Why Imran Khan has decided not to go to Quetta with his so-called Tsunami

Graphic details: Killing of Brahumdagh Bugti’s sister and niece in Karachi on 31st January

Brahamdagh Bugti’s sister, and Mehran Baluch’s sister-in-law Zamur Bugti (34), and 13-year old daughter, Jaana Domki were visiting the house of Zamur’s maternal uncle after attending a wedding ceremony of a cousin at Carlton Hotel in D.H.A, Karachi. They were accompanied by their driver (Barkat Baloch) and a helper’s 12 year old daughter. They were travelling in a black Toyota sedan (Registration: ANR-353). The car also had an MPA Balochistan plate on it.

Between 1 and 1:30 AM on the 31st of January, shortly after leaving the uncle’s house, a black coloured car intercepted Bugti’s car near Gizri Bridge, Clifton. A man dressed in black shalwar kameez and wearing a black face mask jumped out of the car and shot the driver, Barkat Baloch, as they tried to get away. The driver was killed on the spot as a result of multiple bullet wounds to the head. Then the assailant opened the rear door at which point two bikes arrived at the scene and parked on the left and right side of the car. Upon opening the door, Zamur Bugti offered her jewellery, phone and valuables to the man, thinking that he was a robber. In response the killer told Zamur that he didn’t need her valuables and that he was there to kill her and her daughter, in urdu. Zamur Bugti told him to spare her daughter and that he could kill her. At this point the killer went to the daughter who was sitting on the front passenger seat and fired multiple shots at her, hitting her in the chest and neck.

Zamur Bugti was made to witness the brutal killing of her daughter. Zamur Bugti was then shot over a dozen times in the head, face and neck at point blank range and was left in a pool of blood. During this incident, the police were spectating from a distance.

We have gathered all this information from a first-hand witness who was a helper’s daughter. She was deliberately spared by the killer. The girl ran back to the house which they had just left and informed the family there of what had happened. The family members immediately rushed to the scene where they found the previously spectating policemen close to the victims’ bodies, trying to steal jewellery the victims were wearing. A family member who just arrived at the scene from the uncle’s house witnessed this and yelled at them and told them to get away, so they stepped back. No personal belongings were taken.

Baloch blood on our hands : DAILY TIMES EDITORIAL

Finally the Federal Ministry of Human Rights has woken up to the woes of the people of Balochistan and taken notice of the rising number of deaths in the province. The human rights ministry has decided to form a task force that will probe human rights violations in Pakistan’s largest province. A report was earlier compiled by the interior ministry’s Crisis Management Cell (CMC). According to this report, Rs 900 million has been spent by deploying 17 regular units and paramilitary troops to put an end to rising violence in Balochistan. This is astonishing considering that the money is being spent on the same forces that the Baloch people hold responsible for their miseries. A military operation is going on in the province and the ‘kill and dump’ policy being pursued by the military and its intelligence agencies is no secret. Various NGOs and human rights organisations, both local and international, have documented this in their reports. The human rights ministry’s task force needs to take into account how deploying more paramilitary troops is part of the problem, not part of the solution, to the ongoing crisis in Balochistan. Although it is not in the hands of the federal and/or the provincial governments to end the military operation since they do not call the shots when it comes to the military’s policies, it is pertinent for the human rights ministry to act according to its nomenclature by persuading GHQ that its policies in Balochistan are hurting the federation.

Killing innocent Baloch whose only fault is to ask for their basic and just rights is criminal. Thousands of Baloch are missing. Tortured and bullet-riddled bodies of Baloch missing persons are found every other day in the province. Under these circumstances, pursuing a repressive policy is not just the height of injustice but also a threat to the country’s unity. The military made the same mistake in East Pakistan. Instead of learning from past mistakes, our military keeps making new and more senseless mistakes.

The need of the hour is to stop the military operation at once. The Frontier Corps (FC) has terrorised the Baloch for many years now. It is time to stop their brutal activities. Kidnapping, torturing and murdering our own Baloch brethren is not something that can be allowed to take place. Baloch insurgents have taken up arms in frustration. The calls for ‘freedom’ are a result of the FC’s ‘kill and dump’ policy.

Trying to solve the crisis in Balochistan through military means is a disaster waiting to happen. This is the fifth military operation in Balochistan. The last four operations only alienated the Baloch further and this one could well be the last nail in the federation’s coffin. A political solution is the only way out of this quagmire. Talking to the Baloch leadership — those in the mountains and those in exile — can bring peace pack. The democratically elected civilian government may be weak but it should not sweep this issue under the carpet because in the end, the blood of the Baloch will be on the hands of the whole Pakistani nation that silently watched this massacre and did not raise its voice. Let us not bloody our hands any further; let us raise our hands for justice instead.

Courtesy » Daily Times

Pakistani journalist given U.S. asylum tells of threats, disappearances in Baluchistan

Siraj Ahmed Malik, an ambitious young Pakistani journalist, was enjoying a stint last fall on a fellowship at the University of Arizona when he started getting chilling messages from home.

One after another, his friends and colleagues were disappearing, he learned, and their bodies were turning up with bullet holes and burn marks. A doctor’s son from his home town was arrested and vanished. A fellow reporter was kidnapped, and his corpse was found near a river. A student leader was detained, and his bullet-riddled body dumped on a highway. A writer whose stories Malik had edited was shot and killed.

“These were kids I had played cricket with, people I had interviewed, younger reporters I had taught,” Malik, 28, said in an interview last week in Arlington County, where he now lives. The final straw came in early June, when one of his mentors, a poet and scholar, was gunned down in Quetta, the capital of Baluchistan, Malik’s native province.

On Aug. 19, Malik applied for political asylum in the United States. In his petition, he said that his work as a journalist and ethnic activist in Baluchistan, where he had exposed military abuses, made him likely to be arrested, tortured, abducted and “ultimately killed by the government” if he returned. …

Read more » The Washington Post

Abducted Journalist Found Dead, Tortured in Balochistan

Journalist’s body found in Khuzdar

QUETTA – A bullet-riddled body of a journalist was recovered from Khuzdar district, some 360 Km southeast of Quetta, on Saturday.

According to police officials, area people spotted a body lying at Gazgi area and informed police. Policemen rushed to the site and moved the body to Civil Hospital Khuzdar for medico-legal formalities where deceased was identified as Javed Naseer Rind, a missing journalist. “The victim was hit by bullets in head and chest while marks of torture were also visible on his body,” hospital sources said. Police after completing legal formalities handed over the body to heirs. …

Read more »  The Nation

Bullet, not Ballot? MQM boycotts AJK elections

– MQM boycotts AJK elections

KARACHI: Lamenting the postponement of elections on two seats of Azad Jammu & Kashmir (AJK) assembly reportedly for security reasons, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) has announced to boycott the elections. ….

Read more: → GEO

Mourning and Grieving Baloch nation while Pakistan celebrates its 23th March: Report

Balochistan: 23 March perhaps a day the Pakistani’s celebrate their “First Resolution Day” but 23 March 2011 brought mourning and grieving for Baloch nation, as such two bullet riddled bodies of Baloch missing persons were found from Vinder, District Hub. ….

Read more : frontierindia.org

Three more Baloch missing persons bullet-riddled bodies found in Balochistan

Mar 09: Three more bullet-riddled bodies of Baloch missing persons were found in different parts of Balochistan on Tuesday. The bodies were reportedly found in Uthal, Turbat and Kalat. …

Read more : baluchsarmachar

Speech of Dr. Zafar Baloch (BHRC) to the conference on South Asia

The conference on South Asia was organized by International Center for Peace & Democracy (ICFPD) in collaboration with Baloch Human Rights Council (Canada). The conference took place at Hotel Radisson Toronto, Canada on December 11, 2010.

SOUTH ASIAN PERSPETIVE ON REGIONAL STABILITY THE ROLE OF THE STATE: DEMOCRACY, DICTATORSHIP, AND EXTREMISM

– ICFPD

Following is the speech delivered by Dr. Zafar Baloch, president of Baloch Human Rights council (Canada) in the conference.

Six missing persons found dead in Balochistan

By Muhammad Zafar

QUETTA: Six bullet-riddled bodies were found from different parts of Balochistan during the three days of Eidul Azha.

According to sources, two bullet-riddled bodies were found from Kech Kaur near Hiruk area of Turbat on Thursday. They have been identified as Lala Hameed Baloch, president of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) and another Hamid Ismail. Hameed Baloch was a journalist and a member of the Gwadar Press Club. The bodies were taken to nearby hospital for autopsy.

A complete strike was observed on Friday in Gwadar, Pasni, Jiwani, Turbat and Hoshap condemning the killing of political opponents.

Another two bullet-riddled bodies were found in Kad Kocha area of Mastung, some 120 kilometers off the provincial capital. The bodies were identified as of Bashir Ahmed Lehri and Inayathullah who had been missing for more than two months.

Bashir was kidnapped along with Zahoor Baloch, a member of the Balochistan Students Organisation-Azad (BSO-Azad) in Ramazan. “The government functionaries are involved in the killings,” relatives alleged.

A bullet-riddled body of a student, Samiullah Mengal, was found near Ferozabad area of Khuzdar, some 300-kilometre from Quetta on Wednesday. Samiullah was BSO-Azad activist and had been missing for the last 45 days when he was returning to Khuzdar from Sasol.

Another body was discovered on Friday from Kapotu area of Kalat district and had been identified as Nasurrallah Baloch. ….

Read more : Daily Times

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– BBC urdu report –  BBC Video

For more details : Reporters without Borders

Asfandyar Wali Khan’s sister injured in bullet shot attack

Asfandyar’s sister injured in Peshawar attack, * Dr Gulalai receives a bullet shot to her hand, * ANP spokesman calls it a ‘target killing attempt’

PESHAWAR: Dr Gulalai, sister of Awami National Party central president Asfandyar Wali Khan, escaped an attempt on her life on Monday, party spokesman said.

“She has survived the attack, only receiving a bullet to her right hand, and is back home now,” Arbab Tahir, provincial party spokesman told Daily Times.

A police official said three unidentified motorcyclists fired three shots at her as she left her clinic in Karachi Market in the busy Khyber Bazaar. …

Read more >> Daily Times