Nov 20: Shaheed Mir Balach Marri

Collateral damage

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The news of the death of 12 Bugti tribesmen in a supposed clash with the FC men after a mine blast that killed three of the FC men is alarming and disconcerting. Details filtering out say that they were taken into custody after the blast and executed. 

The news is all the more disturbing because this incident is not without precedent. In the Dungan area of Marri agency in the fall of 1975, nine Marri tribesmen of the Shahija and Kalwani clan, including Qaiser Khan, Baazi Khan Shahija and Ganj Ali Kalwani were lined up and shot after the army suffered losses in a clash in the vicinity. That atrocity had gone unpunished and unnoticed and this one too will probably go unpunished, in spite of being reported. Such atrocities have grave implications and consequences for the health of the federation and its credibility as protector of people’s rights.

The dream of Shaheed Nawab Akbar Bugti lives on

by Juma Baloch

26th August 2006 was a day of big loss for the Baloch nation. We lost the father figure of our nation Shaheed-e-Wattan Nawab Akbar Bugti. With every tragedy that falls on a nation, it either brings it together or shatters it apart. The martyrdom of Nawab Akbar Bugti brought the Baloch nation together. The fury of the Baloch nation could be seen in the streets from Karachi to Quetta. This is what living nations are made of.

Nov 20: Shaheed Mir Balach Marri

Nov 20: Shaheed Mir Balach Marri

Nov 20: Shaheed Mir Balach Marri

Pakistan’s Invisible Baluch Displacement Crisis

There are estimates that more than 700,000 people have been displaced across Balochistan since 2005

By: Abdul Hai Kakar & Abubakar Siddique

He once dreamed of a bright future and a stable career working for Pakistan’s biggest gas company.

Instead, Suhail Ahmed Bugti has been crushing stones for the past 10 years after his clan was banished from their gas-rich homeland in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan Province into the stony deserts of Rohri district in neighboring Sindh Province.

What next for Baluchistan?

Every day is another struggle for the province of Baluchistan, which continues to remain unsteady with the horrifying tumult and turbulence in the region. It’s sure a pity to watch such unrest grip thousands of families frequently, without a silver lining to fall back on. But then one can’t ignore but notice the pattern Baluchistan has fallen into, its trajectory being very similar to former East Pakistan.

So, naturally the question becomes ‘Is Baluchistan the next East Pakistan’? The resemblance is eerie to the extent that one cannot help but wonder, ‘What next for Baluchistan’? Will all this chaos finally result into a separate province or very much like Azad Kashmir carry on with the struggle forever? Located in the southwest region of Pakistan, Baluchistan is the biggest of the four provinces of the country. Administratively divided among three countries, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, it has been a turf of turmoil and conflict since its annexation by Pakistan in 1947 and still continues to be. Notably known as the ‘Baluchistan Conflict’, it is a major growing conflict between the Pakistani government and the Baloch nationalists.

June 18: Shaheed Mureed Bugti

June 18: Shaheed Mureed Bugti