Talk:Mullazai, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

system of self-governing tribes has dominated Baluchistan’s history till very recent times. The rise of defined states in the 17th Century and their eventual control by the British Empire changed this system. After fighting several battles with the Baloch tribes the British established a military control over the land and built a communications infrastructure to support that armed presence. This control evolved into an administrative system wherein the province of Baluchistan was divided into two prts—the A areas covering the regions under direct British rule and the B areas under the Sardars.

This administrative division along with the army cantonments and the roads, railways, and telegraph lines were inherited by the state of Pakistan. But since the Baloch had striven for independence and had forcibly resisted incorporation into Pakistan they were regarded with some suspicion and hostility. The Pakistan Army merely replaced the British Indian Army as the force responsible for keeping the tribal areas under control and the new state of Pakistan became the colonial power that would bribe, cajole, and bully the tribes or play them against one another to exploit the natural resources of Baluchistan.

Under Pakistan the A areas are run by civil servants and regular police while the B areas, comprising 95% of Baluchistan’s territory, are run by local levies recruited and led by federal officers. Assisting these forces is the Baluchistan Reserve Police and the newly raised Balochistan Constabulary that will guard sensitive installations and infrastructure projects in the province. Ever since the military coup of 1999 the federal government has tried to tighten its grip on the B areas that lie outside a roughly 10km radius around the district headquarter/town. Since Baluchistan now holds the key to Pakistan’s future economic growth and the local militants are growing increasingly bold in their attacks on the federal government the latter have decided to convert the B areas into A areas district-by-district. The conversion will include five phases[1]:

Phase 1: Quetta, Lasbela, Nasirabad, Gwadar, Pishin and Kila Abdullah. Phase 2, Sibi, Bolan, Zhob, Kila Saifullah and Kech Phase 3: Loralai, Musa Khel, Jhal Magsi, Mustung and Ziarat Phase 4: Awaran, Kalat, Chaghai, Barkhan and Dera Bugti, Phase 5: Khuzdar, Panjgur, Kharan and Kohlu

The system of local government in all of Pakistan was changed by General Pervez Musharraf after his coup of 1999—in the place of federally appointed civil servants Pakistan now has locally elected Nazims heading district, tehsil and village councils[2]. The Nazim is assisted by the District Coordination Officer (DCO) who provides the federal funds and oversees their disbursement and the District Police Officer who supervises policing. Specific to Baluchistan province is the District Administrative Officer (DAO) who is in charge of the B areas levies—this office will cease to exist once each B area in a district is converted into an A area.

The ostensible reason for the change in local government across Pakistan is to ensure that economic development reaches the common man and that there is no corruption. However since these elections took place under a military dictatorship it is largely viewed as an attempt by the army to establish its control over the country and bypass the political parties. For Baluchistan this change, along with the conversion of B areas into A areas, is an attempt by the Pakistan Army to end the reign of the Sardars and the system of self-governing tribes. This will ensure complete control over Baluchistan’s resources and infrastructure by outsiders.

a) The Frontier Corps (FC) is a paramilitary force with an area of responsibility stretching from the Baluchistan coast to the mountains north of the Pakistani capital of Islamabad. This is again another legacy of the British Empire in India[3]. To secure India’s boundary with Afghanistan the British raised units of scouts and militias led by British Indian Army officers in the frontier regions—collectively they were known as the Frontier Corps. Under Pakistani control since 1947 the FC increased its area of responsibility to inner reaches of Baluchistan (the B areas). Traditionally manned by Pashtuns and Punjabis the FC did not recruit the local Baloch in its units because their loyalty and ardour for Pakistan were suspect and many of them had taken to arms to resist their forcible integration into Pakistan[4].

The Frontier Corps (Baluchistan) has 11 units termed ‘scouts’ or ‘rifles’ throughout the province with its headquarters in the capital Quetta (For this data the author is indebted to Mr. Sunil S an independent researcher[5]):

1) Zhob Militia (HQ-Fort Sandeman, 4 Wings at Zhob, Sambaza, Muslim Bagh and Qamardin Karaz.) 2) Sibi Scouts (HQ at Sibi, contingents at Mach under the command of a major, 71 Wing at Dera Murad Jamali for protection of Chinese engineers) 3) Kalat Scouts (HQ Kalat) 4) Makran Scouts (HQ-Turbat, Wing at Panjgur, Detachment at Sur-e-aab, Company at Grawag, Contingent at Kech, Wing at Mand) 5) Kharan Rifles (Lad Gasht/Mashkhel 84 Wing, Wing at Nokkundi) 6) Pishin Scouts (HQ at Pishin Fort) 7) Chaghai Militia 8) Maiwand Rifles (HQ at Barkhan Town,contingent at Kohlu) 9) Ghazaband Scouts 10) Bhambore Rifles (HQ at Dera Bugti, Wing HQ at Sui,) 11) Loralai Scouts (HQ at Sarduki, a company at Musakhel)

Each unit is commanded by army officers of the rank of Colonel/Lt. Colonel who in turn are assisted by Majors—the entire force is headed by the Inspector General Frontier Corps of the rank of Major-General. The Corps numbers 30,000 personnel and is a lightly armed and mobile force with the duty of controlling smuggling along the porous border with Afghanistan, Iran, and the long seacoast—it is more often used for internal security operations. The FC is a favourite target of the Baloch fighters who resent its foreign personnel[6] and their often brutal methods and insulting attitude towards the tribal population.

This attitude of the federal agency was strongly condemned in the Baluchistan Assembly on September 20, 2003 following the ill treatment of the Health Minister, Hafiz Hamadullah at the Shalabagh checkpoint by two army captains of the FC. The Minister alleged that the FC committed excesses on the people in the name of anti-smuggling action and also demanded bribes from them[7].

In another incident on June 2003 the FC killed three persons when they did not stop for a vehicle search in Panjgur. Rioting and arson broke out while the residents shut their shops and struck work for a full week in protest at the incident. The offices of the district nazim and the DCO were also burnt. In the nearby Makran area the FC conducted house-to-house searches and ripped through the personal belongings of the people to unearth any weapons stores. Such incidents only provoke more Baloch youth to join the rebels and as Mohammad Hussain of Turbat says, “Punjabi youngsters are captains and majors, but Baloch youth have dust in their hair. What else can they do?”[8]

b) The 12 Corps, headquartered in Quetta, commands all army formations in the province of Baluchistan. At its head is a Lt. General who is said to be