Aitzaz Ahsan '05 - NA Balochistan 1of 3
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Aitzaz Ahsan '05 - NA Balochistan 1of 3
Balochistan is the largest province by geographical area of Pakistan constituting approximately 43% of the total area of Pakistan. With a population of about 8 million it also the most sparsely populated. Although rich in minerals, and a supplier of most of the natural gas extracted in Pakistan, Balochistan also remains the poorest of its provinces. Hence a somewhat prennial insurgency has raged across it with the insurgents finding easy, though a hardy, refuge in its largely mountainous terrain. Over several decades, therefore, the Pakistan Army has been engaged in counter insurgency operations. There is thus a widespread and collateral suppression of human rigths as the Baloch also complain about unexplained disappearances of young men alleged to have been picked up by all-pervasive intelligence agencies. The Army, the intelligence agencies and the ruling establishment, all attempt vigorously and brutally to suppress the Baloch insurgency with impunity. To speak out for the Baloch in this environment is rare but Ahsan, too, is rare. In his speech Ahsan traces the history of the Baloch insurgency and the means used to address it. He likens army officers involved in counter-insurgency with the Praetorians of the Roman empire and believes that only a democratic process and dialoge were the solution.
YouTube | June 20, 2010
