Silencing the Voice of the Voiceless: Daily Tawar’s office attacked and destroyed

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Karachi: Unknown men broke into the office of Daily Tawar in Lyari region of Karachi in the early hours of Saturday morning stole the computers and set the office on fire.

According local residents the intruders came in three unmarked cars around 4AM Saturday Morning. “They broke the main gate of Daily Tawar’s office and took all the computers with them. They also set the office on fire due to which all the copies of the newspaper and other apparatus burnt to ashes,” said the eye-witnesses.

Editorial: Another Blatant Attack on Daily Tawar

A prominent anti-government and pro-Baloch nationalist Urdu language newspaper, Daily Tawar, says personnel of Pakistani intelligence agencies raided its Karachi office early in the morning on April 6. According to the newspaper, a convey of seven vehicles surrounded the newspaper’s office, broke the locks, burnt all the furniture and took away every piece of electronic equipment, including computers, fax machines and an electric generator. The attackers also stole the newspaper’s data and archives. The B.B.C. Urdu also reported that the attack seemed to have been carried out by intelligence agencies. A former secretary general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (P.F.U.J.) said he believed that the government raided and ransacked the offices of Daily Tawar. 

کراچی: اخبار کے دفتر میں توڑ پھوڑ

PAKISTAN: The government bans secular and nationalist groups to appease the fundamentalist and Taliban groups

PAKISTAN: The government bans secular and nationalist groups to appease the fundamentalist and Taliban groups

ISSUES: Freedom of expression; assemblies; right to make associations; liberty

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that the government of Pakistan, in an effort to show the international community that it is taking action against the fundamentalist and religious terrorist organizations, has revealed its continued loyalties towards the Taliban and similar terrorist groups by banning the three secular and nationalist organizations including a student organization from Balochistan. The Federal Ministry of the Interior has issued notification for banning 10 religious extremist organizations but has not yet taken even token action against the Madressas (Muslim religious seminaries) which are the recruiting centers for terrorists. Instead the authorities have cracked down against the workers of the secular parties. Speedy action were taken against a Sindh based nationalist organization, Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz (JSMM) many of whose workers have been abducted by unknown persons believed to be from the state intelligence agencies.

Gas pipeline blown up in Balochistan

Occupied Balochistan: An 18-inch Sui gas pipeline was blown up in the early hours of Sunday in the Uch area of Balochistan, DawnNews reported.

According to the report, the explosion suspended gas supply to the Uch power plant in Balochistan causing a reduction of more than 525 megawatts of power generation.

As a result, electricity supply in many areas in Lahore and Punjab has been shelved.

Editorial: Why The Baloch Interests Rest With Boycotting The Elections

Since the killing of Nawab Mohammad Akbar Bugti in a military operation in August 2006, elections in Balochistan have become a yardstick to measure the intensity of Baloch disillusionment with the Pakistani federation. Unlike the rest of Pakistan, elections in Balochistan are not merely about public representation, transparency and the accommodation of underrepresented voices  in the so-called mainstream politics. Balochistan, after Bugti’s killing, has become a significantly different place and the dynamics as well as the requirements of the regional politics have remarkably changed.