September 06, 2008	Saturday	Ramazan 05, 1429

KARACHI, Sept 5: A central leader of the National Party, Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, has welcomed the suspension of militant activities by Baloch militant groups, thereby providing an opportunity to the government to find a permanent political solution to the Balochistan issue.

Talking to newsmen at the Karachi Press Club on Friday, Mr Bizenjo said his party always believed that political issues should be solved through political means and not through the barrel of a gun.

The NP leader said that though war had been imposed on the Baloch people by the government and it was its responsibility to stop it, the Baloch militant groups, by announcing unilateral suspension of militant activity for an indefinite period, had provided a golden opportunity to the Pakistani rulers to find a political solution to the Balochistan issue according to the satisfaction of the Baloch people.

He suggested that efforts should be initiated to create a congenial atmosphere in this regard by taking all political elements, particularly nationalist parties, into confidence.

The NP leader condemned attempts being made by the government to malign the Baloch people by exploiting the Nasirabad incident, in which five women were buried alive, saying that the Baloch people respected women.

He said the incident was designed to cover up the misdeeds of the rulers during the military operation in the province. However, he added that the “smear campaign” would in no way stop the Baloch people’s struggle for their democratic and national rights.

Mr Bizenjo said the Baloch people had been denied their basic rights ever since the creation of Pakistan and had been subjected to military operations four times in the past, which they had resisted.

The Baloch leader suggested that the media should highlight the basic issues of the province instead of drawing attention to what he called non-issues. He made it clear that the Baloch people could not compromise their basic national rights, which include the right of sovereignty on their land and resources.

At the same time he said talks could not be held at gunpoint because political issues cannot be resolved in an atmosphere of conflict.

To a question about the possibility of any deal between militant groups and the government, Mr Bizenjo said nobody could dare surrender the rights of the Baloch people. However, he argued that one could not rule out the possibility of back-channel diplomacy as it was also a part of the political process.

He hastened to add that the government could not mislead people through its “sinister campaign.”

Asked about any possibility of political settlement after the suspension of militant activity by Baloch nationalists, he said as long as the army remained, the military operation continued and people were subjected to illegal detention and torture, no dialogue could be held.

The Baloch leader was of the view that the government could initiate the process of détente by ending hostilities and pulling out all troops from the troubled areas.

Protest rally

Baloch activists representing various nationalist groups held a protest rally here in front of the Karachi Press Club on Friday afternoon demanding the release of all detained Baloch activists who are currently in the custody of various intelligence agencies.

Organized by the Baloch National Front (BNF), a nationalist organization supporting the objectives of Baloch militants, the activists of the organization, carrying placards and banners, condemned the atrocities being perpetrated against imprisoned Baloch political workers.

Speaking at the rally, Abdul Wahab Baloch, a central leader of the Front, urged the international organizations to take serious note of what he termed human rights violations in Balochistan and pressurize the Pakistani government to immediately release all political prisoners who were illegally in the custody of law enforcement agencies without being produced in any court of law.

He also made an appeal to all democratic forces, including lawyers, human rights activists and progressive organizations, to raise their voice against the unconstitutional and illegal measures of the rulers in Balochistan.

The BNF also issued a handbill on the Nasirabad incident and condemned the attempts being made by certain elements to malign Baloch society.

“Never before in the history of Baloch society has such an incident occurred and the gruesome incident is being exploited by conspiratorial forces to tarnish the image of Baloch people by branding them as barbarous and uncivilized,” the handbill says.

The BNF said that it was shocked at the role of the media in this particular issue, claiming it had blown it out of proportion while the same media kept silent on the atrocities being committed by Pakistani intelligence agencies in remote detention centres, where innocent people were being tortured, killed and buried without their bodies being handed over to their families.

The BNF cited several incidents of burning of innocent Bugtis and Marris at the hands of law enforcement agencies.

The Front emphasized that Baloch society highly respects women, which was evident from the example that when the rape of a woman, in which an official of a security agency was involved, took place in the Sui area of Dera Bugti, the Bugti tribe and chief Nawab Mohammad Bugti had protested against it.