The state of Jammu and Kashmir was divided into its present form after the 1948 war. Almost all the time you hear about terrorist activities in the Kashmir valley, which is in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir. So what is happening in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (POK)? Why is there no freedom movement there?
It is not that everyone in Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir want to be part of Pakistan. Pro-Independence sentiments are prevalent around Mirpur, a small town. POK does have elections and have their own president, prime minister, election commision etc. You are free to contest elections if you sign in writing that you favor accession to Pakistan (so much for self determination there). For example in 2001, JKLF, who believes in Independence for Kashmir, fielded candidates for 31 of the 36 seats in POK and all their applications were rejected.

This right of Kashmiris was further curtailed by Act 1974, as it has institutionalized the role of Pakistani governments who could dictate their terms and

US Military:

KABUL, Afghanistan The U-S military says al-Qaida and Taliban leaders have met in Pakistan to discuss derailing Afghanistan’s elections next month. Major Scott Nelson says intelligence shows the meetings were marked by growing alarm over efforts to root out their activities.[U-S military alleges plot against Afghan elections]

Pakistan Foreign ministry spokesman Masood Khan:

Pakistan denied Monday that Al Qaeda and Taleban militants had met in its territory to plot ways to disrupt the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan.

Los Angeles Times has an editorial on how to test America’s new ally. This would be by letting Americans question AQ Khan, the national hero who sold nuclear technology to the Axis of Evil.

The pardon might have been a reflection of Khan’s status as national hero for being the father of Pakistan’s nuclear bomb, giving the country parity with longtime foe and next-door neighbor India. Musharraf’s pardon came soon after he survived the second of two assassination attempts. His foes are not leaders of major political parties $(O h(Be banned them from running for office $(O b(But Islamic radicals from the likes of Al Qaeda and the Taliban. Pakistan said it would share information it obtained from Khan with other nations, but sources in Washington said they had received nothing so far. So much for help from a supposed major ally.

North Korea claimed this week that its explosions were not nuclear weapons tests but demolition of a mountain for a hydroelectric project. Khan could help the U.S. and the IAEA understand how much of Pyongyang’s explanations to believe. Musharraf should make him available for face-to-face interviews with nuclear inspectors, not dangle the ever-fainter promise of some day offering secondhand tales of what Khan knows about the state of nuclear proliferation.[Testing Our ‘Ally,’ Pakistan]

This would be wishful thinking.

While Indian Prime Minister went to Pakistan, singing poems and preaching peace, the Pakistanis were crossing the Line of Control and occupying land in India. There have been many versions of the story as to if the Prime Minister of Pakistan (Official Motto: Jihadis go to heaven, ex-PMs go to exile) Nawaz Sharif even knew about the plan. But whatever said and done, he was the sacrificial lamb sent to Washington, to negotiate yet another Pakistani retreat. Strobe Talbott who was the US Deputy Secretary of State has a book, Engaging India: Diplomacy, Democracy, and the Bomb ,which has a chapter on the events of the day when Nawaz Sharif reached Washington, uninvited.

Clinton bore down harder. Having listened to Sharif

President Gen Pervez Musharraf has said that Pakistan has no external threat and its borders are 400 percent secured..[Religious extremism is a threat to Pakistan: Musharraf]

It is really a bad time to be Pakistan’s President/CEO/Army Chief. Earlier the phone calls used to come from Washington only, but now the instructions come from the Kremlin also. As a result the Pakistanis had to bomb some “freedom fighters” in their own land.

The Inter-Services Public Relations also put the figure at 50. “There were confirmed reports of training activity being conducted by foreign elements, including Uzbeks, Chechens and a few Arabs,” an ISPR statement said. He said among the 50 dead, at least 35 to 40 could be foreign militants, the rest could be their local comrades. The ISPR statement said the trained terrorists were indulging in sabotage and terrorist acts in the country. [Air raid on camp kills 50 foreign, local militants]

What is this ? Terrorists in Pakistan ? Civilian Casualties ? Can this be called state sponsored terrorism ?

The Pakistanis are masters of double speak. Whenever any issue arises, they issue two statements. One is for the outside world and one is for internal consumption. To the outside world, the image is that of peacemaker, an ally in the war on terror etc. The internal Jihadi crowd will call this a sellout, so they need to present a macho image and rally the various oppressed nations under the banner of the Pakistani Indentity, which is just based on breaking the Kashmir valley from India.
This doublespeak was evident during the Army operations against the Baluch nationalists. And now the same doublespeak is there in the discussions that Pakistan is having with India.

Doublespeak seems to be key stone of Pakistani diplomacy. Even as Khurshid Mahmud Kasuri played to the international gallery by declaring that Islamabad was so keen on peace that it was ready to put Kashmir on the backburner, President Pervez Musharraf was busy playing to the domestic audience going ballistic on Kashmir and dismissing CBMs as futile.

While Kasuri talked of confidence building measures and long drawn negotiations on Kashmir, Musharraf declared that the Kashmir issue should be resolved at the earliest, and that CBMs alone have no value unless both India and Pakistan move ahead on the longstanding dispute.

“Kashmir (issue) cannot be sidelined and to bring peace, stability and prosperity to South Asia. The problem needs to be resolved without delay”, the Daily Times quoted the President as saying in an interview with the ARY TV channel. [Pak doublespeak stumps India’s peace efforts ]

It is not just the oppressed Balochis who are fighting the Pakistani Government. Even the Pashtuns are. They do not want to break away from Pakistan, but thinks that there should be many “nations” under Pakistan, and each “nation” should be given more contol over their resources.

The nationalist leader from Balochistan strongly opposed the role of the army and intelligence agencies in the country

The Jang has an editorial believing a statement by Balochistan’s Chief Minister that Indian Intelligence Agency, RAW is behind all the terrorism in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

The unequivocal assertion about the involvement of foreign elements in terrorism and activities of saboteurs that the chief minister of Balochistan has spoken about cannot be totally refuted. Many intelligence agencies in their reports in the recent past have spoken of the involvement of some of those neighbouring countries including India who are afraid of the unpleasant impact on their maritime trade as a result of the construction of the harbour at Gwadar. Probably this suspicion and commercial jealousy are prompting them to patronise these terrorists in Balochistan. The Indian consulates being allowed by the present Afghan government which are working in Kandhar, Jalalabad, and other cities of Afghanistan have also been converted into training camps for RAW agents. Many agents of this Indian intelligence organisation involved in acts of terrorism were caught red handed with arms and maps of important defence installations on the Pak-Afghan border. [Causes of terrorism in Balochistan?]

India does not share a border with Balochistan. So apparently Indian agents are now in Afghanistan, working in the border area between Pakistan and Afghanistan where Al-Qaeda is conducting dance parties, destabilizing Balochistan. Also lets assume that Indian agents are working there, is it a crime to provide “moral and diplomatic support” to the oppressed Balochis ? Of all the people Pakistanis should understand this as they have been doing this to India for many decades.
But then you should come to the last paragraph in the editorial which tells Balochis that once the Gwadar port and three cantonments come up, there will be lot of jobs and prosperity. Employment situation can be improved if the Balochis are given jobs in the construction of the port, but in turn they have been kept away as their loyalty is suspect and Punjabis and Pashtuns have been bought in. If the Balochis decide to react against the exploitation of their land and treatment as second class citizens in Pakistans, it is their grievance which should be addressed first.
Also as The Acorn writes:

Then again, Pakistan should not complain if India were to provide

B.Raman has yet another educational article about the show the Pakistanis are putting up for the Americans.

Act 14: August. Like a magician taking rabbits out of his hat, as the Republican presidential convention and his visit to New York during which he is to meet Bush for another pat in the back approached, Musharraf started finding al-Qaeda dregs all over Pakistan – Arabs, Uzbeks, South Africans and Pakistanis. A plot for simultaneous attacks on Musharraf’s palace and the US Embassy in Islamabad, general headquarters in Rawalpindi and other places discovered and foiled. Many more dregs arrested. Al-Qaeda penetrated. The days of its dregs numbered. Claims galore from the interior and information ministers. Pakistani backers of al-Qaeda identified and under watch. Do you know who is the principal backer, according to these ministers? Musharraf? No. Lieutenant-General Ehsanul-Haq, director general of the ISI? No. He is none other than Javed Ibrahim Paracha , a close associate of Nawaz Sharif and a member of Nawaz’s faction of the Pakistan Muslim League. Yes sir. You now know how al-Qaeda had remained undetected all these years in Pakistan. Because of the support from Nawaz’s Muslim League.

Should one laugh or cry? Don’t do either. Keep watching the show. There are more striptease acts to come as the US presidential elections and the deadline for Musharraf to resign as the chief of the army staff (COAS) approaches. Bush and Tricky Mush need each other. And they both need bin Laden. Bush for winning re-election. Mush for getting US support for his planned violation of the Pakistani constitution in order to be able to continue as the COAS after December 31. [Pakistan: The al-Qaeda striptease ]

Update: Senior Taliban leader trapped in Pakistan

“Our micro economic indicators are stable and through economic reforms the country has achieved economic sovereignty. By the end of this year the country will say goodbye to IMF programme as we are in a position to raise resources on our own from the international market,” Aziz told the National Assembly yesterday after winning the vote of confidence.[Shaukat Aziz promises to say goodbye to IMF loans]

That’s a statement by Pakistan’s third Prime Minister under Gen. Musharraf. But the problem is that if you raising capital from the markets, you should provide stability and an environment for businesses to thrive. If you try to globalize without having the infrastructure in place, the international investors can be much more tough than the IMF
The image of Pakistan for the outside world is not that of a region of stability. With assasination attempts on the current leaders and with terrorists using the land as staging areas for activities against India and Afghanistan, it may not look favourable for international investors. And it not just Pakistan’s enemies who are telling this.

Here is our other dilemma. The world is moving towards integration