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Baluch hail Kabul probe into nuclear dump
President Hamid Karzai has ordered a probe into Pakistan military dumping of nculear waste in Kanadahar and Helmand after the May 1998 tests, when the Taliban were ruling Afghanistan. People in Pakistan's renegade state of Baluchistan have voiced support for Karzai's move.
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Ras Koh in Chagai where Pakistan military conducted nuclear tests in May 1998. As the Taliban ruled Afghanistan that point of time some of the nuclear waste was dumped in Kanadahar and Helmand, according to Afghan officials.
WASHINGTON DC, JULY 17: The American Friends of Baluchistan has welcomed the move of President Hamid Karzai to investigate Pakistan alleged dumping of nuclear waste in southern Afghanistan and has hoped the international community will bring Pakistan's military generals to justice for their crimes.
"Pakistan's nuclear tests in Baluchistan was a blatant violation of international law as the people in that state had been totally opposed to those tests," Ahmar Mustikhan, founder of the American Friends of Baluchistan said in a statement Thursday.
"Those nuclear tests in Baluchistan were even more abominable as Baluchistan was annexed by Pakistan in March 1948, more than seven months after the British left India, against the explicit wishes of the Baluch people," he said.
Baluch tribesmen allege Pakistan's 1998 nuclear tests have left their lands contaminated by
radiation. There have been reports of premature deaths of livestock belonging to nomadic tribesmen who wander in the Chagai area close to Afghanistan and Iran. Outbreak of unheard of skin diseases have also been reported in Chagai.
No independent study has so far been conducted to see the disastrous consequences of Pakistan's nuclear tests in Baluchistan.
Mustikhan lauded the Afghan government for bringing into focus the issue of Pakistan burying its nuclear waste in the southern Afghan provinces of Helmand and Kandahar.
"This was done when Mullah Omar was ruling
Afghanistan. Kandahar has Pashtun population and
Helmand has Baluch population and the dumping shows action of the Punjabi-Mohajir authorities in Pakistan undermine the vital interests of Pashtun and Baluch people," Mustikhan said.
He regretted that Mullah Omar is being sheltered at a military complex in Quetta.
President Karzai's decree to form a team
of experts to investigate the nuclear dumping is a
step in the right direction, Mustikhan said.
According to AFP news agency, the terms of reference for the Karzai investigation is "The delegation is assigned to thoroughly investigate the possible burying of nuclear waste using scientific, technical and residents' observations in suspected areas."
Mustikhan said actions of the Pakistani military is not only endangering Afghan and Baluch lives, but also the lives of all soldiers belonging to the International Security Assistance Force in the
war-torn region.
There has been increased violence in Afghanistan in recent months as the Taliban and Al Qaeda, operating out of Pakistani sanctuaries, have mounted daring attacks inside Afghanistan.
Last week nine U.S. soldiers were among those killed.
Meanwhile, a move is afoot to seek justice for
Baluchistan at the International Court of Justice at the Hague in the aftermath of the Baluch genocide over the last 60 years and the 1998 nuclear tests. The move is led by the De Jure Ruler of Baluchistan, the Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Daud Ahmedzai, who has sought asylum in the United Kingdom.
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Killing: Baluch de jure ruler blames Pakistan
De Jure Ruler of Baluchistan, the Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Daud Ahmedzai, squatting in traditional Baluch style at his ancestral palace in Kalat in Baluchistan.
LONDON, JULY 17: The De Jure Ruler of Baluchistan, the Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Daud Ahmedzai, has blamed the Pakistani establishment for killing his close relative at his hometown of Kalat on Tuesday in the smokescreen of aerial firing.
Ahmedzai, who is now in exile in the United Kingdom, said Pakistani Press had incorrectly reported that his close relative Agha Nauroz Khan, son of prominent Baluch nationalist Prince Musa Jan, was killed accidentally when he was hit by stray bullet while people were observing Baluchistan Martyrs Day in Kalat and firing in the air.
"This was a targetted killing by the Pakistan establishment and its cronies," Ahmedzai told the the Online News service on phone from London.
He said the Pakistani establishment has lost its nerves after failing to crush the Baluch movement and was now using brutal tactics to bully the Baluch struggle by targeting children of national leaders.
"I warn the establishment and its lynch pins, including the provincial ministers, that they too have children and they should be ready for a natural retaliation."
Ahmedzai, who is the highest Baluch official ever to seek exile and is revered by the Baluch all over the world, is knocking at the doors of the International Court of Justice to expose the injustices meted out to his people since the forced annexation of Baluchistan by Pakistan in March 1948.
Baluchistan became a free country when the British departed from India in 1948.
"The Baluch are paying a price for the defence of their motherland. The killing of Agha Nauroz Khan is part of a sequence that saw the earlier assassination of Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and Nawabzada Bala'ach Marri."
Ahmedzai said the killing of Agha Nauroz Khan will give a further boost to the Baluch national struggle by strengthening the resolve of the Baluch freedom lovers.
Baluch people have religiously observed July 15 as Baluchistan Martyrs Day since the hanging of seven sons and nephews of Nawab Nauroz Khan Zarakzai in 1960 by the Pakistan military under General Ayub Khan.
Nawab Zarakzai had risen up in an armed revolt after Pakistan army attacked Kalat, destroyed a mosque there, and jailed the then Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmedyar Khan, grandfather of the present Khan of Kalat.
After a deceptive ceasefire, Zarakzai was offered amnesty on a promise of safety on the Muslim bible, called Quran, but when he gave himself up all his seven sons and nephews were hanged by the miltary junta.
Meanwhile, Baluch living in the United States have roundly condemned the slaying of Agha Nauroz Khan.
"We are with the Khan family and the rest of Baluchistan at this sad moment in our national history," said Dr. Wahid Baloch, president of the Baloch Society of North America. "The world must condemn this killing in cold blood in the strongest possible terms," he said.
Baloch blamed Pakistan's spy agencies, including Inter Services Intelligence, for the barbaric act of killing young Agha Nauroz Khan. "If they think by targetting a young member of his family they can weaken the Khan of Kalat's determination to approach the International Court of Justice at the Hague, they are sadly mistaken."
Baloch recalled that the Khan of Kalat was implicated in a fabricated case of being involved in a bomb blast soon after he convened a historic jirga in Kalat to take stock of the continued injustices towards Baluch people in the wake of the killing of former governor and chief minister of Baluchistan, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, in August 2006.
Nearly 100 powerful tribal chieftains and 400 notables gathered in Kalat on Ahmedzai's call and agreed to seek international justice for Baluchistan.
Ahmar Mustikhan, founder of American Friends of Baluchistan, in his condemnation of the assassination said, "Since March 1948, the Pakistani establishment has done its best to target the Khan family. Over the decades, they have suffered the most at the hands of the Punjabi-Mohajir ruling clique. Killing of Agha Nauroz Khan is but a crude attempt to silence the present Khan of Kalat, who is thankfully out of harms way in London. "
Mustikhan said he is fully confident the Khan of Kalat's case at the International Court of Justice will be a stunning success and will help bring peace to southwest Asia.
Afghanistan: Open Letter to Obama, Hagel, Reed
By Ahmar Mustikhan
WASHINGTON D.C.: I am pretty sure as you landed in Afghanistan Saturday and met with U.S. and International Security Assistance Force commanders, and Afghan officials, you gained insight of the deadly game Pakistan is playing in the blood-weary region.
It's very sad Pakistan, which officially says it was founded in the name of Islam, is using the same religion to foment killings and terrorism inside Afghanistan.
Pakistan is bent upon turning Afghanistan into a bloody nightmare for President Hamid Karzai's government and the International Security Assistance Force under the command of General David McKiernan.
For the rest of the world, the success of General McKiernan's mission is crucially important.
I am an international journalist of Baluch ethnic origin and founder of the American Friends of Baluchistan and am distraught at the goings-on as my ethnic Baluch people are also victims of Pakistan army's atrocities.
My heart goes out to the fallen heroes from multiple nations in Afghanistan, that include more than 600 Americans, and their families. Just the other day, two innocent Afghan women killed in Ghazni on the false pretext that they were prostitutes.
Earlier on September 26, 2006, Safia Amajan was gunned down in Kandahar. Amajan's only fault was that she crusaded for women's education in Afghanistan. Killing women goes against the very grain of Afghan culture--even during the worst bloodshed in history women were never touched and felt safe to travel in war zones-- and it is clear these murders were Pakistan inspired.
I do hope you will find the time to visit the shrines of such heroes and heroines of Afghanistan.
It's obvious Pakistan has taken the U.S. for a ride as it has received upwards of $10 billion since 9/11, including $6.5 billion in slush funds called Coalition Support Funds, but at the same time the country's dreaded Inter Services Intelligence or I.S.I. continued to pamper the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
There is evidence that the former Taliban ruler is sheltered at an army complex in the city of Quetta and even Musharraf visited him last fall. This should not surprise anyone as under Mullah Omar's tyrannical rule Punjabi-Mohajir army generals were calling Afghanistan their "fifth province."
After almost seven years of doing nothing, in recent weeks Pakistan said it will take action against militants in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas. But the interesting thing is that the militants in F.A.T.A. were informed in advance where the Pakistan army would conduct operations so they have safe exit. What the world saw was destruction of some vacant buildings. This was simply an eyewash.
Pakistan has also lied to the world that it has no control in F.A.T.A. It is widely known that Pakistan operates through the office of what is called its Political Agent in F.A.T.A. and its intelligence agencies. Not a leaf stirs in F.A.T.A. without the wish of the Pakistani government and secret services.
Pakistan is also playing bluff that Osama bin Laden is in the F.A.T.A. I shall not be least surprised if bin Laden is found in an army garrison of Pakistan, or the guest house of an army general. Army generals in Pakistan are above the law and no power on earth can touch them.
It is well-known that Pakistan's former I.S.I. chief Hamid Gul and senior army generals are on the hot-line with bin Laden and other Al Qaeda and Taliban leaders. Before the start of Operation Enduring Freedom, Gul spent much of his time in Afghanistan.
Gul is a hero in the eyes of Pakistan coup leader General ( R ) Pervez Musharraf.
Under the given circumstances, it's tragic that Musharraf has received a red carpet welcome in Washington D.C. ever-since 9/11. After having to quit his army post under international and domestic pressures, Musharraf is today supported by a terrorist organization called Muttahida Qaumi Movement. On May 12, 2007 under the direct instructions of Musharraf and with the help of the I.S.I., thugs of the M.Q.M. gunned down nearly four dozen innocent civilians and left more than 150 injured. The same secret service that allows its own citizens killed is playing havoc in Afghanistan.
In the Kargil war with India in 1999, Musharraf fought alongside Al Qaeda. Until the very end Pakistan army kept on denying its involvement in the Kargil operations, but later received the dead bodies of its soldiers from the Indians. The same is true today in Afghanistan.
I hope you guys get a chance to read "Who Killed Daniel Pearl" which is a brilliant expose of Pakistan's I.S.I. in the killing of the Wall Street Journal reporter. I beg you guys to have Daniel Pearl case reopened and investigated.
Pakistan also illegally annexed the area-wise largest province named Baluchistan, which forms more than 40 percent of the land mass of Pakistan. Baluchistan was an independent nation for more than seven months after the British left India divided in August 1947--interestingly in the name of religion--, and was taken over by Pakistan at the point of gun through an instrument of accession.
Just as I am angry over what is happening in Afghanistan, my heart bleeds for my Baluch people. Pakistan is practicing state sponsored slavery of the Baluch people since Baluchistan's forced annexation in March 1948. There have been five uprisings in Baluchistan to date that have left thousands killed. Pakistan army atrocities include burning alive Baluch tribesmen. Less than two years ago, one of the most popular Baluch leaders former governor and chief minister of Baluchistan Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, 81, was killed extra-judicially by the Pakistan army, Military Intelligence and I.S.I. Musharraf congratulated his Pakistan soldiers over the killing.
The real story behind Bugti's killings is that his tribe owned the gas fields in Sui. Pakistan owes as much as $15 billion to Baluchistan for the gas it got from Sui gas fields, and in stead of returning those monies to Baluchistan they found an easy way out--just kill Nawab Bugti.
Baluchistan also has a 770-km long coastline in Pakistan alone--another 250 kms are in Iranian Baluchistan--, and Punjabi and Mohajir navy officers have set their eyes on those lands and are building naval bases, one after another. (The part in Iran, as you understand is under mullah control, who routinely hang Baluch dissidents in public.)
The Afghans and Baluch have historic ties. Punjabi-Mohajir generals, who call the shots in Pakistan, have no such ties with either Afghanistan or Baluchistan. History is replete with examples of Afghans and Baluch fighting side by side to defeat common enemies.
One of the worst atrocities against the Baluch people was the testing of nuclear weapons in the Chagai area in Baluchistan. This has displaced thousands of nomadic tribesmen and left the area contaminated with radiation, with outbreak of disease and premature death of nomad's livestock--their sole mean of survival.
To end the 60 years of blood and tears of the Baluch people, the De Jure Ruler of Baluchistan the Khan of Kalat Suleman Daud Ahmedzai is knocking at the doors of the International Court of Justice at the Hague. Ahmedzai is a big time proponent of peace in Afghanistan and Baluchistan.
His case against the annexation of Baluchistan could lead to a peaceful Balkanization of Pakistan, dismantling of its huge army with an annual $10 billion budget and possible rolling back of its nuclear weapons program. If Pakistan army and the state of Pakistan remain intact as it is today, they will never let peace, democracy and development in Afghanistan.
Pakistan is resolved to send the free world into bunkers in Afghanistan. The killing of twice-premier Benazir Bhutto December 27 last year within hours of her meeting with President Hamid Karzai was a clear message from Pakistan's secret services to the rest of the world. Even the Pakistani media reported her execution was done in a professional style. The terror tactic used in killing Bhutto was repeated in the jailbreak in Kandahar on June 13.
I urge you to immediately stop all military aid and supplies to Pakistan and in stead use those monies to develop the Afghan military and help the social development of the brotherly people of Afghanistan and Baluchistan. Most importantly, please direct contact with the Khan of Kalat, who is in self-exile in London, and other Baluchistan leaders.
An independent and secular Baluchistan is in the interest of the free world, including Afghanistan. I assure you General McKiernan will be welcomed with open arms in Baluchistan, just like in 1971 General Jagjit Singh Aurora was welcomed in Bangladesh.