Reko-Diq And Balochistan’s Fate
By Yousaf Ajab Baloch The Supreme Court of Pakistan finally turned Reko-Diq project accord void , which was signed 20 years ago .This project was signed between Balochistan government and Tethyan Copper Company (TCC) a joint venture between Antofagasta of Chile and Canadian’s Barrick Gold corporation.. This costly project of gold and copper in twenty [...]
Balochs Have Not Developed Into A Full Nation: Hakeem Baloch
By Muhammad Akbar Notezai Hakeem Baloch is a renowned Baloch intellectual, storyteller and a former high-level bureaucrat. He has richly contributed to Balochi language through short stories and translation of foreign literature in Balochi. Born in Panjgur district, Mr. Baloch also served as Balochistan’s former Chief Secretary, the highest civil service position in the province. [...]
Balochistan Under Siege
By Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur The headline, “Election security: Balochistan braces for surgical operation” in a national daily left me amazed at the deviousness media uses in its reporting of distressing events and issues to make them look completely innocuous, or even praiseworthy. The crafty employment of words and phrases is truly beguiling and lethally [...]
Pakistan’s Unfair Elections
On May 1, 2013, a full-page ad in Pakistan’s Dawnnewspaper read: “My Dear Pakistanis, have you thought why PPP, ANP and MQM are targeted?” The ad was referring to three secular political parties, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), the Awami National Party (ANP.) and the Muthida Quami Movement (MQM). The three parties formed a coalition that ran the [...]
Who Will Implement B.N.P.’s Election Manifesto?
By Yousaf Ajab Baloch The Balochistan National Party (B.N.P-Mengal), surrounded by a number of crises created either by the state-sponsored death squads and the Baloch armed groups, has eventually decided to participate in the upcoming election of 2013. Prior to this, the BNP (M) had boycotted the election in 2008 against the military operation in [...]
Hindus Are Treated As Second Class Citizens: Dr. Shah Mohammad Marri
By Muhammad Akbar Notezai Dr. Shah Mohammad Marri is a professor at the Bolan Medical College (B.M.C.), Quetta, and a renowned Baloch historian and intellectual. He is the editor of the progressive monthly magazine, Sangat [friend[ and the author of several books. The Baloch Hal spoke to him exclusively about the state the Hindu religious minorities [...]
Greeting “The Stranger” in Balochi Literature
By Fazal Baloch The year 2012 came to an end with a relatively good note for Balochi literature. After a long wait it finally managed to have Albert Camus’ critically acclaimed novel The stranger. One of the world’s most widely read fiction works of the 20th century the Stranger, which first appeared in 1942 in French [...]
The Abysmal State of Education in Balochistan
By Muhammad Akbar Notezai Liaqat Ali, 14, belongs to Balochistan’s Chaghi District. He has never been to school. The reason is because his native village, Siya Rake, which is two kilometers from Reko Diq gold and copper project, does not have a school. Like the other village boys of his age, he grazes goats and [...]
Peaceful election in Balochistan…?
Yousaf Ajab Baloch The electoral process has not functionally started due to the huge reservations and sense of insecurity in Balochistan. It seems that 3,336,650 million voters, who are supposed to vote on May 11, 2013 for 300 candidates for the National Assembly and 941 for the provincial Assembly, may only partially be part of [...]
Bringing the Baloch in
By Rasul Bakhsh Rais One of the functions of elections is to resolve conflicts. Intractable issues like representation, rights of regions and peoples and clashing claims over distribution of resources require representatives to negotiate with. Balochistan is inflicted with many problems because of almost a decade of insurgency that former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf’s tunnel [...]