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India-Pakistan

High court dismisses plea challenging Musharraf's acquittal in Bugti murder case

2017-08-31

[DAWN] The Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... High Court (BHC) on Wednesday dismissed an application challenging the acquittal of former president General (retd) Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... and others in the Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti murder case. The application had been filed by the Baloch nationalist leader's son, Jamil Akbar Bugti, in 2016, challenging the verdict of an Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) in Quetta that acquitted the former military dictator and others in the case. A divisional bench of BHC, comprising justice Jamal Mandokhail and Justice Nazeer Ahmed Langove, dismissed the application challenging the acquittal and maintained the judgement of the ATC. "We are not satisfied with the judgment," Jamil Bugti's counsel, Advocate Sohail Rajput, told news hounds outside the high court. "We will challenge the BHC dismissal of our application in the Supreme Court."

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India-Pakistan

ATC acquits Pervez Musharraf in Akbar Bugti murder case

2016-01-19

[DAWN] An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Monday acquitted former president General Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... in a case pertaining to the alleged murder of former Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. The court also acquitted former provincial home minister Mir Shoaib Nosherwani and Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) chief and member of National Assembly Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao. After the announcement of the decision by ATC-1 Judge Jan Muhammad Gohar, the lawyer representing Jamil Bugti, Sohail Rajput, announced his decision to challenge the judgment of the court. "We are not satisfied with this judgement and we will challenge it," Rajput told news hounds outside court.

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India-Pakistan

Frontier Corps detains 2, seizes weapons in Balochistan

2015-11-17

QUETTA: Frontier Corps personnel on Monday arrested two suspected militants and recovered a huge cache of arms during two separate raids in Kech district of Balochistan. FC spokesman Khan Wasay told DawnNews that the paramilitary force recovered at least four rockets, 19 hand grenades, an improvised explosive device (IED) and a number of other weapons from a house in Mand Tehsil of district Kech. In a separate raid, FC men also arrested two suspected militants from the area possessing anti-state literature and books containing hate material. "The suspects were detained and are being interrogated by security officials," said the FC spokesman. In a separate raid, Levies personnel recovered two bodies from Dasht tehsil of Mastung district. Levies sources told DawnNews that both victims had received bullet injuries. The bodies were shifted to Mastung hospital for identification. Balochistan is in the throes of the fifth and longest running insurgency since 1947. Triggered in 2005 by the rape of a lady doctor allegedly by an army officer in Sui, it was exacerbated by the death of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in an Army operation in August 2006. Security forces have intensified their actions in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan after the announcement of the National Action Plan to combat terrorism in the country. Back in September, Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani stated that provincial law enforcement agencies have arrested more than 8,000 suspected militants and killed at least 204 after the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP). Durrani had told media that that out of the 204 terrorists killed, around 100 were high-profile terrorists.

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India-Pakistan

Gas pipeline blown up in Dera Bugti

2014-09-09

[DAWN] Militants have blown up a 24-inch gas pipeline in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... 's resource-rich Dera Bugti district on Monday, an official said. A security official, who requested anonymity, told Dawn that forces of Evil had planted kabooms close to the gas pipeline in Pir Koh area of Dera Bugti district. "The explosives went off with a big bang, blowing up the gas pipeline," he said. The blast caused suspension of gas supply from Pir Koh to the purification plant. Frontier Corps and Levies personnel immediately arrived at the scene. The authorities faced difficulties in extinguishing roaring flames of fire. The blast rocked the entire area and caused panic among people. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the security official suspected Baloch separatists to be behind the attack. Dera Bugti is the hometown of late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti who was killed in an operation in Kohlu area of Balochistan on August 26, 2006. Sabotage of gas pipelines is a characteristic tactic of tribal forces of Evil and is frequently witnessed in Balochistan. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... the province also suffers from attacks carried out by the Taliban.

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India-Pakistan

Shaukat Aziz declared absconder

2013-11-27

[Pak Daily Times] An anti-terrorism court has declared former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... governor Owais Ghani and Dera Bugti's ex-DCO as absconders in the Akbar Bugti murder case. The Anti-Terrorism Court Quetta made the designations while hearing the case on Tuesday. Former interior minister Aftab Sherpao also showed up on court orders. The court rejected former military ruler Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... 's plea for exemption, and ordered that he be produced in the court on the next hearing. Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, Odius Sepulcher called for war against the Visigoths... former prime minister Shaukat Aziz, former Balochistan governor Owais Ahmed Ghani, former district coordination officer (DCO) Abdul Samad Lasi were declared runaways and the court ordered the authorities to seize their properties. The hearing was adjourned to December 24. Baloch nationalist leader Akbar Khan Bugti was killed in a cave on August 26, 2006 during a military crackdown ordered by Musharraf who was president and army chief at the time. Bugti had led an armed campaign to press for provincial autonomy and a greater share of profits from Balochistan's natural resources. The death of the Baloch chieftain sparked angry protests in the country.

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India-Pakistan

Perv Released From House Arrest

2013-10-10

[NY Times] A Pak court granted bail on Wednesday to Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , the country's former military ruler, clearing the way for him to leave the country as early as Thursday, his lawyers said. Mr. Musharraf, 70, has been under house arrest at his villa outside Islamabad since April, facing criminal charges in three cases related to his nine years in power, from 1999 to 2008. The prospect of a former army chief facing potential imprisonment appeared, for a time, to signal new limits to the unofficial immunity from prosecution that Pakistain's top generals have long enjoyed. Mr. Musharraf had already been granted bail in two of the three cases, and the decision on Wednesday to grant bail in the third -- related to the death of Akbar Khan Bugti, a Baloch nationalist leader killed in a military operation -- opens the door for him to avoid prosecution entirely. Mr. Musharraf's lawyers said that his bail payment of $20,000 could be processed as early as Thursday morning; he could then leave Pakistain immediately. Ahmad Raza Khan Qasuri, the vice president of Mr. Musharraf's political party, the All Pakistain Mohammedan League, said that Mr. Musharraf might go to see his 90-year-old mother. "He's a free person -- he can go out whenever he likes," Mr. Qasuri said in a telephone interview. "His mother, who is a very aged lady, lives in Dubai. He might go tomorrow or the day after to see her. But his base will continue to be in Islamabad." Still, Mr. Musharraf has rebuffed previous entreaties from his advisers, and from senior military leaders, to leave Pakistain, particularly if doing so would prevent him from returning to fight his battles in court. Aides say that Mr. Musharraf, a former commando with a famous stubborn streak, insists on clearing his name and does not want to spend his retirement in exile. But for the military, his case has become an unwelcome distraction, complicating relations among the army, the civilian government and the courts and raising the prospect of a troubling precedent. Mohammed Amjad, secretary general of Mr. Musharraf's party, told news hounds outside his home that if Mr. Musharraf leaves Pakistain, it will be only temporarily. "He will not escape from Pakistain," Mr. Amjad said. Mr. Musharraf has been incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! at his luxurious farmhouse outside Islamabad rather than in prison for security reasons, following Taliban threats to his life. Aides say he has been confined to two rooms in the house, which has a swimming pool and sweeping lawns, and has had limited access to his friends and family. Still, in a country where senior military officers are generally considered to be above the law, the sight of a former military ruler facing justice in a civilian court is a startling novelty. Besides the three current criminal cases, Mr. Musharraf faces potential treason charges for his role in suspending the constitution in 2007, though few analysts believe the government of Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... is likely to go ahead with those charges. Mr. Musharraf was disqualified from standing in the general election in May, in which his party performed poorly. More generally, few Paks have shown much enthusiasm for returning him to power. One factor in Mr. Musharraf's present calculation might be the position of his nemesis, Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, whom he tried to fire in 2007. With Mr. Chaudhry due to retire in December, analysts say that Mr. Musharraf might be waiting until then to decide whether his long-term future lies in or out of Pakistain.

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India-Pakistan

The Balochistan conundrum

2012-01-16

[Dawn] THE military handling of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... is pushing Baloch nationalists into the separatist camp. All the apparent `kill and dump` policy is achieving is to kill any possibility of reconciliation and dump any chance of peace. The real problem lies in the mindset underpinning the approach to handling the Balochistan crisis the frame of mind created by the national security paradigm that gives the security and intelligence agencies a greater role. Only if this mindset is changed can the disgruntled youth of Balochistan be brought back into the national mainstream. Balochistan has always remained on the country`s political periphery. Over-centralism, a unitary type of governance and the arbitrary nature of the decision-making process in Islamabad have alienated the young of Balochistan. A province, already at the receiving end, is now receiving the bullet-riddled bodies of its people. The `mysterious kidnappings of political activists and extra-judicial killings are only fanning anti-federation flames. Four insurgencies have previously been witnessed in Balochistan: in 1948, 1958, 1962 and 1973. Four military operations were undertaken but these only resulted in a worse mess and in deepening the sense of deprivation, alienation and frustration in the province. Now, the province is facing another insurgency backed by separatists operating under different names including the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the Baloch Republican Army (BRA) and the Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... the restive province is effectively under the control of the security establishment. The killing and abduction of young Baloch men indicate that the establishment is again trying to resolve the situation through the barrel of a gun. Theresult is that the Baloch feel even more oppressed, repressed and suppressed. It is possible to argue that a military operation for restoring or establishing the writ of the government in an area of conflict is somewhat justified but imposing the `will` of the establishment, masquerading in a national security state as the writ of the government, cannot be justified. In Balochistan`s case, the will of theestablishment has been against the will of the people which is for a social security or welfare state. There will be no improvement in Balochistan`s situation until the mindset of the decision-makers changes. It is this that has alienated the Baloch youth. Veteran nationalist leader Sardar Ataullah Mengal believes that the Baloch have reached the point of no return; that they consider the slow unfolding of large-scale killings justification enough for going their separate way. The question, then, is: what led to this point of no return? Gen Musharraf once presented the rationale behind military action in Balochistan: to get into a `position of strength` so that the weak enemy was forced to agree to terms for the resolution of the conflict. Whilst at war, this could be a prudent military strategy against an enemy. But is it justified against disgruntled and frustrated citizens of Pakistain? There is irony to be found in the death of Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, who was targeted and killed in 2006. Immediately after, the official media announced the killing probably thinking that the impact would be an insurgency sapped of its strength. In actual fact, the province slid into renewed violence as the news of Bugti`s death circulated. The killing revived and ignited Baloch nationalism, giving it a martyr while providing new young recruits to separatist and cut-thoat organizations. Now, the separatists are fighting for an independent Balochistan against Pakistain`s armed forces and law-enforcement personnel. The light at the end of the tunnel lies in delineating and marginalising separatists from the nationalists, who have been fighting for political and economic rights as enshrined in the 1973 constitution. The killing of nationalists is diminishing any prospects of peace and pushing more young Baloch into the separatist camp. The `national security paradigm` has got Balochistan hamstrung, with even efforts towards development confined within it. A state version of the development of the province`s natural resources was put in place in which local needs and demands were imposed. Mega projects worth billions of rupees were launched under the Musharraf administration, but they were accompanied by proposals to establish military cantonments at Khuzdar, Gwadar, Dera Bugti and Kohlu. While they were probably meant to protect the projects under way in `enemy zones`, the impression created was that development was to be achieved at gunpoint. Then in 2009, the federal government presented the Aghazi-Hugooq-i-Balochistan package. But Baloch leaders rejected it on the grounds that the government had not even mentioned a date for the cessation of military operations or the recovery of `missing` persons. True, the package addressed some of the genuine grievances of the province; but how good was that when the Baloch continued to pick up the mutilated and bulletriddled bodies of their compatriots? One recalls US president George W. Bush`s comments when his country launched aerial attacks against Afghanistan: he boasted of American generosity and said that American planes, while bombing Afghanistan, also dropped food for the poor and hungry. Military offensives and political initiatives cannot go together. Economic packages to compensate for the destruction caused by military action will not be acceptable to the Baloch. The authorities must immediately halt the military operation in the province, and make efforts to bring Baloch nationalists to the negotiating table. Credible assurances must be given regarding a fair investigation into the killing of political activists and the recovery of `missing` persons. A political process engaging all nationalist forces and tribal elders is the only silver lining.

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India-Pakistan

Anti-terror court rejects bail plea of Shahzain Bugti

2011-01-01

[Arab News] An anti-terrorist court in Quetta on Friday rejected bail application of Balochistan chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) Shahzain Bugti, grandson of slain Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. Shahzain Bugti and his accomplices were jugged by the Frontier Corps (FC) last week. A huge cache of ammunition was seized from their possession. The men were produced in court amid tight security on Friday, after the lapse of the seven-day remand. The prosecutor requested the court to grant a 20-day extension in remand but the court decided to extend it by three days. According to Bugti's lawyer, Mukaish Kohli, the prosecution said they needed more time because they had included four more accused, who were originally from Chaman. Later, Kohli said that the court had reserved its judgment on the bail plea until Friday. He said that the police had failed to produce a report about the previous remand. "The court ordered them to submit a report on the next date of hearing, otherwise the accused will be sent to jail," he said. Kohli said that he requested the court to accept Bugti's bail application as the police had failed to produce any incriminating evidence against him. Speaking to news hounds, Bugti said he had confidence in the judiciary and that he would accept its decision. Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... JWP activists held a protest demonstration outside the court premises, demanding Bugti's immediate release.

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India-Pakistan

Pakistan will brook no dictation, says PM

2010-12-24

[Dawn] Reacting to opposition challenges and a controversy fuelled by media reports, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani assured the National Assembly on Thursday his government would not succumb to any foreign dictation about when and where to launch a military operation in the so-called war on terrorism. And he also said nobody could force any official of the country's top spy agency, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), to comply with reported summons from a US court for appearance in a case related to the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai. Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan had raised the issue of the reported summons from a New York court for the present and a former chief of the ISI and two serving Pakistain Army majors in a lawsuit accusing them of training and facilitating the Mumbai attackers, asking the government not to let it happen or allow any foreign power to make Pak institutions hostage despite his own "reservations" about the role of intelligence agencies within the country. The question of alleged US pressure on Pakistain to launch a military operation in North Wazoo against Taliban and Al Qaeda hideouts was raised by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman Known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... in an anti-government tirade over his party's decision last week to quit the PPP-led coalition over the sacking of a party minister for alleged indiscipline. But the prime minister, in his response, only referred to the speech of the opposition leader -- who also complained about alleged humiliation of a grandson of the late Baloch leader Akbar Khan Bugti while being jugged near Quetta on Wednesday for allegedly carrying illegal arms -- and seemed to ignore the JUI leader, who had spoken earlier in his absence, accusing the PPP of breaking "a string of friendship" with his party, bowing to perceived American dictates in the war on terror and being a threat to Sharia, which he said his party wanted enforced. "It will be a fallacy to think that we will take any action under their pressure," the prime minister said about the alleged US pressure, often reported by western media but denied by American officials, adding that there would be "no compromise on Pakistain's integrity and illusory sovereignty". "This will be a decision of the Pak nation where and when we have to launch an operation and nobody can dictate to us (from the outside)," he said.

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India-Pakistan

20 hurt as blast rocks JWP rally

2008-08-30

A bomb exploded near a rally in Balochistan on Tuesday, injuring around 20 people, police said. The bomb was planted on a motorbike and went off during a rally near the district office of the Jamhori Watan Party in Dera Allah Yar, they said. "The blast triggered panic and initial reports said around 20 people were wounded," local police officer Nazir Ahmed Kurd told AFP. Crowds gathered outside the hospital, where at least three people were in serious condition, he added. The blast came as nationalist parties in the restive province called a strike on Tuesday over Bugti's killing. Meanwhile, the Nasirabad police recovered and defused a 20-kg explosive device planted near the district office of the JWP in Dera Murad Jamali. -- Agencies Muhammad Ejaz Khan adds from Quetta: A wheel jam and shutter-down strike was observed on the eve of the second death anniversary of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan on Tuesday. Business activities remained at a standstill while traffic and public transport stayed off the road. Business concerns and shops were closed at the Jinnah Road, Liaquat Bazar, Shahrah-e-Iqbal, Prince Road, Abdul Sattar Road, Kassi Road, Toghi Road, McCongy Road, Fatima Jinnah Road, Soraj Ganj Bazaar, Sirki Road, Jail Road, Alamo Chowk and other areas of the provincial capital. Private banks and educational institutions also remained closed. In some schools, the administration declared an unofficial holiday in order to save their students and staff from any inconvenience due to the strike. An extremely thin attendance was observed in the public and private offices in the provincial metropolis. In Hazar Ganji, activists of the Anjuman Ittehad Marri brawled with personnel of the law enforcement agencies. It was reported that at least five activists were injured. A group of some enraged persons ransacked two banks, besides setting ablaze a police vehicle and damaging two other vehicles. They also damaged properties of four other banks and a post office located in the Hazar Ganji area. Some activists of a nationalist party also forced the shopkeepers at the Meezan Chowk to close their shops but it was strongly resisted by the shopkeepers. Reports reaching from Khuzdar, Turbat, Gwadar, Sibi, Noshki, Dalbandin, Kalat, Mastung, Jaffarabad, Naseerabad, Bolan, Hub, Lasbela, Kharan, Awaran and other Baloch areas suggested that a complete shutter down was also observed there.

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India-Pakistan

15 child brides used to settle Pakistan feud

2008-06-05

It started with a dead dog, escalated into a tit-for-tat tribal war, and has now reached a grotesque climax with the exchange of 15 child brides. Pakistani human rights activists are outraged at reports that a long-running blood feud in a remote corner of western Baluchistan province has been resolved by the handing over of 15 girls, aged between three and 10, for marriage. "There has to be action," said Asma Jahangir, a leading rights campaigner. "These people who force others to sell their daughters must be sent to prison." The new government in Islamabad, led by the party of the late Benazir Bhutto, has promised to act. "We will not allow young girls to be traded like this," said the information minister, Sherry Rehman. "The culprits who tried to do this will be arrested. The orders have been given." But Jahangir said those orders had not been acted upon. "There is a dysfunction in the whole system. They are not listening to the government," she said. "We need to see them being more effective than just rhetoric." You're just figuring out now that there's a disconnect between what your country says and what it does ... Vanni, an ancient tribal practice in which feuding clans settle their differences by exchanging women for marriage, is illegal in Pakistan. In 2004 the Sindh high court outlawed all such "parallel justice" systems. But the writ of government is weak in rural areas, and local police often turn a blind eye. The current controversy started with a row over a dog, said Muhammad Paryal Marri, a researcher in northern Sindh for the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. A dog owned by one tribe, the Chakranis, was shot dead because it strayed too close to a well controlled by their rivals, the Qalandaris. In revenge the Chakranis shot a donkey belonging to the other side. A ferocious bout of tit-for-tat killings ensued in which 19 people, including five women, were killed. The fighting ended in 2002 when Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti - a rebellious tribal chieftain who was later killed by the Pakistan army - brought the two sides together. Bugti ordered the Chakranis to hand over 15 child brides in compensation; at a jirga, or tribal council. Last Friday they finally agreed to make good on that promise, said Marri. "They agreed to pay some money and exchange the ladies," he said. Such brutal traditions have only come to light for a broader public in the past decade, thanks to activism by human rights groups and publicity from local media. "Barbarity in the name of tradition," declared the English-langauge newspaper Dawn earlier this week in a scathing editorial against the "medieval mindset that dominates many sections of our society". But, despite previous shows of similar anger, official action has lagged far behind. "The government is unwilling to use its authority to protect women. It will find any excuse," said Jahangir.

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India-Pakistan

Son escaped assassination bid: Talal Bugti

2006-12-12

QUETTA: Talal Bugti, son of the late Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, on Monday alleged that his son Shah Zain Bugti had escaped an assassination attempt the other day. In a press statement, Talal said that Shah Zain was visiting his agricultural land in the Pat Feeder Canal area when some unidentified men attacked him. “They are the same people who had isolated my father in the mountains,” he said.

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