Giving Balochis a Stake in Balochistan's Mineral Wealth

[Riaz Haq]

The US state of Alaska has a small population of only 680,000 people and vast territory measuring 1.5 million square kilometers. The state is endowed with tremendous mineral wealth--particularly oil and gas. Alaska Permanent Fund was set up in 1976 to ensure that ordinary Alaskans get a share of this natural wealth. Currently the fund has assets of over $38 billion and each Alaskan will receive $1,174.00 in cash from it for 2011.

Pakistan's Balochistan province shares some similarities with the US state of Alaska. It is the largest of Pakistan's four provinces in terms of area (347,190 square kilometers) but the smallest in terms of population (6.6 million). With large reserves of copper, gold and natural gas, it is probably the richest of Pakistan's provinces in terms of its natural resources.

Most of the grievances of the people of Balochistan stem from a sense that they have not benefited from the resources under their land. Powerful tribal chieftains in the province have exploited this sense of deprivation to demand and receive significant funds for themselves while ordinary Balochis have remained among the poorest and most backward in Pakistan.

As Pakistan moves forward with vast new mineral discoveries such as Reko Diq in Balochistan, it's essential that there be a mechanism to equitably share with ordinary Balochis the billions of dollars in revenue expected to flow from these resources.

Balochistan Fund can be modeled on Alaska Permanent Fund. It is a constitutionally established and professionally managed fund which is run by a semi-independent corporation. Shortly after the oil from Alaska's North Slope began flowing to market through the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System, the Permanent Fund was created by an amendment to the constitution of the U.S. state of Alaska to be an investment for at least 25% of proceeds from some minerals [such as oil and gas] sale or royalties.

Similar funds should be established for other provinces as well. For example, energy-rich Sindh has large coal deposits and huge shale gas reserves which are worth at least hundreds of billions of dollars. Revenues from these resources should be shared equitably to benefit ordinary citizen of Sindh province.

Sharing of the wealth with the people in each province will give them a tangible stake in national development. It will help bring and maintain peace and stability necessary to attract badly needed investments for developing Pakistan's vast min....

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[Riaz Haq]

Here are excerpts of a McClatchy report on Indian involvement in Baloch insurgency in Pakistan:

Pakistan repeatedly has claimed that India is supporting the Baluch uprising. Insurgents deny it, but some Western diplomats believe there's evidence to back up the charge.

A diplomatic cable sent Dec. 31, 2009, from the U.S. consulate in Karachi and obtained by WikiLeaks said it was "plausible" that Indian intelligence was helping the Baluch insurgents. An earlier 2008 cable - discussing the Mumbai attack that was reportedly hatched by Pakistan-based terrorists - reported fears by British officials that "intense domestic pressure would force Delhi to respond, at the minimum, by ramping up covert support to nationalist militants fighting the Pakistani army in Baluchistan."

"Indians are 100 percent funding and training" the separatists in camps in Afghanistan, alleged a senior Pakistan security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to talk to reporters.

The official estimated that the various insurgent groups combined had 3,000 to 4,000 fighters, but that their capability "does not compare" to the superior fighters of the Pakistani Taliban, who are battling security forces in the northwest tribal areas.

Pakistani security officials believe that the insurgency is controlled by two exiled leaders, both tribal chiefs: Bramadagh Bugti, who lives in Switzerland and allegedly controls the Baluch Republican Army, and Hyrbyair Marri, who's based in London and is linked to the Baluchistan Liberation Army. Both men deny running these groups.

This year, Islamabad proposed to drop all outstanding criminal cases against Bugti and Marri and enter into negotiations - an offer that was rebuffed.

"We are occupied by Pakistan, which has done nothing for the Baluch except plunder us for 60 years," said Marri, speaking by telephone from London. "The only negotiation we are willing to hold with Pakistan is the withdrawal of its forces from our land."

The rebels have killed 166 Frontier Corpsmen since 2009, according to the military's public relations wing. The Baluchistan Liberation Army claimed responsibility in March for killing two police officers in Quetta.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan believes that some 800 settlers, including schoolteachers, barbers and professors who had origins in Punjab province, have been murdered in Baluchistan since 2006, seemingly by separatists. The rebels also have killed hundreds of fellow Baluch whom they accuse of siding with Pakistan or spying for it.

On March 10, six young and apparently unarmed Bugti men were executed by the Baluch Republican Army in the rebel stronghold of Dera Bugti. Many civilians also have been killed by landmines planted by insurgents.

Baluchistan is effectively under martial law. Naseebullah Bazai, the top civilian security official, insisted that day-to-day administration was handled by civilian authorities but added that "our resources do not meet the challenges in any way."

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/04/01/3528430/in-remote-baluchistan-...

[Riaz Haq]

Here's a BBC report on full aerial mapping of Afghan natural resources:

Afghanistan has become the first country whose surface minerals have been mapped from the air.

The US Geological Survey released the results of a "hyperspectral imaging" effort, in which reflections of light shone from an aircraft are analysed.

Different minerals - as well as snow or vegetation - reflect specific colours, resulting in a "mineral map".

The map comprises more than 800 million data points corresponding to an area of 440,000 sq km, some 70% of the country.

Afghanistan is known to have vast reserves of oil, gas, copper, cobalt, gold and lithium. In late 2011, a consortium of Indian companies inked a deal to begin mining some of the country's large stores of iron.

But the country is known to have a wider array of mineral resources; in 2010, the Afghan ministry of mines claimed a value of its reserves of nearly a trillion dollars, then carrying out tours to promote investment in them.

But it remains to pin down which economically viable minerals are where, an effort for which the USGS's hyperspectral imaging expertise was enlisted.

In a series of 28 flights over 43 days, the USGS gathered the data by shining visible and infrared light from a height of 15,000m and using a camera to capture the reflections. Each "pixel" of the camera was analysed and correlated with the materials that reflect at a given colour.

The USGS public release of the data includes two maps: one of iron and iron-bearing minerals, and one of minerals principally containing carbon, silicon, or sulphur.

The survey was funded by the US Department of Defense's Task Force for Business and Stability Operations (TFBSO) as well as the Afghan government.

"This is a tremendous tool for the Afghan government for locating and identifying its myriad rich mineral deposits," said TFBSO director Jim Bullion.

"These maps clearly show the enormous size and variety of Afghanistan's mineral wealth and position the country to become a world leader in the minerals sector."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18882996

[Riaz Haq]

Balochis 40% of #Balochistan's population. #BLA, #BLF, #BRA, #UBA 3-4K fighters fighting #Pakistan are deeply divided http://shar.es/FdNz1

[Riaz Haq]

Right in the heart of Balochistan, there are islands of excellence in education, service to the community and devotion to nation-building. Unfortunately, they don’t get media attention or national recognition. The commitment of these men and women so devoted to the development of Balochistan needs to be acknowledged. My visits twice to the Balochistan University of Information Technology, Engineering and Management Sciences (BUITEMS), Quetta, over the past two years, reveal a very different Balochistan than the picture we usually get about the standard of higher education or about the institution-builders in our most backward province.

The university is merely 12-year-old. It is amazing to see how this institution has transformed itself into one of the outstanding places for learning in the country. The university, first housed in an abandoned textile mill on the outskirts of the city, has re-engineered and converted the buildings into an architectural marvel. Words cannot explain this change that houses some of the best facilities, laboratories, classrooms, auditoriums and sunlit corridors, lobbies and halls. Important as they are, the physical structures tell very little about the human development they facilitate.

Having visited so many of the universities in Pakistan, old and new, BUITEMS makes a lasting impression of positive change taking place in Balochistan. First, it has highly qualified faculty members, mostly with foreign degrees, and opting to serve in their home province. The congenial atmosphere of the university also continues to attract teachers from other provinces. Just to give you an idea, it has 49 PhDs working and 137 more enrolled in some of the best universities abroad. Second, it has 7,523 students from various parts of the province with representation from other provinces and Afghanistan, facilitating provincial and national diversity. Third, more than 33 per cent of the students receive financial assistance from the university. It is refreshing to see that BUITEMS is free of disruptive student politics that have ruined a good number of national universities in Balochistan and other provinces.

It is the vision, commitment and hard work of the faculty and the Vice-Chancellor, Engineer Farooq Ahmad Bazai, who have contributed to the rise of this university that offers hope and opportunity to young men and women in Balochistan to excel. There is more. Starting with the University of Balochistan, the first-ever university to be established in the province in 1972, Balochistan now has six universities in the public sector with a lot of support from the Higher Education Commission for infrastructural development and scholarships for training of faculty in foreign universities. The present Balochistan government of Dr Abdul Malik Baloch has shown far greater commitment and ownership of public education than any government in the history of the province. It now spends about 26 per cent of the budget on education.

The point is that the usual prism and the lenses we often use to look at Balochistan and the country require some dusting and realigning. Fixed views and fixed lenses never help grasp the reality of change anywhere.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/881452/a-world-class-university-in-balo...

[Riaz Haq]

#Balochistan separatist leaders seek #Israel help amid #Pakistan crackdown - Opinion - Jerusalem Post

- http://go.shr.lc/1HhVtiZ from Jpost

Last July, former Balochistan communications and works minister Hyrbyair Marri, who is widely believed to be the operational commander of the Baloch Liberation Army, termed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s statement in support of an independent Kurdistan a positive step.

Marri said just like Kurds are a very important factor for the peace and stability in the Middle East, Baloch are a necessary factor to establish peace and stability in the region situated between Gulf, Central Asia and Middle East. As if to hint at a strategic alliance with Israel, Marri said an independent Balochistan will have diplomatic relations with all nations including Israel and as a responsible and dignified state will strive for peace and stability in the world alongside other peace-loving nations. He also cautioned the world against the dangers of Pakistan’s nuclear arms.

[Riaz Haq]

Balochistan has witnessed a substantial drop in violence this year, according to the provincial authorities. Experts believe that this development would help pave the way for a ‘conclusive reconciliation plan’ as regards the estranged Baloch leaders that was stalled due to different challenges in the troubled province.

Official documents, put together for the Balochistan apex committee monitoring the progress of the National Action Plan, claim a ‘dramatic decrease’ in violent incidents in the volatile areas of the province. The provincial home department said the emerging situation was the result of the joint efforts of the military and the civilian government for establishing peace in the province.

According to the official data, targeted killings have witnessed a significant drop: the law enforcement agencies (LEAs) reported that so far this year 143 people have been killed and 216 injured in attacks on minority groups, settlers and law enforcers.

By comparison, more than 275 people were killed and 731 injured last year. The year before that was worse: 530 people were killed and 1,162 injured by insurgents.

Home department officials said a joint intelligence-sharing mechanism was devised, whereby the military and the civilian government developed consensus over a meaningful policy to ‘disseminate a counter-narrative in the province’.

The LEAs reported 58 attacks on the Quetta Electric Supply Company, the Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited and the Pakistan Railways this year, 115 last year and 70 the year before.

Some 284 incidents of bomb explosion and rocket firing have been reported this year. Last year the number of such incidents was 803 and the year before it stood at 855.

The number of bullet-riddled bodies has also dropped to 76 this year, as more than 166 were found last year and 168 the year before. Police have registered around 183 kidnapping cases this year. By comparison, 373 such cases were registered the previous year. Moreover, 2,227 other crimes were reported this year. By contrast, 4,262 such cases were reported last year and 4,566 the year before.

Resolving the conundrum

Officials said Balochistan Home Minister Sarfraz Bugti has been assigned a special task to persuade the estranged Baloch leaders to come to the negotiating table. Bugti has been meeting with the brains behind the insurgency in the province, a senior FC officer told The Express Tribune. “The nation can expect to hear something positive in this regard sooner or later.”

Wazir Ahmed Jogezai, former deputy speaker of the National Assembly, said the establishment had begun to understand the demands of the Baloch. “The Baloch never wanted freedom from Pakistan. They only want the freedom to exercise their rights on the resources of the province,” he added. Jogezai advised the civilian government to continue choosing ‘true representatives’ to govern the province. He said many Baloch living abroad in self-exile were ready to return home. “The government must avail this opportunity. The time is ripe for overcoming hurdles in the path of pursuing a reconciliatory policy,” he added.

Former senator Humayun Mandokhel said that compared to its predecessor, the present government was delivering better. “We recently witnessed positive developments. There seems to be hope after the meeting of the rulers with dissident Baloch leaders.”

He also praised the LEAs for their contribution. “It’s now or never. We must avail this opportunity to resolve the Balochistan conundrum.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13st, 2015.

http://tribune.com.pk/story/947842/balochistan-sees-substantial-dro...

[Riaz Haq]

Brahumdagh Bugti expected soon to return to #Pakistan after 9 year self-exile to end #Balochistan insurgency. http://tribune.com.pk/story/989330/brahumdagh-bugti-expected-to-end... …

a source in the inner circles of Balochistan governement told RFE/RL’s Gandhara website that Bugti is months away from returning to Pakistan, marking an end of his nine-year exile which had followed the killing of his grandfather, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, by Pakistani security forces in 2006.

“He has agreed to come [back to Pakistan],” the website quoting an anonymous source said. “We have reached an agreement on 90 per cent of the issues.”

The source, a senior politician within Balochistan’s ruling coalition claimed Bugti indicated his willingness to return in a series of meeting with Balochistan chief minister in Switzerland this summer.

“There were two or three meetings [in July]. He [Bugti] has asked for respect and an end to all cases against him [as a pre-condition for his return],” the source was further quoted as saying.

Earlier in August, Bugti agreed to hold talks with the government on the Balochistan issue, hinting at the possibility of withdrawing demands of separation — provided that was what the people in the province wanted.

“We are ready to stay with Pakistan if our friends, well-wishers, majority of the Baloch people and political allies want the same,” the self-exiled separatist leader told the BBC Urdu in an interview in Switzerland.

This was the first time that the BRA leader, who is the grandson of former Balochistan governor and chief minister Nawab Akbar Bugti, voiced his support for talks with the government.

[Riaz Haq]

#McDonald's Opens in #Quetta — But #Taliban Not Lovin' It. #Pakistan #Balochistan http://nbcnews.to/1WX0h4I via @nbcnews

All menu items are halal, and there's even a shawarma-meets-gyro type of wrap to get local tastebuds interested: Behold, the McArabia.

You can get a McArabia for just under $3.00. Add a drink and some fries, and you're still at under $5.00.

In a country where pork is banned for religious reasons, Sausage and Egg McMuffins are on the menu — but the sausage is made from chicken.

Senior militant commander Ehsanullah Ehsan, who is a spokesman for one of the Taliban factions in Pakistan, laughed when asked Friday for his thoughts on the hamburger chain.

"Hahahaha, so you are asking me about McDonald's food," the TTP-JA fighter said. "Yes, I know McDonald's and its food but we will never eat it. We don't even consider it as a food. This isn't our food ... We live in the rough, tough mountainous areas and need energy and power to fight against the enemy."

A senior member of the Afghan Taliban told NBC News he had once tasted McDonald's food in the Pakistani city of Karachi but it was "too expensive" and tasteless. He said that Taliban fighters preferred mutton and rice.

However, he conceded that it was "good when you are in a hurry and have no access to proper food."

"We know it's an American food company and our religious scholars have forbidden us from consuming any Western food and beverages," the militant added, saying that he intended to visit the Quetta outlet with friends but would not eat there.

Quetta needs a break. Since the Soviet invasion of next door Afghanistan in 1979, it has morphed from a well-manicured city to a violent, refugee-laden hideout of some of the region's most dangerous militants.

The capital of the insurgency-ridden Pakistani province of Balochistan has has slowly been stabilized and terror incidents have decreased by more than 60 percent since last year, according to the paramilitary Frontier Corps, which is in charge of the city's security.

The new McDonald's is in Millenium Mall, which is located in the highly secured Police Lines neighborhood.

Quetta's under-fire cops have been targeted many times near the fast-food restaurant.

[Riaz Haq]

#Pakistan PM to open 363 Km Kachhi canal to irrigate 72,000 acres farmland in Dear Bugti, #Balochistan. #agriculture

http://nation.com.pk/multan/14-Sep-2017/pm-inaugurates-kachhi-canal...


Quetta - Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi is scheduled to arrive in Balochistan today (Thursday) for the inauguration of Kachhi Canal Project upon its completion in Dera Bugti.

As per reports, Premier Abbasi will arrive in Dera Bugti to formally inaugurate Kachhi Canal Project on Thursday for which all preparations have been finalised and he will also address a gathering of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) workers and supporters in Sui where a large number of tribal elites are expected to join the PML-N fold.

Tight security arrangements have been made for prime minister’s scheduled visit to Balochistan.

It merits mentioning here that the Kachhi Canal Project was kicked off in 2002 but delay in its completion made the cost of the project go high and the project kept on moving on a snail’s pace. After 15 years, its preliminary phase has been completed, while in the second phase the canal will irrigate more areas.

The 363-km long Kachhi Canal Project is located in Punjab whose 281 km part is in Punjab and 80 km falls in Balochistan. The canal originates from Taunsa Barrage at Indus River. The Kachhi Canal will provide sustainable irrigation water supply to 72,000 acres of agricultural land thus bringing green revolution in Balochistan.

The project embraces significant position in Balochistan water infrastructure and agriculture sector which will fuel financial progress in the province.

Balochistan Governor Muhammad Khan Achakzai, Chief Minister Nawab Sanaullah Zehri and other ministers, MPAs and security officials will be present at the inaugural ceremony of Kachhi Canal Project.

[Riaz Haq]

THE EXPRESS TRIBUNE > BUSINESS
Balochistan can earn Pakistan up to $1 billion a year

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1543268/2-balochistan-can-earn-pakista...

Balochistan alone has the potential to earn Pakistan up to $1 billion a year from fruit and vegetable exports, according to initial findings of All Pakistan Fruit and Vegetable Exporters, Importers & Merchants Association (PFVA).

But this will happen if international good practices are adopted, added the representative organisation of fresh food exporters that has recently completed a consultative process with stakeholders in Balochistan to develop a road map for the sector.

“The PFVA’s vision would provide long-lasting solutions of problems like food security,” a press release quoted former PFVA chairman Waheed Ahmed as saying.

A PFVA delegation recently met Balochistan Governor Mohammad Khan Achakzai, growers and trade organisations and briefed them about the vision of the association to develop a national policy of horticulture.

The PFVA is gathering support throughout the country for its upcoming “National conference on Horticulture” which will be organised in February 2018.

The association briefed the governor and held consultative meetings at the Quetta Chamber of Commerce to increase the participation of farmers and other stakeholders in highlighting issues of the sector.

The current share of export volume of fruits and vegetables from the province is $45 million, which can be enhanced to $1 billion by establishing Research and Development facilities, Ahmed said.

Pakistan suffers due to low volume of exports overall, aggravating economic issues like a widening trade and current account deficit. Experts have time and again highlighted the need to increase exports and tap sectors other than textile to address economic issues.


The PFVA says that the establishment of grading, processing and packing plants as common facilities in various parts of Balochistan is imminent to achieve this objective. The governor assured to render full support and assistance is setting up common facilities centres in Balochistan, the release added.

Pakistan exported $641 million worth of horticulture products in fiscal year 2016. However, PFVA officials say the country can touch a volume of up to $7 billion within a decade if the federal and provincial governments frame friendlier policies.