Disappearances and Assassinations
In its annual Pakistan Security Report 2010, the Islamabad-based independent think-tank, Pakistan Institute for Peace (PIPS), has described Balochistan as the country's "most violent" province during the year 2010. While the resource-rich province witnessed a 7 percent decrease in the overall number of violent attacks as compared to 2009, an alarming 43 percent increase in murders and 4 percent upsurge in injuries was recorded last year. According to PIPS statistics, 737 terrorist attacks in the province killed at least 600 people and injured 1,117.
What the Tunisian Revolution and WikiLeaks Tell Us about American Support for Corrupt Dictatorships in the Muslim World
It's time for Washington to signal a new commitment to actual democracy and genuine human rights by simply cutting off military and counterterrorism aid to authoritarian and corrupt regimes that are, in any case, digging their own graves.
A Page from the Past
In keeping with the Pakistani tradition of camouflaging history a vital chunk of the country's past has been shrouded in mystery for over 20 years. This was the period of 1973-1977, when the Baloch rose in revolt against a state that had relentlessly oppressed them for decades and military operations against the Baloch people were at their peak.
In Cold Blood
The only slow-moving part of the slow-motion genocide in Balochistan described by Selig Harrison in 'Pakistan's Baluch Insurgency' is now the reaction time of the international community.
Justice delayed, not denied
OUTSIDE the Karachi Press Club, after years of protests in Quetta and other parts of the province, hundreds of families hailing from impoverished parts of Balochistan are protesting and holding pictures of their loved ones, who have gone missing due to `enforced disappearances`.
Spurious symbols
I do not understand why pieces of apparel have to be given the status of cultural symbols; only those countries and nations that are culturally bankrupt need to impose them as symbols. This symbolism also reveals the inherent feeling of inferiority and the consequent need to make them appear as important and necessary
Ganging up
States with resisting minorities have found it convenient to label them as sectarian, criminal and terrorist to discredit their struggle and to justify the atrocities and crimes committed against them. The Iranian state has long denied the Baloch their rights and suppressed them but the resistance has continued
Is Letting Pakistan Collapse An Option?
The fear of Pakistan becoming a failed State prevents the US from acting tough against it. Soft options have failed to nudge Pakistan into acting against the terrorists. Hard options such as the denial of military and economic assistance are avoided lest there be a collapse of the State of Pakistan. The time has come to examine whether the collapse of Pakistan is something to be dreaded.
Editorial: Spare HRCP, At Least
The "kidnapping" of Siddiq Eido, a senior journalist and an activist of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) and his friend Mohammad Yousaf from Pasni is very disturbing. It simply shows a new depressing dimension of the worsening conflict in Balochistan under which the media and human rights activists are being systematically targeted presumably by forces affiliated with the government.
A new social contract?
The Baloch have suffered immeasurably for their rights and there seems to be no end to it because there is a systematic and concerted attempt to thwart the Baloch attempts to secure these rights. In such a scenario, speaking about "˜new social contracts' is absolutely futile
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