BLA Terrorists kidnap 22 & martyr 13 on a Bus Bound for Punjab
- Thread starter M Ali Khan
- Start date
M Ali Khan
Minister (2k+ posts)
I really wish Baloch cause supporters like Mir Mohammed Ali Talpur (London Group wala) write another piece condemning this genocide of Punjabis in Balochistan by the so-called sarmachars!
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012/07/15/story_15-7-2012_pg3_2
COMMENT : Not in my name — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur (15 July 2012 - Daily Times)
I support the Baloch cause because my conscience tells me it is the right thing and for the same reason, I will speak the truth. Moreover, I will not be silent if atrocities are committed in my name
“Sometimes people do not want to hear the truth because they do not want their illusions destroyed” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).
I unequivocally condemn the killing of 18 persons from Punjab, KP and Sindh in Shooli Jam bazaar in Turbat on July 6. A spurious group, Baloch Liberation Tigers (BLT), has claimed responsibility. The BLT — traffickers and smugglers — are patronised by the Frontier Corps (FC). Little wonder then, human and drug smuggling is rampant with the connivance of the FC. Pakistan is the principal conduit for the Afghan heroin trade for global markets as some 240 tons is smuggled through it. Over 85 percent of Afghanistan’s heroin comes from Helmand (66 percent), Kandahar (nine percent), Farah (10 percent) — all bordering Balochistan, and with the FC controlling the borders. Unfortunately, the Turbat killings have been used to malign the nationalist struggle and some editorials wrongly blame Dr Allah Nazar and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Undoubtedly, Pakistani excesses in Balochistan are extreme and indiscriminate. On June 20, Mohammad Bakhsh Baloch, a 75-year old-farmer of Kech district, father-in-law of a friend, was off loaded by the FC at Jusak check post and has not been heard from since. The Espilinji Seven were killed by the FC a few days ago; officials admit helicopters were used and yet, army operations are denied. Teenage boys too are abducted. An 18-year-old, Sagheer Baloch s/o Rahim Baksh of Pasni, was abducted from Nalent. Dad Shah Baloch, brother of martyr comrade Qayyum Baloch, was abducted by the army in Gwadar. There is no let up in the organised violence against the Baloch people. They kill because of what these Baloch aspire for. If they kill them for being Baloch, why would Chief Minister Raisani and company thrive?
I know what I say will irk many of the young enthusiastic activists enough to brand me as a lily-livered, chicken-hearted liberal, but I am not going to give up my humanism and humanity just for the fear of being labelled as such. I will speak up for what I think is right. I would have condemned the Turbat killings regardless of who was behind them. We rightly and readily condemn those who look the other way when the Baloch are the victims, hence I think we too should not look the other way when people are killed in our name. Killing innocents in the name of the struggle is morally wrong because filth cannot be washed away by filth and the enemy strives to create a situation where people resisting them come down to their level.
If anybody thinks criticising incorrect policies committed in the name of the struggle is tantamount to undermining the cause, he is absolutely wrong. Wrong because if we do not develop the spirit and the moral strength to speak up on policies thatch we think are wrong or flawed, we will, when emancipated, end up exactly like those we are struggling to be emancipated from, and that is not something all these sacrifices are being made for. Autocratic rulers and repressive armies remain unpunished because people look the other way, pretending that nothing is happening. Therefore, if we too pretend that nothing is happening when innocent people are killed, we too will be guilty of abetting the crime. Emancipation is sought for being different from the oppressor, but if we want to act like the oppressor than why seek emancipation at all? Why not join up and do more of the same? When people stop dissenting and opposing injustices, then the likes of Pol Pot, the Pakistani state and the Taliban are created.
Wanton violence is immoral and counter-productive, eventually leading to an irreversible rot in organisations and states. Amazingly, the head-hunting Dayak tribes of Borneo, famous for displaying shrunk enemy heads as coveted trophies and considered savages for that, shunned the wanton violence that we witness here today. The Dayaks considered it immoral to kill someone they did not know or did not have a score to settle with. They were shocked to learn that so-called civilised people used mass destruction weaponry to kill and maim indiscriminately. For them, killing people with whom they had no feud was something reprehensible and revolting. Wilful and wanton violence had no place in their society, neither should it have in ours. We need to learn from the Dayaks and refrain from wanton violence. The Dayaks were a lot more civil and refined in their violence than that practised by the Pakistani state, its ‘strategic assets’, and the mobs here, for theirs is a violence as wanton as it is senseless and immoral. Let us not become one of them.
Moreover, we also have friends, supporters and sympathisers the world over and they expect us to be different in our approach from the state, for it is the difference and justice of our cause for which they support us. Indiscriminate violence will alienate friends. The Baloch struggle is for freedom; it is not an ethnocentric war and that is exactly what the agencies want to bring it down to, so that the Baloch lose support and credibility. Anyone attempting to bring it down to that level is no friend of the Baloch. Remember, Aslam Raisani is not a Punjabi and neither is anyone collaborating with the state to undermine the struggle. The Baloch struggle should not be allowed to be degraded into an ethnic war.
I have to admit I would not be willing to accompany someone who gloats about or condones atrocities on ethnic grounds even on a short trip, let alone the cherished journey of emancipation that the Baloch have embarked upon. Before someone thinks that I am getting cold feet, they should know that my commitment has been and will be unwavering until either I am physically eliminated by the state or I become incapacitated by disease or age. I will neither acquiesce to state intimidation to give up the cause that is closest to my heart and at the same time, I will not remain quiet at mistakes committed by us simply for the fear of opprobrium from friends who would readily see it as a weakening in my avowed position. I support the Baloch cause because my conscience tells me it is the right thing and for the same reason, I will speak the truth. Moreover, I will not be silent if atrocities are committed in my name. We need to face the truth otherwise we will end up living with our illusions.
The writer has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He tweets at mmatalpur and can be contacted at [email protected]
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012/07/15/story_15-7-2012_pg3_2
COMMENT : Not in my name — Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur (15 July 2012 - Daily Times)
I support the Baloch cause because my conscience tells me it is the right thing and for the same reason, I will speak the truth. Moreover, I will not be silent if atrocities are committed in my name
“Sometimes people do not want to hear the truth because they do not want their illusions destroyed” — Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900).
I unequivocally condemn the killing of 18 persons from Punjab, KP and Sindh in Shooli Jam bazaar in Turbat on July 6. A spurious group, Baloch Liberation Tigers (BLT), has claimed responsibility. The BLT — traffickers and smugglers — are patronised by the Frontier Corps (FC). Little wonder then, human and drug smuggling is rampant with the connivance of the FC. Pakistan is the principal conduit for the Afghan heroin trade for global markets as some 240 tons is smuggled through it. Over 85 percent of Afghanistan’s heroin comes from Helmand (66 percent), Kandahar (nine percent), Farah (10 percent) — all bordering Balochistan, and with the FC controlling the borders. Unfortunately, the Turbat killings have been used to malign the nationalist struggle and some editorials wrongly blame Dr Allah Nazar and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF).
Undoubtedly, Pakistani excesses in Balochistan are extreme and indiscriminate. On June 20, Mohammad Bakhsh Baloch, a 75-year old-farmer of Kech district, father-in-law of a friend, was off loaded by the FC at Jusak check post and has not been heard from since. The Espilinji Seven were killed by the FC a few days ago; officials admit helicopters were used and yet, army operations are denied. Teenage boys too are abducted. An 18-year-old, Sagheer Baloch s/o Rahim Baksh of Pasni, was abducted from Nalent. Dad Shah Baloch, brother of martyr comrade Qayyum Baloch, was abducted by the army in Gwadar. There is no let up in the organised violence against the Baloch people. They kill because of what these Baloch aspire for. If they kill them for being Baloch, why would Chief Minister Raisani and company thrive?
I know what I say will irk many of the young enthusiastic activists enough to brand me as a lily-livered, chicken-hearted liberal, but I am not going to give up my humanism and humanity just for the fear of being labelled as such. I will speak up for what I think is right. I would have condemned the Turbat killings regardless of who was behind them. We rightly and readily condemn those who look the other way when the Baloch are the victims, hence I think we too should not look the other way when people are killed in our name. Killing innocents in the name of the struggle is morally wrong because filth cannot be washed away by filth and the enemy strives to create a situation where people resisting them come down to their level.
If anybody thinks criticising incorrect policies committed in the name of the struggle is tantamount to undermining the cause, he is absolutely wrong. Wrong because if we do not develop the spirit and the moral strength to speak up on policies thatch we think are wrong or flawed, we will, when emancipated, end up exactly like those we are struggling to be emancipated from, and that is not something all these sacrifices are being made for. Autocratic rulers and repressive armies remain unpunished because people look the other way, pretending that nothing is happening. Therefore, if we too pretend that nothing is happening when innocent people are killed, we too will be guilty of abetting the crime. Emancipation is sought for being different from the oppressor, but if we want to act like the oppressor than why seek emancipation at all? Why not join up and do more of the same? When people stop dissenting and opposing injustices, then the likes of Pol Pot, the Pakistani state and the Taliban are created.
Wanton violence is immoral and counter-productive, eventually leading to an irreversible rot in organisations and states. Amazingly, the head-hunting Dayak tribes of Borneo, famous for displaying shrunk enemy heads as coveted trophies and considered savages for that, shunned the wanton violence that we witness here today. The Dayaks considered it immoral to kill someone they did not know or did not have a score to settle with. They were shocked to learn that so-called civilised people used mass destruction weaponry to kill and maim indiscriminately. For them, killing people with whom they had no feud was something reprehensible and revolting. Wilful and wanton violence had no place in their society, neither should it have in ours. We need to learn from the Dayaks and refrain from wanton violence. The Dayaks were a lot more civil and refined in their violence than that practised by the Pakistani state, its ‘strategic assets’, and the mobs here, for theirs is a violence as wanton as it is senseless and immoral. Let us not become one of them.
Moreover, we also have friends, supporters and sympathisers the world over and they expect us to be different in our approach from the state, for it is the difference and justice of our cause for which they support us. Indiscriminate violence will alienate friends. The Baloch struggle is for freedom; it is not an ethnocentric war and that is exactly what the agencies want to bring it down to, so that the Baloch lose support and credibility. Anyone attempting to bring it down to that level is no friend of the Baloch. Remember, Aslam Raisani is not a Punjabi and neither is anyone collaborating with the state to undermine the struggle. The Baloch struggle should not be allowed to be degraded into an ethnic war.
I have to admit I would not be willing to accompany someone who gloats about or condones atrocities on ethnic grounds even on a short trip, let alone the cherished journey of emancipation that the Baloch have embarked upon. Before someone thinks that I am getting cold feet, they should know that my commitment has been and will be unwavering until either I am physically eliminated by the state or I become incapacitated by disease or age. I will neither acquiesce to state intimidation to give up the cause that is closest to my heart and at the same time, I will not remain quiet at mistakes committed by us simply for the fear of opprobrium from friends who would readily see it as a weakening in my avowed position. I support the Baloch cause because my conscience tells me it is the right thing and for the same reason, I will speak the truth. Moreover, I will not be silent if atrocities are committed in my name. We need to face the truth otherwise we will end up living with our illusions.
The writer has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He tweets at mmatalpur and can be contacted at [email protected]
Taimur.javed
Senator (1k+ posts)
Just watch today's capital talk (if you have the stomach). HM will blame Army, FC and security agencies for this action and say that this was done to further deteriorate Law & Order situation in Balochistan or some other cock & bull conspiracy theory. He will bring some Baloch nationalist leader to agree with him.
So predictable, so boring yet so sad.
So predictable, so boring yet so sad.
M Ali Khan
Minister (2k+ posts)
Capital TV is already discussing the issue at this moment. Watch it now!
ILovePakistan
Councller (250+ posts)
Your are absolutely right. You can see students from all other parts in Punjab University, Lahore but in Baluchistan or other how much ? I hate to speak about provinces but this is so sad .....
PkRevolution
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
ان کا قصور کیا تھا؟
PkRevolution
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: ان کا قصور کیا تھا؟
کون ان حکمرانوں سے پوچھے کہ اصل عبادت کیا ھے؟
Ali raza babar
Chief Minister (5k+ posts)
Re: ان کا قصور کیا تھا؟
دریاے فرات کے کنارے ایک کتا بھی مر گیا تو اس کا ذمہ دار عمر ہو گا ،
ہم کون تھے اور کیا ہو گئے ہیں،
عمر نے پوچھا اگر میں راہ سے ہٹ گیا تو کیا کرو گے ، لوگوں نے کہا ، تلوار سے سیدھا کر دیں گے ،
آج اگر لوگ ایسی سوچ رکھتے. دو وقت کی روٹی کی بجاے زندگی کا کوئی مقصد کوئی نصب العین ہوتا ،
تو آج سڑکوں پر یوں جانوروں کی ترھا مر نہ رہے ہوتے ،
قصور عوام کا ہے اور سر ا سر عوام کا ہے.
ہم کون تھے اور کیا ہو گئے ہیں،
عمر نے پوچھا اگر میں راہ سے ہٹ گیا تو کیا کرو گے ، لوگوں نے کہا ، تلوار سے سیدھا کر دیں گے ،
آج اگر لوگ ایسی سوچ رکھتے. دو وقت کی روٹی کی بجاے زندگی کا کوئی مقصد کوئی نصب العین ہوتا ،
تو آج سڑکوں پر یوں جانوروں کی ترھا مر نہ رہے ہوتے ،
قصور عوام کا ہے اور سر ا سر عوام کا ہے.
aamir_uetn
Prime Minister (20k+ posts)
Re: ان کا قصور کیا تھا؟
بس دعوے ، مذمتی بیانات سنتے جائیں گے اور لاشیں اٹھاتے جائیں گے ، جب تک دکانداروں کو نکال کے ہم لیڈروں کو اسمبلی تک نہیں لاتے
M Ali Khan
Minister (2k+ posts)
[h=3]Execution-Style Killings in Bolan[/h] Posted by Malik Siraj Akbar on August 9, 2013
The killing of 13 unarmed Punjabi laborers in Bolan District by Baloch nationalists is deeply shocking. According to official authorities, the attackers, attired in fake official uniforms, had established a phony security check point where they stopped a Punjab-bound passenger bus. The unarmed passengers were forcefully taken out of the bus and brutally slain after checking their identity cards. Most of the victims were young laborers from the Punjab province who were going home to celebrate Eid with their families in the Punjab.
It is a great shame that the Baloch Liberation Army (B.L.A.), which claims to be fighting for the rights of the oppressed Baloch people, carried out this inhuman act. As good Muslims have nothing to do with suicide bombings, responsible and conscious Balochs also have nothing to do with this act against humanity. No matter how faulty Islamabad’s policies toward the Baloch are, there cannot be any justification for such callous attacks on innocent civilians. Such incidents, as noted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,will “erode whatever sympathy the people have for their [Baloch] cause inside the country or outside.”
One wonders how mass murdering unarmed civilians helps achieve nationalists’ political goals. Their could only be one motive behind perpetrating such crimes: gain public attention. After the general elections in May this year and the appointment of a Baloch “nationalist” as the chief minister, the armed groups seem to believe that Islamabad is endeavoring to weaken their movement. Over the past many years, the armed underground organizations have had only one tactic to gain attention: violence. They have attacked official installations, for which they have had public support.
However, attacks on poor laborers only embarrass everyone who supports the Baloch rights. It is wrong on the part of the armed groups to carry out such reprehensible acts in the name of Baloch. Balochistan is a tribal society with its own centuries-old code of conduct and the Baloch code does not allow attacks on non-locals or unarmed people. With such assaults, the armed groups want to send a message that the Baloch chief minister, Dr. Malik, is not in control of the province.
Killing innocent people is not a smart way to settle scores against one’s political rivals. If a movement does not stand for equal rights for all, it has no moral ground to speak on the behalf of the oppressed people.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the Baloch nationalist movement has lost its direction. It stands at a dangerous crossroad. Until a few years ago, a nationalist could not think in his wildest dream that he would bring down a bunch of passengers from a bus and kill them simply based on their ethnicity. Only the Taliban and their local affiliates from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are known for such barbaric attacks.
Someone among the Baloch leadership should step forward and stop these senseless operations. There is an urgent need to pause and rethink the aims and objectives of the Baloch nationalist demands. Who will do it?
Because there is a serious problem here. There is nothing such as “Baloch leadership” left. Even “Baloch nationalist” is not a monolithic term. There are dozens of different armed and political groups and political parties that identify themselves as “Baloch nationalists”. Not all of them operate under one leader nor do they always or ever cooperate with each other.
Some of these nationalists, for example Chief Minister Dr. Malik Baloch and the Baloch Liberation Army, are each other’s worst enemies although both of them identify themselves as “Baloch nationalists”. They both claim to be the true spokesmen of the Baloch people but they have two absolutely different interpretations of what it means to be a nationalist.
The nationalists operate from so many platforms that it is nearly impossible to hold someone responsible for the actions of the others or urge one group to review the other group’s actions. It is hard for the government to negotiate with all these factions of Baloch nationalists, nor will they all agree to sit on one table. Because they do not like the government and, at the same time, they do not like each other.
If the government or the military applies force, this will benefit the hardliners among the nationalists.They want the government to carry out an operation against them because it perpetuates their movement, generates sympathies for them and also helps in diverting attention from their own attacks on civilians, such as the one in Bolan.
The government must utilize all political and administrative options to protect the lives of the people in Balochistan. If the provincial government fails to curb violence during the initial months, it will have to face a very troubling five-year term.
http://gmcmissing.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/execution-style-killings-in-bolan/
Good piece by exiled Baloch writer Malik Siraj Akbar. He is very right about how much the Baloch nationalist 'movement' has fractured, splintered, and fragmented beyond return. However, I disagree that BLA killing bus passengers is something they learned for LeJ-TTP. BLA and other 'armed groups' started this horrible trend to specifically target Punjab-origin people soon after 2006. The Takfiri groups did this much later.
The killing of 13 unarmed Punjabi laborers in Bolan District by Baloch nationalists is deeply shocking. According to official authorities, the attackers, attired in fake official uniforms, had established a phony security check point where they stopped a Punjab-bound passenger bus. The unarmed passengers were forcefully taken out of the bus and brutally slain after checking their identity cards. Most of the victims were young laborers from the Punjab province who were going home to celebrate Eid with their families in the Punjab.
It is a great shame that the Baloch Liberation Army (B.L.A.), which claims to be fighting for the rights of the oppressed Baloch people, carried out this inhuman act. As good Muslims have nothing to do with suicide bombings, responsible and conscious Balochs also have nothing to do with this act against humanity. No matter how faulty Islamabad’s policies toward the Baloch are, there cannot be any justification for such callous attacks on innocent civilians. Such incidents, as noted by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan,will “erode whatever sympathy the people have for their [Baloch] cause inside the country or outside.”
One wonders how mass murdering unarmed civilians helps achieve nationalists’ political goals. Their could only be one motive behind perpetrating such crimes: gain public attention. After the general elections in May this year and the appointment of a Baloch “nationalist” as the chief minister, the armed groups seem to believe that Islamabad is endeavoring to weaken their movement. Over the past many years, the armed underground organizations have had only one tactic to gain attention: violence. They have attacked official installations, for which they have had public support.
However, attacks on poor laborers only embarrass everyone who supports the Baloch rights. It is wrong on the part of the armed groups to carry out such reprehensible acts in the name of Baloch. Balochistan is a tribal society with its own centuries-old code of conduct and the Baloch code does not allow attacks on non-locals or unarmed people. With such assaults, the armed groups want to send a message that the Baloch chief minister, Dr. Malik, is not in control of the province.
Killing innocent people is not a smart way to settle scores against one’s political rivals. If a movement does not stand for equal rights for all, it has no moral ground to speak on the behalf of the oppressed people.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the Baloch nationalist movement has lost its direction. It stands at a dangerous crossroad. Until a few years ago, a nationalist could not think in his wildest dream that he would bring down a bunch of passengers from a bus and kill them simply based on their ethnicity. Only the Taliban and their local affiliates from the Lashkar-e-Jhangvi are known for such barbaric attacks.
Someone among the Baloch leadership should step forward and stop these senseless operations. There is an urgent need to pause and rethink the aims and objectives of the Baloch nationalist demands. Who will do it?
Because there is a serious problem here. There is nothing such as “Baloch leadership” left. Even “Baloch nationalist” is not a monolithic term. There are dozens of different armed and political groups and political parties that identify themselves as “Baloch nationalists”. Not all of them operate under one leader nor do they always or ever cooperate with each other.
Some of these nationalists, for example Chief Minister Dr. Malik Baloch and the Baloch Liberation Army, are each other’s worst enemies although both of them identify themselves as “Baloch nationalists”. They both claim to be the true spokesmen of the Baloch people but they have two absolutely different interpretations of what it means to be a nationalist.
The nationalists operate from so many platforms that it is nearly impossible to hold someone responsible for the actions of the others or urge one group to review the other group’s actions. It is hard for the government to negotiate with all these factions of Baloch nationalists, nor will they all agree to sit on one table. Because they do not like the government and, at the same time, they do not like each other.
If the government or the military applies force, this will benefit the hardliners among the nationalists.They want the government to carry out an operation against them because it perpetuates their movement, generates sympathies for them and also helps in diverting attention from their own attacks on civilians, such as the one in Bolan.
The government must utilize all political and administrative options to protect the lives of the people in Balochistan. If the provincial government fails to curb violence during the initial months, it will have to face a very troubling five-year term.
http://gmcmissing.wordpress.com/2013/08/09/execution-style-killings-in-bolan/
Good piece by exiled Baloch writer Malik Siraj Akbar. He is very right about how much the Baloch nationalist 'movement' has fractured, splintered, and fragmented beyond return. However, I disagree that BLA killing bus passengers is something they learned for LeJ-TTP. BLA and other 'armed groups' started this horrible trend to specifically target Punjab-origin people soon after 2006. The Takfiri groups did this much later.
