Ashraf
Qazi Tipped as New Balochistan Governor in Deceptive Move
By
M T Butt
ISLAMABAD,
February 26: After declaring his Army Captain not guilty of the
gruesome doctor’s rape in Sui, General Musharraf is now
planning a commando operation against Baloch tribal leader Sardar
Akbar Khan Bugti and there are reports he may hire the services
of United Nation’s top gun in Iraq, Ambassador Ashraf Jehangir
Qazi , for the mission.
The
scion of a prominent Pashtun family from Balochistan, Qazi (left)
is related to the other well known Baloch Sardar, Khair Buksh
Marri, and Musharraf’s strategists are thinking of appointing
Qazi as the new Governor of Balochistan, recalling him from Baghdad
where he is receiving a hefty $300K per month pay check.
But
without dismissing or suspending the provincial parliament and
imposing Governor’s rule, Qazi may not be equipped with
enough powers and analysts are thus not ruling out the possibility
of the Army wrapping up the façade of democracy, at least
in Balochistan as a starter.
Qazi
was plucked by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from his assignment
as Pakistan’s Ambassador to the US in Washington for the
top UN job in Iraq last year and he has been quietly trying to
get an handle on the situation, of course while staying away in
the more safer environs of Jordan. But the developing situation
in his home country may provide him some relief.
Well
connected journalist of Islamabad, Nusrat Javeed of ‘The
News' reported on Friday about Musharraf's latest plan to
handle Balochistan through the top Pakistani diplomat, now in
Iraq.
“Our praetorian masters have already begun thinking of taking
some damage-control initiatives for Balochistan on their own.
Their priority number one for the moment is to isolate Nawab Akbar
Khan Bugti. He must appear like a “lonely warlord”,
enjoying no support from any political party or group, both from
within and outside Balochistan,” Nusrat wrote.
“There
also is an attempt to approach Marri, the hardened but stubborn
nationalist, for negotiating a reasonable agreement with Islamabad.”
The Generals believe that the super diplomat from Marri’s
province, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, might deliver on this count, if
appointed Governor of Balochistan.
How
they may compensate Qazi for his loss of a three million dollar
per annum job is not yet clear but as Governor he may enjoy more
political clout as a powerful agent of the Center with a suspended
provincial assembly. He may also have a lot more money at his
disposal to spend.
Musharraf and his spokesmen have been denying that any such drastic
action, like imposition of Governor’s Rule, was in the offing
but these denials carry no credibility and are seen by analysts
as no more than deception plans signifying nothing. Yet inside
the corridors of powers serious discussions are going on and even
pro-Musharraf analysts are now urging quick action on Balochistan
lest it may get out of hand.
Nusrat Javeed is not a pro-Musharraf analyst but he reported on
Friday that all discussion on the doctor's rape case was stifled
by the Speaker of the National Assembly, just one day after Musharraf
declared that Captain Hammad, the main accused of the rape, was
not guilty but others who may be found gilty, should be hanged
for the crime.
Musharraf told journalists the accusations against the officer
were baseless and the man was not involved, but said the perpetrators
would be brought to justice. It was a rare case of the Army Chief
and the country’s president declaring an accused not guilty
even before an investigation had been carried out and despite
the fact that attempts by the local police to dig into the case
were ruthlessly stonewalled by the Army.
The raped doctor has also been speaking to the media lately and
in one interview said she had no hope of seeing her attacker put
behind the bars and she was now determined to leave the country
for fear of her own safety. "I am not expecting anything
from the justice system," she said from a safe house in the
southern city of Karachi, where she is staying with her husband.
While Musharraf hurried to pronounce judgment in favor of his
Army Captain, many questions were still unanswered such as why
had the Captain, who was supposed to be in charge of security
at the PPL Gas plant where the rape occurred, had not been questioned
and not pulled up for dereliction of his basic duty --- to protect
those living in the area.
Analysts say even if the charge of committing the rape was legally
difficult to prove, as evidence had been destroyed and tempered
with after the crime, it was still the responsibility of Captain
Hammad, as chief of security, to not only prevent such crimes
but also to investigate them and nab the criminals. Instead he
disappeared from the scene, though he kept on claiming that he
was innocent. How can he explain such conduct?
In
another development, doctors in the United States, who know the
family of the raped lady, have been telling the media that there
was an incident in the recent past in which Captain Hammad had
tried to lure the same lady doctor to his home and she had refused
to oblige. The officer felt insulted and was furious.
According to these doctors who are campaigning for justice for
their aggrieved colleague, Captain Hammad recently called the
lady doctor and asked her to come to his house because “his
wife was sick and wanted a medical check up.” The doctor
told him she would not do that and he should bring his wife to
her clinic or the hospital.
These
doctors say it was actually a trap set by Captain Hammad as he
wanted to establish that the lady doctor had herself walked into
his house and she had not been forced into any sexual relationship.
But the trap did not work and the Captain was thus waiting to
take his revenge.
Whatever the facts of the case, the conduct of the PPL management
in obstructing the course of law and the over enthusiasm of the
Army authorities in trying to hush up the case, raise questions
which neither General Musharraf nor the other spokesmen have answered.
The
situation in Balochistan in the meantime has gone from bad to
worse and now analysts are calling the Baluchistan crisis as the
litmus test for General Musharraf.
Pro-Musharraf
writer and analyst Nasim Zehra wrote this recently: “Musharraf
justified back tracking on his commitment to vacate the COAS post
because he believed that resolving Pakistan’s key chronic
problems require that he command the army, the other State institutions
and also the parliamentary system. With all three in his control
Musharraf has the complete institutional authority over the Central
and the provincial institutions currently operational in Baluchistan.
Even the opposition parties like the PPP and MMA have not tried
to generate any significant political pressure one the government
over Baluchistan.
“The
President decides the fate of the parliamentary Committee’s
report. The onus therefore of taking immediate steps to turn around
the anti-Center political tide around in Baluchistan, rests squarely
on the President’s shoulders… In preventing Baluchistan’s
slide into anarchy speedy action is required."
If this speedy action is to nominate Ashraf Jehangir Qazi as the
new Governor of Balochistan, it would be a step in the reverse
direction, most analysts agree.
