Baloch Liberation armies graffiti surfaces on Karachi walls |
02.07.2008 |
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* BLA uses wall-tagging to spread its message of a separate Balochistan
By Faraz Khan
KARACHI: Graffiti signed off as BLA has surfaced on the walls of the city. The Balochistan Liberation Army is an entity that goes by BLA.
In some Baloch-dominated areas, the spray-painted message had an oddly poetic separatist agenda: ‘Islam hamara mazhab, Baloch hamari qaum, Balochistan hamara watan, azadi hamari manzil’ [Islam is our religion, Baloch is our nationality, Balochistan is our nation and freedom is our destiny]. Another one said: ‘Hamain Pakistan nahi, azad Balochistan chahiyea. Yahudi jamoria Pakistan namanzoor’ [We want an independent Balochistan, not Pakistan. A democratic Jewish Pakistan is unacceptable].
After the start of an operation against Baloch insurgents, which also saw the killing of senior Baloch separatist leader and the chief of Bugti tribe Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, BLA members went underground. Sources in the law enforcement agencies, said that a number of Baloch insurgents have been arrested from Karachi recently.
The BLA was involved in a bomb blast at the PIDC building on November 15, 2005, which claimed at least three lives and injured 17 others. The Anti-Violent Crime Cell Police arrested Abdul Hamid, the alleged mastermind. Besides this, the sources added that the law enforcement agencies have evidence of the BLA’s alleged involvement in various cases of terrorism, many of which have been accepted by the separatist group. They said that the BLA usually targets electricity and gas supply lines in Balochistan but has also attacked electricity towers and gas pipelines in different parts of Karachi including Mungopir, Saeedabad, Gadap and the adjacent areas on the Balochistan-Karachi border.
Another source said that the BLA is trying to gain strength in Karachi, especially in the Baloch-dominated areas such as Gadap, Sharafi Goth, Quaidabad, Saeedabad, Malir, Patel Para, Jehangir Road, Pak Colony, Chanesar Goth, Manghopir, Mochko and Lyari. They added that there are reports BLA activists are showing signs of affiliation with political parties.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008 7 2story_2-7-2008_pg7_36
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