The situation in Balochistan is ringing the alarm bells for the entire nation, the government at centre as well as provincial capitals, and the leadership at all levels. A journalist-friend close to diplomatic missions recently told a fellow journalist, which the WikiLeaks have ‘understandably’ missed to disclose, that Balochistan’s sitting Chief Minister Nawab Raisani received a phone call from the US Consulate in Karachi; during the discussion ‘jokes’ were exchanged, one of which included on Balochistan that “how would the State of Balochistan like to have its relations with its neighbouring states?”
It is said that the draft resolution of the United Nations on Balochistan is ready to be tabled in the Security Council, only it is waiting for the “appropriate” time.
And you know what the renowned American think-tank and South Asia expert, Selig Harrison of the Centre for International Policy, said about Balochistan the other day? Reading a paper at a seminar under the United States Institute for Peace (USIP) held in Washington DC on April 15, 2011, he said: “the US is ready to recognise an independent Balochistan because (a) it serves American interests (b) its accession to Pakistan was not legitimate (c) Pakistan army is the suppressing force, (d) Zardari government’s policies have further ignited the separatist movement, and (e) therefore, six-million insurgent Baloch people want an independent state of Balochistan.”
F Z Khan
Islamabad