Islamabad, July 19: Pakistan is facing a crisis in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan and is in a state of war with Afghanistan under Pakistan’s Army Chief Field Marshal Asim Munir, said a report.
“More than a year ago, Pakistan’s Chief of Defence Forces (CDF) Field Marshal Asim Munir told a cheering group of Pakistanis how he would beat the hell out of Baloch fighters “very soon”. More than a year has since elapsed, but rather than improving, things have taken a turn for the worse. And this is why media reports of the CDF issuing a 72-hour ultimatum to his top military commanders and intelligence officials to either ‘control Balochistan or pack up’ indicate that the performance of the Pakistan army and intelligence agencies in Balochistan has been inordinately unsatisfactory,” retired Indian Army Officer, Nilesh Kunwar, wrote in a report in Eurasia Review.
Munir’s statement exposes the ground reality that the Pakistan army has been attempting to hide through disinformation that Baloch fighters are hated by local residents. Baloch fighters have been resisting Pakistan’s attacks despite facing heavy artillery, armed drones and helicopter attacks, showcasing their commitment against illegal occupation by Pakistan. Notably, Baloch fighters are carrying out a war for independence, and their motivation is the liberation of their land and its people. Pakistan’s intelligence agencies have also failed to get actionable information and prevent large-scale attacks involving a large number of fighters, like Operation Herof 2 and the Jaffar Express hijacking, according to the report.
The freedom struggle in Balochistan has been going on since 1948. More than 20 years ago, Pakistan’s then-Army Chief Pervez Musharraf threatened armed Baloch groups. However, the determination of the Baloch people to achieve independence continues.
Munir did not learn from Musharraf and thought that he could bring things under control by using military force against armed groups, terrorising local residents by enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, and making the peaceful rights campaign ineffective by jailing its leadership using the judiciary. (IANS)
