An unusual hearing took place today in the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, as Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R – CA) headed a meeting on Pakistan’s province of Balochistan. Publicly, the hearing focused on condemning the Pakistani government and accusing it of broad human rights abuses against the Balochs.
Reports of human rights violations in Pakistani Balochistan are nothing new within the Pakistani press, but the sudden interest among US officials, coupled with eager condemnations from human rights groups, comes with serious undertones.
That is because last month, Rep. Rohrabacher and Rep. Louie Gohmert (R – TX), in a policy paper condemning the Obama Administration, proposed that the US pursue an independent Baloch state “carved out of Pakistan,” nominally to defeat the Taliban.
Gohmert has been keen on this plan for some time, insisting that an independent Balochistan would stop the flow of arms into Afghanistan and be a far better US ally than Pakistan has ever been.
Rohrabacher’s endorsement of it is somewhat more strange, given his history as an outspoken supporter of the Taliban during the Clinton years. Somehow this has morphed into being willing to slice Pakistan down the middle on the off chance it actually harms the Taliban.
The proposal is not new. Indeed, the Pakistani media was all over the story in 2006 when Lt. Col. Ralph Peters began pushing for the creation of “Greater Balochistan” as an independent nation carved out of Pakistan’s Balochistan Province and Iran’s Sistan-Balochistan Province. He also called for Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Khyber-Pakhtoonwhah Province to be ceded to Afghanistan. Pakistan would be left only as a narrow nation along the Indian border.
Peters’ plan was rather ambitious — he further proposed carving up Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Turkey, totally redesigning the map of the Middle East. The plan may never have been given serious consideration, but shows that the notion of splitting up Pakistan is not a new one, and is now being given serious consideration in Washington.
It's rather a leap to go from a house subcommittee on treatment on the Baluch minority, to say the notion of dividing up Pakistan is being given 'serious consideration' in Washington. Ironically the Baluch seeking independence blame the US for providing billions in military aid to the Pak Army that has ended up being used against them.
Given the demographics of Pakistan and the size of their military and nuclear arsenal (Not to mention Iran's hostility to the idea), the poor Baluch have about as much a chance of achieving independence as Tibet does.
To the Hypocrates Dictatorial Adminstration in WASHING-TON who never even cared for last 63 years the plight of Kashmiries for self determination,the very right granted to them by the ever growing more sub servient UNO.Congress never cared about it and forget about it even more as USA is a India's door begging for deals.
The only reason the are after Balocnistan is it geographic importance as corridor that connects it to central Asia and further to Euroasia.They are waking up to the nightmore every day and night when they see it part of Pakistan and not fully under their access to play with the resouces in Central Asia.
Besides that How they know what Baloch Tribal leaders have been doing to their own people for centuries.Keeping them under previliged never extending their hands to bring anything better in their lives,while they have been fully enjoying their share of resources and govt favour for decades.
Are you satisfied with the current state of affairs in Pakistan? Do you feel that it would be a good idea to NOT drag more people in that sordid mess? btw I was in Kashmir for about 20 days. You'd be surprised to know what the views of most people are. People miss the old times when tourism was thriving but its getting quite a bit better than before when people trained by Pakistan turned that beautiful place into a hellhole.
Maybe not everyone is enamored by Pakistan's version of islam where everyone goes for each others throats. and funny that you wait until now to come clean about the Baloch tribal leaders and the misery of the common Balochis. lol I guess the Bengalis had a similar problem, of course it had nothing to do with wholesale slaughter conducted by the Pakistan Army.
It is proven time and again who is behind mass human abuses in Balochistan other than Govt Agencies,the Baloch are on the killing spree of settlers from other provinces.India along with many other foreign agencies has proven hand in the mess in Balochistan.
The timing itself proves why this issue has been discussed in the cogress foreign committee is to put pressure on the current govt to open up the route for NATO transporters,pther than that I believe USA Govt has hands full issues of such Nature,in which comes first Palestine,then Kashmir and come anything closer of the this nature.
Balochistan remains integral part of Pakistan and God willing down the road we will make peace with our Baloch brothers.It is not going to tay as it is for long now.things have been changing and hopefully for Pakistan it will be change bringing good to all its spheres.
If Peter PAN plans to start giving land to all those whom believes belong to in the first place then he should start this noble deed from his country,giving USA to the natives,remigrate to their incetor homelands all over Europe and then we will follow.In the meantime stop making fool others by not making out of yourself.
Mr. Khan,
The Baloch are not the Pakistanis brothers’ and never will be. For centuries we the Baloch lived in our lands free and happy, in the modern days, however, we need to have an alliance with democratic countries not brutal, dictatorial, and military régimes who kill and dump the bodies of our best. We the Baloch welcome the United State of America to take over and use our rescores and land as they please because the alternative is living in the stone age for as long as the Punjabis in our mist. Go back to Punjab and leave us alone. Ironically, the Punjabis and the fanatic Taliban are the most ignorant about Islam. You are two faced criminals and same goes with Iranian fanatic and criminals Ayaaaat Allah….LOOOL.
fuck you all aniwaries for not adding my comments
[moderator’s note: Your comments were approved as soon as I saw them in the moderation queue. Feel free to email me if you’d like to donate the cost of giving you your own personal 24/7-on-call comment approval staff. Otherwise, one more note like that and you’ll never see your comments here again. I’m not your waiter – TLK]
Thanks and never intended to say so but for last few days all my comments has been turn down.No hard feelings.
Do we really need threats from moderator TLK…??? &&&&&&& "I'm not your waiter – TLK]" We should all be the waiter of reasoned discussions in lieu of violence and war….. Please, TLK, lighten up and enjoy your work, or at least give a pleasant face to antiwar.com and not one of irksome smallness…. Thank You for your efforts, but not your threats…
The last thing this is about is concern for the people of Balochistan. After all, US politicians barely care about their own citizens (certainly not 99%) let alone foreigners. What is it about? greater US control of the straits of Hormuz?
How about slicing only half of many countries from Turkey to Pakistan , and giving it for FREE to Nazi israel, including the defensles populations that will be their slaves, as the israelis are "chosen ones"
Israelis the chosen ones? where did you get that? Maybe you missed the ongoing protests in Israel. You should study a bit more about why and who would want to setup the Israelis as the fall guys. But I admit that its very convenient to scapegoat the Israelis for everything when most of the people today are averse to using their brains.
OOOOOOOO Yeah The NWO/Conoco/Neocon plan to OWN the Caspian TAP pipeline,corridor AND snatch… the Pakistan nuclear weapons…… Disarm the Islamic bomb…… VERY Neocon friendly…….
Good friggin luck……. The NWO crew aint doin so well against Afghanistan right now….. and what would happen if China took the gloves off and really started backing their Pakistani "friends" against NATO and their NWO pals…??? It would NOT be pretty……. Bad idea, get an honest job, stop stealing…!!
i guess we need to liberate the iran- pakistan border region
well at least we get to call it the ir-ak theater.
Don't the Baloch"s have their collective noses up the terror supporting Saudi's backsides, and don't they support the Sunni terrorists trying to destablize Iran? Are they just "our little anti-Taliban Taliban"?
They have a real nest of Salafists called Jundallah there that like to blow up Iranian people. A couple of years ago the Iranians caught one named Abdolmalek Rigi when they forced landed his plane that was flying from Dubai to Manas Air Base (a place crawling with CIA because who the hell wants to go to Kyrgyzstan). Pretty damning stuff if you are trying to connect Al-Qaeda and the CIA.
II don't know why is it hard to understand? The Baloch are brutally suppressed since the end of 19th and beginning of the century by Iran, and since the forcible occupation of Pakistan in 1948. It is only natural that people will hate who brutalize, steal their lands and wealth. It is not true that the Baloch sardars are talking all the wealth from their people, since they are getting the crumbs from Pakistan. This is the Baloch chance to be Independence. Did any of the commentators visited Balochistan-Iran or Balochistan-Pakistan to see how the occupiers have and are treating the Baloch. Human right violation is just part of it. Iran systematically, kills and suppresses the Baloch and tries to erase their language, culture, and their way of life. Freedom is precious and it is worth paying our life for our Independence, but if it is through dialog and peaceful means with good intended mediums. Why no?
>This is the Baloch chance to be Independence
Sorry to deflate this, but that's only gonna happen if the political atmosphere is right for it WITHOUT US intervention. Otherwise there will only be more dead people through sophisticated weapons systems.
You should learn a lot more about life in "independent" Kosovo today. You probably will not like what you find… unless you like the idea of living in a mafia-run puppet state.
I think it is only fair that Cherokee, Navajo, Choctaw, and many others be given the same opportunity to form their own independent states. Rapacious nuclear testing on their lands shows how much Washington cares for them.
Balowhothef*ckistan? What do they have? Oil? Lithium? An oil pipe?
The neocon plan is to build an oil and gas pipeline from the Caspian sea to the Arabian sea that will bypass Iran. For this to happen the pipeline has to go through Afghanistan and Pakistan.
There was another plan in the 90's for a pipeline from the Caspian Sea through Azerbajan, Georgia, and Turkey that would bypass Russia. After the 2008 Russia-Georgia war that pipeline isn't likely to happen.
That's why we are still in Afghanistan 10 years later and why they want to break up Pakistan.
These congressmen are insane. Pakistan is not Serbia. Pakistan is a nuclear armed nation of 165 million people. How exactly would a Kosovo-type intervention work in Pakistan without ending in a nuclear war?
No wonder so many people hate us. Does any foreign government hold hearings about undermining the territorial integrity of the United States? I don't think so. We would consider that an act of war.
hahahahahaha thank you for a good laugh. you don't believe this yourself, do you?
"Pakistan is a nuclear armed nation of 165 million people."
Have you ever thought of how many of those 165 million actually want to be a part of Pakistan? Only a thin line separates Pakistan from total anarchy. Any sane mind would like to get as far away as possible from this bloodthirsty lunacy. A good idea would be to give the Baluchis and the Sindhis their own territories as that is the only way to stop the slaughter perpetuated by the Pakistani Army.
Ok, so let me get this straight.. Right now, most of Afghanistan hates us. We've got the corrupt warlords and the Karsai crowd behind us, but most of the rest of the country hates us. Off to the west, almost everyone in Iran hates us, and considers us the Great Satan and remembers that we put the Shah and his torturers in power,then have been trying to crush their revolution that wants to rule themselves ever since. To the north, we fought most of the former Soviet republics back in the Soviet days, and since have supported their own series of corrupt and wicked warlord leaders. And now, our great plan for winning hearts and minds in Pakistan, our one supposed ally in the region is to try to tell them that we support breaking off a part of their country into an independent state.
If this region of the world is really as important as they keep saying it is in order to take billions of our tax dollars from us and then spend it there, then the US is well and truly fracked in the whole region it seems.