PAKISTANI PHILOSOPHY

Pakistan's battle over Balochistan

Nawab Akbar Bugti sits in a cave in Balochistan, guarded by his poorly-attired, heavily-armed tribesmen.

The heavily-guarded hideout of Nawab Akbar Bugti

ith anti-personnel mines encircling his mountain hideout, the octogenarian warrior mixes 17th century guerrilla tactics with modern weaponry to take on the might of Pakistan's security forces.

Near the hideout of the Bugti tribe, another chieftain, Nawab Khair Baksh, fights a similar battle with security forces in the district of Kohlu.

Kohlu was the scene of a rocket attack last month that coincided with President Pervez Musharraf's visit to the area.

Since the attack, an estimated 100 people have died, accelerating a two-year old conflict in which Baloch militants have targeted railway tracks, power facilities and other key installations.

No matter what the authorities say about foreign involvement, seasoned Balochistan watchers say the problem is essentially local

Pakistan's human rights commission has detailed widespread violations by the security forces, including extra-judicial killings - a report government officials say is one-sided.

No-one seems to know exactly how many civilians have died in helicopter raids on suspected militant camps or in the numerous rocket attacks on soldiers' camps.

In the words of one analyst, it's an undeclared war in which neither side is observing the rules.

New significance

So what on earth is going on in Balochistan, which is regarded as the poorest and most backward of Pakistan's four provinces?

With about six million inhabitants, Pakistan's biggest province has less than half the population of the port city of Karachi.

In mineral resources, however, it is said to be the richest province and is a major supplier of natural gas to the country.

With the government now planning to construct a deep sea port at Gwadar and a road link with Afghanistan and central Asia, Balochistan has acquired a new significance - both for Pakistan and other regional players.

And that is where the problem lies.

Nationalist anger

For decades, Baloch nationalists have been critical of the central government in Islamabad, accusing it of depriving the province its due.

They say the government took away income from natural gas and other resources, while spending only a trivial amount on the province.

The struggle for greater national rights, financial resources and against the establishment of military camps in Balochistan has now led to a tacit understanding between Nawab Bugti and Nawab Baksh.

One of Mr Baksh's six sons leads a force of trained and semi-trained Marri tribesmen, which goes by the name of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

A third tribal leader, former Chief Minister Ataullah Mengal, is not involved in the armed struggle but gives it his ideological and political backing.

For these nationalist leaders, large projects such as the highway and Gwadar port scheme are another form of subjugation - serving the central government but offering little benefit to Balochistan.

The military garrisons set up in the area to secure the expected foreign investment are, for people like Nawab Bugti, also part of well-conceived plan to suppress the nationalist voice.

'Foreign involvement'

President Musharraf refers to these tribal chiefs as anti-development.

He says they oppose his projects because they will bring prosperity to the area and will end the archaic tribal system which preserves their power.

Balochistan has a long history of resisting external influences

Without naming any country, he also accuses the armed Baloch militants of playing into foreign hands.

Senior officials in the security forces say they grew alarmed when intelligence agencies found more than one foreign country was involved in the province's affairs.

The countries were said to be opposed to Gwadar becoming a major trading port for central Asian nations and China.

One official said the biggest shock came when the interrogation of a group of militants revealed they had been trained in a friendly Gulf country, which allegedly feared it could lose its status as the region's biggest trading port.

But no matter what the authorities say about foreign involvement, seasoned Balochistan watchers say the problem is essentially local.

They say the Baloch people can only be tamed through political means, pointing out that this is not the first time they have taken up arms to fight those they see as outsiders.

And, they say, though the might of the armed forces might crush the people of Balochistan, it will never win their hearts and minds.

WELL HERES THE STORY OF PAKISTANS OWN INTERNAL CONFLICT IN BALOCHISTAN,INSTEAD OF TRYING TO RESLOVE THIS CONFLICT PAKISTAN IS TRYING TO DESTABLIZE INDIA BY SUPPORTING AND PROPOGATING TERRORISM IN MANY PARTS OF INDIA.
"KEHTE HAIN KHUDKA GHAR SAMBHAL NAHI SAKE TO DUSRO KA GHAR UJADNE CHALE"

WHAT PERVEZ MUSHARRAF SAYS??

Musharraf berates Muslim world

Musharraf wants young Muslims to study in the West

By Zaffar Abbas in Islamabad

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has said Islamic countries will remain backward unless they concentrate more on scientific and technological development.

Muslim nations are internally involved in fratricidal conflicts and perceived by the outside world as terrorists with little attention being given on their uplift, he said.

General Musharraf made his comments in an address to a conference of science and technology attended by ministers from Muslim countries.

President Musharraf said the time had come for Islamic nations to take part in collective self-criticism.

Once such an assessment is made, it would not be difficult to realise that the entire Islamic world was far behind the developed world, he argued.

'The most unhealthy'

The Muslim Ummah, or the Islamic world, he said was presently living in darkness.

"Today we are the poorest, the most illiterate, the most backward, the most unhealthy, the most un-enlightened, the most deprived, and the weakest of all the human race," he told the delegates.

Musharraf wants to rid Pakistan of extremism

President Musharraf then made a comparison of the economic growth in Islamic countries with some developed countries.

While the collective Gross National Product of the all Muslim countries stands at $1,200bn, that of Germany alone is $2,500bn and that of Japan $5,500bn.

He said one of the main reasons for this disparity was that none of the Muslim countries had ever paid any attention to educational and scientific development.

He asked the countries participating in the conference to concentrate on scientific and technological development in order to compete with the developed world.

The real jihad

The Pakistani leader suggested the setting up of a multi-billion dollar fund for such a purpose.

Beside this, he said, there was a need for creating centres of excellence in the field of science and technology.

He also called for the creation of scholarships for young scientists to seek knowledge from universities in developed countries.

President Musharraf described it as the real jihad, or holy war.

Unless this was done, the Islamic world and Muslims would always be perceived as backward, illiterate - those who only indulge in extremism and violence.

WELL WHEN MUSHARRAF SAYS DAT THEN VAT ABOUT THE VIOLENCE AND TERRORISM HE PROPOGATES AND SUPPORTS IN KASHMIR WHICH LEADS 2 DESTRUCTION OF PROPERTY WORTH MILLIONS ,MOST IMPORTANTLY MANY PRECIOUS LIVES,VAT U GOTTA SAY ABT THIS MR.MUSHARRAF????

I cared,I dared,I won

I should have kept my expectations low
I should have asked less and given more

For this life is full of ups and downs
And we bare it with grins and frowns
I saw it all too late,
The angels had set my fate

I wish i could tear their pages and light them up
Think good things and write them up
And spare the cries for days gone
But time goes on and on

Every wednesday is a symbol of novalty
What will i hear from dear thee
What will I bare from the lips of the nearest to me

I couldnt get the words out I could not speak
My heart failed and I could only weep
I bare gifts for those who hate me
For a job welldone and ask them how they wish things to be.
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I am an exhausted and tired guy, I have lost my glimmer, and I dont want any more glamour.I had my 15 minutes of fame, and now I want only the warmth of a loved one.I wish no fight, I am hollow, I thought the world mine but its not.I thought that I could work the world on my terms.
_________________________________
Trained to the peak , and wounded
up with a pin. Waiting to release the explosion within.
Target selected.Adrenaline kicks in, getting ready,
to release the explosion within.
My brothers around me,the door gets blown in
I move in the darkness....I know where to begin
to release on my targets the explosion within
Filter in like shadows , the ball starts rolling and its time to begin.
Some Ass hole from Islamabad, has just pulled the pin.
Its over in seconds,my brothers are in all releasing
their explosion within
Everything is calm now but the Adrenaline still kicks in
As i filter back through the walls i came in.
I check the faces around me
My bothers and my kin, then pause for a second to look for my pin
Surveying the destruction and sin
My brothers around me, the shits bin flyin
Nothing worth Dyin
But I aint Cryin
Approaching the target the walls look so thin
Protecting our targets,our targets within.
And now I am a civie,with my loved kith and kin.
And try a new start,a new start to begin
And keep it all bottled up,the explosion within:
But who gives a fuck!
I cared,I dared,I won