Foreign Intelligence Agencies’ Support to Baloch Sub-Nationalists

By Sajjad Shaukat

Pakistan’s Armed Forces have successfully broken the backbone of the foreign-backed terrorists by the military operations Zarb-e-Azb and Radd-ul-Fasaad which have also been extended to other parts of the country, including Balochistan province and Karachi. Army and ISI have broken the network of these terrorist groups by capturing several militants, while thwarting a number of terror attempts. These operations are obtaining their objectives effectively and rapidly. Peace has been restored in various regions of Pakistan, including Karachi and Balochistan.

But, recent blasts in Balochistan and other regions of the country show that the US-led India, Afghanistan and Israel have again started acts of sabotage to weaken Pakistan and to damage the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

In this regard, propaganda of external entities, followed by meetings and arranging protests against the integrity of Pakistan is also part of the same campaign to destabilize the country.

In this respect, RAW and CIA arrange a meeting of Baloch Sub-Nationalists, SSNs (Sindhi-Sub- Nationalists) and the USNs (Uyghur Sub-Nationalists of China) on the termination of 35th Session of Human Rights Counsel in Geneva from 12-14 June 2017. The agenda was; planning against the CPEC/Pak-China’s interests in the region. Mehran Marri attended the conference and delivered a speech (reportedly prepared by RAW) alleging CPEC as exploitation projects and Baloch cultural genocide by Pakistan and China. Represents of World Sindh Congress (WSC) attended the said forum as well. Uyghur human rights activists, Rebiya Kadeer and Dolikun Aeysa were also present in the said conference.

Promotion of Sub-Nationalists groups (in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Azad & Jammu Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan) along with establishment of “Ansar-ul-Shariah” (reportedly Al-Qaeda based) in Karachi and projecting the issue at international forums through foreign base Sub-Nationalists are reflective of multi-prong, well-orchestrated strategic of Hostile intelligence agencies.

Similarly, Ahmar Masti Khan’s ‘American Friends of Balochistan’ organized an event at National Press Club in Washington, DC August 2017. The event was titled “Politics Behind Assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti”. The speakers included, Hussain Haqqani, Former Ambassador of Pakistan, Nawab Brahumdagh Bugti, President of Baloch Liberation Army (via skpye from Switzerland), Nawab Mehran Marri, Chief of Marri Tribe & President of the Balochistan House, Hammal Haider, International spokesperson for the Balochistan National Movement, Banuk Kareema Baluch, President Baloch Students Organization (Azad).

They promoted the self-created theory that “Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed, because Pak Army and China had ill intentions towards CPEC, Gwadar and Balochistan’s natural resources”.

However, mainstream US media and credible organizations in USA do not take Ahmar Masti Khan seriously. The aim of Ahmar Masti Khan is to malign Pakistan’s Armed Forces and China.

Meanwhile, a seminar was organized by All Pakistan Muslim League (APML) at Nobel Peace Center, Oslo, Norway in recent days. The address and Question-and-answer (Q&A) session were interrupted by Pakistani Diaspora and BSNs (Baloch Sub-Nationalists). Later, Nobel Peace Center management issued a press release, clarifying that the said Centre was hired by APML for holding of their programme and Nobel Peace Center had nothing to do with the act. So, Norway, shut down an event midway. Subsequently, a similar seminar was also canceled by University of London due to fears of protest by Pakistani students.

Interruption of such activities and cancellation of programs by various international institutions due to fear of protest by vested groups exposes the so-called freedom of right of expression, propagated by the West.

Similarly, on the eve of Chinese National Day on 30 Sep 2017, Free Balochistan Movement (FBM) headed by Harbyar, organized a protest rally in Gottingen, Germany. This has been done on the Indian sponsored false propaganda about China’s new colonialism and human rights violations in Balochistan. It was said in their statements that China and Pakistan nexus is aimed to turn Baloch demography into a minority.

Unlike the past, protest/rallies by Baloch insurgent groups abroad have increased in order to project Balochistan issue on international forums. Baloch Student Organization-Azad (BSO) also organized a demonstration outside British Prime Minister’s residence in London on Oct 1, 2017 against alleged Pakistan war crimes in Balochistan.

Although foreign intelligence agencies such as CIA, RAW and Mossad have continued supporting various types of intrigues against Pakistan and China, yet Balochistan has become their special target and these secret agencies have accelerated their aggressive campaign, especially to harm the CPEC project.

In this connection, with the help of Baloch nationalist leaders who have taken refuge in western countries; these hostile elements have launched a false propaganda campaign by spreading disinformation about natural resources, progressive works and the CPEC. They are misleading the Baloch people by propagating that present and future royalty of the mineral resources, including income of the mega projects and CPEC are for the centre or Punjabis or the Punjabi Army and not for the Baloch people.

The agents of CIA, RAW and Mossad are well-penetrated in various NGOs and human rights organizations which are being used for a malicious propaganda against Pakistan’s security forces. In this respect, on July 31, 2011, with the help of external elements, a rally was organised by Baloch Human Rights Council in UK, in front of the US Embassy in London, which raised false accusations such as inhuman torture and extrajudicial murder of the Baloch intellectuals by the inhuman actions of the Pakistani army. On August 3, 2011, the then ISPR spokesman, Maj-Gen Athar Abbas, while rejecting human rights groups’ reports about Balochistan as a conspiracy against Pakistan, called for probing the funding of these organizations, as “this could be traced back to those forces which want to destabilize Pakistan.”

Besides rallies in some western countries, in 2012, a demonstration was held outside the United Nations in Geneva on the occasion of the 19th Session of UN Human Rights Council to condemn the human rights violations in Balochistan. The demonstrators accused Pakistan’s security and intelligence agencies of extrajudicial killings. Apparently, the demonstration was organized and led by Mehran Baloch, Balochistans representative at the UN and Noordin Mengal, but, in fact, it was arranged by the anti-Pakistan NGOs, human rights groups and Indo-Israeli lobbies with American covert help.

It is of particular attention that on September 6, this year, in a letter to Ambassador Valentin Zellweger-the permanent representative of the Swiss government at the United Nations (UN), Ambassador Farukh Amil-the permanent representative of Pakistan to the UN has taken up the matter of posters, raised in the area around Rio de Ferney in Grand Sacconex, Geneva, terming the incident as a belligerent attack on the “sovereignty and territorial integrity of Pakistan” by giving calls for ‘free Balochistan’.

In the letter, Amil pointed out that the posters which appeared in the area around Rue de Ferney of Grand Saconnex “mentioned the name of Balochistan House (BH) as a sponsor.”

In this context, Pakistan’s Permanent Mission to the UN in Geneva “has counted eight posters and one digital poster on display since this Monday [September 3]”.

According to the ambassador, a car “remained parked near [the digital poster] and seemed to be guarding [it].”

According to the letter, the BH, “the apparent sponsor of these posters is an affiliate of the BLA, which is a “listed terrorist organisation under the laws of Pakistan and other countries, including the United Kingdom.”

The letter reads, “The fact that terrorists or elements linked with terrorists operate openly for their propaganda campaigns in the peaceful and serene city of Geneva, capital of the United Nations, is a matter of grave concern…The use of Swiss soil by terrorists and violent secessionists for nefarious designs against Pakistan and its 200 million people is totally unacceptable.” The envoy demanded that “the incident is fully investigated with a view to blocking its recurrence in the future.”

Notably, in 2006, the federal government had exercised its powers under Section 11(b) of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, to declare the BLA a terrorist organisation. The decision was made after the government cancelled the arms licenses issued earlier to main nationalist leaders in Balochistan.

At the time, the federal government’s investigation had said that the BLA was involved in sabotage activities, including rocket attacks on national installations, civilian population and security forces. It was also accused of laying landmines in various parts of the province.

It is mentionable that in the past few years—entrenched in Afghanistan, intelligence agencies like American CIA, Indian RAW and Israeli Mossad have supported bomb blasts, suicide attacks, abductions, target killings, ethnic and sectarian violence in Balochistan through their affiliated militant groups such as Baloch Republican Party (BRP), Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Jundollah etc. to obtain the secret strategic designs of US, India and Israel at the cost of Pakistan, China and Iran. Besides martyring several personnel of law-enforcing agencies and security forces in the province, these anti-Pakistan entities kidnapped and massacred many Punjabis, Pushtuns, Shias, people of Hazara community and patriot Balochis including Iranian Shias. They abducted and killed many Chinese and Iranian nationals in Pakistan. On a number of occasions, these militant outfits claimed responsibility for their subversive acts. But, they have always blamed Pak Army and other security agencies for human rights violations in Balochistan.

Nonetheless, intelligence agencies, namely, RAW, CIA and Mossad, including some US-led entities are supporting the Sub-Nationalists of Pakistan, especially those of Balochistan and also entail Uyghur Sub-Nationalists of China as part of malicious propaganda campaign.