LONDON, Dec 4: The Pakistan Army, especially its leadership, came under severe attack here on Monday as a couple of UK- based Baloch leaders and their sympathisers led by US regional expert Selig Harrison recounted what they called the ‘atrocities’ committed by the military establishment against the people of Balochistan.

They were speaking at a seminar on “Why Balochistan Matters -- insurgency and the politics of military rule in Pakistan” organised by the Foreign Policy Centre.

Senator Tariq Azim, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting, made a brave attempt to counter the criticism of the army by presenting the institution’s side of the story on Balochistan but ended up provoking the audience and causing an unwelcome pandemonium of sorts.

Since he was using the same language, arguments and formulations as being used by President Gen Pervez Musharraf over the last couple of years while defending his Balochistan policies, the majority of the audience justifiably lost patience with the minister’s harangue.

Others who spoke included former senator Javed Mengal (BNP) and Dr Ayesah Siddiqa, a Pakistani defence analyst, and Jaromik Kohlicek MEP, Vice-Chair of the Saarc delegation.

Selig Harrison liberally used the East Pakistan example and predicted that Balochistan too would one day demand independence, though at the moment, he said Balochs are only fighting for their legitimate rights as enshrined in the 1973 Constitution.

In his opinion, the only way Pakistan can save Balochistan from going the way East Pakistan went was to ensure fair and free elections in 2007 with both Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif allowed to participate and after that transferring power from the army to the elected parliament.

Disagreeing with Mr Harrison on the issue of equating the present day crisis in Balochistan with that of pre-Bangladesh East Pakistan, Dr Ayesha said as of today the Baloch political power was fragmented and weak whereas the Bengalis at the time of their struggle for independence had presented a unified front.

She, however, drew a telling picture of the deprivation of the Baloch people with facts and figures and concluded that unless the government empowered people in the province and gave them their share in governance and development efforts, things were going to deteriorate further.

Javed Mengal called upon the international community, especially the US and the UK, to extend their support to the Baloch cause by withdrawing their support to Pakistan’s military regime.

He said the military regime was using against the Baloch people a large part of the financial and military resources it was receiving from Washington and London for fighting terrorism.

It was a jam-packed event at the Committee Room No.12 of the House of Commons. The Baloch participants who were in majority sounded as if they had all but given up the idea of remaining within Pakistan. There was a vociferous minority as well which disagreed vehemently with the Baloch participants.

The invitation introducing Balochistan described it as the “Kurdistan of Central Asia” and said Balochistan was a crucial element to Britain’s relations with Pakistan and the Pakistani community in the UK.