THEPRIME MISSION OF PAKISTAN DEFENCE ESTABLISHMENT IS TO CREATE DEFENCE HOUSING AUTHORITIES KNOWN AS DHA !!!!!
HA HA HA
AGHA H AMIN
COMMENT: The soul of the matter —Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur
States have souls and souls; some souls are real souls and others are forced to become souls because the material interests of the state demand it, exactly as the West Bank, Gaza and Golan — nay, entire illegally occupied Palestine — is the soul of Israel, Tibet and Xinjiang the soul of China, Kurdistan of Turkey and Kashmir of IndiaArgentinean President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's demand for renewed talks about Las Malvinas' (the Falkland Islands') future recently were countered with unprecedented brazenness, equalled only by Israel's labelling Palestinians terrorists, by British Prime Minister David Cameron who accused Argentina of colonialism for claiming sovereignty over them. Argentina has disputed Britain's occupation since 1833.
Located about 250 nautical miles (290 miles, 460 km) from the Argentinean coast on mainland South America, the Falkland Islands are an archipelago, consisting of East Falkland, West Falkland and 776 lesser islands, in the South Atlantic Ocean. Presently the islands are an internally self-governing British Overseas Territory.
In 1690, Captain John Strong on landing named it Falkland after Anthony Cary, 5th Viscount Falkland, the financier of the expedition. In 1765, Spain expelled the British from Port Egmont but they returned under a treaty in 1770. In 1774, Britain withdrew from it and many overseas settlements due to the American Independence War. They returned in 1833 and forced the Argentinean garrison to leave and established a permanent colony in 1840.
Britain persistently refused to consider Argentina's sovereignty claim over Falkland so on April 2, 1982, Argentina attacked and occupied it. During this war, 255 British and 649 Argentine soldiers, sailors and airmen died. The Argentinian forces surrendered on June 14, 1982. Since then Britain has refused to even talk to Argentina, claiming that there is no issue to resolve.
It is noteworthy that the distance from London to Falkland Island's Port Stanley is 7,913 miles while these islands are only 290 miles off the Argentinean coast. Yet Argentina is accused of colonialism! But then distances have never mattered much to bullies. Hyderabad, Sindh, is 3,927 miles from London but Charles Napier felt no compunction in annexing it in 1843. Delhi by the way is 4,178 miles from London.
Britain's desire of keeping this apparently barren and uninviting land stems from the strategic advantages these islands provide as a launching pad for the control of Antarctic resources and this desire has been reinforced by recent substantial oil discoveries.
Rockhopper oil exploration company estimates there are 1.3 billion barrels of oil at the Sea Lion field. This oil field alone contains at least 350 million extractable barrels — worth more than £ 20 billion — and production is expected to begin in 2016; potentially far bigger reserves lie to the east and south.
With such lucrative prospects, expecting Britain to relinquish the illegally occupied Falkland Islands or expecting it to stop the unlawful exploration and drilling since unilateral oil exploration in these disputed waters violates UN resolutions, is wishful thinking. Moral right and wrong have no place in this blatantly unjust world; anyone who has the might is right. Britain has dispatched modern HMS Dauntless, a state-of-the-art warship, there. So only a power greater than the combined power of NATO can make them budge from there.
Britain has the spurious advantage of a planted population of Scottish and Welsh immigrants who support it but in this unjust world, even in places where the population does not agree to their resources' exploitation, as is the case in Balochistan, all the institutions of the colonising state team up to ensure that their resource-rich booty does not slip away at any cost.
A Supreme Court Justice recently stated: "Balochistan is the soul of Pakistan and no one can live without its soul." States have souls and souls; some souls are real souls and others are forced to become souls because the material interests of the state demand it, exactly as the West Bank, Gaza and Golan — nay, entire illegally occupied Palestine — is the soul of Israel, Tibet and Xinjiang the soul of China, Kurdistan of Turkey and Kashmir of India.
Little wonder Balochistan, too, has become the soul of Pakistan and it certainly is not because hearts bleed for the Baloch. For the Pakistani state, the real soul is Balochistan's natural gas, the expected oil bonanza, the chromite, the coal, the marble, the coasts and above all the vast land area that has been used for nuclear and ballistic missile tests and is eyed for settling the burgeoning population. There is no altruism on the part of the state involved in this relationship; it is simply predatory.
Obviously Balochistan is termed 'the soul of Pakistan' because of the resources it has and the opportunities it provides for those who wish to exploit the same. If anyone really cared for the Baloch, their history, heritage and rights, we would have at least seen some opposition to the unending military operations in Balochistan everywhere. Economic interests alone are the motivating factor and these translate into dire consequences for the people there.
Pakistan has not been idle either, with military operations or exploitation of resources in Balochistan. Reports say that a DHA of around 5,000 acres is planned in Gwadar while a huge cantonment for Turbat and a naval base is envisaged for Khor Kalmat. A DHA is also planned for Quetta. It seems that DHAs have become an obsession with the army. According to Newsline's Salam Dharejo, the 12,093 acres DHA on the Super Highway near Karachi toll plaza is DHA's biggest-ever housing project on agricultural land. More than 10,000 people inhabited 15 different villages there and some of these villages had been in existence for 600 years. Where windfall profits are expected, the people and their rights matter not a whit.
Colonists everywhere justify their crimes on flimsy pleas and Britain alone is not guilty. Pakistan uses religion plus force, India uses its supposedly sacred indivisibility as a good enough excuse to employ force, the western powers used the excuse of bringing progress, but some like Israel and Turkey use blatant force to continue the occupation of Palestinian and Kurdish lands.
It is an established practice in this world that rights, liberty, honour, freedom and independence of persons, peoples, nations and weak countries mean nothing where the interests of the more powerful and intransigent powers are concerned. All these high meaning and sounding percepts and ideas can go and jump into the nearest ocean. This scenario is certain to remain unchanged until all people unite against bullies.
Declaring some place as a soul seems to be the latest innovation in the art of depriving people of their rights and keeping a discontented people under subjection. The intention is to deceive people into believing that instead of striving for their rights, remaining contented with servitude, bondage and being subservient to another state is something glamorous and glorious.
The writer has an association with the Baloch rights movement going back to the early 1970s. He can be contacted at mmatalpur@gmail.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Comment makers are requested to be civilised and refined and refrain from unparliamentary language.Offer comments with a universal perspective rather than a narrow perspective.Personal remarks should not be made and narrow minds should stay away from making the unnecessary exercise of making comments.