Breaking Pakistan to Fix It
The argument for Balkanizing Pakistan or, more specifically, fragmenting the Islamic Republic so it's easier to police and economically develop, has been on the table since Pakistan's birth in 1947 when the country was spit out of a British laboratory. And lately, the concept is looking more appealing by the day, because as a result of flawed boundaries combined with the nexus between military rule and Islamic extremism, Pakistan now finds itself on a rapid descent toward certain collapse and the country's leaders stubbornly refuse to do the things required to change course. But before allowing Pakistan to commit state suicide, self-disintegrate and further destabilize the region, the international community can beat them to the punch and deconstruct the country less violently.
To quell any doubts about Pakistan's seemingly uncontrollable spiral into darkness, just recently, Foreign Policy Magazine ranked Pakistan as the tenth most failed state on earth and it would seem its leaders are hell bent on securing the number one slot - an honor it can add to their already dubious distinction as the world's largest incubator of jihadist extremism. Afghanistan will never see peace or prosperity with a neighbor like Pakistan and the U.S. will always be threatened by terrorist plots spawned in Pakistan's lawless regions - like the most recent Times Square bombing.
The most popular approach to fragmentation is to break off and allow Afghanistan to absorb Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which would unite the Pashtun tribes. In addition, the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh would become independent sovereign states, leaving Punjab as a standalone entity.
Balkanization is based on the premise that the weak central government in Islamabad is incapable of governing Pakistan's frontiers, which have become the number one source of regional instability. The governing Punjabi elite have neglected the other three major ethnic groups - the Sindhis, Pashtuns, and Baluchis, primarily because a majority of Pakistan's budget is spent on the military rather than economic development, schooling or infrastructure. Only 2% of Pakistan's GDP, for example, is spent on education despite the fact Pakistan's literacy rate stands at 57%.
Minority groups have also been underrepresented in institutions such as Pakistan's military - which is the country's most powerful entity. Punjabis who represent 40% of the population constitute 90% of the armed forces. Pakistan's own history provides a prime case study of what happens when an ethnic group can no longer tolerate political and economic disregard. After a quarter century of strife the Bengalis rebelled, seceded and founded Bangladesh in 1971.
If the Balkanization solution is ever put in motion, accusations will surely fly that it's yet another example of U.S. imperialism and neoconservatism run amok. However, this would be a diplomatic and multilateral effort, plus, it is more about reversing the iniquities of British colonialism than it is building some new world order.
Inherent Instability
Pakistan's problems began when the British drew its boundaries haphazardly, which was primarily a product of incompetence and haste than maniacal design. According to an article in the New York Times last year, British colonial officer, Sir Cyril Radcliffe was given six weeks to carve a Muslim-majority state from British India although he had never even been there before. Radcliffe's private secretary was quoted as saying that Sir Cyril "was a bit flummoxed by the whole thing. It was a rather impossible assignment, really. To partition that subcontinent in six weeks was absurd." It would be a comical anecdote except for the fact that hundreds of thousands of people died in the ethnic cleansing that followed as a direct result of British carelessness.
Pakistan's border with Afghanistan - the poorly-marked Durand Line - had been drawn in 1893, also by the British, but it was never meant to be a long-term legally-binding boundary. The faux demarcation split the Pashtuns in half. By reinstating the original natural boundaries, Pakistan's western provinces would be returned to Afghanistan and the Pashtun tribes would be reunited. Such a move would also remove a strategic advantage for the Afghan Taliban, who can easily blend in amongst fellow Pashtuns on the Pakistani side of the border today.
The British did not only gift Pakistan with lethal boundaries, according to renowned Pakistani journalist Ahmed Rashid, Pakistan inherited a "security state" from British rule, described by scholars as "the viceregal tradition" or "a permanent state of martial law". Intellectual Christopher Hitchens asserted Pakistan has been a fiefdom of the military for most of its short existence. As was once said of Prussia: Pakistan is not a country that has an army, but an army that has a country. Hitchens also said the country was doomed to be a dysfunctional military theocracy from day one - beginning with the very name of the country itself:
But then, there is a certain hypocrisy inscribed in the very origins and nature of "Pakistan". The name is no more than an acronym, confected in the 1930s at Cambridge University by a NW Muslim propagandist named Chaudhri Rahmat Ali. It stands for Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, and Indus-Sind, plus the suffix "-stan," meaning "land." In the Urdu tongue, the resulting word means "Land of the Pure." The country is a cobbling together of regional, religious, and ethnic nationalisms, and its founding, in 1947, resulted in Pakistan's becoming, along with Israel, one of the two "faith-based" states to emerge from the partitionist policy of a dying British colonialism. Far from being a "Land of the Pure," Pakistan is one of the clearest demonstrations of the futility of defining a nation by religion, and one of the textbook failures of a state and a society.
Pakistan deteriorated throughout the decades because of its focus on building the military and developing Islamic extremist groups to use as weapons in their eternal obsessive struggle against India. It's true the U.S. helped Pakistan build these groups since the beginning of the Cold War, but America learned on 9/11 they had created a Frankenstein monster that now needed to be slain.
Many analysts have suggested India is less of a national security threat to Pakistan than its homegrown terrorist groups, many of which have openly declared their mission to topple the state, which would allow jihadists to secure nuclear materials. Yet, based on its strategic decision to foster extremism and its recent public support for Taliban rule in Afghanistan, it appears the biggest existential threat to Pakistan is its own political and military leaders.
The Last Straw
With that being said, Balkanization does seem like an extreme step at first blush, and perhaps Pakistan should be given another chance. Yet, after considering Pakistan's historic and current relationship with Al Qaeda - it becomes much easier to justify.
Since the war began in 2001 the U.S. has asked Pakistan to root out extremists from sanctuaries in a Rhode Island-sized area called North Waziristan, chief among them being the lethal Haqqani Network. However, Pakistan's army chief General Ashfaq Kayani asserted his forces were too bogged down fighting the Pakistani Taliban elsewhere in places like South Waziristan, Orakzai Agency and various districts across the NWFP.
I contacted an Afghan intelligence analyst about this and he assessed General Kayani's claim with one single word: rubbish. The Pakistan army consists of 500,000 active duty troops and another 500,000 on reserve. If Pakistan truly wanted to capture the Haqqani Network they would be able to drag them out of their caves by their beards within a few days.
In a movement that should have floored U.S. policymakers, Kayani was brazen enough to try and inveigle Afghanistan to strike a power-sharing arrangement with the Haqqanis. And Kayani, apparently the spokesperson for the Haqqani group, said they'd be willing to split from and denounce Al Qaeda, which is President Obama's primary rationale for the war. However, there is a higher probability of General Kayani converting to Hinduism than there is of the Haqqani Network ever being decoupled from Al Qaeda.
According to the Long War Journal, Siraj Haqqani, their leader, sits on Al Qaeda's decision-making body. Haqqani's friendship with Osama bin Laden dates back to the war against the Soviets in the 1980s and it was Haqqani that ensured safe passage into Pakistan for many Al Qaeda figures after the collapse of the Taliban in 2001. An Institute for the Study of War analysis concluded that Haqqani was "irreconcilable" and negotiations with him would actually strengthen Al Qaeda and would undermine the raison d'etre for U.S. involvement in Afghanistan over the past decade.
In other words, the Haqqani Network is Al Qaeda.
Pakistan has had a close relationship with the Haqqanis for over 30 years, who are still seen as a crucial anti-Indian asset. So, for nine years the Pakistanis protected the Haqqanis and claimed ignorance as to the whereabouts of Mullah Omar, Osama bin Laden and the Quetta Shura. Nine years, nearly $300 billion dollars and 1900 dead coalition soldiers later, the U.S. has officially verified that the entire war effort has been focused on the wrong side of the mountains.
A stable Afghanistan is in Pakistan's best interests, but this message has been preached time and again with little to no results, and the U.S. has waited long enough for Pakistan's leaders to uproot the extremists that orchestrated 9/11. But now, it appears as if the international community will have to do it for them.
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Michael Hughes writes similar articles as the Geopolitics Examiner and the Afghanistan Headlines Examiner for Examiner.com.
Follow Michael Hughes on Twitter: www.twitter.com/mhughes3500
Lets take a breath and read the comments below by pro-Islamabad's Baloch leaders own words about Islamabad blunders and lies.
Senate Deputy Chairman Jan Muhammad Jamali surprised the Senate in Islamabad by saying, "you (Islamabad) owe Balochistan Rs 800 billion in royalty since natural gas started flowing out of the province in 1955." Further, Jamali demanded, "that account will have to be settled."
Otherwise "Balochistan may seek independence without autonomy." Jamali's honourable grandfather, Mir Jafar Jamali, joined the Muslim League in 1930, and the family was known to be Pakistan's closest proxies in Balochistan. Jamali's stand should come as a shock-and-awe to the civil-military establishment in Islamabad.
If someone like Jan Mohammed Jamali is fed up of the injustices of Islamabad, you can imagine the seething anger in the rest of Balochistan.
Four companies currently working in Dera Bugti - SNGPL, SSGCL, OGDCL and PPL - have paid more than Rs Paid more than Rs 1000 million to Bugti since the discovery of the first gas field in the area only in terms of land lease.
There was a 15-point agreement between the Pakistan government and Bugti tribe. The main points of the agreement are that the companies will pay him for the land revenues, for drinking water and electricity, besides for construction of roads in the area, additional employment for the tribe's people and up gradation of hospitals, Bugti was getting this amount, apart from the 12.5 percent royalty being paid by the central government to the province on gas and 30 percent of the developmental funds, which the investors are supposed to spend but he never did.
Companies have full record of what they had paid so far to the Bugtis, adding that he had received the whole money in advance. ironically Bugti has never signed the paper required for getting the money, adding that one of his trustees Zulfiqar signs on his behalf.
He put Balochistan in trouble for his personal benefits
Pakistani army & ISI will never tolerate charismatic, bold and honest Baloch leadership to represent their people who are fully determined to bring hope and prosperity in Baluchistan.
In short, Islamabad policy is to keep eliminating them, recently one of the top Baloch leaders (an intellectual and senior Baluchistan Supreme Court lawyer) Habib Jalib was gunned down on July 14th, 2010 at Quetta by ISI agents.
Asma Jahangir, a former chairperson (HRCP) rightly said “The cleansing of Baloch intelligentsia can only be the work of (Pakistani) agencies.” Interestingly, at the same time Pakistani parliaments are showing their crocodile tears for Habib Jalib. Secretly telling ISI, well done.
On February 12th, 1973, Islamabad removed a true nationalist and elected Balochistan Provincial Assembly. Sardar Attaullah Mengal was the Chief Minister of Baluchistan and late Mir Ghuz Baksh Bizenjo was the governor. Then, the Pakistan army started a brutal military operation in Baluchistan during the years of 1973-77. During this time 6,000 Baloch lost their lives and 3,000 Pakistani army members died, whether Pakistani intelligentsia accepts or denies it but this is the state’s dark history.
Furthermore, it is the same Pakistani army in 1971 who slaughtered millions of Bengalis who were supposed to be their own Muslims brothers and sisters. So the outcome, Bangladesh appeared in the world map.
Well, you visited Baluchistan that is great, but Baluchistan is not just Quetta where you found the Islamabad stooge tribal and non-tribal’s leaders Bungalows. All Pakistani politicians are enjoying the IMF, World Bank and USAID (American people tax payer’s money) sucking their ordinary peoples’ blood for the last 63 years.
In Baluchistan 85% of population is without drinking water, 60% are without electricity, Baluchistan carries the highest rates of infant mortality and it has the lowest literacy rate where 70% children are deprived from the modern school; that is the gift from Islamabad for Baloch people joining Pakistan for the last 63 years.
The fact is Pakistan is stealing Baluchistan’s natural resources such as natural gas since 1953, and this is against the will of ordinary people. Imagine, Baloch nomad still walks miles to collect wood to cook their food but people far in Kashmir enjoying their natural gas. Bringing education, development, roads, hospitals, and infrastructure is the state’s responsibility not the tribal chief or lords.
Do you know Ghulam Mohammed Baloch, President of Baluchistan National Movement; he was not a tribal leader. He did not carry any weapons he was sitting inside his lawyer’s office with his comrades; your ISI kidnapped them then shot them in the head.
The long time ally of US perhaps forgot that the blind cannot lead the blind. Pakistani rulers throughout their history could not run their own institutions successfully how can they lead the blind Taliban’s government in Afghanistan the outcome was expected in the shape of Post 9/11.
Second, Pakistan in the world forum officially speaks for Kashmir’s self-determination. Throughout the history also supporting the radical arm groups against India, but, why Pakistanis always shying away from atrocities of Baluchistan. Which is also being occupied by Pakistani forces March 1948, today, even in Israel, and occupied Kashmir both you cannot find 8000 missing activist and innocent Palestinains and Kashmiris but in Baluchistan there are.
Who made our army, bureaucracy and the politicians corrupt..? Sorry, it was USA as it is the global policy of USA to corrupt these three pillars of any government and get the jobs done. USA did the same in Korea, Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Pakistan, Iran, Turkey, Yemen, Iraq, Egypt and now the CIA got fresh assignments in Central Asian States and India. So do you think that in all these countries USA has been committing mistakes….? There is a saying “as you sow so shall you reap”, so, whatever USA is facing in Afghanistan and Pakistan just because of her wrong policies.
In fact Pakistan, the long-time ally, as you said, is suffering because of USA’s “cloak & dagger” policy against Pakistan as USA keeping a dagger under the ‘cloak of friendship’ with Pakistan and stabs in the back as and when she wants. But because of corrupt rulers, civilians and army, the people are suffering as the people understand US policies so lot of hatred has been developed among the people during the last decade, and they are justified in hating USA......(Cont)
Regarding Balochistan, you are totally wrong in comparing it with Kashmir as the people of Balochistan, and also of NWFP, opted to join Pakistan whereas India annexed Kashmir, Hyderabad (Daccan) and Juna Garh by force.
And by the way do you know what Sardars of Balochistan have been doing in Balochistan…? These Sardars never allowed the governments to take-up development projects; rather they used to take money from Islamabad on the plea of taking-up developmental projects by themselves and the funds used to be transferred to London instead of spending on developmental projects. The same practice is going on for the last 62 years as the provincial governments eat-up all budgets and do not spend a single rupee on public. They ran away to Afghanistan when Musharraf stopped paying them money and are busy in subversive activities since then, in collaboration with RAW-CIA and Mossad.
Even now, isn’t it amusing that all the members of Balochistan Assembly i.e. 65, are ‘ministers’ as they distribute not only yearly budgets but also draw extra amount of billions of rupees as ‘Loan’ from Islamabad among themselves and is NOT paid back. And if the Federal government refuses to pay them they turn against the government and start subversive activities as they are doing now.
In fact, it always remained very pinching and awful for anti Pakistan lobby present in the world. Extremist Jews, Hindus and even some western mafia keep on yelling and fabricating stories to complete their covert agenda. The reasons mentioned by the author of the article just a malicious propaganda against lonely nuclear His comments on organization of Pakistan Security Forces is far from the reality. He must know that 96 % Pakhtones voted for the Pakistan. Most of class fellows and family members have served and are serving in Pakistan armed force. There is no difference between Pakhtones Balochies, Sindhi and Punjabies. No discrimination prevailing in Armed forces and other segments of the society. Pakistani economy is suffering because of Afghan war of terror and RAW, Mossada and CIA sponsored terrorism in Pakistan. During last 63 years, Pakistani developments and progress in various fields and in global affairs are really commendable. On the other hand just look at India and Israel, their forces are involved in crushing Maoists, Kashmires, Sikhs, Tamils and Palestinian innocents’ people. In short article seems to be rubbish and venomous propaganda and a piece of psychological warfare against Pakistan.
Of course, Pakistan has done a marvelous job creating suicide monsters in last ten years. Please ask your bengali friends why they separated from Pakistan. Punjabi hegemony and dominance throughout the pakistani landscape brought country to disastrous failed state of affairs. To say that there is no discrimination in Pakistan is misleading and totatly untrue. It is only nation in the world entire nation works for the Army, not vice versa. As long as Pakistani believe that entire world is hatching conspiracies against this hapless and unfortunate nation, things will never change, rather go worse. Stop blaming RAW, Mossad, and CIA for your problems. I guess i should also believe that those two poor christians in Faisalabab court were killed by foreign agents in order to defame Pakistani nations. Wake up and smell the coffee.
Thank you for eye opener, but it seems that Pakistanis will never get it. They do not realize the consequences of a failed state. The partition of Pakistan has become even relevant now than ever due to the fact Pakistan has become more dangerous for it own being. We Baloch aim to achieve independence with the help of international community which has now realized that only smaller nations within pakistan can become more viaable. Ansari and others blame baloch sardars for the backwardness of Balochistan, however, Pakistan was not ruled by Baloch sardars, why it is in such a bad shape. Please for God's sake, stop blaming CIA, MOSSAD and RAW for your state of the affairs. We baloch do not be part of nation that is consumed by religion and only religion. We are secular people and do not want to be part of charade of Pan Islamism.
It seems that along with India, Israel and the USA you have also and been ‘affected’ by the failed strategy of these countries against Pakistan which did not work out from 2007 to 2009 through mercenary couldn’t force TTP- Pakistani Taliban prepared by CIA+ Mossad + RAW. The ultimate aim to destabilize Pakistan was to denuclearize the only Islamic state with Nukes, which was NOT being digested by the west. So now you have come out with the theory of ‘Balkanization’ and blau blau blau…..which will never take place, inshallah.
We have NOT made Nukes to keep em in showcases, you all (USA, Israel, India and Britain) should understand very clearly.
And I wish to correct you that Punjabis constitute 62% of the total population of Pakistan and NOT 40% as you have mentioned.
Lastly, you have used the words “spit-out of a British laboratory” for Pakistan which shows intense hatred (against a Muslim country). I hope you also know that it is said that Israel is an illegitimate child of USA and Britain.
Similarly, the list of all Baloch women is fake as NOT a single FIR of abduction of any Baloch woman has been registered in any of the police stations in whole of Balochistan, informed by the government to the Supreme Court of Pakistan last week.
These Sardars never allowed the governments to take-up development projects; rather they used to take money from Islamabad on the plea of taking-up developmental projects by themselves and the funds used to be transferred to London instead of spending on developmental projects. The same practice is going on for the last 62 years as the provincial governments eat-up all budgets and do not spend a single rupee on public. They ran away to Afghanistan when Musharraf stopped paying them money and are busy in subversive activities since then, in collaboration with RAW-CIA and Mossad.
Even now, isn’t it amusing that all the members of Balochistan Assembly i.e. 65, are ‘ministers’ as they distribute not only yearly budgets but also draw extra amount of billions of rupees as ‘Loan’ from Islamabad among themselves and is NOT paid back. And if the Federal government refuses to pay them they turn against the government and start subversive activities as they are doing now.