In spite of criticism being levelled by many politicians, I agree with President Musharraf when he says that three rebel Baloch Sardars have been pampered unnecessarily for 40 years, though they have been hurting their own people and the nation as well.
They do need "to be fixed" so development can proceed rapidly in Balochistan but the government must be extremely careful that no innocent persons get harmed. However, I disagree with the approach so far adopted in Waziristan where many of our compatriots have been cornered or attacked needlessly.
According to a number of reports, convoys of the army when hit by improvised explosive devices and despite remaining unhurt open indiscriminate fire killing and injuring many people in the vicinity who would have had nothing to do with the explosion.
Such acts are bound to create hatred against the army and the government and could lead to civil war. The policy of reconciliation being followed by the new governor of the NWFP seems appropriate.
There is a need to be doubly careful when launching operations because some leaders with vested interests try to exploit such situations for their own ends. Thus, ANP chief Asfandyar Wali Khan has tried to make the government actions in the restive FATA look like a deliberate targeting of the Pakhtuns.
This is a calumny calculated to exploit the sentiments of our Pathan brethren to make them sympathetic towards his party's demand - an opportunity that Afghanistan and India would very eagerly seize. The ANP had gone out of business during the time the Mujahideen and Taliban were in power and there was no demand to annual the Durand Line.
He must be knowing that the military operations would have been carried out regardless of which ethnic group happened to be residing there. In another statement, he has said that over two million Pakhtuns have been killed in Afghanistan in the name of Jihad, as if somebody over here was responsible for that.
Everybody knows that it was the traditional friends of the ANP in Moscow who invaded that country and, when the proud Afghans opposed to this occupation set up a resistance movement with outside help, the Soviets bombarded the country indiscriminately, which caused all that loss of lives and made five million refugees.
Instead of being honest and laying the blame on them, Asfandyar has forgotten all that and how the party leaders used to visit Moscow frequently. The Baloch leaders also have been misleadingly trying to show the crackdown in the province as an attempt to usurp its resources rather than a counter-insurgency move and are calling for EU and UN intervention.
The third issue pertains to our policy about the Middle East. The government has announced plans for dispatch of relief goods to Beirut in response to an appeal by the Lebanese Prime Minister for international assistance, which is a very laudable step and all possible material and diplomatic help must be provided to counter Israel's utterly barbaric attacks on the country.
However, Islamabad made no similar move in the case of Palestine where millions of people are suffering from atrocities, the employees have not even been getting their salaries since January and medical facilities have almost finished.
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