we really being played upon by the neo-imperial powers? are we really mere pawns in this game? should i believe what it is written in that article? That article got me worked up. so i did a little research (googling mostly). Here is my report.

I believe that the 'facts' in this article are not facts, but theories and opinions. These writers have hidden agendas. It is one of those believable-but-false investigative reports.

At first i thought maybe these people are some dare-devil investigative journalists, trying to expose the truth. NAH!! This is simply an anti-US group. Here i link a few articles (mostly conspiracy theories) written by these people on central Asian affairs and US/ Russian policies.

Mossad And India Spy Agency Team Up, Target Pakistan
If Iran is attacked
India: Beginning of the end?
The Great Game Continues
Mossad, Mossad - Coming Soon To A Town Near You!
Afghan Drug Scene: The Poppy Power (Suggesting that planes at Kabul airport are smuggling drugs)
Pakistan sees Indian hand in church bombing
Double belt tightening around US presence in Central Asia

Tariq Saeedi is a Pakistani journalist, based in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, and currently a special correspondent for the Pakistan Press Network, and Central Asia Bureau Chief for the Pakistan Press Agency. He has also written for now-defunct balochistanpost.com, which was very very anti-Baloch.

Their website NewsCentralAsia. is registered in Pakistan at following address;

Samee Dodhy
21 Snowhite Commercial Complex, Sharea Faisal
Karachi, -- 75350

I feel these people might be the paki-side of the media war in Balochistan. In the dust of the jeeps that they are pretending they have ridden to get to truth, glitters the official line of Islamic republic of Pakistan.

The article at the NewsCentralAsia.com
There is a new article at NewsCentralAsia.com Part 1, part 2, titled "Pakistan: Unveiling the Mystery of Balochistan Insurgency".

It is going to get many people interested. It simply says;

- US has launched BLA with the help of sardars to trouble Pakistan for those gas pipelines.

There are many other things said there. It is a good read. True or False?? can't really say. It will be used by all pro-Pakistanis as a reference.

The Marri Camp has been Conquered
"The Paki flag is up in marri camp at Quetta".

I loved this expression by that Police guy at Quetta. Finally Pakistan has conquered the marri camp. Rest of Balochistan is next.

Go On, My Rocketeers!!!
Thanks guys, i was getting all worried about you. N0 Rockets for so many days!!! Thanks for letting us know that you still mean business.

Our Killers, The Philosphers
This guy, Shaukat Qadir writes in Daily Times, how he operated with his jawans in Balochistan in 1973. Why was he there? To KILL BALOCH. Now, these guys have become the thinkers of Pakistan, and research policies for Pakistan.

Irshad Haqqani
Is this guy a friend of Baloch?

For background purposes.... Mr. Irshad Haqqani is a senior columnist at the Daily Urdu 'Jang'. Millions read his articles daily in, and outside Pakistan. He was a caretaker minister when Leghari kicked out Benazir from the government. Read his articles Here.

He has been consisting writing about baloch affairs for many years. There is one or more of his column about Balochistan every week. He is also sympathetic to the Baloch cause. He is giving a voice to Baloch in front of Paki Media.

So, i guess he isn't that bad. We can put him on the list of our friends, which we are going to honour after our independence.

How the young, urban Pakistanis see Baloch?
Lately, Pakistan has grown a breed of young, rich, and upwardly mobile group in urban centers of Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad, (named `burgers' by others). These burgers see themselves as different than their rural and less affluent counterparts. They wear designer jeans, their CD racks are full of CDs of Led Zeppelins, George Michaels, and Eminems, instead of Pathaney khans, and Abida Parveens. They have heard of and have discussed among themselves the Jen-Brad split or that new Mercedes car. They think of Musharraf the commando-liberal savior and the politicians, the scum of earth. They are disappointed that Musharraf had to deal with those politicians, but they approve of it because of theory of necessity. Their moms and dads are very active in NGOs, and perhaps own one or more of those booming businesses that Shaukat Aziz claims his reforms have turned around. From the mega billboards in their cities, they are aware of existence of a city in Balochistan; Gawadar. Their parents either have bought land in Gawadar, or thinking of doing that.

To them, Balochistan is an enigma. All they have seen or heard of are two types of Baloch; the sardars (Bugti, mainly), and black, curly-haired Baloch of Lyari (which they call makkoranis). They were in awe of their Bugti classmate, who had armed, wild looking, and turbaned Baloch bodyguards. Makkoranis, they have seen or met at Hawkes-bay, or while on that trip to Hub. They are totally perplexed when they see a Baloch who isn't Bugti, or isn't black with curly hair.

Current situation is one that they are confident Musharraf, and the army can handle. They are sure that it is those bloody, greedy, oppressive Sardars who are causing all this trouble. They also are confident that the `matter' is soon going to be solved.

These people will be in the positions of power and decision-making, soon. With their knowledge of and interest in Baloch and Balochistan, not many positive things can be expected.

Pull in the Explosive Gear
Dear Bugti et al,

So what are you waiting for?
Army says the captain hammad is NOT GUILTY.
24thFeb: Even before the judges could, Musharraf has found out that Capt. Hammad is INNOCENT.

Do Something. NOW.

The Free Riders!!!
Has anybody thought of the Pashtoon strategy in this Balochistan game?

See, whatever is the outcome of these committees and negotiations, Pathans are bound to get a major say. They are well represented in Government, as well as, in the the anti-government camp(nationalists). Mehmood Achakzai's words now has same weightage in the committees as Ata Mengal's.

But Why?

How many rockets have Pashtoons wasted on army check posts in Pashtoon areas? How many Pathans are sitting on mountaintops to fight? are they ready to fight the army? Will they? In Quetta, they speak and work against Baloch, and not for Baloch. Last week, they came out on that strike call in Quetta, but that was only a nominal gesture.

Whatever we get, we will be sharing as equals. But are they working as hard as Baloch are?

I believe that Baloch and Pashtoons are natural allies, and will live together for next thousands of years, after the mis-adventures like Pakistan are well forgotten. This might be the beginning of that. But i feel that only Baloch are working toward that dream.

Pathans are sitting on the fence, waiting and watching.

BLA, BLF Logos
I found the logos of BLA, and BLF from Balochvoice.com's MSN group.

I am not sure whether these are the original logos, or somebody made these for fun.

If these are original, How come BLA has included a map of Paki Balochistan only in its logo? why not all the Baloch lands?

Also, i am yet to see a flag of Balochistan.

The Settlers in Balochistan
Balochistan is primarily the land of Baloch. The British included some Pathan areas in Balochistan for administrative or political reasons, and over the years, some areas of Balochistan have been distributed to Pakistani provinces of Punjab, Sindh, and NWFP, Afghanistan and Iran. Such meddling with natural boundaries created a heterogeneous population of many ethnicities in Balochistan. Recently, Afghan wars brought in more non-Baloch in Balochistan.

But the term 'settlers' or 'abadkar' is not used for Afghans in Balochistan. It is specifically for Punjabis and Muhajirs who have settled in Quetta. It is amazing that not many settlers can be found outside the capital.

I intend to write about their relationship with the 'natives'; Baloch & Pathans. It will be unfair to generalize, but most of the settlers can be seen as the Anglo-Indians who put forth petitions after petitions to Queen Victoria, to not let go of India, because these people thought themselves English, and subject of England, and did not see themselves as Indians. In Balochistan, it is almost the same case. The settlers have not been able to connect with the people. Their loyalties are not with the land, but with occupiers. They associate themselves with the Quaid Residency, and not the chiltan hills. Having lived in Balochistan for more than 50 years, not even 10% of them can speak a local language; Balochi or Pashto, or Brahvi. Most of them live in what used to be a safe area of Quetta; The Cantt. But with the coming problematic times, they find themselves caught in crossfire.

Some settlers says that in 70s, their house were marked by Baloch fighters. Baloch say that the government did this to make these people afraid, and made them cooperate with the occupiers. They are usually the readily available fodder for anti-sardar and anti-baloch stance in Pakistan.


Here are two conflicting views of the situation in Balochistan by the 'Settlers' in he Urdu Daily 'Jang'.

Here writes an Anti-Baloch columnist about the The future of the settlers.
Here a Pro-Baloch settler writes a letter to a columnist, and part 2.
Here is another Pro-Baloch but anti-sardar article.

So, all is not lost. There are a few settlers who consider Balochistan home, and care about people of Balochistan.

All Balochistanis are equal.

UPDATE: 24th Feb 2005

A Mr. Haji wrote a letter in Daily Dawn about the identity of non-Baloch in Balochistan, which got a few baloch very furious. I do not see any harm in calling non-Balochs 'Balochistanis'. After independence, What will we call our nation? Of course, We can't call it Baloch, because it will also include non-Baloch. Will we force them to call themselves Baloch? We can't. It is very important that we tell all the people of Balochistan (non-Baloch specially) that they will not be second-class citizen in free Balochistan. Do we want to do to non-baloch what Pakis have been doing to us?

In free Balochistan, there will be Baloch, Pashtun, Hazaras, and Punjabis too. But they will all be Balochistanis and all will have equal say, and equal rights. We, Baloch, will have to make that sure.

My Balochistan will not be another Pakistan.

Bugti's ultimatum
Bugti says he is giving the government ten days to prove the allegations against him.

What is he going to do after ten days?