balochdiplomacy-blog

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🔴Chinese officials at the time made it clear that intelligence sharing was an integral, if not public, part of the deal

How China got a Sri Lankan port 🔴How China got Sri Lanka to cough up a port / NYT (paywall)* “Under heavy pressure and after months of negotiations with the Chinese, the government handed over the port and 15,000 acres of land around it for 99 years in December.”_ _“Months of interviews with Sri Lankan, Indian, Chinese and Western officials and analysis of documents and agreements stemming from the port project present a stark illustration of how China and the companies under its control ensured their interests in a small country hungry for financing.” “Nihal Rodrigo, a former Sri Lankan foreign secretary and ambassador to China, said that discussions with 🔴*Chinese officials at the time made it clear that intelligence sharing was an integral, if not public, part of the deal.* In an interview with The Times, *Mr. Rodrigo characterized the Chinese line as. ▶, ‘We expect you to let us know who is coming and stopping here.’”

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German intelligence : Chinese agents using LinkedIn to contact German civil servants

👉German intelligence services are also increasingly aware of influencing attempts from Beijing. In December, they revealed that ▶Chinese agents were using fake LinkedIn profiles to gather information on German civil servants and politicians. Such anxieties are understandable, considering reports about retired top-level German politicians tied to Beijing, who promote China’s official views at home. Observers also scrutinise contact between Beijing and the influential far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) party and a smaller pro-China German political group.🔷

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Peaceful resolution of the conflict in Balochistan is improbable in the near future

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14631360301655 *In 1962, when Henry Kissinger was in Pakistan on a troubleshooting mission for US President J. F. Kennedy, a local journalist asked him to comment on Baloch insurgency. His answer was: *'I wouldn't recognize the Balochistan problem, (even) if it hit me in the face.'* 1 But in 1973, when Baloch nationalists were pitted against the Pakistan armed forces, Balochistan had become one of the most volatile conflict regions for the two super powers. Today, Baloch nationalism has once again become a non-issue* However, the real solution lies in the strong political commitment to implement independent policy decisions in the best interest of Pakistan. *Peaceful resolution of the conflict in Balochistan is improbable in the near future because neither* side is likely to change its behavior. The military will maintain its strategy of targeting recalcitrant Baloch leaders, while some nationalists will continue to use violence as a means of extorting concessions from the federal government. The state will attempt to negotiate with those it sees as moderate in order to buy as much *peace as possible.Failure to do in positive direction could have serious repercussions for Pakistan.* At the moment, the Baloch nationalism which to a large extent, is within the precinct of constitution of Pakistan, is trying to retain the Baloch identity while safeguarding the rights of common man in making the developmental efforts of the provinces and the country. It is the high, and perhaps the most suitable time to address this issue seriously which otherwise may foster into separation given the increasing pressure from the sentimental youth of Balochistan. Nationalist terrorism has mainly been witnessed in the province of Balochistan at regular intervals and mainly revolves around the issue of exploitation of resources and threat to the political identity and culture of minorities, sub-nationalities. Under the circumstances what need to be done is the wholesome response. The most fundamental and urgent requirement is for trust building and the only way this can even begin is, by governance measures from the centre that are urgent, transparent and reach the door step of ordinary masses. For its part, Pakistan needs to learn that the problem of Balochistan must be given urgent attention and top priority in good faith and measure. The governing elite in Pakistan have to be sensitive to the genuine demands placed on the federal government by the Balochis. The government has to adopt a multi-pronged anti- insurgency strategy to placate the Baloch people. The use of force will not lead to a peaceful solution. History is witness to the fact that suppression further ignites such movements. By taking serious and urgent socio-economic measures and by providing justice and fair play as the basis of governance, the back of the insurgency can be broken. This can be achieved if the federal government in conjunction with the provincial government, applies the will to ensure that the legitimate rights of the people of Balochistan are granted and delivered immediately. To solve the various problems of national interest through wide consensus, government should work on creating and implementing concrete policies that will lead to socio-economic development and problem resolution. Provincial and ethnic autonomy could enhance the participatory approach which will help to have wide consensus over national affairs. The legitimate grievances of Baloch people must be addressed as of all other deprived areas. For the broader peace and security program in the region, the government must invest in human development, and politically empower the people to take part in economic development through modern but decentralized governance mechanism.

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If India do not oppose CPEC, what are risks associated

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/emerging-irritant/article23763858.ece At a broader level, if China invests heavily in the region, it risks becoming party to what has been a troubling bilateral dispute between nuclear-armed rivals. *If CPEC gets operationalised and fortifies the emergence of a fully functional China-Pakistan axis, this would hamper India’s larger interests in the South Asian region and force a strategic rethink in South Block. *The incentives for this would be even stronger if CPEC’s potential success renders PoK more industrially developed, thus granting Pakistan greater legitimacy over the region.* Whether India has any road map to take the conversation on PoK forward is a different debate but no nation can be expected to wilfully forsake its territorial claims. *Had India not registered its protest, that would have been perceived as a weakness,* and would have been a setback for India’s emerging power status in the international system.

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Plight of Baloch Children

http://www.balochhouse.com/2018/04/plight-of-children-in-balochistan.html?m=1 Child marriage is a global issue but its prevalence is particularly high in Balochistan. Nearly 22 percent boys and 63 percent girls here are married before the age of 18. Child marriage affects both sexes, but usually girls suffer the most. Child marriage is practiced in most of the villages in Balochistan. People from rural areas are unaware of the rights of a children  and they do not understand the impact of child marriages on the development of human beings. Last month, 16-year-old Mariam got married after she dropped out from school. She wanted to be a teacher but her parents preferred to marry her off. _Around 1.8 million children are out of school in Balochistan and it saddens me to mention that 60 percent of the children quit school by the time they reach middle school. It is estimated that 45 percent of students abandon school without completing matriculation. More than 5,000 government-run schools have only one room with a single teacher. In rural areas, schools are in terrible conditions. Safe drinking water and clean toilets are not available.

#Baloch Children #Children #Schooling #Child Marriage #Development #Balochistan #Baloch woman

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CPEC missed GDP target

http://tns.thenews.com.pk/cpec-politics-inefficiency/#.WtK2LKDhU0M ✔It was predicted that till 2018 there would be 2 per cent increase in the national GDP due to CPEC. It was calculated that for one per cent increase in GDP there is need of 3.6 per cent incremental investment. CPEC provided 5.4 per cent incremental investment. That means there would be 1.5 per cent increase in GDP.* ✔Unfortunately, we missed that target and we are still at 5 per cent growth rate. Along with other reasons, poor planning and preparation led to lower growth in GDP*. Government and opposition parties remained busy in point scoring and credit war rather than putting efforts on policy and strategic interventions.

#CPEC #CPEC GDP #Pakistan #Belt and Road #OBOR

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Belt and Road plan Running out of 💰 💰 money

Many were already heavily in debt and needed “sustainable finance” and private investment, Li Ruogu former exim bank head. said, adding that the countries’ average liability and debt ratios had reached 35 and 126 per cent, respectively, far above the globally recognised warning lines of 20 and 100 per cent. ✔ *... a huge funding gap of up to US$500 billion a year.*

#Belt and Road #China Silk Road #OBOR #Funding #China

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Join Protest on March 27 against Illegal occupation of Balochistan by Pakistan. Before Pakistan Consulate, Vancouver, Canada. 27 March , 2018 11:30 AM Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch World Baloch Women Forum.

#World Baloch Women #Naela Quadri Baloch #Balochistan #March 27 #Occupied Balochistan

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U.S. is mostly uninformed about Balochistan

The British favor Pakistan and in 1947 probably felt that an independent Balochistan would be out of its control or sphere of influence. Many Brits may still feel that way. The U.S. is mostly uninformed about Balochistan and, therefore, has no opinion. The geopolitical situation is changing , which creates an opportunity for a secular, independent Balochistan, which needs to be pursued._

#Balochistan #U.S

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Naela Quadri Baloch want US to follow Punitive Pakistan Strategy. Naela Quadri Baloch, head of World Baloch Women Forum.

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Balochistan: Shocking Facts

✔ “From 1965 to 2015, #Balochistan #resources worth Rs7trillion have been transferred to other parts of the country.” ✔With just 1.5 million families, #Balochistan —at one job per family—needs just 1.5 million jobs ✔#Balochistan received #gas 27 years later and even now only 8 to 9 per cent of the province receives it. #FreeBalochistan

#Facts #Balochistan Facts #Gas #Balochistan Economy #FreeBalochistan

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Naela Quadri raises doubts over CPEC, writes to French senator Pascal Allizard

Baloch activist raises doubts over CPEC, writes to French senator ANI | Updated: Feb 07, 2018 15:59IST Vancouver [Canada], Feb 7 (ANI): Head of the World Baloch Women Forum (WBWF), Professor Naela Quadri Baloch, has written a letter to French Senator Pascal Allizard raising doubts over the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). According to the reports, a French delegation recently visited Pakistan to "analyse if this (CPEC) initiative is Chinese regional hegemonic agenda or a step towards greater regional connectivity." The compiled report of this delegation would be submitted to the French Senate in April. The CPEC project comprises a network of railways, roads, and pipelines that would connect Pakistan's port city of Gwadar in the Balochistan province, with the Chinese city of Kashgar in landlocked Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR). The human rights activists have, time and again, spoken about and highlighted the growing atrocities of Pakistan on the indigenous people of Balochistan and deteriorating human rights situation as a result of the CPEC. Last week, the Free BalochistanMovement (FBM) organised a two-day protest outside the Grosvenor Hotel in London, against the sale of Baloch lands in Gwadar by a property dealer 'One Investments'. The protesters said that China and Pakistan were aiming to change the ethnicity and demography of Balochistan by settling hundreds of thousands of Punjabis and Chinese in Gwadar. The protestors carried placards and banners against the CPEC, the sale of Baloch lands in Gwadar and human rights violations in Balochistan by Pakistan. (ANI ____________________________________ Letter February 06, 2018 Respected Senator M. Pascal Allizard, The Senate of France Balochistan and CPEC Greetings from the Balochs! Balochistan existed as a sovereign country for 700 years with its internationally recognized boundaries, political stability and pluralistic Sufi culture until colonization, that destroyed its geography, social fabric, defense and economic system, but central part of it remained independent under Baloch rule except its foreign policy. On March 27, 1948 Pakistan with the silent support of its creators invaded and occupied Balochistan. The Baloch people never accepted the second colonization just as they rejected the first one and rebelled right from the beginning, but the Cold War politics insured Pakistan’s genocidal state from international censure. Pakistan killed our leaders, violated our women, abducted and tortured our children, defiled our sacred shrines, looted our natural resources, and decimated our educated class. The misplaced priorities and perverted logic of the Pakistani state defies the understanding of the civilized world. Pakistan Army shields proscribed terrorist groups, which have killed hundreds of people from different countries including Pakistan. The world needs to understand that abduction, rape, torture, murder, and exploitation is the only mode of interaction between the Pakistani state and people. Pakistan, which is in every way an artificial geographical construct as was Yugoslavia, is using draconian measures to control three of its four provinces that want to leave the union. Economic exploitation Balochistan realizes barely one or two per cent of the value of the resources being extracted from its territory and the use of its ports. Balochistan, which accounts for 44 per cent of Pakistan’s overall area, five of the six major ports, two-thirds of its coast, and a large part of Pakistan’s mineral wealth, is the least developed part of Pakistan. The following table summarizes what Balochistan gives to Pakistan and what it gets in return What Balochistan Gives to Pakistan ✔44 per cent of Pakistan’s area ✔Two-thirds of Pakistan’s coastline ✔Massive, gold and copper and gas reserves ✔Four of the five major naval ports of Pakistan ✔One of the largest ship breaking centers of the world ✔Nuclear and missile test sites Monopoly over US access to Afghanistan ✔Ability to keep an eye on the world’s most important energy trade route ✔And, the USD 60+ Billion CPEC project would not have been conceived without the Baloch coastline What Balochs Get from Pakistan (and China) ✔Demographic marginalization of the Baloch people in their motherland ✔Religious radicalization of the tolerant and liberal Baloch society and attack on their places of worship ✔The Taliban and the Islamic state ✔Abduction, rape, torture, and killings in thousands ✔Targeted killing of leaders ✔Conversion of Balochistan into a garrison ✔Highest illiteracy, unemployment, and maternal mortality rates in Pakistan ✔Rampant loot of natural resources ✔And, 0.5 per cent share in CPEC funds Ethnocide Our exploitation is not only limited to the political-economic sphere. Pakistan is destroying our soul, our culture, and our future. Ours is a tolerant society located at the middle of Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian sub-continent and we can add West Asia if we consider maritime boundaries. Our history goes back to the pre-Indus Valley period. Mehrgarh 9000 BC a Baloch civilization is the first urban civilization on earth, a society of love and peace. Over the past centuries we have absorbed influence from these various regions. Our society is a repository of these diverse influences. We with a strong Sufi orientation, are governed by our tribal code of conduct. Pakistan is using the Wahhabi-Deobandis to weaken our society as well as the Baloch nationalist forces. This has taken many forms including physical targeting of Baloch nationalists by Jihadi groups, neglecting mainstream education and imposing madrasas on our children, throwing acid on our girls while going to school, destroying their future, and bombing our shrines. We are a tribal people and warfare was part and parcel of our political economy. But never in our entire history has anyone attacked a place of worship. We have lived together with Shia Balochs, Hindu, Sikh and Christian Balochs for centuries. We are even protecting graves of our Jews who had to flee after Pakistan's occupation on Balochistan. But then why are we suddenly hearing of attacks on Sufi shrines and churches in Balochistan? The international community takes note of such attacks as facts without understanding the larger context. Pakistan is not only using Balochistan as a place to safely park and train the jihadi wing of its army, but it is also using them to terrorize the Baloch people, destroy our syncretic faith and society, erase our symbols of tolerant and pluralistic faith, and lure Baloch youth to the jihadi camp to weaken our resolve to fight for Balochistan's independence. Most importantly, they want to degrade and destroy our human capital. They realized that decades of kill and dump has not broken our resolve. Now they have decided to complement the kill and dump policy with denial of mainstream education to our children and use of the opium of jihad to destroy our youth. Systematic discrimination, dehumanization, persecution, demographic marginalization, and neglect of basic development needs is all that Balochistan, the largest and most resource rich province, has seen in Pakistan since 1948. The Baloch people have been left with no other option than to resist Pakistan’s vicious state policy with all available means and resources. Despite Pakistan’s attempts to destroy the middle ground for the civil society through curbs on peaceful assembly, clampdowns on NGOs, curbs on independent media, attacks on Human Rights defenders, state censorship, draconian anti-terror laws, state-sponsored vilification, surveillance, arbitrary detention, and torture and enforced disappearances we have been waging our principled resistance and struggle for self-determination. It is painful to repeat all this, but for the first time we see that the international community is showing interest in our plight. We hope this interest goes beyond geo-politics and is inspired the lofty democratic principles scrupulously followed within your own country. It is this trust with which has encouraged us to repeat some of the things we have been saying for decades. But let us come to the present, which is much worse than the past. Indeed, history repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce. The CPEC The so called China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was to begin with effectively the China-Punjab Economic Corridor. The Punjabi dominated Pakistan Army that now serves as a lapdog of China has ensured that there is no public scrutiny and debate. It has ceded its “own” country’s interests to China in return for undisclosed strategic gains. No other nation in modern times has so shamelessly pawned its national interests. In any case, within a few years of the launch of the CPEC, the misplaced priorities of the mercenary Pakistan Army have ensured that the CPEC is effectively reduced to China Corridor, with Pakistan being pushed into colonial subservience. The story does not end here though. Pakistan Army is, in fact, pawning the future of occupied areas, Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan to buy a better future for its core. Without Balochistan and Gilgit Baltistan the CPEC is sheer fantasy. Our resistance will ensure that the CPEC will just a fantasy. The plight of the Baloch people has worsened ever since the launch of the CPEC as Pakistan assured of Chinese support and stocked with Chinese arms now believes that it has a license to kill. The indigenous Baloch people had already suffered growing marginalization due to the influx of Afghans and Punjabis. Now due to the growing Chinese interest the problem has assumed much larger proportions. A country that tramples over the rights of its own citizens cannot be expected to respect the right of doubly colonized people such as the Balochs. In short, the CPEC has emerged as the “corridor of misery” for us as our people are being displaced by this corridor, whose purpose includes the loot of our mineral wealth and providing China a naval foothold next to the strategically important Persian Gulf. A summarize of our key concerns vis-à-vis the CPEC is in order. 1. Widespread environmental damage in ecologically fragile and water scarce Balochistan: Massive projects are being launched without proper and transparent environmental impact assessment. 2. Displacement of locals due to projects: Projects are displacing people firstly by taking away their land and secondly through influx of outsiders. 3. Lack of consultation with locals on the plan of the project: Those who stand to lose everything that they have are not being consulted. In fact, there is no transparency about any aspect of the project and there is an acute lack of legal remedies too. 4. Lack of compensation for land and mines taken away from Balochistan: The scarce resources that belong to us and our future generations are being snatched away without compensation or compensation at rates far below market prices. This is a continuation of the longstanding policy of Pakistan. They have been taking gas from our land and supplying to Punjab while we do not get to use our resource or get suitable compensation. 5. Destruction of livelihoods of farmers, fisher folk, etc.: Due to displacement from native lands, denial of access to traditional sources of drinking water and fishing areas people are being deprived of their livelihoods, which in turn affects their incomes and hence education and health of their children. 6. Heritage endangerment: Unplanned infrastructural and mining projects is endangering sites of cultural and historical importance to the Baloch people stretching back to the pre- Mesopotamia and pre-Indus Valley Civilizations period. This is going to irreparably damage our heritage, which we would like to preserve for the whole humankind. In Gwadar, Quadri Bethak an ancient Sufi place and 7 Wonder Caves of Mir Hammal Jiyand are in serious danger and needs immediate protection and preservation. 7. Neglect of indigenous people’s interests: Demographic engineering is marginalizing Baloch people in their own homelands and their genuine interests are being disregarded. 8. Neglect of the interests of linguistic minorities: The Baloch community is also a linguistic minority speaking Balochi, Brahui, Lasi and Seraiki languages. Brahui, in fact, is historically and linguistically speaking a rare language. By displacing people from their ancestral villages and towns Pakistan is destroying these languages as when the displaced people settle elsewhere they are a minority and cannot speak their languages with others around them. 9. Violation of human rights: Baloch people are opposed to the imposition of projects and foreign rule and are being targeted by the lawless Pakistan Army and its jihadi mercenaries. It should be obvious by now that China's involvement has magnified our problems because it wants to gain a strategic foothold near the Persian Gulf at any cost to the Baloch people. Pakistan’s longstanding policy has been to exterminate the Baloch community and now the CPEC project compounds our existential crisis. Appeal to: We appeal to recognize our plight and support our cause. Since our voice is suppressed within Pakistan we expect the following remedies through your intervention: 1. Pakistan must be held accountable for using the full force in suppressing our struggle which it ironically calls a law and order problem. Countries that have supplied military hardware should hold Pakistan accountable for deploying the same against innocent people. A “no-fly” zone has to be imposed in Balochistan to curb the aerial bombardment of civilians. Targeted sanctions should be imposed to degrade Pakistan’s ability to acquire arms from the international markets. 2. All Baloch enforced disappeared persons must be freed immediately. Thousands of unidentifiable mutilated bodies recovered yet from mass graves and wilderness and/or chemical weapons used on them, should be analyzed for DNA identification. 3. There must be an urgent intervention to stop Pakistan army’s ruthless attacks on Baloch population, burn our homes, kill, torture, abductions and rape. 4. An independent international committee should be constituted to investigate and monitor human rights violations targeting the Baloch people in Pakistan. 5. Especial efforts by UNESCO and EU should be focused to protect 11000 years old first urban civilization on earth The Mehrgarh, discovered by the French archeological team in 70s, 7 Wonder Caves of Hammal Jiyand Gwadar, Quadri Bethak Gwadar, Hinglaj Mata temple Lasbela and many other historical sites in Balochistan. 6. Members of the Pakistan army and intelligence agencies involved in human rights violations should be sanctioned. Their international travel of the concerned individuals should be restricted and the assets of the concerned individuals and organizations should be frozen. If Pakistan refuses to correct its course, the international community needs to downgrade diplomatic relations with the Government of Pakistan and impose a trade embargo and restrict Pakistan’s ability to access then international financial system. 7. There is an urgent need to provide aid to address the serious humanitarian crisis on the ground. The international community should help deliver essential services, such as centers for rehabilitation from torture and trauma, education and healthcare, and build necessary civic infrastructure 8. The international community should help build the capacity of the Baloch civil society. The international media should help build the capacity of the existing Baloch media and include Balochi language programs in their broadcast. The international media, human rights organizations, advocacy groups, and think tanks should advocate the cause of the Baloch people. 9. The international community should equip the Baloch people for self-defense, especially against aerial bombardment. 10. The international community should stop CPEC and all such projects that are against the will and interest of Baloch people, and Balochs should be enabled and allowed to plan, initiate and materialize development projects according to our needs and for mutual interest of our international allies. To conclude, the very survival of Baloch people is at stake and we have the right to fight back. Even if the world does not act, we will act on our own because it is the question of our survival. The world has to decide on which side it is. At least in Balochistan the world has so far been on the side of the unjust, oppressive Pakistani state, which also happens to be one of the epicenters of global terrorism, narcotics trade, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This has to change, now. The world has to act before it is too late. We are clear that we do not want to remain within Pakistan that is controlled by jihadi mercenaries and the genocidal army. Thank you with great regards. In peace, Professor Naela Quadri Baloch Head of Baloch Public Diplomacy And President of The World Baloch Women’s Forum

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BLF attacked Anti India Rally Sponsored by ISI

*BLF attacked a Anti India Rally Sponsored by ISI* BLF fighters attack ISI backed Jihadist Kaamu’s vehicle in Panjgoor. Gwahram Quetta (Sangar News) Gwaharm Baloch, the spokesman of Balochistan Liberation Front(BLF) claimed the responsibility of today's attack on Kashmir Rally at Chitkan area of Panjgur. He said that state sponsored agent Kamran alias Kaamu vehicle was targeted with remote control bomb in which Kamran Kaamu’s brother Salman son of Ismail died on spot while Kamran, Umer Khan, Shahbazand his other bodyguards were critically injured in the attack. In the result of attack three passerby civilians received injuries, and Gwaharm Baloch expressed his solicitude for them. However he added, we had admonished people to avoid from going near security forces, Pakistani paid agents and other religious terrorists; those are in our prime target. Kamran aka Kaamu is operating a death squad. He is the right hand of Jihadi terrorist ShafiqMengel who is an ISI sponsored religious terrorist involved in abduction and killing of Baloch political and social activists, attacking of NATO oil tankers, training and sending Jihadi terrorists to Kashmir. ShafiqMengel in person went to Afghanistan and Kashmir for so-called Jihad, led by Pakistani intelligence agencies, ISI and MI. He along with SirajRaisani, the brother of AslamRaisani, the Ex-chief Minister of Occupied Balochistan are involved in targeted killing of Hazara Shia and abduction of Hindu businessmen in Balochistan. Balochistan Liberation Front spokesman claimed that Kamran alias Kaamu was escorted by Pakistani security forces; and he had a bands of personal bodyguards who are foreigners— probably Islamic extremist terrorists that had the full support and protection of Pakistan’s Army and its intelligence agencies. There is no doubt Pakistan is directly involved in promoting religious extremism in Balochistan and outsourcing its terrorist elements into neighboring countries India, Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Haqqani network, Quetta Shura, Jamaith-u-Dawa and other religious groups are operating under the aegis of Pakistan. International terrorist Hafiz Saeed who is wanted in Mumbai attacks, is in protection of Pakistan’s Army; and openly rants about carrying terrorist activities in Indian territory. Recently, Trump Administration decided to freeze the economic aids to Pakistan which failed to take action against Haqqani network and its affiliates targeting US and NATO forces in Afghanistan. Afghan government time and again categorically chastised and raised its finger towards Pakistan for backing terrorist activities in Afghanistan. Gwaharm Baloch, BLF spokesman clarified that Pakistan has no interest or in love with Kashmiri people, like Balochistan it needs their land only. If Kashmiri in true sense love their lands, at first they must analyze the colonial position of Balochistan where cruel and barbaric Pakistani colonial forces carry orgy operations on daily basis; after that, they may think of chanting slogan: Kashmir bane ga Pakistan ( Kashmir is to be Pakistan). Therefore the purpose of such pseudo rally for Kashmir or observing Kashmir day is clearly to promote religious terrorism in the region through its proxies and paid agents likes Kamran Kaamu and others. Gwaharm Baloch also claimed that Baloch guerrilla fighters of Balochistan Liberation Front attacked army camp in Pogansh area of Shahrak, district Kech. A mortar shell fired by Baloch Sarmschars hit an army buttress destroying it completely. The exchange of fire continued for one hour and Pakistani forces suffered heavy losses in this attack. This camp was established to protect the Workers of Frontier Work Organization(FWO), an army led Construction Company, working on CPEC road. Gwaharm Baloch stressed such attack would continue till the liberation of Balochistan. http://sangarpublication.com/home/page/595.html BLF fighters attack ISI backed

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China’s plan for a modern Silk Road linking Asia and Europe hit a pothole recently in Pakistan

China’s Silk Road Plan Facing Problems Voice of America Pakistan and China have good relations; some Pakistani officials even call China their “Iron Brother.” China has played an even bigger role in the country since U.S. President Donald Trump decided last week to suspend security assistance to Pakistan. Yet, plans for the countries to build a $14-billion dam on the Indus River were put in doubt, after Pakistan’s water authority announced China wanted to own part of the project. China has denied making the demand. However, the water authority rejected China’s reported demand as against Pakistani interests, and withdrew Pakistan from the dam project. Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a news conference at the end of the Belt and Road Forum at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Center, north of Beijing, May 15, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during a news conference at the end of the Belt and Road Forum at the Yanqi Lake International Conference Center, north of Beijing, May 15, 2017. Belt and Road Initiative From Pakistan to Hungary to Tanzania, projects under Chinese President Xi Jinping’s “Belt and Road Initiative” are being canceled, renegotiated or delayed. Host countries have disputed costs and benefits that they would receive. The “Belt and Road Initiative” is a plan to build projects across 65 countries, from the South Pacific through Asia to Africa and Europe. Such projects include oil drilling in Siberia, new ports in Southeast Asia, railways in Eastern Europe and power plants in the Middle East. In this Dec. 22, 2017, photo, a Pakistani motorcyclist drives on a newly built Pakistan China Silk Road in Haripur, Pakistan. In this Dec. 22, 2017, photo, a Pakistani motorcyclist drives on a newly built Pakistan China Silk Road in Haripur, Pakistan. The United States, Russia and India view the Belt and Road initiative as a way for China to expand its influence. Many countries have welcomed plans to build infrastructure that would keep their economies growing. Nations such as Japan have given or lent billions of dollars for development through the Asian Development Bank. China, however, remains the largest or only source of money for many projects.​ Many projects cancelled or delayed In November, Nepal canceled plans for Chinese companies to build a $2.5-billion dam. Officials said building contracts for the Budhi Gandaki Hydro Electric Project violated rules that require offers from numerous bidders. The European Union is also looking into whether Hungary awarded contracts to Chinese builders for a high-speed railway to Serbia without competing bids. In Myanmar, plans for a Chinese oil company to build a $3-billion refinery were canceled in November because of financing problems. In Thailand, work on a $15-billion high-speed railway was delayed in 2016 following complaints that not enough business went to Thai companies. In Tanzania, the government has reopened negotiations with China and the gulf state of Oman over ownership of a planned $11-billion port in the city of Bagamoyo. Tanzania wants to make sure its people get more than just taxes collected from the port. Even Pakistan, one of China’s friendliest neighbors, has failed to agree on key projects. Among them are a $10-billion railway in Karachi and a $260-million airport for Gwadar. A general view of Gwadar port in Gwadar, Pakistan Oct. 4, 2017. The port is at the heart of the $50 billion Chinese investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). A general view of Gwadar port in Gwadar, Pakistan Oct. 4, 2017. The port is at the heart of the $50 billion Chinese investment in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). Limited success There is no official list of all Belt and Road projects. However, BMI Research has created a list of $1.8 trillion worth infrastructure investments across Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Christian Zhang is with BMI Research. He said, “it’s probably too early to say at this point how much of the overall initiative will actually be implemented.” Kerry Brown is a Chinese politics professor at King’s College London. He said China has faced and may continue to face “a lot of disagreements and misunderstandings.” Brown added, “It’s hard to think of a big, successful project the ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ has led to at the moment.” Despite the setbacks, Chinese officials say most Belt and Road projects are moving ahead with few problems. The state-run China Development Bank announced in 2015 it had set aside $890 billion for more than 900 projects across 60 countries in gas, minerals, power, telecommunications, infrastructure and farming. The Export-Import Bank of China said it would support 1,000 projects in 49 countries. And last November, deputy commerce minister Li Chenggang said that work on pipelines to deliver oil and gas from Russia and Central Asia is making “steady progress.” I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Caty Weaver. Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English based on an Associated Press report. Ashley Thompson was the editor

#CPEC #Silk Road #OBOR #Pakistan

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Poem on Hassan Nasir Saheed by Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch. Recited by Mr.Carl Clemens. To know more about Hassan Nasir please visit Wiki link below. Hassan Nasir was born into an aristocratic Muslim family in Hyderabad Deccan, India. After finishing school in his hometown, Nasir got admission in UK’s prestigious Cambridge University where he came into contact with various young British and Indian Marxists. On his return to India, and against his family’s wishes, he plunged into a peasants’ uprising against feudal lords and British Colonial overlords in the Telangana region. When the movement collapsed after the departure of the British in 1947, Nasir decided to migrate to Pakistan. In 1950, he arrived in Karachi and joined the Communist Party of Pakistan (CPP). His family stayed back in India. Though just 22 years old at the time, he greatly impressed the CPP leadership with his profound knowledge of Marxism. Soon, Nasir’s revolutionary outlook and charisma made him popular among college students, peasants and factory workers. In 1954 he was arrested by the government, jailed, tortured and then forcibly flown back to India. However, in 1955, he quietly slipped back in. Since the CPP had been banned, Punjabi and Urdu-speaking leftists began joining progressive Sindhi, Baloch, Bengali and Pashtun nationalists to form the National Awami Party (NAP). In 1957 Nasir was made the party’s secretary general in Karachi. He turned his office into a busy working and planning area for leftist students and trade unionists. Though his aristocratic background could have easily guaranteed him a rich and comfortable life in Karachi, he chose to live among labourers cramped in and around the make-shift shanty towns that had sprung up in the glittering metropolis. In 1958, when Field Marshal Ayub Khan launched a military coup, he ordered a crackdown against leftists as well as against the religious parties. Nasir went underground. Veteran communist leader, Jamal Naqvi, in his 2014 memoir writes that in 1960, Ayub, while being briefed by Karachi’s police chief, lost his cool when Nasir’s name came up. He is reported to have lashed out and shouted, ‘How is that bloody communist still free … ?’ The Ayub regime was equally harsh towards the religious parties. But Nasir’s activities and his popularity among the students and labourers had begun to greatly perturb the regime. Nasir was finally located, hiding in a shanty town in Karachi. He was picked up by the police and then flown in chains to a special cell that had been set-up by the police in Lahore’s historical Lahore Fort. Naqvi informs that here Nasir was continuously tortured, beaten up and refused food and water for days. Then finally, he was slayed in his muggy, tiny cell. He was just 32. The Muslim aristocrat’s son who had become a communist rebel was never seen or heard from again. The press was told that Nasir had died in an accident. The news of his death left his father suffering a mental breakdown. He had wanted his son to become a civil servant. His mother refused to believe that the body that the police had shown to the press was his. With Nasir’s father indisposed, his mother travelled alone to Lahore to reclaim the body. ‘This is not my son’s body,’ the ailing old woman shouted and then fell to the ground. She was escorted out by the police and put in a waiting rickshaw. She returned home empty-handed. Till this day, nobody is quite sure what happened to the young man’s body and where is it buried. His father passed away and the family eventually lost its aristocratic status in India. The mother too died soon after. The country’s leftists consider Nasir to be their first modern ‘martyr’. That’s why his face has continued to emerge on posters ever since the 1970s. ‘He still symbolises defiance and clarity of purpose beyond the political cynicism and rightest demagoguery of today,’ (sic). This is how the young man who had uploaded the pictures described Nasir when he wrote back to me. Indeed. Well, as long as Nasir (like Che) too doesn’t end up on coffee mugs … Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, November 8th, 2015

#Hassan Nasir #Hyderabad #Deccan Hyderabad #Poem by Naela Quadri

[balochdiplomacy-blog]

Balochistan: Missing robust political narrative and leadership

The Baloch nationalist-separatism has not only been devolving to the nascent middle class but has also become more intense in each wave since 1948. The squabbling among the nationalists has been both its boon and bane. ✔ A monolithic movement runs the risk of a complete rout in the face of overwhelming odds while a multipronged resistance has survived such assaults. Missing though is a robust political narrative and leadership in tandem with the resistance or as an alternative to it. Absent such political discourse, genuine Baloch grievances run the risk of being buried under the curse of the corridor. (The writer can be reached at [email protected] and he tweets @mazdaki)  

#BALOCH #balochistan #Baloch leadership #middle class educated leaders #curse of cpec

[balochdiplomacy-blog]

Islamic State in Balochistan: Statement of Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WBWF (World Baloch Women Forum) Vancouver, Canada(9/1/2018) - Head of World Baloch Women Forum , Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch issued following statement to media regarding growing Islamic State footprint in Pakistan and role of Pakistani Millitary and Intelligence. The footprint of the militant Islamic State group is continuously on the rise in Pakistan as over the past year responsibility for as many as six deadliest attacks, in which 153 people were killed, was claimed by the outfit, according to a think-tank report.The security report by Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies (PIPS) on Sunday stated that the Islamic State, especially active in northern Sindh and Balochistan. Below is statement of Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch: "Over the past year or so, we have been hearing a lot ab out the Islamic State striking roots in AfPak region. While the IS has indeed made inroads into the region, but that is only half the story. The IS has not emerged out of thin air. In AfPak, the IS is not operating via lone wolves. It is operating in a very organised manner. The reality is that Pakistan's thoroughly discredit mercenary army needs a cause to remain relevant in the fast changing scenario. And, who can serve this purpose better than the IS. " "The "rogue" elements of the Pakistani military-intelligence establishment have midwifed the IS in the region. It needs to be understood that Pakistan Army is trying to kill three birds with one stone. First, they become useful to the world community looking for local partners to combat the IS (and that translates as dollars and immunity for the Pakistan Army). Second, they will be able to repackage the Taliban as a "relatively" moderate force that needs to be included in Afghan government to stabilise Afghanistan and combat the IS." "Finally, they are mainstreaming terror outfits, but the bulk of the jihadi cadre and foot soldiers need employment. The IS and related domestic outfits are absorbing the excess manpower. It would be tragic if the world community fell for the new trick of the Pakistan Army. If the world community sides with the Pakistan Army, that might stamp out the IS, but the Pakistan Army will then conjure up another group. But if the world community puts Pakistan Army in place, that would be the end of terrorism in the region. The community has to attack the root cause of the problem, i.e., Pakistan Army rather than the manifestations, the Taliban yesterday, the IS today and something else tomorrow." I ### CONTACT WBWF (World Baloch Women Forum) Prof.Naela Quadri Baloch Email: [email protected]

#Naela Quadri Baloch #Balochistan #Islamic State #Pakistan #PIPS