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Baluchistan at the Crossroads
House of Commons Seminar by Foreign Policy Centre (August Issue 2006)
On 27th June 2006, in Committee Room No: 16 of House of Commons a seminar was organized by Foreign Policy Centre. The Speakers included, Hugh Barnes, Foreign Policy Centre, Dr Naseer Dashti, Mr Mehran Baloch, Baluchistan Rights Movement, Senator Sanaullah Baloch, from Baluchistan, Frederic Grare, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Laku Luhana, World Sindhi Congress and Ryszard Czarnecki MEP, from Poland.
This seminar covered important issues such as the tense relationship between the Baluch people and Pakistan's military government, violations of human rights, the use of natural resources and the issues of security and terrorism.
Hugh Barnes of the Foreign Policy Centre's (FPC) chaired this meeting. At the outset he clarified that FPC, as an independent think tank holds such events with speakers and audience members from each side of the debate. He said that Baluchistan is not at the forefront of debate in British politics but the FPC felt it important to inform parliamentarians, journalists, academics and others of this timely issue.
Dr Naseer Dashti explained the history of conflict in Baluchistan, including the role of then world powers such as Britain and Russia and their tense relationship with Afghanistan. He compared the stance of the ruling elite of Pakistan with the colonial powers and claimed that Punjabis have followed a policy of oppression and suppression of other nations in Pakistan. This ideology had suppressed minority languages and cultures. In addition, there have been many brutal incursions into the province since its incorporation in 1948 - these have been in 1948, 1958 and 1973. These have resulted in many human rights violations.
Senator Sanaullah Baloch explained the social and economic exploitation of the Baluchi people. He said that Baluchistan has enormous natural wealth which is looted by the central government in collaboration with China while most of the Baluch people live below poverty line devoid of any basic facilities. He said that 80% of Baluch people lack access to safe water, and many children have no access to education.
He said that Pakistani army maintained 69 Para-military cantonments, 6 naval bases and three nuclear weapons testing facilities in Baluchistan.
He said that Baluch leaders initiatives for political dialogue with Pakistani rulers have consistently failed as the Central Government wants to keep them as third class citizens and the Baluch nation won't accept this. He said that Pakistani army spreads media misinformation stating, "tribal chiefs are responsible for the backwardness". He claimed that the sardars with the worst records of human rights violations are sitting with the current government and those sardars that Pakistani army blame are the patriotic leaders of the Baluch nation.
The Pakistani army has approximately 700 checkpoints in the region, which is preventing the free movement of people and goods. He said that there are F-16 fighter jets being used, which have been provided by the US, and other weapons provided by the west. He said that the current army presence is about 150,000 and they are conducting a ruthless operation against Baluch people and the international community should strive to stop it.
Mr. Mehran Baloch of the Baluchistan Rights Movement was more critical of the role of Army and claimed that Baluchistan was never a part of Pakistan but was assimilated into Pakistan at gunpoint. Mr Baloch questioned what kind of Islamic army is it which killed millions of Bengalis who were Muslims? He claimed the Pakistani army killed more Muslims then Israel did. Now they are killing Baloch people in Baluchistan. Are Baluchs not Muslim?
He said that Pakistani government has never made a serious move to develop Baluchistan and to understand or rectify the sufferings and root problems of the Baluch nation
He strongly condemned the on going military operation and human rights violations in Baluchistan by the Pakistani army. He said the Army operation which started in Baluchistan on 17th of December 2005 has never stopped but is progressing day by day.
Frederic Grare, of Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, explained the international significance of Baluchistan in relation to other key regional states, such as Iran and Afghanistan.
He said that Pakistani army and their controlled media is writing about the foreign intervention with supporting theories from USA, India and Iran in the Baluch issue, however, none of these have yet been proved. He reiterated that the main cause of the problem is the military presence and operations in Baluchistan.
Dr Lakhu Luhana, Secretary General of the World Sindhi Congress, said that Sindhi and Baluch people have historical ties and both the nations are suffering similar colonial suppression in Pakistan. He mentioned that the natural resources of Sindhis have been ruthlessly looted and hundreds of political activists who campaigned against this have been kidnapped.
He said over 70% of Pakistani budget goes to military and only about 3% to health and education. He said that as a result of this social progress of the country has impeded.
Ryszard Czarnecki, a member of European Parliament from Poland, said that Pakistan came into existence through restrictive voting and is being ruled by the Punjabi army. He said that the Baluchs are a distinct ethnic group and not part of Pakistan.
The Pakistani army should stop this operation and stop building military cantonments in Baluchistan for the purpose of subjugating Baluch people. He said that Baluch nationalists were fiercely opposed to the national assembly.
After these contributions from the panel, a lively Q&A session followed. Quite a few members of the audience criticized the FPC for selecting an unbalanced and one sided panel. Questions were raised as to who blows up Gas pipelines and the activities of Bluchistan Liberation Army. Some members of the audience questioned Baluchistan’s Sardari and Feudal system and laid responsibility with them for the poverty of Baluchi people.
Indian government interest in the Seminar was quite visible as some senior diplomats from their UK Mission attended.
Finally the chair, Hugh Barnes, thanked all participants.
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THE HONOUR OF PROPHET
Report : Tanveer Akhtar (April Issue 2006)
A multi faith function was held at Slough on 25th June 2006 at St. Paul’s Church with the topic “The Honour of the Prophets”. The panel comprised of Hindu, Sikh, Muslim, Jewish and Christian speakers, while Mr. Nazar Lodhi was the Chair.
This seminar was widely attended by people from Slough and London. A group of visiting academics of America also attended.
Mr. Ram Sharma was the first speaker and explained the five concepts of Hinduism and referred to passages from Gita.
Mr Purival of Sikh faith said that it is easy to understand God as every religion shows the path to understand the divine. He said even Emperors should have respect for mankind and women.
Nigel Cohen, a Jewish speaker said that a Prophet not only sees clearly the moral and Godly ways but he also tells others what he sees clearly. God says I will put words in his (prophets) mouth and he will speak from my command. He said there have been over a million Prophets but only 55 are referred to in scriptures.
He said Jesus and Muhammad were very wise men and they are respected by Jewish communities. He said that the Jewish message is about caring and love and such meetings as the one taking place today are about listening to each others message.
John Elias, the Christian speaker said that peace and harmony comes from open exchange of beliefs. He said that it is right to honour Prophets because he comes with a revelation and message for the spiritual good of man. He said that the Prophet speaks in Gods name. He said that we do not need to protect Prophet’s honour as mere man cannot protect his honour. Prophet’s honour is inviolable.
Professor Nisar Ahmad Sulaimani said that Muhammad (Pbuh) was the final Prophet and we honour him, respect him and love him. His name means, the one who is praised. He is mercy for all creatures.
Mr Fazal Awan spoke briefly about the multicultural and multifaith society of Britain. He said that what we do effects people of all faiths and therefore our deeds should be such that they help every one.
After the panel had made their contributions there was a lively Q & A session. In the end Mr Nazar Lodhi thanked everyone for making the seminar a success. A sumptuous lunch followed. During lunch people of different faiths mingled freely and exchanged views.
We would like to congratulate Mr. Nazar Lodhi, Mr P. Abeyta, Mr. M Singh Sahota, Mr. K. K. Sharma and Paul for bringing people of different faiths together in an atmosphere of friendship, mutual respect and understanding.
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EU officials, religious leaders call for mutual respect of beliefs, democratic freedoms
(June Issue 2006)
The President of the European Commission José Manuel Barroso and the Chancellor of Austria Wolfgang Schüssel met with 15 European religious leaders representing Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Buddhism on 30 May 2006.
The European Commission was represented at this meeting, besides others by its President José Manuel Barroso and the Chancellor of the Austrian Republic Wolfgang Schüssel.
The Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church and the Anglican Church were represented at the meeting.
Buddhism was represented by the Dalai Lama XIV; Judaism by the Chuef Rabbi of Brussels Albert Guigui and the Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg René Gutman.
Muslim representative were selected by European Imams Council President of the Official Islamic Community in Austria Anas Schakfeh, the chairman of the Muslim Council for Religious and Racial Harmony Imam Abduljalil Sajid who also is Secretary of the Mosque Committee of the most representative body of British Muslims the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) and Chairman of the National Association of British Pakistanis (NABPAK) , and the Director of the Islamic Centre in Hamburg Ayatollah Seyyed Abbas Ghaemmaghami.
Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel whose country holds the EU presidency said the talks with 16 leaders from the Christian, Islamic and Jewish faiths, and with Tibetan Buddhist leader the Dalai Lama encouraged the EU to do more to promote respect for diversity across the 25-nation bloc.
"We need believers in the project of Europe," Schuessel, who holds the current rotating EU presidency, told reporters.
Schuessel, who co-chaired the talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Islamic leaders had their counterparts' support in appealing for their beliefs to be respected amid the cartoon controversy, which launched a widespread debate over how to balance freedom of speech and religious sensitivities.
Barroso said all participants agreed the problem over the drawings was "not about Islam," but rather finding a balance between freedoms and respect for other points of view.
Many Muslims joined by other faiths denounced the drawings as offensive. But media outlets from a number of countries have carried the Danish cartoons asserting their right to free expression.
Europe should integrate all minorities, including Muslims who should not have to choose between their faith and European values, European Commission Chief Jose Manuel Barroso said.
Jewish leaders were optimistic following this high-profile interfaith meeting held by the European Union..
Delegates spent three hours discussing issues affecting their communities in front of senior members of the European Commission, including the employment, justice and education commissioners, as well as Barroso and Schussel.
Imam Abduljalil Sajid, said the meeting had shown a lot of "hopes and aspirations" among faith leaders. Although there was nothing new in the gathering of religious leaders, Sajid said, the presence of such influential European politicians made it a "historic event."
"There's no alternative to dialogue, but what we need now is actions to follow it all up." Imam Sajid said.