Khan of Kalat sees sectarian conflict deepening

LONDON: The Khan of Kalat Mir Suleman Dawood has blasted Pakistan’s right-wing parties for failing to condemn the human rights violation of disadvantaged people in Pakistan.

The Cardiff-based self-exiled Baloch leader said that the recent spate of Shia killings showed that some sections of society, particularly the parties with soft corner for Taleban and Al-Qaeda, were silent and had issued only meek statements of condemnation for political reasons. He was referring to attacks on Hazaras in Quetta and bombing of Abbas Town on Sunday.

“What further proof is needed that Maulana Fazlur Rehman is the biggest supporter of Taliban, ideologically and socially. Pakistan’s establishment is throwing dust in the eyes of the world. It has got the world to run after mirages. While the fact is that the children of the establishment, pampered and nourished by the establishment, have today grown into cannibals,” the Khan told The News in reference to sectarian groups conducting round-the-country operations against Shia Muslim populations on daily basis.

He said that Fazlur Rehman, leader of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI), hides behind “dubious phrases and jargons” and hides the fact that he provides face to Pakistani Taliban and has never condemned them for their terrorism. “So is the case with most of the religious parties. All of them have links with sectarian groups and in turn all of them have the support of Pakistani establishment. The banned organisations have always operated freely never faced any action. They have nothing to worry about now.”

The Khan of Kalat said that when he spoke about the Talibanization of Balochistan and rest of the country, he was not taken seriously. But the monsters are coming home to roost now and what they can do is visible for everyone, said the Khan. He added that groups such as Sipah-e-Sahaba, Lashkar-e-Jehangvi and Taliban have full support of people sitting in Pakistan’s law-making institutions and no matter how many more Shia Muslims, religious minorities, Balochs and others are killed, the state will not move against its “assets”.

He said media, politicians and policy makers were well aware where the money was coming from for sectarian groups and who was behind them but their hands are tied and they have no will to do anything about the terrorist groups killing innocent people.

He said Maulana Fazlur Rehman was recently in Qatar as part of holding talks with Taliban and has been an avid supporter of their actions against innocent people. He said the paradox in the so-called “war on terror” is at display that Pakistan’s mainstream parties as well as the USA are now calling for talks with Taliban, not fighting them to end the terrorist atrocities on innocent people.
The Khan predicted that the conflict within Pakistani state will grow in coming days as American withdrawal draws near and the militant groups become more emboldened. “These groups are set to become more vicious and more deadly. They will try to assert themselves with more ruthlessness and they cannot do so without the approval of their patrons in religious parties and the establishment. Their utility will only increase as the state faces an angry population.”