Pakistan to Withdraws Army from Baluchistan as Part of
Peace Plan
By Paul Tighe
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said army units will withdraw from areas of Baluchistan as part of a plan to end an
insurgency in the province that produces a quarter of the country’s natural gas.
Soldiers will hand over control of seven checkpoints to units of the Frontier Corps, meeting a long-standing demand of the people, Gilani told Parliament
at the end of a debate yesterday on greater rights for Baluchistan. The corps is a paramilitary force recruited mostly from people from the tribal areas.
The prime minister repeated an offer to meet with dissident Baluch leaders, saying “we have never shied away from meeting any stakeholder,” the official
Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Pakistan’s government is offering economic aid and political changes for Baluchistan, the province in the southwest where insurgents have attacked oil
and gas installations, pipelines and security forces in recent years. The Baluch group of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a tribal leader killed by security forces
in 2006, says it is fighting for the rights of local people, including royalties from the minerals and fuels discovered in the region.
Pakistan says the insurgency is backed by neighboring India and groups in Afghanistan. India denies the charge.
Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area, covering 44 percent of the country. Its population of more than 8 million, according to a 2007 census,
is the smallest in the country of 176 million people. Punjab, the region that generates more than half of the country’s economic growth, had more than 87
million people, according to the census.
Gas, Oil Royalties
Royalties from oil, gas and minerals will be assigned as part of a package that includes inviting exiled leaders to return to the country and withdrawing
politically motivated court cases, Raza Rabbani, a senior leader of Gilani’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party, told lawmakers last month.
Payment of dues amounting to more than $1.4 billion has been authorized, Gilani said yesterday, according to APP. This is “just the start,” it cited him as
saying.
Pakistan’s government aims to invest $15 billion over five years to develop the oil and natural gas industry and reduce dependence on imports and meet
local demand, which is forecast to double by 2020.
Baluchistan is home to the Sui gas fields, the country’s largest. Production from the aging fields that opened in 1955 is declining by as much as 5
percent a year, Khalid Rahman, chief executive officer of Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., the country’s biggest gas producer, said earlier this year.
Frontier Corps units will be deployed in Sui soon, Gilani told lawmakers yesterday, APP reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at .
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news
Return of the ‘missing’
Wednesday, 02 Dec, 2009 | 08:20 AM PST |
The recent release of 20 Baloch who had gone missing for several months will be welcomed for many reasons.
First, it is a blatant violation of human rights to whisk people away, circumventing the legal process. It is agonising for their families if their whereabouts
are not disclosed.
Therefore the government is to be commended for arranging the release of some of them — although the number of the released is a drop in the ocean
if the nationalists’ claim of 4,000 men having been picked up is to be believed.
Second, the tribesmen’s release should facilitate the success of the recently announced Balochistan package — especially if it is followed by more
releases.
Trust deficit is often the major impediment in the path of conflict resolution.
Therefore the release of the missing people should reassure the aggrieved party that the government is committed to its pledge — especially as illegal
detention is a major issue.
Third, this is the first step towards addressing the case of the disappeared. Hopefully the ‘missing’ others will also return home. It will save the Supreme
Court a lot of hassle at a time when it has resumed the hearing of their cases.
Although the release of the 20 detainees is a step in the right direction, it is important that the matter be pursued further.
We do not know who picked up the men and why. Doubts have been cast on the role of the security agencies but as legal processes were not followed,
one cannot identify those responsible with certainty.
Abduction by the security agencies amounts to arbitrary arrests by the government.
Can such illegal measures be allowed to escape the purview of the law, with scant notice being taken by officials?
Should not those responsible for such detention be held accountable for an act that has brought the government into disrepute?
If those who committed this crime are not brought to book, how would the grievances of those who were wronged be redressed? How will it be ensured
that similar abductions are not repeated in future?
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/province
Peace Plan
By Paul Tighe
Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pakistan’s Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said army units will withdraw from areas of Baluchistan as part of a plan to end an
insurgency in the province that produces a quarter of the country’s natural gas.
Soldiers will hand over control of seven checkpoints to units of the Frontier Corps, meeting a long-standing demand of the people, Gilani told Parliament
at the end of a debate yesterday on greater rights for Baluchistan. The corps is a paramilitary force recruited mostly from people from the tribal areas.
The prime minister repeated an offer to meet with dissident Baluch leaders, saying “we have never shied away from meeting any stakeholder,” the official
Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Pakistan’s government is offering economic aid and political changes for Baluchistan, the province in the southwest where insurgents have attacked oil
and gas installations, pipelines and security forces in recent years. The Baluch group of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, a tribal leader killed by security forces
in 2006, says it is fighting for the rights of local people, including royalties from the minerals and fuels discovered in the region.
Pakistan says the insurgency is backed by neighboring India and groups in Afghanistan. India denies the charge.
Baluchistan is Pakistan’s largest province by area, covering 44 percent of the country. Its population of more than 8 million, according to a 2007 census,
is the smallest in the country of 176 million people. Punjab, the region that generates more than half of the country’s economic growth, had more than 87
million people, according to the census.
Gas, Oil Royalties
Royalties from oil, gas and minerals will be assigned as part of a package that includes inviting exiled leaders to return to the country and withdrawing
politically motivated court cases, Raza Rabbani, a senior leader of Gilani’s ruling Pakistan People’s Party, told lawmakers last month.
Payment of dues amounting to more than $1.4 billion has been authorized, Gilani said yesterday, according to APP. This is “just the start,” it cited him as
saying.
Pakistan’s government aims to invest $15 billion over five years to develop the oil and natural gas industry and reduce dependence on imports and meet
local demand, which is forecast to double by 2020.
Baluchistan is home to the Sui gas fields, the country’s largest. Production from the aging fields that opened in 1955 is declining by as much as 5
percent a year, Khalid Rahman, chief executive officer of Pakistan Petroleum Ltd., the country’s biggest gas producer, said earlier this year.
Frontier Corps units will be deployed in Sui soon, Gilani told lawmakers yesterday, APP reported.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Tighe in Sydney at .
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news
Return of the ‘missing’
Wednesday, 02 Dec, 2009 | 08:20 AM PST |
The recent release of 20 Baloch who had gone missing for several months will be welcomed for many reasons.
First, it is a blatant violation of human rights to whisk people away, circumventing the legal process. It is agonising for their families if their whereabouts
are not disclosed.
Therefore the government is to be commended for arranging the release of some of them — although the number of the released is a drop in the ocean
if the nationalists’ claim of 4,000 men having been picked up is to be believed.
Second, the tribesmen’s release should facilitate the success of the recently announced Balochistan package — especially if it is followed by more
releases.
Trust deficit is often the major impediment in the path of conflict resolution.
Therefore the release of the missing people should reassure the aggrieved party that the government is committed to its pledge — especially as illegal
detention is a major issue.
Third, this is the first step towards addressing the case of the disappeared. Hopefully the ‘missing’ others will also return home. It will save the Supreme
Court a lot of hassle at a time when it has resumed the hearing of their cases.
Although the release of the 20 detainees is a step in the right direction, it is important that the matter be pursued further.
We do not know who picked up the men and why. Doubts have been cast on the role of the security agencies but as legal processes were not followed,
one cannot identify those responsible with certainty.
Abduction by the security agencies amounts to arbitrary arrests by the government.
Can such illegal measures be allowed to escape the purview of the law, with scant notice being taken by officials?
Should not those responsible for such detention be held accountable for an act that has brought the government into disrepute?
If those who committed this crime are not brought to book, how would the grievances of those who were wronged be redressed? How will it be ensured
that similar abductions are not repeated in future?
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/province
