Army Refuses
to Arrest Rapist Captain Despite Balochistan Insurgency and Turmoil
Special
SAT Report
SUI,
DERA BUGTI, Balochistan, February 3: The Army authorities have
sent Captain Hammad, the officer accused of raping the PPL Lady
doctor at Sui, on forced leave prior to his permanent transfer
to a unit deployed in NWFP Tribal Areas, PPL sources here have
revealed.
“The officer has not been arrested and will not be arrested.
He was seen performing his duty in his uniform as late as evening
of January 30,” the sources said although the official believed
that if any political dialogue begins, the authorities may announce
that he was under detention, though this would be a deception.
The PPL official talked to the South Asia Tribune correspondent
shortly after some reports had referred to the arrest of the main
accused along with two doctors of PPL and the company’s
executive who were accused of obstructing police investigations
by falsifying and hiding evidence.
The SAT correspondent, whose identity is not being disclosed
because Army authorities would immediately arrest or deport him,
also talked to several militants of the Balochistan Liberation
Army (BLA) who have taken up positions in the Dera Bugti area,
waiting for the Army operation to begin.
But now their biggest challenge is the announcement by the Army
that Sui was being turned into an Army Garrison and the residential
colony of thousands of Bugtis and local workers would be bulldozed
in the name of protecting the Sui Gas installations.
A BLA source in Dera Bugti disclosed that all BLA men have been
put on red alert since January 31 and if Pakistan Army starts
any activity to demolish or bulldoze the houses or colonies, BLA
would retaliate furiously. The source warned all outsiders to
take the warning seriously but also cautioned that the Army itself
may attack some of the outsiders to blame the BLA. “Before
putting the blame, all concerned must find out who was behind
any provocative move,” the source emphasized.
The SAT Correspondent talked to a number of ordinary
Bugti tribesmen, the so-called common man in the Dera Bugti area
to get an idea of how he looks at the Army decision to set up
a Garrison.
Mehar
Ali, sitting under a tree watching his kids playing around, observed:
"I don`t know what will the Army give us in the form of a
cantonment. We are already under pressure by previously stationed
Bhambore Rifles, a wing of Frontier Constabulary stationed there.”
Then
Mehar Ali made a startling disclosure: “We cannot even go
to get waters from Peer Chata spring, the major source of drinking
water in the town, just few meters away from the FC Cantonment.
If someone tries to go there the Bhambore Rifles take him into
custody for days and and interrogate him. The BF Troops have blocked
the main entrance of the City Bazar for several years and if we
have to meet our relatives out of town or have to travel for some
other reason we have to use a diversion of 2 kilometers to pass
a distance of just 500 meters. They want to torture the people,
even kill us if they can but ask them what they will get in return.”
In the caves of nearby hilltops our correspondent met a group
of BLA militants, who were taking rest and passing their time,
hiding their presence in the day light and becoming active in
the dark.
Ameer Din, a former school teacher was one of them. On the issue
of setting up a Garrison, he responded: "No doubt it will
bring the concept of development in the area. They will surely
set up a CMH, and an Army Public School for the families of officers
and troops, from which a small number of local people may also
benefit. A few people will get proper education and better medical
treatment, but what we are going to lose really matters to every
Baloch: our sovereignty.”
He continued: “We are already treated like slaves of dark
ages, as there will be a huge occupying force present. The outsiders
will snatch our last loafs of breads, even our respect and honor
which have ever been a matter of life and death in our society.
We will never be protected any more. We expect the worst. Whatever
happened to Dr. Shazia Khalid in Sui will happen to every woman
of our tribe. Every uniformed soldier may behave like Captain
Hammad. This is what we fear. Therefore in spite of being a teacher,
I have thrown away the pen and picked up this gun. I know blood
comes out of this barrel, but it is now necessary to shower this
blood around."
Ameer Din was a school teacher but now he leads a patrolling team
of BLA militants, in a desert near Sui. One of his team members
was Allah Bakhsh, who got a Masters Degree from Balochistan University
in Quetta and belongs to the Marri Tribe, a strong and close ally
of the Bugtis. Bakhsh was reading a book, titled: "Some
Reasons For War." Our
correspondent asked him a few questions:
SAT:
How is it that you are carrying a gun and a book together?
AB: I feel proud that I did not quit
my habit of reading even in such a difficult time. Fortunately
this time the Baloch fighters are educated, they can understand
the environment and war strategies are no more a secret. Sure
General Musharraf was right: This is not the era of 70s.”
SAT: You could have better life opportunities
in the urban centers of Karachi and Quetta, so don`t you think
you are wasting your energy and time on hilltops?
AB: You are right, but can you give
these arguments to the citizens of Fallujah in Iraq or Gaza in
Palestine. They have even better opportunities than me, as America
will open the doors of New York to traitors of Iraq and Palestine.
Just try to convince them. I am not mad. I can understand what
is going on, though I am afraid of snakes, afraid of thirst in
the desert, afraid of breathtaking cold, but all my fears go away
when the fear of facing humiliation like slaves hovers around.
I know the human life is precious, but honor and respect is more
precious than life.”
SAT: BLA fighters are believed to be backed by
Sardars and Nawabs so are you not working for their vested interests?
Ameer Din: Vested interests of Sardars
and Nawabs? We are working and sacrificing for the interests of
every Baloch individual. We are working for all those who are
under the slavery of Punjab and its Army. Our cause is not different
than the cause of any "Mazloom" (subjugated)
nation on earth. Thanks to the Sardars and Nawabs who support
us morally and present our point of view on political forums.
And thanks to those Sardars and so called chiefs as well who are
strictly against us as they have exposed themselves at this point
and we will not be trapped by such traitors any more.
The SAT correspondent also approached a police official
in the town. ASP Moeen Khan is in Sui for a special task and posted
in a nearby district. His views: "Bugti is a wild tribe,
they are emotional and extremists in their traditions. We cannot
handle them through conventional ways so if there will be a cantonment
of regular Army troops, it will be easier for us to crush this
tribe."
SAT: Why to crush? Why not to reform to bring
this wilderness into civilization?
Moeen: Crushing the wildness is the
first phase of reforms.
SAT: As per our knowledge 97per cent
of the population belongs to the Bugti Tribe. If you crush the
tribe then for whom you are going to bring reforms?
Moeen:
(laughing) What if a tribe is crushed and eliminated, Pakistan
is well populated so we won’t face any difficulty in civilization.
SAT: Do you mean you will sweep out the entire
population and bring people from other areas of Pakistan to live
here?
Moeen: Not exactly, I want that locale
people must be given a chance. We will crush only the militants
but if their claim that every man in the tribe will resist is
right, then we have little choice.
Shahzada Khan works as a mechanical helper in the PPL inside the
Purification Plant. His home is just a few meters away from the
fencing area. When SAT correspondent talked to Khan,
he was bitter: "They have the force, the might, so they will
bulldoze our home, though I have built my house on my own property.
It matters little for the Government. But I am worried where to
live, if I move to the proposed "Mut" deserts how the
kids will manage to go to the school, Traveling 34 kilometers
a day for a kid is not sensible."
Amanullah,
a mess waiter says: "They just want to take away the facilities
we can use here. How will I manage to bring my 70-year old father
to the field hospital daily, as he is a chronic diabetic and cannot
survive without insulin."
Mureed
Bugti, an "Arzee nawees" (Application writer)
who sits in front of the Town Administration offices says "people
were already in trouble to access the local administration offices,
due to the deployment of security agencies in the area. Now if
they are moved far away, no one will be able to come over. They
have to move the local administration offices as well.
What
will be the role of Levies, the alternate to police force in the
area, if the residents are moved away from their present location.
Rawat Khan, a levies man responded: "At least Levies will
not interrupt, we are all local and we can never be the part of
outside force. They (the Army) have already arrested some of our
Levies men because they refused to obey the orders to kill. We
have been given the guns to protect our people, not to kill."
Shah
Dina of Dinari Colony was asked what will be the shape of resistance
if the Army forces the residents to shift permanently. "Nothing,”
he said. “They don’t respect women and kids. So we
won`t take the path of democratic agitation. No protest marches
or shutdown strikes but our sympathies will be with the freedom
fighters."
An
old man, Jamal Khan, who is well known for his knowledge about
the boundaries between different tribes and often resolves the
intertribal border conflicts, claims that the piece of land the
Army has acquired for the Garrison belongs to Haji Manoo Kalpar,
not to any tribe.
Khan
says there is no land belonging to any individual in the area.
All the property belongs to tribal sub-castes. We divide the property
between families on a 10 year basis. After every ten years the
division is reviewed. So it is absolutely wrong that this land
belongs to any individual."
In
fact this land is the property of Bakhilani Bugti tribe and all
the Bakhilani tribe is owner of the land. As this area has never
been cultivated it was never divided according to the 10-year
formula. This is the reserved land of this tribe."
Explaining
the claims of the Army that payment of Rs 100 million had been
made for the land, an official of the local administration said:
"In fact Government paid a handsome amount to some people
of Kalpar Bugtis in the regime of Benazir Bhutto, to develop a
counter force against Nawab Bugti. Some 20 families including
Haji Manoo were funded by ISI, through Zakat and Bait ul Mal Funds.
This was admitted by Mr. Asif Ali Zardari as well. These funds
caused worst bloodshed among the tribes in the area and right
now those families are scattered in Punjab and Sindh due to their
tribal enmities. Once again Government is playing the same game."
Click
for a spot report by Daily Dawn Correspondent
