Pakistan Army's Pragmatic Approach leading Balochistan towards prosperity

ISLAMABAD: Whereas the steps being taken by the Pakistan Army for the establishment of peace in Balochistan and to remove the sense of deprivation among people of the province are yielding positive results, the growing Taliban threat has forced the Indian spymasters to shift from Afghanistan to the Gulf states where they are operating as businessmen.

“The steps being taken by the army under the guidance of Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to establish peace in Balochistan and remove the sense of deprivation among the people of the province are yielding positive results, causing distress to the Indian intelligence agencies,” an official source said here on Wednesday, requesting anonymity. “A positive change is being witnessed in the thinking of common Baloch people because of the recruitment of Baloch youths in the army and other security institutions on priority basis,” he said.

The source said the worries of the Indian intelligence officials are, however, growing because of the change in thinking of the Baloch youths while the recruitment of the Baloch youths in the army and security institutions on priority basis has saved Pakistan from a battle front, which was more dangerous than Waziristan because lava was boiling there. He said the Indian spying network, which was targeting Balochistan since long, has almost been defeated now because the Balochistan policy of General Kayani has shattered the Indian policy of misleading the Baloch youths. “When he had taken over as the army chief, General Kayani faced the toughest and the biggest challenge of establishing peace in Balochistan and also defeating the Indian campaign of misleading the Baloch youths,” the source said. “General Kayani was extremely serious in addressing the Balochistan problem and he took pragmatic measures, which are now yielding positive results,” he remarked.

The source revealed that the country’s top security agency achieved highly important successes during the past three years but details of those successes could not be made public because of their sensitive nature. He said these successes also helped other security agencies of the country to achieve their goals. He said the powers that wanted to pit the Baloch people against other provinces and national institutions were behind the kidnapping and target killing incidents in the province during the past few years.

“The foreign elements have been involved in planning the killing of passengers of public transport in different cities and districts of Balochistan and the most prominent among these elements were the Indians. The term of Baloch Liberation Army was also introduced by the Indian intelligence agencies because India wanted to infuse into the Baloch youths the hatred against other provinces and the army,” the source said.

“Although the Indians had initially succeeded in their nefarious designs to a great extent and their operations were on their peak following the death of Nawab Akbar Bugti, the strategy devised by General Kayani and implemented by the army to bringing the Baloch people, particularly youths, into the national mainstream has now completely changed the scenario,” he added.

The source pointed out that because of the growing threat of the Taliban attacks, the senior Indian intelligence officers have shifted from Afghanistan to the Gulf states in the vicinity of Balochistan, where they are posing as businessmen and are providing jobs to Baloch youths so as to create afresh an atmosphere of hate in Balochistan. This is the reason that the Pakistani establishment is trying to provide maximum job and business opportunities to Baloch youths to save them from the economic blackmailing of Indians, he remarked.

When contacted by The News for comments, former Inter-Services Intelligence chief Lt Gen (R) Hamid Gul said no doubt General Kayani is doing good work in Balochistan because the situation had worsened in that province during the Musharraf regime. He said that under a long-term policy, General Kayani recruited the Baloch youths in the army and also took other measures on priority basis to address the sense of deprivation among Baloch people.

“However, the president and prime minister too should give priority to Balochistan, as the government and civil institutions have yet much to do there and a short-term policy is also needed because India and the US do not want peace in Balochistan. Therefore, the elimination of the Indian and US influence there is utmost necessary,” he commented.