ISLAMABAD: At a closed-door Senate session on Thursday, Interior Adviser Rehman Malik presented a bleak picture of the security situation in the country and showed what he called evidence of the involvement of India, Afghanistan and Russia in terrorist activities.
It is the first time Pakistan has blamed these countries and cited evidences which, it is believed, will be shared with the international community, particularly the United States, which has expressed concern over growing militancy in the country.
Following a harsh statement by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, US special envoy Richard Holbrooke telephoned President Asif Ali Zardari on Thursday and conveyed a similar message.
During the Senate briefing, the adviser said that all major incidents of terrorism and suicide attacks were linked to India and Afghanistan, adding that terrorists were being trained by them in those countries and in North Waziristan and being sent to the settled areas.
Mr Malik said the government was pursuing a policy of ending the sufferings of the people of Balochistan and taking measures to bring them back to mainstream.
He told the house that some hostile agencies were involved in creating unrest in the province. The government, he said, had been working to address the grievances of the Baloch people.
He said all political prisoners in the province had been released and cases against Hyarbyar Marri had been withdrawn to create a congenial atmosphere. ‘All the 36 checkposts of FC have been removed and it has been directed to work under the provincial administration and in coordination with police,’ he said.
He said President Zardari had visited Quetta, assured the Baloch leadership that the problems would be solved and announced a development package of more than Rs46 billion for the province, particularly for health and education.
He said displaced persons would be rehabilitated. Mr Malik said the government was planning to prepare the NFC award taking backwardness of provinces into consideration.
After the briefing, some senators told Dawn that Mr Malik had shown some video clips and documentary evidences about involvement of India and Afghanistan in incidents of terrorism in Pakistan.
Conspiracies are being hatched to destabilise and isolate Pakistan. A militant organisation, the Balochistan Liberation Army, was formed which is being funded by Russia and backed by India. The organisation is headed by Brahamdagh Bugti who is stationed in the Afghan capital. About 1,000 students were trained in Russia and now they are back in Balochistan, a senator quoted Mr Malik as saying.
‘He first gave briefing on the Federally Administered Tribal Areas and Swat and then on the Balochistan situation,’ Senator Talha Mehmood said.
SWAT ACCORD
Talking to reporters outside the Parliament House, Mr Malik said the government would have no option but to take action against the Taliban if they violated the Swat peace deal and did not lay down their weapons as promised by chief of Tehrik-i-Nifaz-i-Shariati-i-Mohammadi Maulana Sufi Mohammad.
When it was pointed out that the Taliban had advanced to Buner and other districts of Malakand, the adviser said the situation was not serious because they had advanced only to some pockets in these areas and then returned to Swat.
If the Taliban continued such activities, the government would have no option but to take stern action against them, Mr Malik said.
Meanwhile, senators from Balochistan expressed dissatisfaction over the in-camera briefing. ‘It was an incomplete and ill-drafted briefing,’ said Hasil Bizenjo of the National Party. He agreed with the adviser that foreign hands were involved in sabotaging peace, but said: ‘If the government has evidence about the involvement of Afghan President Hamid Karzai in terrorism in Pakistan, then why has he not been questioned about it.’
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