Musharraf appeared before the court in relation to the Benazir Bhutto murder case and made three requests including the request to unfreeze his assets and bank accounts. During the hearing, the court granted him the permission to meet his lawyers and also allowed him a 15-minute meeting with his lawyers inside the court premises.

Further, the court admitted the former president’s request regarding unfreezing of his assets and bank accounts for hearing. It also issued a notice to the FIA in this regard.

Musharraf also objected to being declared wanted by the authorities and the ATC decided to discuss the matter in the next hearing. Musharraf argued that since he had surrendered, he should not be declared “wanted.”

The prosecutor and the FIA were asked to complete their investigation against the ex-general and submit a challan by the next hearing on May 3. Musharraf was driven to the court in Rawalpindi, the headquarters of the army he once led, from his plush villa on the edge of Islamabad where he is serving a two-week arrest order for other charges dating back to his 1999-2008 rule.

Musharraf is accused of conspiracy to murder Bhutto, who died in a gun and suicide attack in December 2007. It is one of three cases he is fighting in the courts since returning home last month after four years in self-imposed exile.

His arrest and disqualification from contesting elections on May 11 have been a humiliating blow for the former ruler of nuclear-armed Pakistan, previously a key ally of US president George W. Bush in the war on terror.

Lawyers vs Musharraf supporters

Despite a heavy police and paramilitary presence, scuffles broke out between lawyers and Musharraf supporters, who threw stones and beat each other with sticks outside the court building, an AFP reporter said.

Musharraf’s supporters reportedly injured few lawyers during the scuffle but were forced to retreat as lawyers charged at them. Police remained a silent witness throughout but later resorted to baton charge on former president’s supporters.

About 150 lawyers shouted: “Dog, dog, Musharraf dog!” while two dozen supporters chanted “Long live Musharraf!”

LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) central leadership finds itself in a fix after its Balochistan chapter president Sardar Sanaullah Zehri lodged an FIR against Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M) chief over the murder of his son, brother and nephew.

Sanaullah Zehri. PHOTO: EXPRESS

Following the incident, the PML-N and BNP-M have stopped their negotiations and almost refused to sit again for seat adjustment in Balochistan.

PML-N Balochistan leadership has conveyed its message to party president Nawaz Sharif to either strike a deal of seat adjustment with BNP-M or save his party in Balochistan.

Zehri, while talking with The Express Tribune, said that when he joined the PML-N, he raised the party’s flag in the troubled province where he encountered tragic incidents, including the assassination of his young son, nephew and brother.

Sanaullah Zehri said that BNP-M, which spoke against the federation, is responsible for the killing of his beloved ones. He added that he does not understand why his party (PML-N) is keen on striking a seat adjustment deal with BNP-M.

In addition, Zehri indicated that if his party (PML-N) insists on joining hands with the killers of his family, then he would quit the party. Zehri added that Nawaz Sharif has to decide either to stand by the party or with groups who are against the country.

Seat adjustment

Prior to the attack on Zehri, PML-N and BNP-M had held only two meetings. According to details, Zehri, Lashkari Raisani, Yaqoob Nasir and Abdul Qadir Baloch represented PML-N while Dr Jahenzeb Jamaldini, Nawab Amanullah and Agha Hassan Baloch represented BNP-M.

Both parties discussed seat adjustment but could not arrive at a mutually acceptable formula.

A few days before the deadly attack, Nawaz Sharif had sent two senior party leaders, Mushahidullah Khan and Ayaz Sadiq with a mandate to strike a deal with BNP-M.

The officials said that both leaders supported seat adjustment and their next meeting was to take place shortly, but due to the attack, the dialogue process did not proceed.

Dr Jamaldini of BNP-M said that PML-N Balochistan leadership is divided and there are three hopefuls for the office of chief minister – Sanaullah Zehri, Lashkari Raisani and Changez Marri.

Zehri enmity

Sanaullah Zehri is the head of his tribe. However, Mir Amanullah Zehri announced himself as the chieftain of the Zehri tribe. Amanullah is an active member of BNP-M Central Working Committee.

Amanullah’s son Riaz Zehri was killed in 2009 by unidentified miscreants in district Khuzdar. He pointed fingers at Sanaullah Zehri for the tragic incident.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 23^rd, 2013.

chabahar-port-city-of-southern-Balochistan

Ahead of external affairs minister Salman Khurshid’s visit to Iran from May 3-5, the Union cabinet is likely to approve an assistance plan of $100 million (about Rs. 539 crore) to develop the port. “The

cabinet approval is expected soon,” said an official. Gwadar has strategic importance for China as 60% of its crude oil comes from Gulf countries that are close to the port.

Chabahar  port city of southern Balochistan in Iran will not only help New Delhi counter Beijing’s presence but also boost India’s trade and investment ties with landlocked Afghanistan and central Asia by providing it with a transit route to the region (Pakistan does not allow Indian goods to pass through its territory). India, Iran and Afghanistan have already signed an agreement to give Indian goods heading for central Asia and Afghanistan preferential treatment and tariff reductions at Chabahar.

Moreover, the development of the port will also help Afghanistan reduce its dependence on Pakistan’s Karachi port for access to the Indian Ocean. At present, Afghanistan uses Karachi for its trade and to receive energy supplies.

Chabahar has been on the agenda in discussions between India and Iran since 2003.

But a host of problems — including the chill in India-Iran ties after Delhi voted against Tehran at the International Atomic Energy Agency, and US’s concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear programme — have prevented the project from taking off so far.

Speaking to media he said that the situation in the volatile province had not improved in the caretaker setup, adding that the establishment was not ready to pay heed to Baloch voice. Mengal said that issues could not be resolved through use of forces instead use of force complicated them.

He said that the election process would be doubtful if law and order situation was not improved in Balochiistan.

“The main objective of the meeting was to convey terror threats to the provinces and devise a combined policy which could help in tackling the law and order situation in the country,” he said.

Malik further stand firm on his last warnings regarding massacre in Karachi and said that today’s blast was the first of the warnings that he had given in the past.

“Whenever I had informed regarding any terror threat it had happened,” he said adding that the law enforcement authorities should seriously consider this threat.

The interior minister also announced to confer ‘Sitara-e-Shujaat’ to the bomb disposal squad (BDS) unit which saved life of several people in Sohrab Goth area by the diffusing an active bomb.

He said the Frontier Corps, commissioner and other authorities were talking to the grieving families to bury their dead which they had not so far in protest against the terrorist attacks and the state’s failure to protect them.

Pakistan accused of army massacre in Balochistan

Pakistan has been conducting a violent campaign against one of its indigenous ethnic populations, says human rights campaigner Peter Tatchell 

Since Christmas Eve, Pakistan has launched a savage new military crackdown in annexed and occupied Balochistan.Jet aircraft and helicopter gunships have bombarded pro-nationalist villages, resulting in the reported destruction of nearly 200 houses and the deaths of 50 civilians, including women and children.

The main military sweep took place in the Awaran, Panjur and Makran districts of Balochistan. It included a 70-truck convoy of army soldiers and Frontier Corps. Hundreds of villagers were rounded up and interrogated. Many have since disappeared. Some were later found dead, with their mutilated bodies showing signs of torture.

Throughout the operational area, the military have laid siege to villages and imposed a 24/7 curfew, which prevents families leaving their homes to collect food and water and to tend their crops and livestock.

Full details cannot yet be verified because the Pakistani security forces are refusing to allow anyone to leave or enter the area. In particular, human rights investigators, aid workers and journalists are barred. Doctors who attempted to treat the injured were turned away by Pakistani soldiers.

Information about the massacre comes from the Asian Human Rights Commission and the Baloch Human Rights Council (UK).

Freedom or insurgency?

Zaffar Baloch, President of the Baloch Human Rights Council in Canada, condemned the army’s operation, saying it is “part of a broader plan of action to curtail the freedom struggle of the Baloch nation… and inflict a slow-motion genocide on the Baloch people.”

Pakistan’s military justifies the attacks by claiming they were hunting for the Baloch liberation guerrilla leader, Dr Allah Nazar, who they allege was hiding in local villages. They say the dead are insurgents from the Balochistan Liberation Front. This is disputed by human rights defenders, who point to children aged one, two and four who were among those killed.

International humanitarian law prohibits indiscriminate, disproportionate military attacks that are likely to endanger innocent civilians; making the army’s action a war crime under the Geneva Conventions and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

‘Dirty secret war’

Balochistan has been torn apart by a six-decades-long insurgency, which rejects forcible incorporation into Pakistan in 1948 and demands self-rule.

Guardian reporter Declan Walsh has described the conflict as “Pakistan’s dirty secret war”.

In protest at the Christmas massacre and other long-standing human rights abuses by the Pakistani security forces, the President of the Balochistan National Party, Akhtar Mengal, has written to Senator John Kerry, nominated by President Obama as the new US Secretary of State, urging the suspension of American aid to Pakistan.

In his letter, Mengal, a former Chief Minister of Balochistan, advises Kerry: “It is very clear that Pakistan’s civilian government has lost ‘effective control and oversight’ over a military that is committing widespread atrocities and war crimes inside Balochistan.”

Human rights abuses

The current killings are merely the latest of many indiscriminate attacks and violent human rights abuses against the Baloch people by the security forces of Pakistan. They have taken place with the de facto collusion of the government in Islamabad.

Amnesty International has previously condemned what it calls the ‘kill and dump’ terror methods of the Pakistani security forces.

These on-going abuses are corroborated by Human Rights Watch.

The US administration is accused of complicity. It supplies Pakistan with F-16 fighter jets and Cobra attack helicopters that were designated for the fight against the Taliban but which are frequently diverted for use in military operations in Balochistan.

Critics accuse government and military chiefs in Islamabad of giving the Taliban free rein in Balochistan. allowing them to act as a proxy second force against the more moderate, secular Baloch national movement.

Armed resistance to Pakistan’s ‘neo-colonial’ rule has widespread and growing popular support. Nationalists say that 64 years of military occupation and human rights abuses has strengthened the desire for the restoration of full independence.

Source: http://news.uk.msn.com/articles.aspx?cp-documentid=252796260

SM Zafar was of the view that civil society is gaining roots in Balochistan which is a healthy sign. He said there was need to get rid of the feudal system.

Syed Fakhar Imam said Balochistan was strategic and integral part of Pakistan. According to him, the Balochistan issue was totally political. He said the future of Balochistan was in fact the future of Pakistan. He stressed the need for forming a reconciliatory commission on the Balochistan issue.

Humayun Akhtar said political issues were always complicated. He said the government had badly failed in the democratic regime, adding however, the failure of the government should not be considered as failure of democracy. Brig (r) Nadir Mir said the Balochistan issue could only be resolved if “we all consider ourselves Baloch”. According to him, “Baloch nationalism” was not a threat to Pakistan.

Source: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2013%5C01%5C04%5Cstory_4-1-2013_pg7_18

The spokesman further said that frightened of the successful liberation struggle the Pakistani forces are targeting the local population and their properties. The forces are trying to scare the localities so that they abandon the struggle for emancipation. But Pakistan must know that the consciousness that has been ingrained in the minds of Baloch nation is due to the tireless efforts and sacrifices of Baloch activists and it cannot be ejected with such brutal tactics. In fact such acts of Pakistani forces expose their psychological defeat.

“The Pakistani forces are trying to terrorize the Baloch nation with inhumane and terrorizing acts But the Baloch nation is strong and conscious enough to counter such acts,” said the BSO-Azad spokesperson.

Located on historic invasion routes to India, the lands that now constitute Pakistan have had their fair share of border changes. In the process many kingdoms, sultanates and states have been formed and disintegrated. The Pakistan created on August 14, 1947 broke apart in an acrimonious war in 1971 into Bangladesh and West Pakistan. Now three territorial issues have the potential of seriously altering its current boundaries, against the backdrop of perceived discrimination – which became the basis of the independence of Pakistan and then Bangladesh. The country faces what a TV anchor has called “a 1971 moment”.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by area, constituting nearly 42 per cent of the country, and containing much of its natural resources, is into its fifth military confrontation with the federation since its controversial accession in 1948. Balochis have continued to resent the exploitation of their resources with little compensation.

The current troubles began in 2002, when the army moved in to set up cantonments in Kohlu and Sui districts. The callous killing of Oxford-educated Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006 has led the Baloch nationalists and the military into a war of attrition. Thousands of Baloch young men have allegedly disappeared. Many tortured and mutilated bodies have since been found.

In September, the self-exiled former chief minister of Balochistan, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, in a surprise Supreme Court appearance, drawing parallels with Bangladesh’s Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, presented his “six points” for bringing peace to the province. But unlike Mujibur’s, these “six points” only demand establishment of the rule of law in Balochistan. He said: “Why should we not divorce peacefully?” Seemingly ready for a negotiated settlement to secure control of their governance and resources, none of the self-exiled Baloch nationalist leaders have opposed the “six points”.

The provincial chief minister admits he has no authority. The Supreme Court has ruled that the Balochistan government has constitutionally failed. The military’s statement supporting a political solution to the Balochistan problem provided it is “within the constitution” sounds hollow. The rest of the political leadership and public opinion supports the Baloch. A proposed energy pipeline, critical to the economic growth of Pakistan and Gwadar port’s success, is contingent upon peace in Balochistan.

Sindh, the only province that voted a Muslim League majority government before the partition of India, has not forgiven the Punjab-led army for Zulfikar Ali Bhutto’s killing. To destroy the Bhutto charisma, especially in urban Sindh, General Zia ul Haq sponsored the Mohajir Qaumi Movement-(MQM – meaning refugees, the descendents of migrants from India), later renamed the Muttihida Qaumi Movement, arguably the first ethnic party in Pakistan. Karachi-centred, the MQM, has been unable to garner any support in other provinces while Sindhi nationalists resent MQM’s control of Karachi.

The growing influx of Pashtuns into Karachi since the 1979 Soviet invasion of Afghanistan and consequent MQM cadre displacement from jobs and businesses makes it akin to Beirut in the 1970s and 80s. Comprising about 25 per cent of 20 million people in Karachi and swelling, the Pashtuns now demand more political space. With MQM unable to augment their numbers, every round of trouble is deadlier than the previous one. The turf battles include target killings, kidnappings for ransom and extortions. Criminal gangs run Karachi. Disruption in Karachi’s economic life adversely affects the whole country.

President Asif Ali Zardari, to secure a governing coalition, is taking the short-term route of placating the MQM, which is widely believed to harbour plans to divide Sindh. The MQM demands and gets what it wants every time it threatens to walk out of the coalition. The recently-promulgated Sindh Local Government System, negotiated secretly between the PPP and MQM, virtually dividing Sindh between urban and rural areas, will solidify the MQM’s control of cities and thus its access to huge funds. The Sindhi nationalists and other coalition partners have quit the Sindh cabinet in protest and Sindh is agitating violently.

The MQM and the Pashtuns are arming themselves for a possible showdown. The MQM are in a hurry to secure political advantage. The danger lies in matters going out of control where the MQM takes the last stand with their backs to the sea. Unless a political understanding is reached soon, it may well degenerate into another ethno-nationalist armed conflict.

The PPP, protesting discrimination against southern Punjab, has called for the division of Punjab for “administrative” reasons into a Saraiki-speaking southern Punjab province and northern Punjab. The real reason is the PPP’s inability to break the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N – of former prime minister Nawaz Sharif) stranglehold over Punjab. A call for the division of Punjab, which considers itself as the glue holding the country together, necessarily provokes sharp reaction.

The PML-N, mindful of the electoral cost of opposing the idea, has demanded that Punjab be divided into three instead of two. Attempting to draw political mileage, it called for the creation of Hazara and FATA provinces out of the present Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Hazara, a non-Pashto speaking area, agitates against renaming the province KPK.

Punjab would not let its advantage of numbers and economic weight be undermined through its division. It has pushed for similar break-ups of other provinces so that Punjab’s relative strength is maintained. Being the largest province, politics in Punjab affects the other provinces, threatening a snowball effect of division.

Political sparring has already begun for elections due early next year, leading to a hardening of positions, drawing similarities with the fissures between East and West Pakistan prior to the 1970 elections. The big issue is the reaction of the heavily Punjab-based military. If trouble spills over to a point where a military solution is sought at the expense of political accommodation, a Bangladesh-type situation – the so-called “1971 moment” – may arise.

Only a few things, like the cold-blooded attack on teenage girl Malala Yousafzai, hate of America, or cricket, unite Pakistanis. Pakistan needs to shed its own ignorance, elect credible and honest leaders, establish the rule of law and look inwards to secure its future.

Sajjad Ashraf was Pakistan’s high commissioner to Singapore from 2004-2008. He is now an adjunct professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, National University of Singapore.

RSIS Commentaries.

“As someone who has been involved with various customs issues for years, my estimation is that the new law is flawed,” he said.

As he said, the new law annulled the former 60-article law. His new book compares the two laws, and elaborates on their strong and weak points.

“I believe that there was no need to cancel all the former law and introduce a completely new version of the customs duties. I can say that the law-makers failed in offering the new law,” he further added.

Elsewhere in his interview, Ahmadi said that whenever a new law is introduces its by-law should be published within the following 6 months; however, it has now passed over a year since the ratification of the new law and its by-law is yet to be published.

Mizan Publishing Institute will publish Ahmadi’s book in the near future.

Sharing their critique of Pakistan’s submissions to UN in Geneva before the Working Group of Human Rights Council, they said people continue to protest against the many people missing in Balochistan while arrests and human rights abuses continue.

“The Supreme Court has held military and the Frontier Corps answerable for extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances. Since July 2010, more than 400 bodies of missing persons have been found in Balochistan,” they said.

Nationalist groups claim that more than 100 children are being illegally detained by the military. Cabinet members from the province all live in Islamabad and visit the province only on rare occasions, they said.

The government has constituted two commissions to investigate the causes behind the extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances in Balochistan. One of the commissions asked to complete its report within three months has still not been presented it, they claimed.

“The other commission has also taken well over a year but failed to present its conclusions,” they said.

“The report presented by Pakistan was disappointing. Member states have recommended that military operations should be halted in Balochistan and government should ensure that those responsible for torture, extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are prosecuted,” they said.

“The impunity offered to the offenders should be withdrawn immediately. Amongst other recommendations was that adequate resources must be provided to the National Commission on Human Rights to enable it to perform its duties,” they added.

The press conference was attended by IA Rehman from Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, Mohammad Zubair from South Asia Partnership (SAP-PK), Fauzia Viqar from Shirkat Gah, Nasreen Zehra from Aurat Foundation, Sajjad Cheema from SPARC and Peter Jacob from National Commission for Justice and Peace.

Article published by News Track India:

Pakistan has failed to keep in check rising militancy in Balochistan.

The National Assembly of Pakistan passed a resolution against this hearing and the foreign office of Pakistan also filed a complaint to the US. Sherry Rahman, the newly appointed ambassador, also called the hearing a bad move by the US and said it will have serious implications for the two countries. Pakistani lawmakers asked for immediate resolution to the demands of the nationalists of Balochistan.

Balochistan is one of the four provinces of Pakistan comprising of almost half of the total area of Pakistan but with only 6.6 million population. Balochistan is the largest and richest in mineral resources of gas, gold and copper but is is most backward and poorest of the provinces of Pakistan. The Baloch have faced atleast five military operations by Pakistan army since 1948. The central government in Islamabad and the provincial government have conflict over the natural resources and the the autonomy. Baloch people want greater autonomy within the Pakistani federation and now even want independence

On February 8, in a congressional hearing, five members of the US congress belonging to both the democratic and republican parties and a retired colonel of the army supported the Baloch right to self determination. During the same hearing, five witnesses, including representatives from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, spoke of how the Pakistani government was using American weapons against the Balochi nationalists and Pakistan has manipulated the war on terror to suppress the rights of Baloch people. The Chairman of the session also demanded for stopping the US aid to Pakistan and redrawing the borders of Pakistan.

Also present during the hearing was Mr Ralph Peters, a retired military officer, who in 2006 proposed the idea of a free Balochistan. During his testimony, Mr Peters said that it was a fact that Balochistan was an occupied territory and it never acceded to Pakistan and never wanted to be a part of Pakistan. Mr Peters also said that if a referendum is to be held tomorrow, Balochistan would vote to independence rather than being a part of Pakistan.

Amnesty International representative, Mr T Kumar, asked for applying Leahy Ammendment to Pakistani military in Balochistan as it was involved in human right violations in Balochistan. According to the Amendment, US will be required to stop funding a country whose military is involved in human rights violations.

Congressman Louie Gohmert, who had supported the idea of an independentBalochistan n a recent interview, expressed his concerns over the use of Americanweapons against Baloch people. Congressman Ted Poe supported Baloch people by saying that the Baloch people have right to separate from an abusive Pakistani government.

Pakistan is a democracy and it is dealing with the situation in Balochistan according to the international law. The US hearing indicates that the big powers are aiding the rebels in Balochistan and the hearing is part of a conspiracy to separate Balochistan from Pakistan. The government of Pakistan is taking necessary actions to solve the problems in the restive province of Pakistan and US should not interfere in the internal affairs of Pakistan. If Pakistan really wants Balochistan to remain a part of Pakistan, it should listen to the demands of the nationalists of Balochistan.

There seems consensus among Pakistani and American experts that the outcome of Tuesday’s presidential elections in the United States would barely lead to any policy change in Washington towards Pakistan. The Baloch diaspora in the United States, nonetheless, views the US polls with a different set of expectations. They have their reasons to support both the candidates because none of them has indicated to be soft on Pakistan.The Baloch say that whether it is a Democrat or a Republican who wins the battle for the White House, what serves their interests is the notion that Pakistan be destined to face a demanding American president. An administration in Washington that rebukes Pakistan for its human rights record provides the Baloch some hope of relief from Islamabad’s current harsh policies.

In 2012, Balochistan attracted significant attention in Washington. Expressions of concern by the US Congress and the State Department over the situation in Balochistan has worried Islamabad.

On their part, the Pakistani government and media have repeatedly objected to discussions in the US that addressed Balochistan, arguing that issues pertaining to the region were Pakistan’s “internal matter”.

Members of the Baloch diaspora have been actively interacting with US policymakers, human rights groups and the media to create awareness with respect to the situation in Balochistan.

Also, sections of the Pakistani military and right-wing politicians believe the United States supports the Baloch nationalist movement.

There is no official confirmation of such a policy from the US government. However, authorities at the Pakistani embassy in Washington have been endeavouring to cancel and disrupt events that discuss Balochistan in the US capital. The region, on the other hand, is getting more attention than ever before at American think-tanks and universities.

Islamabad was outraged in Feb 2012 when Republican Congressman Dana Rohrabacher, a member of the US House of Representatives’ Committee on Foreign Affairs, chaired an exclusive session on Balochistan.

Joined by three Republicans and one Democratic member of the US Congress, the hearing supported the Baloch demand for an independent state.

Pakistan’s ambassador to Washington, Sherry Rehman, termed the hearing an “ill-advised move” which could be “detrimental” to building trust between Pakistan and the United States.

The ambassador’s protest did not deter Rohrabacher. On Feb 18, only 10 days after the controversial hearing, he, along with two other members of the US Congress, moved a resolution in the House of Representatives demanding independence for the Baloch people.

Moreover, on March 27, Rohrabacher addressed a press conference at Washington’s National Press Club to reaffirm his support for a free Balochistan.

“Mr Rohrabacher is a hero for the Baloch nation,” says Akram Baloch, a leader of the Baloch diaspora and a US national who lives in Philadelphia.

Baloch, who personally attended the hearing and the press conference, says the developments in the United States have proved that Balochistan is an “international dispute” and Pakistan should be held accountable for its actions against the Baloch.

“We appreciate the American legislators who stood for the rights of the Baloch people and we request them to play their role in ending the gross human rights violations in Balochistan and in granting us the right to self-determination,” says Baloch who had formerly contested elections in his native Kharan district in Balochistan.

The impression that the Balochistan issue is only raised by some anti-Pakistan members of the US Congress is not correct. The US government has also frequently voiced concerns on the state of affairs in Balochistan.

For instance, on Oct 30, 2012, the United States expressed “deep concern” over the violence in the region in Geneva at the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Washington blamed Pakistani security forces for carrying out ““kill-and-dump” operations [in Balochistan] that target numerous civil society actors, including Baloch activists and their family members, as well as journalists, activists and student leaders.”

On Jan 13, 2012, Victoria Nuland, the spokeswoman for the State Department, said the United States was “deeply concerned about the ongoing violence in Balochistan”. She stated that the US took the allegations of human rights violations very seriously and said America had “discussed these issues with the Pakistani officials”, urging them to “really lead and conduct a dialogue that takes this issue forward”.

Moreover, on Nov 15, 2011, Mark C. Toner, deputy spokesman at the State Department, had also stated that the US government had “broader concerns about the situation there [in Balochistan] and the freedom of the press…and when we do have those concerns, we raise them with the Government of Pakistan.”

Furthemore, the State Department had in its 2011 Human Rights Report referred to targeted killings and enforced disappearances in Balochistan where “ nationalist, political and intellectual leaders remained targets of attacks.”

All of the above statements reflect that the Obama administration is displeased with Islamabad’s policy in Balochistan.

“We have great respect for both political parties in the US,” says former Senator Sanaullah Baloch of the Balochistan National Party.

“Whichever candidate wins the elections, the impact will be profound for the region,” he says.

“We do hope that the new US administration will rethink its closed-door policy towards the marginalised Baloch people – and embrace democracy-defenders, political activists, journalists and students who are being ruthlessly eliminated over their political opinions,” says the former senator.

He says Balochistan has a conducive environment for the development of democracy due to what he calls a centuries-old progressive political process.

“Due to a collision of policies and interests with Islamabad, moderate Baloch political forces and society have been systemically persecuted and discriminated against. Despite high poverty, low literacy and appalling socio-economic conditions, religious fundamentalism has failed to take roots in Baloch society,” says the former legislator.

Some members of the Baloch diaspora believe that the United States should do more to address the Balochistan conflict. They also fear that more cooperation between Pakistan and the United States would undermine Baloch interests.

Miran Gichki, a young Baloch scholar who graduated from the University of Arkansas and now lives in California, says a Republican president is more likely to work closely with Pakistan.

“My concern is about Pakistan getting more military assistance from the United States which will be used against Baloch dissidents,” he says.

“I am also worried that more Baloch would be targeted if United States transfers drone technology to Pakistan.”

Regardless of who comes to power in Washington, it would not be easy for the next US president to ignore Balochistan while dealing with Pakistan. Balochistan remains critical in the debate pertaining to Taliban sanctuaries, growing religious radicalisation and issues of democracy and human rights. However, the challenge here is that one American approach to address the unrest in Balochistan is not going to be simultaneously acceptable to both Islamabad and Baloch nationalists. Nonetheless, the Baloch see brighter prospects for them from the United States irrespective of the outcome of the presidential elections.

Malik Siraj Akbar, based in Washington DC, is the editor-in-chief of the Baloch Hal, the first online English language newspaper of Balochistan. Twitter: MalikSirajAkbar

He said the federal government had also failed to solve Balochistan issue and gave nothing to the Baloch in the name of relief packages. “Now, the time has come that federal government should acknowledge its inability to address the Baloch issues and apologize to the nation,” he added.

He held the Balochistan government for the worsening law and order situation in the province saying it had kept mum over the subversive activities of the anti-state elements under the patronage of the US and India. He was of the opinion that the security and secret agencies had worsened the Balochistan situation.

“It is the duty of the security agencies to provide protection to the people but they have done contrary to it,” he added.