Turkmenistan’s quiet struggle with entrenched Wahhabis

The quiet struggle with entrenched Wahhabis

Turkmenistan has not advertised by the authorities intensified the fight against “potential terrorists” in the face of representatives of non-traditional, according to authorities, Islam. Calling them Wahhabis, officers, intelligence works on community leaders, criminal cases, and their young followers forced to shave their beards.

Recently it became known that 73-year-old cleric Geldimuradov Shirey – who was arrested in April this year, along with his three sons – has died in prison.

At his home police allegedly found a weapon that was the reason for the arrest and conviction of all the boats male family.

Four sons Sh Geldimuradova – Abdulmedzhid (was arrested earlier), Mohammed Abdullah and Abulhait are still in detention.

In late June, one of the villages of Lebap province, traffic inspectors stopped riding in his car an old man – Mullah – Khalil (name changed). He was told that they must search his car. Immediately came the officers of MNS, which prudently brought with them two witnesses. After the search was drawn up on the detention, in connection with the discovery of live ammunition in the car to the PM (Makarov Pistol).

As it turned out later, Mullah Khalil was tortured for a week after the arrest, not allowed to see any relatives or a lawyer. Then he was offered a deal that it will be blamed on the other, softer article, if he will sign the pre-compiled explanatory. It was pointed out that Mullah Khalil, had found bullets on the road, threw them in the trunk, so take him to the police.

During the trial, when the judge asked the defendant whether he admitted his guilt, Mullah Khalil remained silent and wept. He was sentenced to 5 years in prison. We only know that he is not accused of terrorism and religious extremism, and the bullets had disappeared from the case.

Similar incident occurred with another mullah. He has a home, security officers found a grenade. More precisely, it was dummy grenades, which later also disappeared from the case, but the man was sentenced to three years.

Intelligence activities against the believers, is becoming more widespread. In almost all regions of the country, young people with beards, the police forcing them to shave. Those who refused to do so is taken to a police station and forcibly shaved

Does US/India Strategic Alliance Leave Pakistan Out In the Cold?

[It sounds far-fetched at first, until you consider that the US could thereby cut its losses with Pakistan and bring-about the total collapse of the Pakistani state, without having to rely on force of arms.  Such a move would have catastrophic consequences for the region, but irrevocably alter the power equation in the area to America and India's advantage.  Pakistan may have reached the end of its rope.  God help us all.]

America’s favorite alter

Gevorg Mirzayan , special correspondent of the magazine “Expert” .

U.S. abandon the alliance with Pakistan in favor of strategic relations with India. The negative consequences of such a substitution may accrue to all countries in the region

Photo: East News

If  Washington actually breaks the partnership with Pakistan. Following the resignation of Pervez Musharraf, the Americans have not been brought under control rapidly disintegrating state. To substantiate his departure, the White House accuses Pakistan of being traitors and holds him responsible for the failure of its military campaign in Afghanistan. In recent weeks, virtually all Western media crammed with material about the assistance that the official in Islamabad to Afghan Taliban. In an information attack on Islamabad has participated even some top civil servants. David Cameron, the prime minister’s chief ally the United States – United Kingdom, during his visit to India has accused Pakistan of double game and called for the abandonment of “exporting terrorism to India and other countries.” Thus, it is actually violated all the canons of British diplomacy and demonstrated its support to India’s half standoff with western neighbor. The piquancy of the situation lay in the fact that Cameron has done it for a few days before the official visit of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari in the UK.

Fuel to the fire poured secret reports to the State Department and Pentagon, leaked to the site WikiLeaks. Relations between Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) with the Afghan fighters devoted nearly 180 documents, they indicated numerous instances of transmission of the rebels weapons and ammunition, as well as providing assistance in other forms. Thus, according to one of them, the Pakistani intelligence officers gave the movement “Haqqani” responsible for recent bombings in Kabul, 1000 motorcycles. In another described a meeting in 2009, the former head of the ISI General Gul Khan (along with the then Minister of Internal Affairs of Pakistan Nasirullah Babar, he was the founding father of the Taliban) with representatives of al-Qaida, which discussed the organization of terrorist attacks in Kabul against the Afghan government. Documents confirmed three well-known fact – wrote an Indian politician Bahukutumbi Raman. – First, the participation of Pakistan in arming and training the Taliban. Secondly,the role of the ISI and the Taliban in the explosion of machine-driven bomber at Indian embassy in Kabul July 7, 2008 (which killed 58 people). And third, the attempts to use the ISI, the Taliban to destabilize the regime of Hamid Karzai. “

According to most analysts, the information war is to prepare Western public opinion to a radical change in U.S. priorities in Central Asia. Washington intends to abandon an alliance with Islamabad, the foreign policy which no longer correspond to the interests of the United States, and to build alliances with more user-friendly India.

Inconvenient Pakistan

The United States has long been unhappy with the regional policies pursued by Pakistan. First of all, it concerns his involvement in the American war against the Taliban. Washington had hoped that Islamabad would have adequate help to stabilize the situation in Afghanistan, and even allocated to the Islamabad billions of dollars. However, despite this, the Pakistani intelligence services continue to support the Afghan rebels. Pakistani authorities did not interfere with this process – not just the Americans tried to put pressure on the official Islamabad, demanding to drive out the security forces who had close ties with the Taliban, but Washington could not.

Pakistani authorities are aware of the danger of the Taliban to the Pakistani state, but they can not stop supporting the Afghan fighters. First of all, because the rejection of this support will come into conflict with the very basics of existence of the Pakistani state. After the collapse of colonial India, the newly formed government of Pakistan are faced with the need to establish a nation on the territory, inhabited by many different nations and tribes, and sometimes openly hostile to each other: Punjabis, Sindhis, Baluchis, Pashtuns. As a result, the Pakistani nation was decided to create on the basis of two ideas that are common to the absolute majority of the inhabitants of the country: Islam and hatred towards India. These ideas are intensely cultivated in society, and today in the 170 millionth Pakistan deeply entrenched radical branch of Islam.

“Indian factor” also played a role in supporting the Taliban. Islamabad following with great concern the manner in which Delhi is building a close relationship with the regime of Hamid Karzai. The Pakistani generals are afraid of getting in the face of Afghanistan karzaevskogo Indian ally in its strategic rear, and therefore supports Karzai’s opponents – the Taliban. Military interest in forming a coalition government in Afghanistan, which will include the Taliban.

Finally, another factor in favor of supporting the Taliban – the ethnic composition of the Pakistani armed forces.Among the officers of middle and senior managers a lot of Taliban tribesmen – Pashtuns (largest in the officers’ part, they occupy second place after the Punjab). Given the traditional Central Asian strong intra-communication Pashtun officer of Pakistan can not refuse to support their compatriots on the other side of the Durand Line.

Another reason for discontent with U.S. policy of Pakistan is its close relationship with China. Islamabad destroys all U.S. plans for control of trade routes in China, as well as routes of delivery of energy there. Through the Federal Pakistan China is planning a transport corridor that goes to the Middle East, as well as to build a pipeline to energy imports from Iran (this will allow China to eliminate its dependence on the Malacca Strait). In addition, Islamabad gave the Chinese to let the Gwadar port, located near the exit from the Persian Gulf.

Roll will not work

Apparently, the new favorite of the United States in the region will be New Delhi. In contrast to the “military state” of Pakistan India – stability of developing countries with stable democratic institutions. It is the enemy of the ideas of radical Islam, as well as solidarity with the desire of the United States at any cost containment of Chinese influence in South and South-East Asia. Washington has already begun to draw from Delhi strategic partnerships – in particular, removed nuclear sanctions (imposed after India conducted nuclear tests), and allowed its companies to participate in the development of the Indian nuclear program. In addition, the parties are negotiating to supply to India of U.S. weapons.

However, if the partner exchange occurs too quickly, the region can expect to unpredictable consequences.Foremost is the destabilization of Pakistan. Islamabad is now totally dependent on American financial influence – as in the civilian sector (excluding U.S. aid budget will not be cut), and in the military (the U.S. spends billions of dollars on weapons of Pakistan and strengthen the capacity of its armed forces to fight militants). If the White House refuses alliance with Pakistan in favor of India, it will be very difficult to persuade Congress to continue the provision of the multibillion-dollar aid to Islamabad. Without this assistance, Pakistan is likely waiting for the financial collapse and a dramatic increase in the already weak separatist movements, especially in Baluchistan, where the majority of gas fields in the country, as well as in human Pashtun north-western regions. The situation is complicated by the presence in Pakistan of nuclear weapons (as the main rival of the country saw India, the majority of nuclear facilities have been deployed along the border with Afghanistan, is now teeming with Islamists). In the case of disintegration of the country’s nuclear components and documentation that might fall into the hands of the Taliban and then go to the international black market.

His role in the destabilization of the play and the Pakistani generals. Guide Pakistani armed forces has long been experiencing complexes because of the superiority of India in the field of conventional weapons and considers the close relationship with the U.S. as a kind of protection against possible Indian intervention. If the shield disappears, Pakistan’s generals may think that the balance of power no longer, and that India wants to solve all our problems in Kashmir and Islamic militants with the help of a local operation against Islamabad. Or, more likely, against the background of irreversible disintegration processes in Pakistan, the Indians might be tempted to undertake jointly with China and the U.S. operation to deprive Pakistan of nuclear weapons. In this situation, Pakistan’s generals may be willing to take extreme measures.

If the U.S. abandonment of Islamabad and withdraw from Afghanistan, Pakistan has become a classic failed state.However, unlike other similar countries (Sudan, Iraq, Myanmar), Pakistan would have enormous destabilizing effect on the entire region. 170 millionth Islamic country with nuclear weapons – to neutralize this threat will need concerted action of all regional great powers. Otherwise, Central Asia will become a new Middle East.

Russia and America Hand-In-Hand In Afghanistan–the Ruse Is Over, the Cold War Was a Scam

[Anyone who thinks that Putin and Obama are on the same team will find validation in the following piece.]

With U.S. Approval, Moscow Heads Back to Afghanistan

By Jason Motlagh

From left: Tajik President Emomali Rakhmon, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev meet in the Russian resort town of Sochi on Aug. 18

Natalia Kolesnikova / AFP / Getty Images

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev played host last week to Afghan President Hamid Karzai and the leaders of Pakistan and Tajikistan at the Black Sea resort of Sochi. The group’s second meeting in a year was a low-key affair, but the subtext was significant. Mounting Russian concerns that Islamist militancy and cheap drugs emanating from Afghanistan are a threat to its national security have made Moscow refocus on the region even as the U.S. and its NATO allies maneuver to draw down. Two decades after the Soviet army left Afghanistan in humiliating defeat, Russia is poised to spend billions in the war-wracked country to develop infrastructure, mineral and energy reserves, with new plans taking shape to boost military capability. This time around, it has America’s blessing.

Mutual interests intersect in the former Cold War battleground. Nearly nine years on, the Taliban-led insurgency is costing the U.S. more lives and money than ever before. With a July 2011 deadline looming for troops to begin their withdrawal, the Obama Administration has been angling for regional partners to step in and shoulder a greater share of the burden. Russia kept a safe distance in the years following the Taliban’s ouster, but it has been stirred to action by two issues: deadly Islamist terror attacks within its borders — inspired in no small part by the ideologies spreading from the war zone on both sides of the Afghan-Pakistani frontier — and a spike in drug-related crime and deaths — more than 130,000 each year from heroin alone, most of which originates in Afghanistan.(From TIME’s archives: How the Soviet Union conquered Afghanistan.)

Over the past year, a series of contact groups from the U.S. and Russia have ramped up intelligence-sharing to combat the flow of narcotics from Afghanistan, the source of about 90% of the world’s heroin. In a June 9 op-ed in the Moscow newspaper Izvestia, Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, highlighted Russian contributions at length, hailing them as a major step forward in bilateral relations. But while Russia’s intelligence assets in ex-Soviet republics may have a modest impact on combating the trade, myriad other transit routes through Iran and Pakistan will complicate the efforts to curtail the supply line.(From TIME’s archives: How the Soviet Union withdrew from Afghanistan.)

With more of the drug passing through its borders than any other country, Russian officials are convinced the scourge must be confronted at its source. Viktor Ivanov, the national drug czar, has in the past complained about what he sees as America’s reluctance to wage a drug war that could drive farmers into the Taliban ranks. And he’s right: under the current counterinsurgency strategy, drug eradication has become a lesser priority. “Of course the struggle against terrorism should take precedence, but what about liquidating drug production?” Ivanov said in May, wondering aloud why Afghanistan is the world’s largest producer of opium and hashish despite NATO’s continued presence. In his latest meeting with his Afghan counterpart on Wednesday, President Medvedev stressed the nexus between drug trafficking and violent extremism, asserting that opium-poppy crops must be eradicated by any means necessary, including military strikes.

So far, Russian support of NATO operations has largely been limited to allowing ground shipments of nonlethal supplies to cross its territory and airplanes delivering weapons to fly through its airspace. Private Russian companies have been involved in transport logistics for years, of course. But Moscow may now actively complement NATO’s work in Afghanistan. At NATO’s behest, Russia is now negotiating the sale of at least 20 Mi-17 helicopters to the Afghan military — an interesting development given that the medium-sized craft were designed to fight the mujahedin during the 1980s. Defense Minister Sergei Lavrov has also confirmed they will help train the Afghan air force and police, with a free shipment of weapons to kick things off.

Large-scale investment may also enter Afghanistan to help shore up the embattled Karzai regime — and to make money. Russian companies are currently trying to secure deals to upgrade dozens of Soviet-era installations, among them a $500 million plan to reconstruct hydroelectric plants and a similarly ambitious bid to build wells and irrigation systems in the Afghan countryside. Rosneft, the state-owned oil and gas giant, is exploring potentially lucrative gas fields in the north, while other companies are said to be hunting for minerals such as iron and aluminum. With big bucks to be made in a war economy, Russian officials and business leaders make no secret that they are out to help themselves to the spoils.

Moscow’s decade-long occupation of Afghanistan from 1980 to 1989 may have left the Russians with advantages. Many Soviet-educated Afghans who fled the country under the Taliban have since returned, adding a degree of competence to a fledgling government — with perhaps more affinity for Moscow than for Washington. And, according to Haroun Mir, director of Afghanistan’s Center for Research and Policy Studies, ex-communists heavily represented in the upper ranks of the national police and army remain the backbone of the security establishment. “They are knowledgeable and well-trained and we have to rely on them until a new corps can fill the vacuum,” he says.(Comment on this story.)

Faced with bigger worries and less reliable neighbors, the U.S. and NATO appear willing to accept growing Russian influence. “At this point, we can’t afford to be too selective in terms of where we get help,” says one Western diplomat in Kabul. Indeed, the gathering flurry of activity in Afghanistan is a sign: Russia is back.

Turkmenistan Pushing TAPI, the Original Taliban/Unocal Pipeline Project

TAPI talks planned during U.N. meeting

ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, Aug. 24 (UPI) — Leaders from Ashgabat and Kabul will meet in the United States in September to discuss a trilateral natural gas pipeline, the Turkmen government said.

Turkmen President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedovsaid Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to discuss the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India natural gas pipeline on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly’s 65th session scheduled for September at U.N. headquarters in New York.

“The two sides agreed to meet next month in New York … and discuss in detail the issues of implementation, construction of the transnational gas pipeline Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India, designed to serve as the economic prosperity of the member countries of this large-scale project and the whole region,” the Trend News Agency quoted a Turkmen government statement as reading.

Kabul hosts a meeting Sunday on bilateral trade initiatives with Turkmenistan, the report added.

Berdimuhamedov said his country was interested in laying the foundations for economic prosperity in Afghanistan as a way to bring security to the beleaguered country.

The 1,043-mile TAPI pipeline would move gas from the Dauletabad gas field to consumers in Pakistan and India after transiting Afghanistan.

The Asian Development Bank financed a feasibility study for TAPI in 2005 despite the ongoing war in Afghanistan.

Turkey To Block NATO Convoys To Armenia, If They Are Transporting Arms

If Turkey does not permit passage of NATO convoy, NATO exercises in Armenia will be cancelled

Azerbaijan, Baku, August 24 /Trend, U.Sadikhov /

If Turkey does not give its consent to the NATO convoy to pass through its borders to the territory of Armenia, the NATO exercises scheduled for September 11-17 can be cancelled, said the head of the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s department for Eurasia Mehmet Fatih Ceylan.

“In theory, Turkey can not to give permission and not to open the border to pass the necessary equipment. But it will be exercises for the emergency situations ministry to train for the fight against the natural disaster that will not take a military character,” Turkish diplomat told Trend by telephone.

According to Ceylan, if NATO would carry military-technical equipment through Turkey’s territory for exercises in Armenia, then Ankara would not give its consent. Given that the exercises will take place within the emergency situations, Turkey will likely open its border with Armenia only for the transportation of necessary equipment for the NATO exercises,” said Ceylan.

“The scenario is that earthquake occurs in Armenia and NATO forces are sent there to provide necessary assistance,” Ceylan said, adding that for this kind of exercise, Turkey, as a member of the alliance, must allow a NATO convoy to pass through its borders. However, this step does not mean that Turkey will officially open its border with Armenia, the diplomat said.

The border between the countries was closed in 1993 in connection with claims of Yerevan for recognition of so-called “Armenian genocide” in the world and Armenia’s occupation of territories of Azerbaijan.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. Armenian armed forces have occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan since 1992, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and 7 surrounding districts.

Azerbaijan and Armenia signed a ceasefire agreement in 1994. The co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group – Russia, France, and the U.S. – are currently holding the peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented the U.N. Security Council’s four resolutions on the liberation of the Nagorno-Karabakh region and the occupied territories.

Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at trend@trend.az

Denialistan–DAWN’s romance with jihadis exposed

Nasima Zehra Awan

The August 21st editorial by DAWN is a good example of what is wrong with the media in Pakistan. “Hardliners and Flood Relief” is precisely the kind of vacillating apologia for extremists that is the bane of the local media.A media that has anointed itself as “Independent” for hounding out elected politicians at the behest of a powerful establishment, has failed in informing the public about the various Islamist militant groups and their agendas. In this regard, it is baffling that DAWN’s editorial prefers to maintain an Ostrich-like approach to the exponentially growing existential threat from these sectarian bigots.

President Zardari is absolutely correct in pointing out this threat. The exclusive bashing of elected PPP leaders is the national sport in our elite drawing rooms and reflects our impotent rage that can never be directed at the actual source of our problems but at those who cannot strike back. It is therefore sad that DAWN follows suit and completely disregards the warning of Pakistan’s elected president and chooses to maintain the establishment-led status quo in protecting its Jihadi assets.

In covering the hundreds of targeted killings of minority sects and religious groups like the Ahmadis, Shias and Christians, DAWN studiously maintains a policy of obfuscating the issue via the use of euphemisms. In doing so, it dishonestly creates a false symmetry between the victims (Ahmadis, Shias and Christians) and their killers, the vast nexus of sectarian Salafist Jihadi groups like Sipah Sahaba, its militant wing, Lashkar Jhangvi, Lashkar Tayabba, Jaish Mohammad and Harkat ul Mujahideen amongst a host of other related subsidiaries. For a newspaper that allies itself with Jinnah, the irony that the country’s Shiite Muslim founder would have been a fair game for these sectarian groups is completely lost on DAWN!

Since the beginning of the flood crisis, Pakistan’s media has preferred to lynch the elected government as opposed to galvanizing the public and the International community towards relief efforts. In trying to divert attention away from banned groups who are using the tragedy of these floods to increase their hold on Pakistan, DAWN has allied itself with the same reactionary and bigoted class that prefers an authoritarian future for Pakistan under an increasingly monolithic and supremacist identity that abhors a pluralist ethos. In both the 2005 Earthquake tragedy and in the current devastation caused by the floods, these sectarian-Jihadi groups have been facilitated and financed at the expense of the State to carry out relief efforts. While the Government has been consistently blocked, distanced, misrepresented and denied, the armed forces, which are constitutionally under the direction of the Government and who are funded by the public are lauded for doing what is their duty and what is customary in any part of the world. Similarly, the sight of banned sectarian groups who are being funded by the Punjab Government, openly discriminating in their relief efforts on the basis of sect (refer to the case of hundreds of Ahmadis being denied relief by Jamaat Dawa/LeT) is being glossed over and mostly ignored by DAWN and other similar corporate media outlets.

The reason that the International community is skeptical about giving aid to Pakistan is not because of Transparency International’s statistics that have remained largely the same since the last 4 years. Its because of the clear divide between a helpless and hounded elected Government that prefers to engage with the world and a  jingoist establishment that wants to berate the Government for accepting foreign aid on a warped basis of honour(ghairat). The International community is skeptical because this aid is then siphoned off for buying more weaponary and toys for the Jihadi monsters who attack NATO troops in neighbouring Afghanistan when they are not too busy killing thousands of Pakistanis back home. The International community is skeptical about aid and relief efforts to Pakistan because it does not want its money to go to Jihadis and its own volunteers to be the targets of these Jihadis while they are in Pakistan.

The public credibility with the Government can be addressed in the next elections. However, how does one deal with the obvious lack of credibility of the media? In a drowning country, how does one deal with a media whose bias for Islamist militias has graduated from a blossoming romance to a full scale marriage. How does one make sense of how DAWN concludes its editorial:

“Also, the concept of charity is a major motivational factor with all religious organisations, not just Islamic ones. So the hardliners’ response to the floods is more likely to be guided by a sense of religious obligation than an opportunity to win more recruits.”

Really, charity!! Where is this charitable spirit and this religious obligation when the same sectarian militias are killing thousands of Pakistanis all over the land. How can one call this charity when the resources used by these Jihadi groups are the very same resources that have been diverted to them from the State and their local and foreign patrons. Where is this charitable spirit when relief is provided and denied on the basis of sect! In Sindh, Hindu families have publicly taken the responsibility to feed their Muslim countrymen. Non-Muslim countries are finally donating hundreds of millions to the PPP lead Government due to the efforts of the much maligned President and Prime Minister, even as two bit TV anchors like Talat Hussain can get away with their brazen lies to the BBC that the couple of hundred thousand dollars collected by him and Kashif Abbasi exceeds the entire collection of the Government! Yet, editorials like this one in DAWN and those shouting matches on GEO have only one agenda; malign the Government and glorify the Jihadis. If the latter is not possible, at least diminish their malevolence even if its means that facts on the ground have to be distorted. If these are the standards of the country’s premier English daily, one shudders to think what scurrilous rags that are openly beholden to the Jamaat Islami are publishing.

History will not forgive the negative role played by the Pakistani media at this crucial juncture. While the country is being ravaged by floods, the media spent more time cheering the shoe thrown at the President by a Hizb ul Tahrir activist; a shoe thrown in protest against the nascent democratic set up in Pakistan and in the hope of establishing a totalitarian caliphate. While floods ravage a third of the total area of Pakistan and have rendered 20 million people homeless, our media, including DAWN, has thrown its lot in with the establishment and its political game of lynching the elected political class, especially those from the PPP and ANP. Nero fiddled while Rome burnt and our media romances sectarian Islamist brutes while the country drowns.

Wait for the next editorials – “Al-Qaeda is a global charity movement” and “Taliban are a group of rescuers”!!

Hardliners and flood relief

Dawn Editorial

Volunteers of Falah-e-Insaniyat foundation, the charity wing of militant group Jamaat-ud-Dawa supervise the cooking of food for flood affected people in Nowshera. – Photo by AP.

As the country struggles to cope with the floods, the debate on the role of hard-line religious organisations in the relief effort continues. Just as in the case of the 2005 earthquake, various religious organisations — some with ostensible links to banned militant outfits — have been very active in the relief effort and in some instances have reached places the government hasn’t.

President Zardari recently remarked that the world needed to step up its relief efforts in order to prevent extremists from exploiting the situation — a lacklustre response from the state and the international community can well give extremists a chance to fill the vacuum. On the other hand the Foreign Office has offered guarded praise for the religious charities’ efforts. However, it appears that many in the foreign press have particularly played up the hardliners’ contribution to relief work and blown the perceived consequences out of proportion.

Many private organisations are taking part in the relief effort, and religious groups are just one component of it. To suggest that the hardliners’ efforts will result in a recruiting bonanza for the militant groups is far-fetched. While the religious groups’ relief work might earn them better PR and even give them the edge in the battle for hearts and minds, there is little evidence that it will swell their ranks with fresh jihadi recruits or give them greater political mileage. If anything, this is yet another reminder that the state needs to improve its response when dealing with disasters in particular and looking after the people’s welfare in general. Also, the concept of charity is a major motivational factor with all religious organisations, not just Islamic ones. So the hardliners’ response to the floods is more likely to be guided by a sense of religious obligation than an opportunity to win more recruits.

Major Jailbreak In Tajikistan

Inmates flee Tajik prison, kill guards in gunfight

* At least 25 armed prisoners escape, five guards killed

* Inmates had been accused of plotting coup

* President orders security forces to launch pursuit

By Roman Kozhevnikov

DUSHANBE, Aug 23 (Reuters) – More than two dozen prisoners, including organisers of an alleged coup plot, escaped on Monday from a detention centre in the capital of Tajikistan after a bloody shootout and are being pursued by security forces.

Tajik President Imomali Rakhmon has ordered a manhunt for 25 or more armed fugitives, who authorities say killed at least five guards while breaking out of the prison in the Central Asian state and then fled towards the Afghan border. Sources within the security services told Reuters the escaped prisoners included citizens of Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Russia who were among those sentenced last week on accusations of organising a coup in the former Soviet republic. “We have sent a request to our colleagues in Russia and Afghanistan, asking for help in finding and detaining the prisoners who broke out today,” Kasim Gafarov, first deputy head of the State Committee for National Security, told reporters. Governments in the former Soviet republics of Central Asia are clamping down on what they see as growing radicalism in the predominantly Muslim, though secular, region after a rise in clashes between security forces and armed gangs.

Tajikistan, which shares a porous 1,340-km (840-mile) border with Afghanistan, has imprisoned more than 100 members of banned groups this year alone, including 36 members of Hizb ut-Tahrir and 25 members of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan. Dressed in camouflage, the prisoners fled in the direction of Afghanistan after breaking out in the early hours of Monday morning. The security committee, Tajikistan’s successor to the KGB, said in a statement it had sent a team in pursuit.

Sources said the fugitives were among the 46 people to whom Tajikistan’s Supreme Court last week handed down long jail terms on accusations they had planned to overthrow the authorities.

They included four Afghan citizens and six Russians from the Caucasus republics of Dagestan and Chechnya.

All were originally arrested in July 2009 in eastern Tajikistan, the scene of fierce civil war battles in the 1990s. The Russians were sentenced to between 19 and 30 years and the others received terms ranging from 10 years to life.

A high-ranking source within the security committee said armoured vehicles and manpower had been sent in the direction of Tavildara, the region in the Pamir mountains only 20 km (13 miles) from the Afghan border where the accused were arrested. (Writing by Robin Paxton; editing by Noah Barkin)

US to spend $1.3 billion on Afghanistan bases

By Bill Van Auken
24 August 2010

The Pentagon is embarking on a major base construction effort in Afghanistan even as Obama administration and military officials are making it clear that the US “surge” will last well past the July 11 deadline for beginning a drawdown of US troops.

The Washington Post reported Monday that the US Congress is preparing to pass legislation providing “$1.3 billion in additional fiscal 2011 funds for multiyear construction of military facilities in Afghanistan”. These funds would cover, in part, $100 million expansions for each of three major US air bases in different parts of the country.

These projects, the Post stated, are indicative of plans “to support increased US military operations well into the future.”

A notice seeking contractor bids placed on a US government web site last week maps out plans for the expansion of one of these US bases in Shindand, an airfield in western Afghanistan that had been used by the Soviet Army during its occupation of Afghanistan more than two decades ago.

The project is to include new runways, hangars, barracks, storage areas, a “weapons arming area” and other facilities. They are being built to accommodate the Special Operations troops used by Washington to carry out “targeted killings,” i.e., assassinations, which have become a key component of the US war. They will also house a unit operating pilotless drone aircraft for purposes of “Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance” as well as missile attacks.

The request for bids states that the contract will not be issued until January of next year and that the job itself will not be completed until at least a full year after that, i.e., January 2012, six months after the deadline set by President Barack Obama for the beginning of the drawdown of US troops from Afghanistan.

The House of Representatives and the Senate Appropriations Committee have already approved the $1.3 billion base construction package, which is awaiting only a vote by the full Senate.

This money does not include another $5.3 billion in allocations for the construction of new facilities for the Afghan security forces, the Post reports, citing a Pentagon news release stating that most of these “enduring facilities [are] scheduled for construction over the next three to four years.”

Also to be expanded with the $1.3 billion appropriation is Camp Dwyer, a Marine base and air field in Helmand province. A Pentagon document justifying the expenditure to Congress describes the facility as “a key hub” for special forces operations in southern Afghanistan, the scene of ongoing US offensives in both Helmand and Kandahar provinces. The base is to be expanded to accommodate more helicopter and fixed-wing aircraft for expanded attacks on Afghan villages.

The third facility set for a $100 million expansion is at Mazar-e Sharif, Afghanistan’s fourth-largest city and the capital of Balkh province in the north. The project, the Pentagon told Congress, was needed “in order to expand major logistical and combat support operations into the region.”

Meanwhile, other major US military facilities continue to expand exponentially. Among them is the Kandahar air base just outside the city of Kandahar, which is being targeted for a major military offensive.

Last month, Time magazine published a profile of the Kandahar facility, describing it as “a small Western city in the Taliban heartland” housing some 25,000 troops and contractors. With an average of “5,000-plus military and commercial takeoffs and landings a week,” Kandahar has become “the busiest military base in the world today,” according to the report. The base’s 10-mile security perimeter requires substantial forces to patrol. Armed opposition groups have staged repeated attacks, wounding scores of military and civilian personnel over the past year.

While President Obama insisted when announcing his plans for an Afghanistan “surge” that the US had no intentions of permanently occupying the country, the base construction proposals suggest the opposite. Plans are being implemented based on the assumption that US military forces will be fighting there for years if not decades to come. This protracted war is being waged not to defeat “terrorism” or promote democracy in Afghanistan, but to secure US hegemony in the energy-rich and geo-strategically vital region of Central Asia.

Even as the latest polls indicate that at least 60 percent of the US population opposes the Afghanistan war and seven out of ten do not believe it can be won, top administration and military officials made a series of statements Monday all driving home the same message: do not expect any rapid withdrawal to begin with Obama’s supposed deadline in July 2011.

Speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Indianapolis Monday, Vice President Joseph Biden stressed that the US war in Afghanistan is “only beginning with the right general and the right force.”

“We are not leaving in 2011,” Biden insisted. “We are beginning the transition.”

The top US commander in charge of training Afghan security forces spoke at a Pentagon briefing Monday, stressing that this “transition” is still a long way off. Lt. Gen. William Caldwell told reporters that it would take at least another year to recruit a sufficient number of Afghan soldiers and police.

The Associated Press commented: “Caldwell’s assessment is likely to help dim hopes among Democrats that the planned US withdrawal next year will be significant in size.”

The American general spelled out the immense difficulties confronting the US occupation as it attempts to set up a viable puppet Afghan force. The military newspaper Stars and Stripes quoted him as saying that the illiteracy rate among Afghan recruits is over 85 percent and the attrition rate among some units is well over 50 percent.

“We really don’t know where they go to, to be completely honest. It’s difficult to track over here,” said Caldwell. Many of these Afghan soldiers disappear shortly after completing 17 weeks of training.

Caldwell said that to bring the Afghan security forces up to a proposed head-count of 305,000, another 56,000 recruits were needed. But, because the desertion rate is so great, it would be necessary to put another 141,000 through training. He said that the target date for meeting this goal was October 2011.

Asked how this October 2011 goal squared with the July 2011 deadline set by Obama, Caldwell stressed that the Afghan forces would not be able to operate independently any time soon. “We have not even finished building the Afghan National Army or the police force or the air force, at this point,” he said. He added that for Afghan troops to operate on their own, “key enablers,” including logistics, maintenance, transportation, and intelligence units would have to be in place. “None of those organizations have been built and brought online,” he said.

The top US commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus, gave an interview in Kabul to the BBC Monday stressing that the July 2011 deadline would not be a fundamental turning point. “That’s a date when a process begins—nothing more, nothing less,” said Petraeus. “It is not the date when the American forces begin an exodus and look for the exit and the light to turn off on the way out of the room.”

The general continued: “It’s a date when the process of transition of some tasks to some Afghanistan forces—in those areas where conditions allow it, and at a pace allowed by the conditions—that’s what begins then.”

Petraeus’ comments were the latest in a series of media appearances in which he emphasized that any US troop drawdown would depend on military “conditions on the ground.”

The general has coupled the clear warning that the Afghanistan “surge” will continue well after next July with claims of progress in the US war against the Afghan resistance. He told the BBC that “the momentum that the Taliban have established over the course of recent years has been reversed in many areas of the country.”

In the face of continuing high casualties, he added, “It gets harder before it gets easier.” Four US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan on Sunday and another four NATO troops, one of them reportedly American, were killed on Monday.

Petraeus’ feigned optimism notwithstanding, the crisis and contradictions confronting the US occupation appear to be deepening.

Over the weekend, Afghan President Hamid Karzai reiterated his order banning the operation of private security contractors inside the country, giving them four months to leave.

In an interview on ABC Television’s “This Week” program, Karzai charged that the contractors were destabilizing the country by “running a parallel security structure to the Afghan government.” He accused the contractors of “looting and stealing from the Afghan people” and “causing a lot of harassment to our civilians.”

The “surge” of private security contractors into the country has paralleled that of the US military. Contractors now outnumber US troops in Afghanistan.

Directed by US mercenaries, the security contractors employ as many 50,000 Afghans. They have been accused of killing Afghans with impunity as well as making payoffs to the Taliban and other armed anti-government groups to protect convoys bringing supplies to US forces from attack.

The Defense Department employs some 17,000 private security contractors in the country, a five-fold increase in their number since the beginning of 2009. The State Department employs thousands more.

Karzai said that he would exempt from his order those security contractors “providing protection to embassies and to aid organizations within their compounds and who escort diplomats or representatives of foreign governments in Afghanistan from place to place.” He himself is guarded by private mercenaries.

Last June, the State Department signed a $120 million contract with the notorious Blackwater group, now rebranded as Xe Services, to provide protection for its regional offices in Afghanistan, while the CIA signed a $100 million deal with the company to provide security at its Kabul station.

The firm earned international infamy after its mercenaries massacred 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007 in Baghdad’s Nisour Square.

The State Department announced Monday that it had reached an administrative settlement with Blackwater under which the company will pay a $42 million penalty for violating hundreds of export rules over the past seven years, including making illegal arms shipments to Afghanistan. Two former Blackwater mercenaries still face federal murder charges for killing two Afghans civilians. Several former company executives have been indicted on criminal charges.

Rebuttals of My Baloch Writings From Both Sides–ENJOY!

[I have been taking a lot of flak lately for daring to try to understand and write about the tragedy unfolding in Balochistan, Pakistan.  The flak comes in two forms, anti-Baloch and anti-Pakistan--take your pick, both sides are very hostile and somewhat insulting in their verbal barrages.  I must be presenting a position midway between the two sides, since one accuses me of being ISI and the other charges that I am learning from RAW.  I offer the following points of view on the events overtaking Balochistan Province.--Peter]

Pro-Baloch

The enemy of Baluch is NOT USA, the real enemy of the Baluch is United Kingdom. It was UK who gave 50% Baluchistan to Iran and then sub-divided Baluchistan into further fragments.  Jinnah the “supposed” founder of Pakistan accepted Baluchistan as an independent country and on 7th August 1947 announced Baluchistan as an independent country. UK government became furious with Jinnah’s declaration. UK persuaded Jinnah to invade Baluchistan. Even today UK is benefiting from the enslavement of Baluchistan via SHELL(45% British owned) company and it has eye on Baluchistan’s wealth via Pakistan. I would like Pakistan to be good neighbor to Baluchistan, it is Pakistan’s choice to leave peacefully to 1947 border. Question is why are you favoring an imperialist outpost, what is your interest? You have not presented any real analysis as to why Baluch should remain a colony of Pakistan. Your argument contains contradictions, you stated that Pakistani are following American orders and then you are saying they want to split Pakistan. We know American have given Pakistan Billions of Dollars, if it was not for the American Dollars Pakistan would have ceased to exists. In return Pakistan has given American lucrative contracts in Baluchistan. Peter it is in the interest of WEST to keep Pakistan as it is. Our struggle is for freedom and we will continue until Baluchistan is a free independent country.
When the British left the region it handed over the country to Punjabis because they knew Punjabi would obey the master’s call. In the entire history of Punjab they never ruled a State, hence on advice of the British they ruled Pakistan with an Iron Fist policy. The Iron Fist policy requires a strong Army and a strong Army requires an enemy to grow, hence India became the enemy. The religious ideology was specially formulated to support the Iron fist policy.
As for development in Baluchistan, British built roads, rails and infrastructure support for colonial purpose and Pakistan has maintained the colonial policy.
I was surprised with a name of Peter you are using words like Shaitan, are you a Punjabi pretending to be a Westerner? Your arguments are from classic text book of ISI. If your a Punjabi come clean and we can then have real discussion.

I apologize for my rudeness expressed in my last email; unfortunately sometimes we have to be rude in order to flush out ISI agents. Pakistani governments spend over two million dollars on lobbying support in USA alone.
Would I be correct in assuming your philosophy is based upon non-violence anti-colonization.? I agree with you when you implied a group of countries will work together to colonise a region. Unfortunately in case of Baluchistan the Pakistani authorities have decided in 1948 to eliminate the Baluch from the face of the Baluchistan, this policy became active in 1958 and intensified in 1973. You only need to look at Bangladesh history, Mujeeb-ur-Rehamn won a landslide majority in the election of 1970. He came to the capital of Pakistan to be honoured as the Prime Minister of Pakistan instead of being made prime minister he was put in jail and made to sign a paper to abdicate. To save his life he signed the papers, but when he returned to Bangladesh in the interest of peace he put forward a 6 point plan which basically asking for provincial control over their own resources and territories. Instead of listening to Bengali’s demand the Pakistani establishment response was operation BLITZ. Operation BLITZ in 9 months murdered 3 million unarmed Bengalis and raped over 450,000 women even rape camp were setup in General Niazi’s own barracks. The massacre was brought to an halt by the Indian army otherwise the intention of Pakistani was to wipe out the entire nation or until the Bengolis submit to Punjabi ruler’s will. Please note Nazi Germany to 6 years to murdere 6 million Jews, Pakistani only took 9 months to kill 3 millions.
1973 Pakistan repeated its mass murder policy in Baluchistan, in 36 hours Pakistani Air-Force deliberately bombed 3500 women and children.
In 1958 an eighty years old man Nauroz Khan with 47 men went to hill when the realised there was no other ways, these men engaged with 20,000 Pakistani troops, later Pakistani authority offered a peace proposal, the group said how can be sure you want to talk, how can we be sure you will not break your promise as you did with Aga Abdul Karim in 1948 (He was put in prison for 28 years). The military gave the guarantee of the HOLY QURAN (Holy Book for whole of Mankind), when they came for discussion they were arrested, all of Nauroz Khan men were hanged and he was forced to identify the dead men. At one point a major mocked pointed to a dead body and asked is this your eldest son? Nouroz Khan replied they are ALL my son. Nauroz Khan at age 90+ died in Prison.
There are many mass graves in Baluchistan, these mass grave were created in 1948, 1958, 1962, 1973 and 2006-2010.
There are still 300,000 Baluch living in open air, these Baluch houses were bombed in ordered to forced them out of the region because the region believed to contain oil and gold. Up to this day the government will not allow any AID organisation to visit these Baluch.
Baluch Student Organisation tried to deliver some food and medicine, the government arrested the aid workers and they have not be released.
Recently Prime Minister Gallani wanted a dialogue, Baluch said can you just tell us where the missing Baluch which prison are they being held? Well the response of the Pakistani government was fresh military operation in DESHT area. Military took control of natural springs and refused access to local people, but what they did not plan on the intervention of the ALL-MIGHTY. The cyclone PHET was a blessing from ALL-Mighty at least people will not die of thirst.
Selig Harrison described the situation in Baluchistan as slow motion genocide, it really is not fair on people who are being eliminated when someone like yourself sides with the oppressor because of your personnel sentiment.
My position people should stand on the side of justice; I will stand with the oppressed even if it means death. Non-violence means nothing if it cannot stand on the side of justices. As far as I know all philosophy calls for justice even the non-violence philosophy.

Pro-Pakistani

What a perfect Blind Analysis of Pak Army and Pakistan. I wish I had known the identity of the man writing this propaganda. It is so loaded that correcting it will be foolish, to say the least. A similar kind of propaganda against Pakistan, Punjab and Pak Army goes on in various websites which were established in 2002, some in Israel and some in Washington DC.

The man has not even shown a slightest positive or redeeming aspect. His entire analysis is negative. Baluchistan is neither ethnically nor racially  completely Baluch. Only parts of three ( out of some major 22 tribes ) Baluch tribes are following the CIA/RAW, Marri (30%), Mengal (40 %, which is indeed, Brahvi but claims to be Baluch)  and Bugti ( 15 % ). Pashtoons, Brahvis, Sindhis, Kurds, Hazaras and settlers have been totally ignored by him. This group controls more than half of Baluchistan, but is watching.

He has also not mentioned that several times more racially correct Baluch live in Sindh and Punjab. Even Zardari is Baluch.

Anti-Pak propaganda and nothing else. Not worth circulating at all.

The source of Peter Chamberlin appears to be polluted by Indian propaganda. The fact is that Baluchistan is the biggest RAW clandestine operation now in full swing. The focus of RAW campaign is to pay and provide explosives to anyone willing and able to engage in sabotage – railway assets, electricity pylons and gas pipelines – and/or to kill Punjabis (Urdu speaking are considered Punjabi in Quetta). This is the same strategy which was used by RAW in East Pakistan in 1970.

“It is not the Pakistan Army but just the intelligence agencies and the Frontier Corps who are engaged in anti-RAW operations. They have a statutory duty to identify and liquidate RAW assets in Baluchistan. But their work is not supported by the Government of Pakistan as the leaders of the coalition ruling Pakistan today are well known for their being Indian agents who are receiving hefty sums of money from RAW.”

That is why it is not only India but also their assets in politics and journalism inside Pakistan who mouth the Indian propaganda that the secessionist movement is genuine – i.e. decrying the Punjabi Army and occupation of Baluchistan by Punjab is real – and that the secessionist movement is popular.

The reality is quite different. Out of the seven million population of Baluchistan just over 2 million are ethnic Baloch who speak many different languages. In contrast, ethnic Baluch in the Punjab number 8  million and in Sindh 6 million. Pakistan has had two ethnic Baluch as Presidents – Farooq Leghari and Asif Ali Zaradri. That the Baluch are a nation or that they are persecuted in Pakistan are the biggest lies of the present time which have gained currency because of Indo-American designs on Baluchistan and the ineptitude of the political class too busy looting and plundering Pakistan.

Warm regards

Brig(retd)

Some sense but mostly hearsay hypothesis and bias hyperbole Indian style. The author has little or no idea of history of Baluch land. I have grown up in their fierce midst and know most of the recent past gen. at intimate level. The author’s implied moderate Baluch is a misnomer in context of the present gangs and their gang leaders. His awe of the nationalists is misplaced and highly exaggerated because this cabal comprises dacoits, bandits and semi literate scions of Sardars like Khair Bux  Mari, Akbar Bugti, Ata u Mengal etc.none of whom and any Baluch of my time ever took up a profession except. Nawab Baksh Raisani who was a major in the army but later murdered. His son Aslam Raisani was also employed in the police. But none others. They drank themselves to oblivion and womanized when cash crop out money in their pockets. Their followers were and are ordinary hungry marauders, all for money and weapons to yield power for tribal revenge for the Sardar. Their contrived unity to pose as liberators is absolute ruse: it will last as long as they can create chaos to black mail the abjectly corrupt and treasonous govt of today. The moment there is change, Inshallah, these very phony liberation army and others will turn their newly acquired weapons from India and Afghanistan towards each other and go on a serious Mass target killing spree.

If Pakistan was to luck in to a half way decent, honest and tough government with a patriotic national policy centered on the great Quaid legacy, indeed minus all the present political charlatans and reprobates wearing US/UK manufactured masquerade of contrived and reprehensible version of democracy, the India/Afghan/US sponsored baluch resistance could face extinction. This is a bigger possibility under a fair and visionary leadership at the centre than BLA & co development as a cohesive, focused and organized politically popular entity. Simply because they do not have the mass baluch following who are not benefiting from BLA & cos treasonous alliance with India and Karzai. Contrarily this factional fratricidal rebel grouping has deep rooted inter tribe rivalries which are like embedded embers and easily exploited and exploded for restoring peace among the larger populace of. Baluchistan which craves for developments and progress. Only a truly honest and representative govt with Jinnah’s vision and which enacts supremacy of law for all alike can kill the imbroglio of Baluchistan .
The present lot of the Kalat Brahvi, Bugti and other splinters are drug addicts with history of murders, the most villy and foxy and the core of mayhem in Baluchistan is KB Mari. Few know how passionately he hated Akbar Bugti and his role in Akbar’s coup de grace.
As for the army’s crucification by the author, it is manufactured diatribe ensconced in eloquent verbiages and worst kind of conspiracy hypothesis I have ever read. PAk army is not CIA or KGB or the despicable RAW or Israeli MOSAD. Its a valiant fighting army, the best in the world. Indeed, with corrupt nincompoops like the current Zar to Gil to courtesans Bum Awan and ugly Malik what should the army do to keep the country from being robbed with ploughs in hands, insensitive to the deluge of Noah bursting the foundations while the devils are raking in money, their sole focus and activity. The army has been presented by the author as the villain of the people not its benefactor. The army leadership was like that in the yore but why could it not change as it has. If it walks in today, I will guarantee you 90% people will bow for atonement however much undemocratic it may sound to the western intriguers who created the Taliban in cohorts with the equally evil Zia Ul Haq, a man with opaque vision and drowned in Wahabi contortion of pious Islam. There were no fazalullahs and Paki. Talibans. Its all creation by proxy of the west, US in particular to destabilize Pakistan . Essentially and centrally US global aims and objectives devolve around fool Proof security and dominance of and by Israel . India is the vanguard for south east but only a pawn in the larger US chess play. Let one thing be manifestly clear that the people of Pakistan and the army have seldom been bonded so strongly as at this juncture in its history and never have people been in contempt of politicians in general and the bandits at the helm and their govt. In particulate ever in history before. Because none played Halaku and Chengez khan with the country and its hapless people before now in this horrendous magnitude.
The bias in the article oozes out like a weeping wound and would need a long critique but it would be futile because like an Indian will always think as Gandhi and Nehru did, as aptly judged by Viceroy of India FM Sir Wavel at the time of cabinet commission visit inferred that Nehru was immature as a politician, Gandhi a manipulative shark and both were unreliable in the end, where as Jinnah was obdurate about Pakistan from fear of dominance by cast Hindu as in 1937, Nehru /Gandhian congress refused Jinnah to allow any leaguer to be part of inter provincial govt. but wavel in this top sec. Report said about Jinnah to be astute and firm, dependable and kept to his word. This is relevant in historical perspective that a colossus as a leader can change destiny as he did change the history and geography of the world but his successors have brought it down brick by brick as vassals of the west and the decrepit Saudis and gulf Arabs where they find safe havens and sanctuaries after pillaging Pakistan . So, do not blame the army of today it is shackled and one hand tied behind standing in a corner capitulated to western brew of soild and sieved democracy. Once we are rid of this facade and its keepers the sky will clear up of the line squall which is casting its terrifying ominous shadow and deathly lightening on us.
It would be instructive to know that the atrocities against the Baluch were the work of Ayub khan via Nawab Kalanag for personal aggrandizement’ , followed by Zia Ul Haq again from personal insecurity of the midget. Ayub khan posted Gen. Awan to fix the Baluch. Awan had a personal vendetta to settle since his brilliant niece ( student of my sister) eloped with the present looney Talal Bugti, the inept Nawab who was heavy on drugs and one day murdered the lovely girl. Awan took his revenge and I personally heard his ire for the Baluch when addressing the NDC group in Quetta he intoned that a Baluch women’s honour is as far as her slippers can take her on a hot rock. I had responded with an equally strong riposte to his inane remarks in front of the entire group. Later Zia had ordered the Raisani estate to be inhilated, curiosly to leave their prize animals to die of hunger not from bullets. So the story of Baluch rage has many personslized facets. These are not etchings on stone and can be remedied by astute and honest disciples of Quaid. I keep saying Quaid because nothing short of his visionary resurrection and enactment could save us.
Sorry about to and fro but torment of mind from the present mayhem causes the fluctuations.
Regards

Baloch Resistance Claims That Pakistan Repeating Strategy Used In Bangladesh–1971

[The Baloch resistance claims that what we are not seeing in Balochistan is the real strategy that is being employed there by the Pakistani Army.  The Army is allegedly pursuing the same strategy which they used in 1971 in a bloody attempt to quell Bengali nationalism in what was then, East Pakistan.

For those of us who are unfamiliar with what happened there in '71 (the year I graduated high school), I have dug-up these old Indian videos.  (I remember thinking at that time that it was all about famine.  I really don't recall hearing about the military angle.)   The first video was at the end of the article excerpted below.  Obviously they are one-sided, considering that the Pak Army would not have documented the criminal behavior displayed in that vile episode?  There is no Pakistani rebuttal possible.

After the three videos comes the brutal truth of the Bangladesh Genocide Archive.  I see nothing like this happening in Balochistan, except perhaps the expulsion of all foreign journalists.  On the other hand, the campaign of targeted killings is similar, but the atrocities in Balochistan are a drop in the bucket, compared to Bangladesh.  If the Baloch resistance movement is real, it will survive a limited campaign against its leadership and grow even stronger as a result.  Those who worry about an all-out assault upon the elements of resistance should ease their minds with the knowledge that Pakistan can never risk becoming once again a total pariah nation in the eyes of the world.  Pakistan needs to rehabilitate its tarnished image, in order to keep receiving the global aid that is vital to its existence as a nation.

If the truth wins out eventually in Balochistan, it will either reveal that Pakistan is not behind the waves of murder and abductions of Baloch political activists, or that it is.  If the truth sifts-out the latter explanation, then exposure of the plan will help to prevent the final reenactment of the Pak Army slaughtering the nationalists who once again threaten the state's fragile unity.

God help the innocents caught between the guns.]

I.S.I. death squads vow to kill Baloch in foreign countries, within Pakistan

WASHINGTON, DC: Balochistan-based shadowy outfits, working under direct command of the infamous Inter-Services Intelligence, have vowed to eliminate Baloch activists and leaders in foreign countries, including Afghanistan.

Daily threats are being issued in Urdu newspapers by these death squads set up by the I.S.I., according to Baloch freedom activists.

One of the main outfits, Sipah-i-Shuhada in a press release said a meeting of the radical organization chaired by its amir, Ghazi Abu Muslim, was attended by Punjabi settlers and armed brigades of a force named “Ghazis of Islam.”

The word Ghazi in Arabic translates into crusaders.

“They call themselves Sipah-i-Shuhada, but they are basically Sipah-i-Punjab,” said Faiz Baluch, a London-based Balochistan freedom activist. Sipah means sword and shuhada means martyrs or settlers killed by Baloch resistance in tit-for-tat actions against Pakistan military brutalities in Balochistan.

Faiz Baluch was arrested along with Balochistan national hero Hyrbyair Marri in London on charges of terrorism under pressure of the former military government of coup leader General Pervez Musharraf.

Baloch nationalists are accusing Pakistan military of re-enacting the crimes against humanity they perpetrated in the erstwhile East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, during the war of liberation there in 1971. In the last couple of weeks, Pakistan secret services began throwing badly mutilated bodies of Balochistan freedom activist who were victims of enforced disappearances.  (read HERE)

Rare Indian Footage of East Pakistan–Bangladesh, posted with vodpod

Bangladesh Genocide: Village Massacre, posted with vodpod

Muslim Pakistani army rapes 200,000 innocent Ba…, posted with vodpod

Bangladesh Genocide Archive

Genocide

“…… we were told to kill the hindus and Kafirs (non-believer in God). One day in June, we cordoned a village and were ordered to kill the Kafirs in that area. We found all the village women reciting from the Holy Quran, and the men holding special congregational prayers seeking God’s mercy. But they were unlucky. Our commanding officer ordered us not to waste any time.”

Confession of a Pakistani Soldier

It all started with Operation Searchlight, a planned military pacification carried out by the Pakistan Army started on 25 March, 1971 to curb the Bengali nationalist movement by taking control of the major cities on March 26, and then eliminating all opposition, political or military, within one month. Before the beginning of the operation, all foreign journalists were systematically deported from Bangladesh. The main phase of Operation Searchlight ended with the fall of the last major town in Bengali hands in mid May.

According to New York Times (3/28/71) 10,000 people were killed; New York Times (3/29/71) 5,000-7,000 people were killed in Dhaka; The Sydney Morning Herald (3/29/71) 10,000 – 100,000 were killed; New York Times (4/1/71) 35,000 were killed in Dhaka during operation searchlight.

The operation also began the 1971 Bangladesh atrocities. These systematic killings served only to enrage the Bengalis, which ultimately resulted in the secession of East Pakistan later in December, 1971. The international media and reference books in English have published casualty figures which vary greatly; 200,000–3,000,000 for Bangladesh as a whole.

There is only one word for this: Genocide.

Genocide in Bangladesh, 1971

The mass killings in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 vie with the annihilation of the Soviet POWs, the holocaust against the Jews, and thegenocide in Rwanda as the most concentrated act of genocide in the twentieth century. In an attempt to crush forces seeking independence for East Pakistan, the West Pakistani military regime unleashed a systematic campaign of mass murder which aimed at killing millions of Bengalis, and likely succeeded in doing so.

In national elections held in December 1970, the Awami League won an overwhelming victory across Bengali territory. On February 22, 1971 the generals in West Pakistan took a decision to crush the Awami League and its supporters. It was recognized from the first that a campaign of genocide would be necessary to eradicate the threat: “Kill three million of them,” said President Yahya Khan at the February conference, “and the rest will eat out of our hands.” (Robert Payne, Massacre [1972], p. 50.) On March 25 the genocide was launched. The university in Dacca (Dhaka) was attacked and students exterminated in their hundreds. Death squads roamed the streets of Dacca, killing some 7,000 people in a single night. It was only the beginning. “Within a week, half the population of Dacca had fled, and at least 30,000 people had been killed. Chittagong, too, had lost half its population. All over East Pakistan people were taking flight, and it was estimated that in April some thirty million people [!] were wandering helplessly across East Pakistan to escape the grasp of the military.” (Payne, Massacre, p. 48.) Ten million refugees fled to India, overwhelming that country’s resources and spurring the eventual Indian military intervention. (The population of Bangladesh/East Pakistan at the outbreak of the genocide was about 75 million.)

The Guinness Book of Records lists the Bangladesh Genocide as one of the top 5 genocides in the 20th century.

The gendercide against Bengali men

The war against the Bengali population proceeded in classic gendercidal fashion. According to Anthony Mascarenhas:

There is no doubt whatsoever about the targets of the genocide. They were: (1) The Bengali militarymen of the East Bengal Regiment, the East Pakistan Rifles, police and para-military Ansars and Mujahids. (2) The Hindus — “We are only killing the men; the women and children go free. We are soldiers not cowards to kill them …” I was to hear in Comilla [site of a major military base] [Comments R.J. Rummel: "One would think that murdering an unarmed man was a heroic act" (Death By Government, p. 323)] (3) The Awami Leaguers — all office bearers and volunteers down to the lowest link in the chain of command. (4) The students — college and university boys and some of the more militant girls. (5) Bengali intellectuals such as professors and teachers whenever damned by the army as “militant.” (Anthony Mascarenhas, The Rape of Bangla Desh [Delhi: Vikas Publications, 1972(?)], pp. 116-17.)

Mascarenhas’s summary makes clear the linkages between gender and social class (the “intellectuals,” “professors,” “teachers,” “office bearers,” and — obviously — “militarymen” can all be expected to be overwhelmingly if not exclusively male, although in many cases their families died or fell victim to other atrocities alongside them). In this respect, the Bangladesh events can be classed as a combined gendercide and elitocide, with both strategies overwhelmingly targeting males for the most annihilatory excesses.

London, 6/13/71). The Sunday Times…..”The Government’s policy for East Bengal was spelled out to me in the Eastern Command headquarters at Dacca. It has three elements:

1. The Bengalis have proved themselves unreliable and must be ruled by West Pakistanis;
2. The Bengalis will have to be re-educated along proper Islamic lines. The – Islamization of the masses – this is the official jargon – is intended to eliminate secessionist tendencies and provide a strong religious bond with West Pakistan;
3. When the Hindus have been eliminated by death and fight, their property will be used as a golden carrot to win over the under privileged Muslim middle-class. This will provide the base for erecting administrative and political structures in the future.”

Bengali man and boys massacred by the West Pakistani regime.

Younger men and adolescent boys, of whatever social class, were equally targets. According to Rounaq Jahan, “All through the liberation war, able-bodied young men were suspected of being actual or potential freedom fighters. Thousands were arrested, tortured, and killed. Eventually cities and towns became bereft of young males who either took refuge in India or joined the liberation war.” Especially “during the first phase” of the genocide, he writes, “young able-bodied males were the victims of indiscriminate killings.” (”Genocide in Bangladesh,” in Totten et al., Century of Genocide, p. 298.) R.J. Rummel likewise writes that “the Pakistan army [sought] out those especially likely to join the resistance — young boys. Sweeps were conducted of young men who were never seen again. Bodies of youths would be found in fields, floating down rivers, or near army camps. As can be imagined, this terrorized all young men and their families within reach of the army. Most between the ages of fifteen and twenty-five began to flee from one village to another and toward India. Many of those reluctant to leave their homes were forced to flee by mothers and sisters concerned for their safety.” (Death By Government, p. 329.) Rummel describes (p. 323) a chilling gendercidal ritual, reminiscent of Nazi procedure towards Jewish males: “In what became province-wide acts of genocide, Hindus were sought out and killed on the spot. As a matter of course, soldiers would check males for the obligated circumcision among Moslems. If circumcised, they might live; if not, sure death.”

Robert Payne describes scenes of systematic mass slaughter around Dacca (Dhaka) that, while not explicitly “gendered” in his account, bear every hallmark of classic gender-selective roundups and gendercidal slaughters of non-combatant men:

In the dead region surrounding Dacca, the military authorities conducted experiments in mass extermination in places unlikely to be seen by journalists. At Hariharpara, a once thriving village on the banks of the Buriganga River near Dacca, they found the three elements necessary for killing people in large numbers: a prison in which to hold the victims, a place for executing the prisoners, and a method for disposing of the bodies. The prison was a large riverside warehouse, or godown, belonging to the Pakistan National Oil Company, the place of execution was the river edge, or the shallows near the shore, and the bodies were disposed of by the simple means of permitting them to float downstream. The killing took place night after night. Usually the prisoners were roped together and made to wade out into the river. They were in batches of six or eight, and in the light of a powerful electric arc lamp, they were easy targets, black against the silvery water. The executioners stood on the pier, shooting down at the compact bunches of prisoners wading in the water. There were screams in the hot night air, and then silence. The prisoners fell on their sides and their bodies lapped against the shore. Then a new bunch of prisoners was brought out, and the process was repeated. In the morning the village boatmen hauled the bodies into midstream and the ropes binding the bodies were cut so that each body drifted separately downstream. (Payne, Massacre [Macmillan, 1973], p. 55.)

Strikingly similar and equally hellish scenes are described in the case-studies of genocide in Armeniaand the Nanjing Massacre of 1937.

How many died?

Bangladeshi authorities claim that 3 million people were killed, while the Hamoodur Rahman Commission, an official Pakistan Government investigation, put the figure as low as 26,000 civilian casualties. The fact is that the number of dead in Bangladesh in 1971 was almost certainly well into seven figures. It was one of the worst genocides of the World War II era, outstripping Rwanda (800,000 killed) and probably surpassing even Indonesia (1 million to 1.5 million killed in 1965-66).

As R.J. Rummel writes:

The human death toll over only 267 days was incredible. Just to give for five out of the eighteen districts some incomplete statistics published in Bangladesh newspapers or by an Inquiry Committee, the Pakistani army killed 100,000 Bengalis in Dacca, 150,000 in Khulna, 75,000 in Jessore, 95,000 in Comilla, and 100,000 in Chittagong. For eighteen districts the total is 1,247,000 killed. This was an incomplete toll, and to this day no one really knows the final toll. Some estimates of the democide [Rummel's "death by government"] are much lower — one is of 300,000 dead — but most range from 1 million to 3 million. … The Pakistani army and allied paramilitary groups killed about one out of every sixty-one people in Pakistan overall; one out of every twenty-five Bengalis, Hindus, and others in East Pakistan. If the rate of killing for all of Pakistan is annualized over the years the Yahya martial law regime was in power (March 1969 to December 1971), then this one regime was more lethal than that of the Soviet Union, China under the communists, or Japan under the military (even through World War II). (Rummel, Death By Government, p. 331.)

People regard that the best option is to regard “3 million” as not an absolute but an arbitrary number. The proportion of men versus women murdered is impossible to ascertain, but a speculation might be attempted. If we take the highest estimates for both women raped and Bengalis killed (400,000 and 3 million, respectively); if we accept that half as many women were killed as were raped; and if we double that number for murdered children of both sexes (total: 600,000), we are still left with a death-toll that is 80 percent adult male (2.4 million out of 3 million). Any such disproportion, which is almost certainly on the low side, would qualify Bangladesh as one of the worst gendercides against men in the last half-millennium.

Who was responsible?

“For month after month in all the regions of East Pakistan the massacres went on,” writes Robert Payne. “They were not the small casual killings of young officers who wanted to demonstrate their efficiency, but organized massacres conducted by sophisticated staff officers, who knew exactly what they were doing. Muslim soldiers, sent out to kill Muslim peasants, went about their work mechanically and efficiently, until killing defenseless people became a habit like smoking cigarettes or drinking wine. … Not since Hitler invaded Russia had there been so vast a massacre.” (Payne, Massacre, p. 29.)

There is no doubt that the mass killing in Bangladesh was among the most carefully and centrally planned of modern genocides. A cabal of five Pakistani generals orchestrated the events: President Yahya Khan, General Tikka Khan, chief of staff General Pirzada, security chief General Umar Khan, and intelligence chief General Akbar Khan. The U.S. government, long supportive of military rule in Pakistan, supplied some $3.8 million in military equipment to the dictatorship after the onset of the genocide, “and after a government spokesman told Congress that all shipments to Yahya Khan’s regime had ceased.” (Payne, Massacre, p. 102.)

The genocide and gendercidal atrocities were also perpetrated by lower-ranking officers and ordinary soldiers. These “willing executioners” were fuelled by an abiding anti-Bengali racism, especially against the Hindu minority. “Bengalis were often compared with monkeys and chickens. Said Pakistan General Niazi, ‘It was a low lying land of low lying people.’ The Hindus among the Bengalis were as Jews to the Nazis: scum and vermin that [should] best be exterminated. As to the Moslem Bengalis, they were to live only on the sufferance of the soldiers: any infraction, any suspicion cast on them, any need for reprisal, could mean their death. And the soldiers were free to kill at will. The journalist Dan Coggin quoted one Punjabi captain as telling him, ‘We can kill anyone for anything. We are accountable to no one.’ This is the arrogance of Power.” (Rummel, Death By Government, p. 335.)

• Pakistani Army Desecrated Churches in 1971

Eyewitness accounts

The atrocities of the razakars in killing the Bengalis equaled those of their Pakistani masters. An excerpt from an article written in the Azad, dated January 15, 1972, underscores the inhuman atrocities of the Pakistani troops and their associates, the razakar and al-Badr forces:

‘….The people of Narail can bear witness to the reign of terror, the inhuman atrocities, inflicted on them after (General) Yahya let loose his troops to do what they would. After March 25, many people fled Jessore in fear of their lives, and took refuge in Narail and its neighboring localities. Many of them were severely bashed by the soldiers of Yahya and lost their lives. Very few people ever returned. Bhayna is a flourishing village near Narail. Ali Akbar is a well-known figure there. On April 8, the Pakistani troops surrounded the village on the pretext that it was a sanctuary for freedom fighters. Just as fish are caught in a net so too were the people of this village all assembled, in an open field. Then everyone- men, women, and children–were all forced to line up. Young men between the ages of 25 and 30 were lined up separately. 45 people were shot to death on the spot. Three of Ali Akbar’s brothers were killed there. Ali Akbar was able to save himself by lying on the ground. But no one else of that group was as fortunate. Nadanor was the Killing field. Every day 20 to 30 people were taken there with their hands tied behind their backs, and killed. The dead bodies would be flung into the river. Apart from this, a slaughter house was also readied for Bengalis. Manik, Omar, and Ashraf were sent to Jessore Cantonment for training and then brought to this slaughter house. Every day they would slaughter 9 to 12 persons here. The rate per person was Taka ten. On one particular day, 45 persons were slaughtered here. From April 15 to December 10, the butchery continued. It is gathered that 2,723 people lost their lives here. People were brought here and bashed, then their ears were cut off, and their eyes gouged out. Finally they were slaughtered… : The Chairman of the Peace Committee was Moulana Solaiman. With Dr. Abul Hussain and Abdul Rashid Mukhtar, he assisted in the genocide. Omar would proudly say, “During the day I am Omar, at night I am Shimar( legendary executioner famous for extreme cruelty). Don’t you see my dagger? There are countless Kafirs (heretics) on it.”

Chuknagar: The largest genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971

Chuknagar is a small business town located in the Dumuria Thana of Khulna district and very close to the India Bangladesh border. In 71 thousands of refugees gathered in Chuknagar to go to Kolkata. According to a conservative account around ten thousand people were in Chuknagar waiting to cross the border.

In the early morning of May 10, the fatal day around 10am two trucks carrying Paki troops arrived at Kautala (then known as Patkhola). The Pakis were not many in number, most possibly a platoon or so. As soon as the Paki trucks stopped, the Pakis alighted from the truck carrying light machine guns (LMGs) and semi automatic rifles and opened fire on the public. Within a few minutes a lively town turned into a city of death.

The accounts of the two hundred interviewees were same. They differed only in details. “There were piled up dead bodies. Dead Kids’ on dead mum’s laps. Wives hugging their beloved husbands to protect them from killer bullets. Dads’ hugging their daughters to shield them. Within a flash they all were just dead bodies. Blood streamed into the Bhadra river, it became a river of corps. A few hours later when the Paki bastards ran out of bullets, they killed the rest of the people with bayonet.”

Source: Muntassir Mamun, The Archive of Liberation War, Bangabandhu and Bangladesh Research Institute

Denials

According to Gregory H. Stanton, President, Genocide Watch there are eight stages of a genocide. All of them are evident in the genocide commited by the Pakistan forces. The last of the eight stages is denial:

It is among the surest indicators of further genocidal massacres. The perpetrators of genocide dig up the mass graves, burn the bodies, try to cover up the evidence and intimidate the witnesses. They deny that they committed any crimes, and often blame

Pakistan Military “Death Squad” wing threatens to extend its activities beyond Baluchistan

on 2010/8/23 0:00:00 (113 reads)

ccupied Baluchistan: The Pakistan military Death Squad wing which they have named Sipah-e-Shohad-e-Baluchistan has recently threatened to widen their anti Baluch actions outside Baluchistan. According their spokesperson Abdulla (Baluch) the Ameer (leader) of Sipah-e-Shohad Ghazi Abu Muslim called a meeting of, what he described as Mojahideens, and it has been decided by the Majlis-e-shoora that the group will expand their activities inside Pakistan, abroad and in Afghanistan to hunt down the “agents of Angryz (a term generally use to describe people of Western Countries) and Indians”. The statement further alleged that these “Agents of Angryz and Indian” are creating trouble in Pakistan for the sake of money from other countries. “They are killing innocent Muslims and making Baluch Nation to go astray”. The statement warned that whoever kills innocent Muslims and talks against Islam the Sipah-e-Shohada will not spare them. Whoever creates turbulence in the country they will meet their destiny, vowed Ghazi Abu Muslim the leader of Sipah-e-Shohada. Meanwhile a new wing of the ISI emerged in the name of “Addozai Tribe” and claimed the responsibility of abducting a Baloch advocate, Zaman Khan Marri. According a statement attributed to the “Addozai Tribe” publish on a Baluchistan based daily Tawar they alleged that advocate Zaman Khan Marri is a supporter of BLA and the tribe has abducted him to avenge the killing of one person from their tribe, (Addozai Tribe). The tribe also hurled similar threats that they will continue to target Baluch pro-independence leaders and activist in Baluchistan and abroad. Zaman Khan Marri has been abducted on 19 August from Quetta. Lawyers from Baluchistan have strongly protested against his arrest and demanded his immediate release. The Sipah-e-Shohad (Pakistan Military’s Death Squad wing) may or may not have the capability of carrying out attacks across Baluchistan and abroad, but the Baluch pro-independent leaders and activists must be very vigilant and remain alert at all times. The history of Death Squads: The Iranian security forces “death squad” that killed several Baluch activists and leaders in Karachi, Quetta and elsewhere in 80s and 90s, who had escaped the Iranian Regime’s repression and sought refuge in Pakistan. Kurd leader Dr. Qasimlo, the Secretary-General of the Democratic Party of Iranian Kurdistan (PDKI), who was killed by Iranian government agents in July of 1989 in Vienna, during negotiations for a peaceful settlement of the Kurdish question. On July 18, 1985, the 27 year old Shahnawaz Bhutto was found dead in Nice, France. He died under mysterious circumstances, and the Bhutto family firmly believed he was poisoned. No one was brought to trial for murder, but Shahnawaz’s wife Rehana was considered a suspect by the French authorities and remained in their custody for some time. She was found not guilty and later allowed to travel, and went to the United States. Pakistani media, which was under Zia’s control, attributed his death to drug and alcohol abuse. On January 10, 2008 11:00 pm the originator of “bizmkaar.com” (Baloch Izmkaar/The Baloch Artist) and lecturer at Uppsala University (Sweden) Dr. Arif Barakzai died suddenly under conspicuously suspicious circumstances in Oslo, Norway allegedly after falling from the 11th floor balcony of his apartment. Baluchistan struggle has entered a very critical but decisive juncture. The Baluch enemies will do their utmost to eliminate Baluch struggle for liberation by harming the leaders and active members of the liberation movement. There are already several people in Baluchistan and abroad who can easily be bought and used against Baluch struggle. It is important that pro-independent Baluch leaders, activists, writers and intellectuals should always be cautious and alert.