Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan

22 Oct 2007 17:27:38 GMT22 Oct 2007 17:27:38 GMT ## for search indexer, do not remove-->
Source: Crisis Group

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Islamabad/Brussels, 22 October 2007: The insurgency in Balochistan province will only subside when free, fair and transparent elections establish a legitimate government to replace Pakistan’s current military dictatorship.

Pakistan: The Forgotten Conflict in Balochistan,* the latest report from the International Crisis Group, examines the tensions across the strategically important and resource-rich province, where violence continues unabated between the military government and militants demanding political and economic autonomy. It urges the federal government to return power to democratic institutions in order to stem growing Baloch alienation and regional instability.

“The military relies on repression, killings, imprisonment, disappearances and torture to bend the Baloch to its will”, says Robert Templer, Director of the Asia Program. “That only feeds the insurgency”.

Relying on divide-and-rule policies, the military supports Pashtun Islamist parties like the JUI-F, a key patron of the Afghan Taliban, in a bid to counter secular Baloch and moderate Pashtun forces. Using Balochistan as a base of operation and sanctuary and recruiting from JUI’s extensive madrasa network, the Taliban and its Pakistani allies are undermining the state-building effort in Afghanistan. At the same time, U.S. and other Western support for Musharraf is alienating the Baloch, who otherwise could be natural partners in countering extremism in Pakistan.

The federal government needs to restore a democratic election process for national and provincial governments and allow representative and participatory institutions. It should cease all military operations, release all political prisoners, including those in the unlawful custody of intelligence agencies, and accept the Supreme Court’s directive to end the disappearances of political opponents. It should immediately produce those charged with criminal offences before competent civilian courts, which should be responsible for any trials, and drop terrorism charges against Balochistan National Party leader Akthar Mengal, transfer his kidnapping trial to a sessions court and release him on bail.

The government should also ensure freedom of speech, movement, association and assembly and remove all restrictions on Baloch nationalist parties.

“The staunchly anti-Taliban and secular Baloch believe the international community has yet to understand the threat the military’s Islamist allies pose, domestically and externally”, says Samina Ahmed, South Asia Project Director. “The restoration of participatory democratic institutions willing to accommodate the legitimate political demands of the Baloch would assuage dissent and restore trust in constitutionalism and rule of law”.