From Christina Palmer
The Daily Mail of Pakistan
Wednesday, 6 January 2010.
NEW DELHI, India—While a leading media group of Pakistan has signed an agreement with an Indian media group to promote peace between Pakistan and India with the title Aman Ki Aasha [the hope for peace-Aman is Urdu/Arabic for peace and Aasha is Hindi for hope], the Indian intelligence agency Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) is staging a seminar at New Delhi’s India International Centre from January 10 to January 12, 2010, reveal the findings of The Daily Mail.
These findings indicate that the seminar, titled ‘India-Pakistan Conference-A Road map towards peace” is being hosted by a RAW-run organization Focus on Global South. Only a handful of organizers and participants know about this conference. There has been no publicity about the event made by the organizers and even a very few people from amongst the Delhi-based local and foreign journalists have been informed and invited to the said seminar. The Investigations indicate further that even the official website of the India International Centre (IIC) does not indicate that the said seminar is amongst the event, listed to place on the said dates at IIC.
The Daily Mail’s investigations reveal that though a reasonable number of participants have been invited from Pakistan to take part in the seminar but one particular segment of the seminar that targets Balochistan province of Pakistan, titled “ Issue of Autonomy: Kashmir and Balochistan” has been introduced on special request from RAW’s analysis wing.
[Unfortunately, former federal minister and rights activist Mr. Iqbal Haider has written an op-ed today “greatly appreciating this initiative” of India. This is the height of ill judgment. In 2007, another federal minister and rights activist Ansar Burney lobbied to release an Indian terrorist from Pakistani jail. The terrorist returned to India to admit he was sent by the Indian intelligence to kill Pakistanis by planting bombs in public places, which he did in early 1990s and killed more than a dozen Pakistanis. These so-called Pakistani liberals often act as apologists for the Indians-PakNationalists]
The aim is to draw a comparison between the freedom movement in Indian Occupied Kashmir and the RAW-sponsored separatist movements in Balochistan province of Pakistan where RAW is super-actively engaged for years.
For this part of the seminar, The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that no senior journalist or intellectual from Pakistan has been selected to speak but merely one nationalist journalist from Balochistan who runs a separatism nationalists Online newspaper from Balochistan and got his Journalism degrees from Asian College of Journalism, Chennai India and is known for toeing the RAW lines regarding Balochistan has been invited from the Media side. The Pakistani Baloch journalist, Siraj Malik Akbar, has graduated from Asian College of Journalism at Chennai India while Chennai is known as the hub of RAW-run think tanks.
The Daily Mail findings indicate that the overall Pakistanis, invited for the said RAW arranged seminar include:
-former Information Minister (PPP) Ms. Sherry Rehman,
-former Law Minister (PPP) Iqbal Haider,
-Human Rights activists Aasma Jehangir,
-Pakistani journalist Malik Siraj Akbar,
-Senator Hasil Khan Bazinjo,
-Some Farooque Tarique of some Pakistan Labour Party,
-Some economist Akbar Zaidi [This gentleman was among the few Pakistanis who attended a music and cocktails party organized by the Indian envoy in Islamabad when the country was mourning close to 100 dead in terrorist acts on Dec. 8, 2009.]
-Defence analyst Ayesha Siddiqua,
-Women rights’ activists and theatre artist, Madeeha Gauhar,
All of them are known for having a very soft corner for India and having a very pro-India mindset. However the speakers for the main target and rather the nucleus of the seminar that would be focusing on Balochistan, the “selected” speakers from Pakistan include, Asma Jenagir, Malik Siraj Akbar and Senator Hasil Khan Bizenjo. While all the participants of the overall seminar from the Indian side are very well known for their staunch anti-Pakistan mindsets.
The Daily Mail’s finding indicate that through the particular segment of the seminar that relates to Balochistan, RAW plans to draw parallels between the freedom movement in Indian Occupied Kashmir and the RAW funded separatists’ drives in Balochistan. However, surprisingly the organizers have neither invited anyone from among the officials of Pakistan government or Delhi-based Pak diplomats nor have they opted to invite anyone from amongst the Pakistani Baloch tribes that confront the militant Indian-backed elements.
The Daily Mail’s findings also reveal that the said scheduled seminar is not the first of its kind to promote separatism inside Pakisstan. In the past, many foreign intelligence organizations have been indulging in such exercises. These finding indicate that RAW, in connivance with the British, American and Israeli intelligence agencies, has been organizing many such forums to benefit the separatist movements in Balochistan. According to these findings, different foreign agencies including India’s RAW have remained actively involved in the formation of different militant and separatist outfits like
- Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA)
- Balochistan Rights Movement (BRM)
- Balochistan Republican Army (BRA)
- American Friends of Balochistan
- And of course the Balochistan Liberation Army
These foreign agencies have been continuously using such outfits in Balochistan and have been patronizing them. The Daily Mail’s findings indicate that apart from the funding and provision of arms and ammunition to the militants in Balochistan, these foreign intelligence agencies have been organizing media and intellectual support programmers for these organizations.
These findings reveal that in one of such endeavors, on June 27, 2006, when Pakistani security forces were gaining immense success in restoring peace and disarming the militants in Balochistan and hundreds of mercenaries started surrendering to the government authorities, a UK based so-called think tank Foreign Policy Centre (FPC) organized a highly disturbing seminar on Balochistan, titled ‘Balochistan at the crossroads’. Surprisingly, the FPC organized the said seminar with open collaboration of Balochistan Rights Movement (BRM), which is merely an extension of BLA, an outfit that has been banned and declared a terrorist organization, not only by Pakistan government but also by the government of England while the FPC organized the seminar at the committee room number 16 of the House of Commons, which shows support from within the British establishment.
To add to it, and make the credentials of the said seminar even more dubious, the organizers neither invited anyone from among the officials of Pakistan government or UK-based Pak diplomats nor did they bother to invite anyone from amongst the Pakistani Baloch tribes that confront the terrorists and separatists.
However there was a comprehensive representation from the three Militant tribes and leaders and workers of BLA and BRM. It is learnt that that a Board member of FPC, a British politician and a fomer member of British Parliament, Stephen Twigg was the main spirit behind the holding of this seminar.
UK & India Seminars
The Daily Mail’s investigations indicate that in the said seminar, chaired by Hugh Barnes of FPC and someone who goes by the name Mehran Baloch, an active member of BLA and a senior activist of Balochistan Rights Movement, Mr. Sanaullah Baloch, whose close association with warlords of Balochistan and militant outfits like BLA are known to everyone, Dr. Naseer Dashti another associate of Bugti and Marri and BLA, Fredric Grare of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
All of them expressed their views and analysis about situation in Balochistan. All the participants of the said seminar blamed Pakistan government for ‘usurping’ the human rights in Balochistan. They also declared Balochistan to be a separate state and accused Pakistan of illegally occupying it. They one-sidedly accused Pakistan government and people of one Pakistani province, Punjab, of trampling the rights of people of Balochistan and portrayed the terrorists as heroes of the Pakistani Baloch people. Fredric Grare blamed Pakistani media of being in control of the Pakistani military while member of European Parliament from Poland Ryszrd Czarnecki went on to claim that Balochistan was not a part of Pakistan and a “Punjabi Army” was ruling them he also went on to say that Pakistan came into existence through a restrictive voting.
So in other words, the seminar was merely an attempt to malign Pakistan, Pakistan government and Pakistan Army and media as well. All attempts were made to lay the fundaments for the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan and to encourage the separatists and militant activists in Balochistan while the seminar concluded with pledge from the chair to hold more sessions on similar debate in near future.
A similar conclusion is expected when the Delhi seminar’s episode regarding Balochistan would end as the Chairman of the said segment former Indian Judge Rajendra Sacchar is expected to come up with similar conclusions, as desired by RAW and the government at New Delhi.
