Liberation of oppressed peoples ruled by China and Pakistan

[brihaspati]

naren ji,
actually it gives ideas about "launching initiatives" for an "International campaign against the War on people in China" or an "International campaign against the War on people in the nation of Balochistan" - Frank Ka willing or not!

[naren]

Br ji,

I was thinking on these lines: why cant we cut a better deal with China and sever their relationship with Pakis ? I think there's a perception within China that much of their heavy handed approach is a baggage left by Mao. Hu's "Confucian harmonious society" would have been unthinkable during Mao era.

Chinis also love good PR. What if we promise them good PR, our local markets in return for good treatment of Tibetans & cutting down on Paki support. I know this is a long shot. But dont you think we may have something to gain by working with PRC rather than rocking their already effed up internal situation, which may have negative fallout in India ?

(ie) We can get them hooked to sell on our domestic market, say for a year. Then we make the demands. Being commies, they will not yield. Then we turn up the heat. Shut down the markets for Chinis. Give unprecedented media coverage to HHDL. May be arrange a Woodstock style rock concert in Ar.P in honour of HHDL. How will Cheena react in such a situation ?

Problem with China is they are clueless after Mao. They run their country by following "the law of least resistance" approach. They are ideologically bankrupt (atheists reserving the right to choose Dalai Lama, communists running capitalist economy). I think much of their clamping down on religion is a legacy left by Mao. If we enter in with a pro-active role & show them a way out, probably they will ease up on their Tibetan harassment.

[brihaspati]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8487724.stm

Uighurs returned to China 'disappear' says rights group

Human Rights Watch (HRW) said such groups had "disappeared into a black hole" on their return to China.The Uighurs fled to Cambodia after mass ethnic riots in China in July. Beijing has referred to them as criminals. In December, a group of 20 Uighurs were put on a plane to China despite opposition from the UN and US.

They said the group were likely to face persecution in China. "Uighur asylum seekers sent back to China by Cambodia have disappeared into a black hole," said Sophie Richardson of HRW. "There is no information about their whereabouts, no notification of any legal charges against them, and there are no guarantees they are safe from torture and ill-treatment."

HRW said a number of the group had given detailed accounts of past torture and persecution in China and that threats had been made against their families. The organisation said China has a history of executing or imposing harsh sentences of Uighurs sent back from abroad and that there were unconfirmed reports some members of a group previously returned had been sentenced to death in western Xinjiang province.

[...]
The Uighurs fled Xinjiang after July's violent ethnic clashes in the provincial capital Urumqi which left at least 97 people dead. Most of those killed in the unrest were majority Han Chinese, according to officials, and Urumqi's Han population had demanded swift justice. At least 25 people have been sentenced to death after the riots.

[brihaspati]

http://www.burmalibrary.org/docs07/Chin ... ar_ICG.pdf
Actually the ethnic groups on the frontierland between China and Myanmar are squeezed by both sides. Opportunities galore, since neither country's objectives can ever coincide. Time to think extending support for the "right to self determination" of "oppressed nationalities"!!

CHINA AND THE ETHNIC GROUPS
China maintains a balance of power between border ethnic groups and the military government to ensure that neither side gains the upper hand.100 Given China’s own challenges in dealing with minority tensions, it has a clear interest in preventing Myanmar’s ethnic groups from gaining full autonomy. China opposes such a precedent because it fears that this would stir up nationalist sentiment among groups on its side of the border.101 Most groups along the border areas of China and Myanmar are related, such as the Shan and Yunnan’s Dai people, the Kachin and Yunnan’s Jinpo people, and the Wa on both sides of the border.102 For centuries they have travelled freely between the two countries and intermingled, often maintaining stronger affinities to their ethnic groups than to national identities. Yunnan officials and intelligence agents103 maintain close, but largely informal, contacts with certain ceasefire groups, including the Kachin, Wa and Kokang.104 China helps to ensure the survival of these groups by providing economic assistance and allowing the borders to stay open to trade.

The income of some ceasefire groups is supplemented by illicit activities targeted at Chinese consumers such as drug trafficking and gambling.105 China also controls the border crossings on which the groups depend for supplies, transport routes and border trade, all of which is conducted in renminbi regardless of which side of the border. Many of Myanmar’s border towns rely on China for essentials such as electricity, water and telecommunications.106 China uses its relationship with the ethnic groups as a buffer and a lever in managing its relationship with the government.107 China’s closest relationship is with the Wa, which has the largest army and is the most feared by the generals in Naypyidaw.108 The Myanmar government has frequently expressed displeasure with China’s relations with the ceasefire groups.109 For example, when General Shwe Mann visited in 2008, he asked the Chinese government for help in persuading the ceasefire groups to surrender their arms. The Chinese reportedly feigned ignorance and skirted the issue.110 When Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi went to Myanmar in December 2008 to meet Than Shwe, the latter expressed his dissatisfaction.111 Than Shwe then reportedly invited nuclear experts from Russia in order to irritate China.112 Another important element is China’s arms sales.113 While officials deny that it is China’s policy to sell weapons to the Wa, they admit that a few “rogue elements” from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) have done so.114

One long-time military analyst has noted that given the heavier nature of the equipment the Wa currently possess – 120-mm howitzers, 130-mm field artillery, antiaircraft artillery and surface-to-air missiles such as the Chinese-made HN-5 MANPADS – the weapons cannot have just “fallen off the back of a truck”.115 Nor is there any prohibition on Chinese state-owned companies selling such arms.116 Due to its concern about stability on the border, Beijing played a role in pressuring several ethnic group armies to sign ceasefire agreements with the government in 1989, which allowed them to retain their arms and a degree of autonomy over their areas, known as the special regions.117

Tensions continue to rise, and the possibility of conflict between the Myanmar army and the remaining ethnic groups is the highest it has been in twenty years. Despite repeated calls by China’s foreign ministry urging Myanmar to safeguard the stability of its border area and protect the safety and legal rights of Chinese citizens in the country,133 the Myanmar army has sent reinforcements into Wa territory.134 Thousands of Chinese and Myanmar civilians have also fled in anticipation of further clashes.135 Should the Myanmar army launch attacks against the Wa and/or Kachin, in addition to armed combatants travelling over the border, China would have to deal with another humanitarian crisis on its border.136 Yet it is unclear whether Beijing will be able to dissuade the generals from undertaking further offensives.

[brihaspati]

http://www.opendemocracy.net/peter-tatc ... ermination

The cultural conquest of Balochistan also involves the radical Islamification of the traditionally more secular Baloch nation. Large numbers of religious schools have been funded by Islamabad, with a view to imposing Pakistan’s harsher, more narrow-minded interpretation of Islam. This is fuelling fundamentalism. The West’s attitude towards the plight of the Baloch people is less than honourable. Because Britain and the United States want Pakistan as an ally in the so-called “war on terror,” they have armed Pakistan and acquiesced with its suppression of the Baloch people. Pakistan’s war against Balochistan is strengthening the position of the Taliban, who have exploited the unstable, strife-ridden situation to establish bases and influence in the region. From these bases, the Taliban terrorise the often more liberal, secular Baloch people and enforce the Talibanisation of Balochistan.

The Pakistani military often tolerates the Taliban, on the grounds that Taliban influence acts as a second force to crush the Baloch people and weaken their struggle for independence. In other words, the Taliban are being used as a proxy force by Islamabad in its war against Balochistan. The bases in the Baloch region are also hide-outs from where Taliban fighters mount military operations in Afghanistan. Despite recent well-publicised military operations, the Pakistani security forces are taking very little serious action to stop the Taliban using Balochistan as a rear base for their Islamist war against democracy and human rights.

If the nations of the world want to strike a blow against the Taliban and fundamentalism, they should seek an end Pakistan’s repression in Balochistan and support the Baloch people’s right to self-determination. Baloch secular nationalism could act as a powerful bulwark against the Talibanisation of the country, which ultimately threatens all the people of Pakistan and Afghanistan – and the wider region.

The future status of Balochistan

Whether self-determination means the restoration of independence, or full regional autonomy within a federal Pakistan, is a matter for the Baloch people to decide. The best way to resolve this issue would be for the government of Pakistan to authorise a United Nations-supervised and monitored referendum to allow the people of Balochistan to freely and democratically determine their own future.

The Baloch people, like all people everywhere, have a right to self-determination – and the right to democracy, human rights and social justice.
If tiny East Timor can be an independent, self-governing nation, why not Balochistan?

[brihaspati]

The Lake on Hunza due to landslide : provides some interesting possibilities ian future war.
http://gbtimes.wordpress.com/2010/01/25 ... r-and-kkh/

Chinese Engineers are in Hunza to open the blockage of the Hunza River and KKH

Hunza (Bashir): A team of 14 experts of Engineers from China arrived to Hunza, Gilgit-Baltistan in order to open the blockage of Hunza River and KKH. Because of Attabad Land sliding of January 4, the flow of Hunza river blocked and it has formed lake extending to the villages of Ayeenabad and Shishkat.

Until now tens of houses in thousands kanals of agricultural land and trees have been submerged into the Lake of Hunza River and hundreds of individual displaced. It is fear that if the Hunza river remained block it would further damage homes, and property of of the people in Ayeenabad, Shiskat and Gulmit, so it was forcefully demanded by the people of Hunza to open the blockage of the river immediately. Now the Chinese engineers are in Hunza and it is hoped that the blockage of the river will start soon.

7 member of the team would work on blockage of the river and the other 7 engineers along with the engineers who are currently working on the repair and maintenance of KKH will work on opening the KKH.

What is interesting are the comments :

2 Responses to “[News] Chinese Engineers are in Hunza to open the blockage of the Hunza River and KKH”

1. hunarmand Says:
January 25, 2010 at 9:30 | Reply

We the people of Hunza are thankful to the brothers and friends in China who at all crucial times have helped the people of Gilgit-Baltistan unconditionally. However, it is a matter of worry that why the Chief Minister of Gilgit-Baltistan have not taken immediate step along with the Speaker of Gilgit-Baltistan assembly, and a governor who is non-representaive and non local is being so much dependent upon.

If the Chief Minister, Syed Mehdi Shah worked on to provide relief for affected people of disaster heat area instead of his touring business with the women workers of Pakistan Peoples Party in Lahore many people’s homes could have been saved. People of Hunza should work hard and fast to get the relief done immediately, including passage of water from the lake and opening the KKH.

Hunar Mand

But the Chinese engineers have not appraently been that great a "saviour". As the following shows :

2. KARIM MADAD Says:
March 10, 2010 at 9:30 | Reply

Where are the chinese engineers who had to restore the blockage raod on landslide area of Hunza and its adjacent portions. Are thy still unsuccessful despite the apeal of local commuity with the goverment.

As of date, the Chinese have not really been able to solve it.
http://gbtimes.wordpress.com/2010/05/03 ... ake-kaira/

He said the landslide has also blocked Karakoram Highway but the government had ensured food supply to the affected population through helicopters and has also stored food for coming days.
“There is no immediate solution to it. However, the engineers have assured us that there is no imminent threat of any major loss,” he informed the House.
Kaira said the engineers have made a spill-way in the artificial lake for discharge of water and an early warning system would help warn the people in case of emergency, if any.

So blocking the KKH and freezing a key route for the PLA to move around may just be a possibility.

[brihaspati]

The Sindhudesh movement of G.M.Syed has lost steam in the popular arena. The idea is kept alive by activists and radicals in internet fora or small circles. The reason it lost out was Bhutto's appeal to Islamist sentiments. This shows that the Sindhis will never be free of Pakjabi repression, until they separate from both Islamic state domination as well as the regional elite legacy of forces represented by Bhutto.

Just as in India, claimants of regional identities typically come from regional elite who place themselves in between the people of their region and the central power - to ensure their personal power and share of benefits from manipulation of the centre.

Under influences like that of the feudal landowning elite like that of the Bhuttos, Sindhis will never be free of Pakjabis. At least thenon-Muslim Sindhis realizing this can go a long way towards their ultimate liberation.

[arun]

Another blow in support of the liberation of Balochistan from the yoke of Pakistani Punjabi occupation:

Bridge in Uch Gas Field blown up

[Christopher Sidor]

The separation of Baluch from Pakistan would be devastating to Pakistan economically and structurally. Economically, because afghans and the central asians would not have any need to humour the Pakis. Structurally because balochistan is the biggest province, bigger than punjab and home to pakistan most important mineral resources.

The problem with an independent Baluchistan is that the Iranians would oppose it tooth and nail, as it would have negative impact on their own country. The same reason that an independent Kurdistan would be opposed by both Iran and Turkey.

For India, the problem is that an independent Baluchistan would result in outside powers, read arabs and north atlantic countries, gaining significant influence in Baluchistan, which would be a long term threat to India. Unlike Bangladesh, we do not share a border with Balochistan. Unlike Bangladesh, we will not be able to integrate an independent Balochistan into India. With indepedence of Bangladesh, we removed with one stroke a significant threat to our longest land border. In some respects the Indo-Bangladesh border is more porous than the MacMohan Line or the LOC or the Radcliffe Line.

Now let us look at Tibet. It is approximately 1/4th of PRCs total landmass. Even if Tibet is made independent the threat of PLA/PRC would not be removed entirely. Rather the threat would be shifted east by a couple of thousand kilometers. Indian Forces would still have to face PLA. It would be just that instead of Indian jawans facing the chinese soldiers across the LAC they would face them across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It would be foolish for us to assume that an independent Tibet would drastically reduce our expenditure on defense. Rather it would be reverse. We would have to spend more to sustain our troops in Tibet.

So an independent Baluchistan and Tibet would not bring India benefits like an independent Bangladesh bought us.

Please note that I am not saying that an Independent Tibet or Baluchistan is not in India's interest. Rather we should be very clear the advantages that may or may not accrue to India by campaigning for an Independent Baluchistan and Tibet.

[arun]

Twin blasts damage railway tracks near Hyderabad

HYDERABAD: Twin blasts damaged railway tracks at Udero Lal railway station near Hyderabad early Tuesday morning.

---

A blow struck for the freedom of Sindh from Pakistani Punjabi domination. Railway tracks blown up by a "nationalist organisation" in Sindh.

From the article:

Police reportedly found a leaflet from a nationalist organisation near the crime scene.

[arun]

Blows for freedom from the domination of Pakistan’s rapacious Punjabi’s struck in Balochistan:

Two more electricity pylons blown up in Balochistan

[harbans]

Now let us look at Tibet. It is approximately 1/4th of PRCs total landmass. Even if Tibet is made independent the threat of PLA/PRC would not be removed entirely. Rather the threat would be shifted east by a couple of thousand kilometers. Indian Forces would still have to face PLA. It would be just that instead of Indian jawans facing the chinese soldiers across the LAC they would face them across the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. It would be foolish for us to assume that an independent Tibet would drastically reduce our expenditure on defense. Rather it would be reverse. We would have to spend more to sustain our troops in Tibet.

From Tibet all the major river systems originate. Chinese mainland approach to Tibet is very limited and tough. If ever Tibet was a protectorate of India, it would be like Bhutan. IA is on the frontiers there too. India would be at strategic hieghts which the Chinese would never be able to dislodge. This 'not a blade of grass grows' thinking did India in the NE and Northern fronts before. The sublimal tendency of so many to think solely West will lead to fallaciousness in terms of approaching a strategic issue too. Pakistan is simply meaningless to China without Tibet or Xingang. Paki's simply would'nt have nukes if naturally Tibet was our neighbour and not China. China's attention would have concentrated East to Taiwan, Korea, Japan and up North to Russia. Just think a bit what would have been the geo political climate in India's neighbour hood and consequently in India if China was not in Tibet/ And/ Or Tibet was India's protectorate.

[arun]

Convoy of the Punjabi dominated security forces of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan subjugating Balochistan attacked by Baloch Freedom Fighters :

Tribal insurgency: FC convoy attacked with car bomb in Quetta

[brihaspati]

http://en.shiapost.com/?p=2584
Who was behind the Shia massacre in Pakistan?
Editorial

Death is whimsical these days, manifesting itself in shapes most repellent to man: men posing with the mangled parts of dead bodies; men urinating on dead bodies; men cutting out the eyes of their brothers and killing them in the name of religion.

A human tragedy of inconceivable magnitude is taking place in some parts of Pakistan which are being inexcusably and consciously ignored by Western media.

Only in April 2012, more than 250 Shia Muslims were maimed and killed in broad daylight. Around 150 pairs of Shias eyes were cut out of their sockets; many of them died while their faces had been smashed with stones or sprayed with acid. According to witnesses, who had managed to flee the scene of the crime, the Wahhabi attackers were void of any mercy; the criminals are now free and keep on partaking in their feast of blood.

All these massacres are being legitimated and orchestrated by a Wahhabi group known as Sepah Sahabeh who emerged in 1985 in the Pubjab province of Pakistan as a reaction to the Islamic Revolution of Iran and the burgeoning Shia Muslims who had gradually entered the political and economical positions in the Pakistani government. The extremist group was considerably beefed up and enlarged under support of the then Pakistani president Zia ul-Haq with the ultimate goal of establishing an independent Wahhabi state in Pakistan and eliminating the Shia minority in the country. In fact, it is widely believed that the then Pakistani president Zia ul-Haq generously contributed to the emergence and development of such extremist groups and implicitly gave them carte blanche to engage in liquidating the Shia minority. The government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif which to a large extent relied on the Wahhabi extremists for political support went silently by this spate of violence. However, in January 2001, Sepah Sahabeh was branded as a terrorist group under the then Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. A violent crackdown soon ensued as a result of which many members went into hiding but the group later re-emerged and branched out under different names such as Lashkar Jangawi and Jaish Muhammad. After all, Tahrik-e Taliban euphemistically called Student Movement of Pakistan is an offshoot of the terrorist group.

Apart from the mass killing of the Shia groups, many individuals also became the target of these terrorists backed by the Pakistani intelligence agencies, inter alia, ISI.

A large number of Shia elite including doctors, engineers, university professors and top students were brutally assassinated by this insidious group in areas such as Gilgit, Baltistan, Parachinar, Quetta, and even in major cities including Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi, Southern Punjab, and Islamabad.

Interestingly enough, not a single soul has been arrested to account for these gruesome murders over the past years. It is extremely unfortunate to note that no practical steps have been taken on the part of the government in order to stall the activities of these extremists. The only group which used to support the minorities including the Shia Muslims in this bias-benighted country is the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) which has been recently plagued by indifference. The current PPP rulers seem to have shut their eyes to the woes of the minorities especially Shia Muslims who have contributed tremendously to the economic and social progress of the country. Mohammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was himself a Shia Muslim who healed the image of the country in the eyes of the international community.
[...]
Countries such as Saudi Arabia and Bahrain promote Wahhabism and conduce to extremism by importing only non-Shia workers from Pakistan. Media reports suggest that Bahrain has hired retired Pakistani army officers to suppress the popular uprising in the country. Also, recent reports indicate that the Shia minority are being discriminated against in different government organizations in Pakistan. This is indeed an indirect act of promoting extremism within the Pakistani society.

Be it as it may, the target killings have not only destabilized Pakistan but also deprecated the country as a hotbed of extremism and terrorism on an international level.

These killings have provoked the ire of Sunni Muslims all across the country who believe atrocities of this nature gravely shake the very pillars of Pakistan, disrupt national unity, strengthen the enemies and drag the country into abysmal extremism beyond salvation.

If the Pakistani establishment is really intent on stopping the spread of extremism in the country, they should cut off the invisible hands which buttress these extremist groups within the civilian government, military, intelligence services and the judiciary system.

[brihaspati]

An interesting pointer to the nature of actual control on the ground from the TSP state : it has to negotiate for 5 days with the local assembly to get its hands on suspected criminals.

Chilas incident; Jirga hands over accused to police
http://www.mygilgit.com/blog/category/g ... r-chilass/
Posted on 17 April 2012. Tags: chilas jirga, chilas killings

Gilgit—The grand Jirga of Diamer district has finally handed over those people who are wanted by the police in connection with the killings on April 3 in Chilas town, police and administration officials said. “Thanks God all matters resolved amicably and Jirga agreed and people nominated in the FIR are being given in Police custody” District Magistrate Shozaib Saeed told APP here on Monday.

He said use of force was not solution in this particular area and we wanted to arrest the nominated people and thanks to cooperation of the Jirga that it became possible to arrest them. “The grand Jirga told Police in Chilas meeting that all the wanted people would be handed over by this evening” top administration official of Diamer said.

Official said the negotiations lasted for more than five days between Police and Jirga in this regard. Initially Molana Muzamil Shah, Sher Ghazi and two others people had reached Chilas rest house from where they were about to be taken to a secret place for investigations.

“They are not accused rather they are nominated in FIR and investigation would determine whether or not they are culprits” District Magistrate.

Note the almost mandatory presence of Maulanas in actions nowadays.

The site also has some interesting details on the Bhasa dam, and the FODP group.