New Delhi, 26th March, 2007.The continued insistence of military rulers on forcing a military solution to growing insurgency in Balochistan – Pakistan's largest and also the poorest province – and giving freedom to Al Qaeda and Taliban forces to mount attacks inside Afghanistan present a scary scenario. Ceaseless bombing of Balochistan Liberation Army fighters, large-scale disappearances of political activists, neglect of economic development and suppression of political activity and human rights have contributed to a situation of instability. This could have unforeseen consequences for the stability of Pakistan itself.

The situation could become more critical if the Americans intensify their activities from the facilities available to them in Pakistan and a situation of conflict with Iran develops. The US not only wants Taliban and Al Qaeda bases in Balochistan to be liquidated to prevent attacks on NATO forces operating in the southern Afghan provinces, but also that Islamabad should play a more active role in isolating Iran by helping distance the regional Islamic states from Tehran as much as possible. Obviously, Washington has made Gen. Pervez Musharraf believe that an Iranian nuclear bomb would help Tehran dominate the region that contains 700 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and produces 21 million barrels daily.

With Pakistan's help, an anti-Iran alliance of countries is fast shaping up. Nations opposed to Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, including Egypt, Turkey, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and UAE, signed up with the US on January 16 to take on Iran. Pakistan also signed up on January 16 to do the same. After US Vice-President Dick Cheney's visit, Musharraf called a conference of foreign ministers of six of these countries to discuss Iran and ostensibly to firm up the anti-nuke alliance. This has activated alarm signals in Iran, which is now reassessing its relations with Pakistan.

Strategically located and bordering Iran and Afghanistan, Balochistan has been simmering with discontent ever since its forcible annexation by the Pakistan Army on April 1, 1948 subsequent to the partition of the Indian sub-continent. Several revolts by Baloch nationalists demanding political and economic rights and end of their exploitation by Islamabad were ruthlessly crushed by the Pakistan Army, inflicting thousands of casualties on the civilian population. In the current military operation, which began last year, a leading Baloch leader Nawab Akbar Bugti was brutally assassinated by the Pakistan Army and thousands of his supporters arrested and jailed.

The US used the province by organizing Al Qaeda and Taliban militias and arming them to invade Afghanistan and throw out Soviet forces. Iran fears that the Taliban and Al Qaeda forces, professing the Sunni faith, are now preparing to mount attacks on it.

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