Solve the Pakistan problem by redrawing the map

KS

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Relations between the United States and Pakistan have reached an all-time low. The Khyber Pass is closed to NATO cargo, U.S. personnel were evicted from Shamsi airbase and Pakistani observers have been recalled from joint co-operation centres.

Much more importantly, senior officials in Washington now know that Pakistan has been playing them false since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and understand that Pakistan was sheltering Osama bin Laden a few hundred yards from its version of West Point. The recent shelling of Afghan troops inside Afghanistan by the Pakistani army, and the NATO counterstrike, cleared in error by Pakistan, has further embarrassed the Pakistani military.

It should be obvious by now that Pakistan has no intention of doing what the United States has wanted for the past decade. The combination of wishful thinking, admiration for the emperor's new clothes and $10-billion in payments to the Pakistani military have accomplished nothing. Admiral Michael Mullen was not wrong when he testified recently that the terrorist Haqqani network is operating as an arm of the Pakistani army. He might have added that the Taliban is the Pakistani army's expeditionary force in Afghanistan. Pakistan shelters, funds, trains, supplies and advises the Taliban. The simple fact is that Pakistan is the world's No. 1 state supporter of terrorism.

In Afghanistan, Pakistan will never be happy unless it has a puppet regime in Kabul and can run the country like a colony. Islamabad does not intend to allow the current Afghan constitution to remain in effect, and as soon as NATO pulls out, it will push the Taliban into an all-out civil war in Afghanistan designed to return it to power. All of which has led to a lot of hand-wringing in Washington, accompanied by a revolving-door procession of senior U.S. officials going to Islamabad to read a toothless riot act the Pakistanis can now recite by heart.

The permanent solution to the Pakistan problem is not more of this chest-beating appeasement. The answer lies in 20th-century history. In 1947, when India gained independence, a British Empire in full retreat left behind an unworkable mess on both sides of India – called Pakistan – whose elements had nothing in common except the religion of Islam. In 1971, this postcolonial Frankenstein came a step closer to rectification when Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan, became an independent state.

The answer to the current Pakistani train wreck is to continue this natural process by recognizing Baluchistan's legitimate claim to independence. Baluchistan was an independent nation for more than 1,000 years when Great Britain notionally annexed it in the mid-19th century. The Baluchis were never consulted about becoming a part of Pakistan, and since then, they have been the victims of alternating persecution and neglect by the Pakistani state, abuse which escalated to genocide when it was discovered in the 1970s that most of the region's natural resources lie underneath their soil. Since then, tens of thousands of Baluchis have been slaughtered by the Pakistani army, which has used napalm and tanks indiscriminately against an unarmed population.

Changing maps is difficult only because it is initially unimaginable to diplomats and politicians. Although redrawing maps is the definition of failure for the United Nations and the U.S. State Department, it has, in fact, been by such a wide margin the most effective solution to regional violence over the past 50 years that there is really nothing in second place. Among the most obvious recent examples (apart from the former Soviet Union) are North and South Sudan, Kosovo, Eritrea, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Timor and Bangladesh.

An independent Baluchistan would, in fact, solve many of the region's most intractable problems overnight. It would create a territorial buffer between rogue states Iran and Pakistan. It would provide a transportation and pipeline corridor for Afghanistan and Central Asia to the impressive but underutilized new port at Gwadar. It would solve all of NATO's logistical problems in Afghanistan, allow us to root the Taliban out of the former province and provide greater access to Waziristan, to subdue our enemies there. And it would contain the rogue nuclear state of Pakistan and its A.Q. Khan network of nuclear proliferation-for-profit on three landward sides.

The way to put the Pakistani genie back in the bottle and cork it is to help the Baluchis go the way of the Bangladeshis in achieving their dream of freedom from tyranny, corruption and murder at the hands of the diseased Pakistani military state.

Solve the Pakistan problem by redrawing the map - The Globe and Mail
 

civfanatic

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An obvious solution. The borders need to be restored to their pre-colonial state. The Durand Line is an artificial creation of imperialism and needs to be removed.
 

KS

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I liked the photo though. I can literally see vengeance in his eyes.
 

W.G.Ewald

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The way to put the Pakistani genie back in the bottle and cork it is to help the Baluchis go the way of the Bangladeshis in achieving their dream of freedom from tyranny, corruption and murder at the hands of the diseased Pakistani military state.
Who? How? When? The essential argument remains incomplete here.
 

KS

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Who? How? When? The essential argument remains incomplete here.
USA ofcourse.

The writer of the article is M. Chris Mason a retired diplomat with long service in South Asia and a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Defence Studies in Washington.
 
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W.G.Ewald

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USA ofcourse.

The writer of the article is M. Chris Mason a retired diplomat with long service in South Asia and a senior fellow at the Center for Advanced Defence Studies in Washington.
Old geezer writes stuff like this to keep him in Depends.
 

KS

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Old geezer writes stuff like this to keep him in Depends.
But what he said is very valid.

Pakistan can hold US/NATO to ransom only because of the transit...if that is not there Pakistan's role become worthless.

Also it is not that the spark of freedom does not exist in Afghanistan. All is needed is some petrol to make it burn brighter. The US can do a repeat of the Soviet jihad..but this time the base can be Afghanistan instead of Peshawar. And sure they can hope for some help from RAW too.
 

SADAKHUSH

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Did the writer look up the map of original Baluchistan nation? Pakistan occupies two third of their land mass and the rest is partially under Iran and Afghanistan respectively. Is the writer implying that USA should take a lead to settle the decades old dispute by force? I do not see how it can be solved diplomatically, if any one has the diplomatic vision to solve it than let us hear from you.

These think tank create more problems for the world than solve it. So here is the suggestion, if Baluchis want to liberate their nation than supply the arms in exchange of access to natural resources. No more free loaders. We can train them and provide aerial support but no boots on the ground by NATO forces. We are asked to help in case of natural disasters and than asked to interfere in their age old ethnic and religious disputes. Can they ever find a path to peaceful co-existence, if not let them fight it out and we will come in to take over the natural resources as a payment for service performed. We do not want to loose a single son or daughter of ours to solve their mindless wars. Enough is Enough, get a life and learn to live with your neighbours as rest of the North -South America, Europe, Africa and most parts of Asia are living.
 

Ray

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Khanate of Kalat and Baluchi nationalism

Baluchis have experienced considerable internal strife and bitter feuds, and have historically been unable to present a united political front. One key exception was in the eighteenth century, when successive rulers of the Baluchi principality of Kalat forged political unity throughout most of the Baluchi area. Since that period the Khanate of Kalat has remained a symbol of Baluchi nationalism. Indeed, prior to the independence of India there was a serious possibility that Baluchis would be accorded self-rule under the inspirational leader of the Khan of Kalat. Accordingly, an agreement was reached reached between the British and Pakistan governments on 4 August 1947 to recognize the status of Kalat as a free and independent state Eleven days later, the Khan of Kalat declared the independence of Kalat, a decision endorsed by the Kalat Assembly. While the newly formed government of Pakistan immediately repudiated the declaration of independence, amalgamation with Pakistan or the dismemberment of Kalat was unacceptable to the Khan.

Ignoring these political aspirations, the Pakistan authorities relied heavily on the decision of Baluchi leaders in Quetta on 29 June 1947 to merge with Pakistan, deliberately concealing the fact that these leaders had been appointed by the British, and their assembly's decision related to the small tract of land known as British Baluchistan. Baluchi rulers remained unhappy with Pakistan's interference in what they regarded as their domestic affairs, and they continued to be rebellious. Despite constant threats of coercion, and actual use of force, only in 1955 did the rulers of these independent territories formally agree to cede their states. The element of a probable claim of secession on the part of Khan of Kalat was used as a major issue, which led to the abrogation of Pakistan's first constitution in October 1958, the arrest of the Khan, and the promulgation of martial law.

Minority Rights Group International : Pakistan : Baluchis
 

sayareakd

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i see very tough days ahead of Pakistan, if Balochi want they can build better future for themselves, by taking advantage of this situatuion. If they do anr thing now sooner or later they will go down with Pakistan.
 

Ray

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Pakistan is already redrawing the map by themselves!
 

Sridhar

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Ex US diplomat backs creation of independent Balochistan to end decade-old violence

Tue, Dec 27, 2011


Washington, Dec 27(ANI): Former US diplomat Chris Mason has backed Pakistan province, Balochistan's claim for independence pointing out that its people have been victims of persecution and neglect for decades.
He said the Pakistan army has killed thousands of hapless unarmed Baloch civilians over the years and added that an independent Balochistan would free the region from the shackles of corruption, tyranny and ignorance at the hands of the country.
Mason said though the United Nations and United States would likely oppose the re-drawing of Pakistan's boundaries, it has proved a viable solution to end violence if one were to look at examples from history.
He cited recent examples including North and South Sudan, Kosovo, Eritrea, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, East Timor and Bangladesh to substantiate his stance.
Mason argued that a sovereign Balochistan would create a territorial buffer between Iran and Pakistan and act as a transportation and pipeline corridor for Afghanistan and Central Asia to the under-utilized Gwadar port, The Globe and the Mail reports.
An independent Balochistan would be the answer to NATO's logistical concerns in Afghanistan, help target the Taliban and provide greater access to Waziristan to root out militancy in the region, he added.
Balochistan has been an independent nation for over 1,000 years when Great Britain notionally annexed it in the mid-19th century.
His comments came in the wake of escalating tensions between the Pakistan army and the government in the Memo Gate probe.
Mason said Pakistan's recent actions have indicated that it has no intention of conceding to US demands regarding Afghanistan.
He predicted that Pakistan would instigate the Taliban to re-launch a civil war in Afghanistan to resume power after the NATO troops withdrawal, as a part of its ambitious plot to use Afghanistan as its colony. (ANI)

Ex US diplomat backs creation of independent Balochistan to end decade-old violence - Yahoo!
 

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