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Is
Baloch freedom-struggle entering
former East Pakistan phase?
by Vikram
Vishal
New
Delhi: South Asian analyst B Raman feels that the Pakistani
Army is following similar policies in Balochistan that it
adopted in former East Pakistan in 1971. He says the freedom
struggle in Balochistan has entered a new phase following
the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Condemning the action
of the Pakistan Air Force and Army, Raman, in an article in
the South Asia Analysis Group (SAAG), says the Pakistani forces
"have shown that they have had no lessons to learn from the
consequences of the similar policies followed by them in the
pre-1971 East Pakistan".
Noted defence analyst Uday Bhaskar also said that the assassination
of Bugti would create more problems for the Pakistan Government.
He said that Baloch people would use Bugti's death as rallying
point for fermenting more trouble for the government. However,
he added: "Pakistan would not hesitate to use adequate force
to completely throttle the insurgency". All Parties National
Alliance (APNA) Chairman and Gilgit leader Wajhat Hassan Khan
told ANI over telephone that the killing of Bugti would have
bad repercussion. However, he said that it was too early to
say whether the situation would become as intense as it had
in 1971 in the East Pakistan case. "It is a debatable issue
at this point of time. Both people and leaders are puzzled
over the situation at the moment," said Wajhat.
Another
senior APNA leader, Arif Shahid, added that the aftermath
of the incident would be totally against the Pakistan Government
and its defence forces, saying whenever military is used to
suppress any movement, it has resulted against the forces.
"People are already protesting across Pakistan against the
military action," Shahid added. Condemning the assassination
of Bugti and other Baloch leaders, APNA spokesman Professor
M.A.R.K. Khaleeque said the incident would prove to be a "watershed"
in the Baloch independence struggle. It may be noted that
international and Indian media had accused Pakistan of using
heavy artillery and helicopter gunships against Baloch nationalists.
Raman has also quoted "reliable sources" in Balochistan that
the Pakistan Army pinpointed the cave in which Bugti and his
followers had taken shelter by using "modern communication
monitoring sets given by the US recently for pinpointing the
location of Osama bin Laden, Ayman al-Zawahiri and other remnants
of the Al Qaeda in Pakistani territory". "The Air Force went
into action on August 24 and 25 and repeatedly bombed these
caves. Thereafter, special commando units of the Pakistan
Army, which had been moved into Balochistan from the North
Waziristan area, went into the area and raided the caves,"
Raman writes.
'Bugti's
killing could trigger insurgency'