| And now for another chapter in "As Baluchistan Turns..." This is more of a summary of how we got to where we are now. It's also full of quotes from "analysts" and "observers", so take your salt pills... |
 A tribal movement for greater political and economic rights in a strategic Pakistani province has the potential to explode into a major insurgency unless the government offers concessions, commentators say. Ethnic nationalists in Pakistan's resource-rich but poverty-stricken Baluchistan have been waging a low-level battle against central rule for decades, involving mostly ineffective small-scale bombings and rocket attacks.
| In other words, they either don't want to be part of Pakistan (who does?) or they want to be part of Pakistan but to run things themselves, without any Pak involvement, which amounts to the same thing... |
But this month has seen a surge in activity, culminating in a bloody attack on Tuesday that has cut off supplies from the country's main gas field for days, disrupting industry and raising doubts about the government's ability to maintain order. The clashes killed as many as 18 people and forced the government to rush in additional troops to protect the vital national snarglies gas fields. "These attacks show that there is a lot of discontent among Baluchis," said Rahimullah Yusufzai, a newspaper editor and expert on tribal affairs.
| Is there anybody in Pakistan who's not seething over something or other? Anyone? Bueller? |
"It shows Baluch youth are again ready to take up arms and fight for their rights."
| Pak youth seems to be uniquely ready and willing to take up arms and fight for something or other. That's kinda the Paks' basic problem, isn't it? |
Sparsely populated Baluchistan is home to reserves of natural gas and oil that provide for most of Pakistan's needs. It is also the site [of] a key infrastructure development project, the Gawadar sea port, which is being built with the help of China. The exploitation of resources by the Pakistani government has long been opposed by Baluchis who argue they are not reaping the benefits. They fear projects like Gawadar will also benefit other ethnic groups more than Baluchis.
| They'd prefer that no other ethnic groups be benefited. And they're not too sure they want to be benefited, since there are perceived advantages to remaining poor, primitive, and in the grip of holy men... |
The resentment dates back to the creation of Pakistan in 1947 and the region has seen several armed conflicts with the federal government, including a bloody insurgency in the 1970s that was brutally crushed by the military.
| "We don't wanna be part of Pakistan!" |
Baluchi militants say the attack on the gas fields was retaliation for the rape of a doctor in Baluchistan last month which they blamed on security forces. They have also been worried by plans to build at least three more military bases in the province, which they see as evidence of plans to tighten rather than relax central control. Sanaullah Baluch, a spokesman of the Baluchistan National Party, a legal group that says it has no links to the militants but shares their aims, said natural resources, ports, shipping and security should be controlled by the provincial government.
| No links to the militants, but hey! we think they should be in charge too... |
"We oppose cantonments, we oppose the federal government sending troops. We oppose colonial policies," he said.
| "We don't want no damn' furriners sniffin' 'round our wimmin!" |
Analysts say the nationalists have been further alienated from the political mainstream under the military-led government of President Pervez Musharraf since 1999. Nationalists had shared power with civilian governments in the 1990s but were effectively sidelined after pro-military groups forged a coalition with an Islamic alliance to control the provincial assembly.
| ... and the Law of Unintended Side Effects kicked in... |
Evidence of deteriorating security came in May when three Chinese technicians working on the Gawadar port project were killed by a bomb claimed by Baluch nationalists. Baluchistan has also seen a series of attacks in recent months by Islamic extremists furious at Musharraf's support for the U.S.-led war on terror and moves toward peace with India. But experts say chances are remote of cooperation between Islamic militants and left-leaning Baluch nationalists.
| It's two separate flavors of nuttery... |
Musharraf has been incensed by the recent nationalist attacks and warned he was willing to resort to force if necessary. "It isn't the 1970s when you can hit and run and hide in the mountains," he told the Baluchi militants. "This time you won't even know what hit you." Yet analysts said Musharraf could not afford to resort to force, with the military stretched chasing Islamic militants in the northwest and needed for security against neighbouring India. The Friday Times weekly said Musharraf needed instead to find ways to accommodate Baluchi representatives in national politics, a view echoed by commentator Ayaz Amir in the Dawn newspaper. "If one fortieth of the ... flexibility shown towards India were shown towards the Baluch people, Baluchistan would be Pakistan's most peaceful province," he said.
| India's not nutz. Mostly. |
| Actually, the way things are in Pakland, with the exception of Quetta, Baluchistan is Pakistan's most peaceful province. |
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