Balochistan People's Front

Friday, 12 September 2008

Violation of human rights continues in Baluchistan, Iran

Reza Hossein Borr

Following the arrest of 5 Baloch human rights activists on Sunday, 7 September, two more civil society campaigners were arrested today, 10th of September. Mohammad Hussain Khalili and Mohammad Reza Rakhshani who run a cultural society were violently arrested and taken to an unknown location.

This new round of arrests began after the Islamic Republic of Iran demolished a Sunni mosque and school in Baluchistan on 27 August 2008. The Iranian authorities have ruthlessly violated the human rights in Baluchistan in spite of universal of Declaration of Human Rights Charter as the article 18 states,
"Everyone has the right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion; this right includes freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom, either alone or in community with others and in public or private, to manifest his religion or belief in teaching, practice, worship and observance."
The human rights activists condemned widely the demolition of the school in which 800 students were studying. The school and mosque were completely financed by the people. The buildings were donated to the school by the people.

The reports suggested the human rights activists who criticised the demolition of Sunni mosque were identified and arrested. According to Baluchistan Human Rights Watch and Sunnionline.com, the following human rights activists have been arrested.
1. Abdoulrahman Shahbakhsh (The brother of Moulavi Hafez Mohammad Ali, the Headmaster of Imam Abuhanifa sunni religious school).
2. Noor Mohammad Shahbakhsh (The brother of Moulavi Hafez Mohammad Ali, the Headmaster of Imam Abuhanifa sunni religious school).
3. Abdoulkarim (The nephew of Moulavi Hafez Mohammad Ali, the Headmaster of Imam Abuhanifa sunni religious school).
4. Abdoulghader Naroui
5. Azizullah Naroui
6. Mohammad Hossein Khalili
7. Mohammad Reza Rakhshani
In addition to these activists whose identities have been disclosed, dozens of more Baluch people have been arrested in the last few days. The Isna news Agency reported that 26 Baluch have been arrested last week. Mowlavi Ahmad Narouee, a prominent religious leader and a lecturer was arrested about a month ago and nobody knows what has happened to him.

The families of those who have been arrested were not informed of their charges or the location of the prison. These human rights activists have been arrested in breach of article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter as it states:

"Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers."

The crackdown on Baluch political movement and human rights activities is in response to Baluch People's demands for full participation in the political process of Iran and participation in the government as the article 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Charter clearly indicates that every citizen of a country is entitled to have a part in the government of his country. Since the Baluch people have been completely deprived of their legal rights of participation in the government of Iran, they began to demonstrate their grievances against the central government of Iran and demanded the implementation of the declaration of human rights charter.

Article 21.
(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives.
(2) Everyone has the right of equal access to public service in his country.

Every time the Baluch people demand justice and implementation of United Nations Charters and Conventions, the Islamic Republic of Iran reacts with violent and ruthless measures which further violates the human rights of the Baluch people. Furthermore, the Iranian authorities have prohibited cultural activities of Baluch people who have a v distinct and rich cultural heritage despite of the article 27 that sasys,
"(1) Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in scientific advancement and its benefits."

The Baluch people strive to restore their dignity and respect and secure their religious and political rights. Baluchistan is the most backward province in Iran while a United Nations research proved that the children in Baluchistan had the highest IQ in the country. The Iranian government is continuously repressing the most talented people of Iran. The international community and human rights organizations must condemn the violations of human rights in Baluchistan and pressurise the government to respect the rights of its citizens and facilitate their full participation in political, economic and cultural activities.

Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com

Why Zardari has been so much vilified?

Reza Hossein Borr

Corruption in Pakistan is widespread. There is no sense of shame and guilt about it. Political leaders, civil servants, army generals, security forces, businessmen, and even ordinary people have been so much corrupted that there is hardly any high ranking person in Pakistan who has not been involved in some kind of corruption. Corruption has become popular, acceptable and recognised by all people and all Pakistani institutions. All of them accuse each other of corruption and all of them claim to be clean and descent people with a great sense of integrity. All of them dismiss allegations of corruption. So far it has been very difficult to prove any claim of corruption against any senior politician, senior businessman, or an army general. While everybody talks of corruption the judiciary has not proved anything.

The fact of the matter is that there is corruption at large scale but it is done so immaculately that it is hard to detect it and even harder to prove it.

While corruption is so widespread and all politicians and senior civil servants and businessmen have been accused of it, why Zardari has been more accused of the same thing that the accusers have done themselves in possibly bigger ways? The accusations against Nawaz Sharif are more fundamental. Accusations against General Musharaf and other military rulers of Pakistan are even more evident but why Zardari has been vilified so much?

The ruling elite come from the top families in Pakistan. Those who become president, prime minister, chief minister, governor and minister are usually selected from top feudal landlords, top religious families and top businessmen. When another person from a lower rank of feudalism joins the government or gets involved in corruption, he will be very quickly vilified and exposed. Corruption is monopolized by the top elite. They have nearly impunity. They know how to neutralise corruption allegations. If other people go into monopolies of power and corruption they will be vilified ruthlessly. Pakistani establishment is extremely protective, closed and corrupt. They protect each other and they do not admit newcomers quite easily. Asif Ali Zardari was such a person, a newcomer and he had to take the blame for whatever his wife, Benazir Bhutto, did or was alleged to have done. The establishment could not discredit one senior member of their own and therefore, they had to look for a scapegoat who was more vulnerable and less defendable. Asif Ali Zardari is a frank and straightforward man. He is from a lesser families. His competitors could not see him as the husband of the First Lady of Pakistan. The allegations that everybody wanted to throw at Benazir Bhutto, were thrown at Zardari.

Zardari family is a feudal family but a third-class in the hierarchy of ranks of feudal classes in Sindh, Pakistan. The Bhutto family was a second-class feudal family in Sindh before the ascendancy of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in the hierarchy of social classes. At the top were Jatoai and Talpour, two Baloch families that ruled Sindh. Pakistan like India is a classed based society. The feudals have enormous influence, wealth, land, authority and prestige in Pakistan. The political positions change from one feudal family to another feudal family. Most of these feudal families inherited the British system of culture. They send their children to best universities and establish connections with established families in UK and throughout the world. These connections help them internationally.

Education in the best universities accompanied by their family backgrounds give them privileged positions in politics, civil service and army. There is a huge competition among the feudal families of different ranks. They try to discredit each other but they never go to war to destroy each other. They are aware of their class privileges and they know that they can compete for different ranks and positions but they must not destroy each other. They may put each other in prison or they may be put in prison by army and security forces but they always are respected even in prison. They have specially prison privileges. They would not be treated like other criminals. They see each other regularly; they attend each other's weddings and ceremonies.

When the British captured Sindh, the ruling families of Sindh and a large part of Punjab were Jatouai and Talpour families, two Baluch families. These two families retained their positions and privileges during the British rule. When the British left, they were regularly elected in Pakistan national assembly and senate. There has been hardly any government in Pakistan that did not have a minister from these two families. All Sindhi governments were also dominated by these two families.

When Zulfikar Ali Bhutto began his political activities he managed to attract the attention of the army, civil service and Pakistani security forces. He was a talented man and therefore, he managed to form Pakistan People's Party with a Socialist agenda. After the disintegration of Pakistan and the emergence of Bangladesh, Bhutto won the general elections and became the Prime Minister of the country. He managed to pass the first democratic constitution of Pakistan in which it was recognised as a Federation. With his gradual of upward moving, the Bhutto family superseded the importance in the hierarchy of feudal rank and became number one. Jatouai and Talpour families accepted his leadership and joined his government. Thus Bhutto family became the first family of Pakistan. Z. Bhutto was educated in Oxford University. His daughter Benazir Bhutto was also educated in the same university. They had numerous friends in high places all over the world.

Zardari family was one rank lower than the Bhutto family before the ascendancy of Z. Bhutto. When Bhutto family ascended to the first family of Pakistan, the Zardari family remained in its own original rank. The distance between the two families widened enormously. The two Baluch families who ruled Sindh became the second after the Bhutto family. Zardari and Bhutto families are both Shia families. The other important families in Sindh and Pakistan were Sunnis. Although Pakistan is an Islamic Republic, the absolute majority of its people are secular and therefore they elect their representatives according to their qualifications and political manifestoes, not according to their religion. But yet, they prefer to arrange their marriages within their own religious sect.

Asif Ali Zardari's father, Hakem Ali Zardari Baloch was a member of Sindh Assembly when Z. Bhutto was the Prime Minister. He was a landlord and he was respected in Sindh. He told me that when the Shah of Iran went to Pakistan, he was part of Bhutto delegation who welcomed the Shah at the airport. The Shah talked to him in Farsi and asking him, "Chetoureed aghaye Zardari?" Hakem Ali responded, "Zardari hastam, amma Zadar nistam." The translation goes something like that. "How are you Mr Zardari?" Asked the shah of Iran. "My name is money keeper but I don't have money." He responded. He had enough wealth but he was not among the top landlords. He was not a highly educated person and therefore, he never assumed a high ranking position in Pakistan.

When Z. Bhutto was overthrown and arrested, the old friends who surrounded him for money, job and power abandoned the family. When the army consolidated its hold on the country, Zia hanged him. A large number of his friends were put in prison. Some others escaped the country. Benazir Bhutto stayed with her father until the end. The conditions were tough for Bhutto family. It was in such tough conditions, that the Zardari clan stayed firmly behind the Bhutto family. Asif and Benazir got married. As soon as the news of marriage was published, the rumours against Asif Ali Zardari began to circulate in Pakistan. There were a lot of manufactured rumours by establishment to destroy him. When Benazir became the Prime Minister, the allegations of fraud, corruption, criminal activities against Asif Ali Zardari began in earnest. He was put in prison but no evidence was produced. He and his supporters claimed that the rumours of corruption and crime were politically motivated as nothing was proved in the court. His opponents claimed that the corruption charges were true but somehow he got away with it.

Today Asif Ali Zardari is the president of Pakistan. He has a unique opportunity to prove that the rumours of corruption were baseless. He has the opportunity to demonstrate a high level of integrity and decency in the government. Nobody can clean the Pakistan establishment. It is beyond any major reform. But Zardari can display his skills in management and leadership. He can give real autonomy to the members of Federation. He must be aware that he has not a good reputation. He must also know that Nawaz Sharif has accused him of breach of promise at least in three occasions. Breach of promise is despised in Baluch culture. His political skills accompanied by breach of promise landed him the job of president but these skills cannot help him retain the job.

In my seminars, I teach a new model which is about how to manage your success successfully. The strategies for managing and retaining success are fundamentally different from the strategies that made somebody successful. The strategy for becoming successful is what Zardari has displayed in the last few months. But the strategy for retaining his success is completely dependent fully on how much he can deliver on the promises that he has given or his wife had given before him. This is the time for Peak Performance. Those political leaders that are elected can only retain their success through delivering the results and these results must be fully felt and sensed by individuals and masses. This is a historical moment for him. In an open letter that I wrote him few weeks ago I advised him to avoid becoming the president of Pakistan as I argued that he would face the same painful fate that the previous presidents and prime ministers of Pakistan have encountered. The establishment of Pakistan is so corrupt and inefficient that it can dissolve the most competent leaders and managers. The establishment would not give him a chance to succeed. They would do everything to prepare the ground for his failure. His failure will be more celebrated. The masses may celebrate his success as they would be the beneficiary of his success. But so far no Prime Minister or president in Pakistan has succeeded. All of them have disgracefully failed. I will be surprised if he can make himself an exception. But in history, like in life, everything is possible by leaders of exceptional visions and skills.

He's not the first Baluch to become the president but he is the first Baluch that have been welcomed by the Baluch people. The Baluch fighters have announced a ceasefire to give him a chance. What the Baluch people want is the respect for the original agreement that was signed by the head of state of Baluchistan and the head of state of Pakistan. They signed an agreement for the union of two sovereign states in a confederation format by which the two states preserve their sovereignty but manage jointly the foreign affairs, currency and army. According to this agreement these issues must be jointly administered. They were not supposed to be solely in the hands of the state of Pakistan. Some of the Baloch fighters want full independence; some others want Baluchistan to be recognised as a sovereign state in a union with Pakistan like European Union. If president Zardari succeeds in restoring this agreement and if he can provide complete autonomy for the four units of the Federation, he will go in history as a man of high integrity and great political courage.

The Pakistani establishment must encourage him to restore the supremacy of Parliament, the independence of judiciary and the full autonomy of the four states as these measures can guarantee the existence of Pakistan. Pakistan has reached a crossroad. If anybody is interested in sustaining Pakistan, he must be interested in the will and welfare of the people who constitute Pakistan. The people of Pakistan want full autonomy. If they get full autonomy they will retain Pakistan. If they do not get full autonomy they will break it. It is the establishment which is responsible for making or breaking of Pakistan. It must be remembered that if there is no Pakistan, there is no Pakistani establishment. The Pakistanis establishment would enjoy its privileges if the people of Pakistan fulfill their aspirations. The establishment is living on the people of Pakistan and if the people are not living well there would not be a Pakistan establishment.

Nobody has been so much suspected as Zardari. Nobody has been so discredited and vilified as him. If he has any talent it is time to use this opportunity to manifest integrity beyond doubts and clean himself before that time that he becomes another victim of Pakistan politics.

Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com

A list of some of the arrested Baloch in Iran (between 2006-2008)

Saturday, 30 August 2008

The destruction of another Sunni mosque in Iran and its consequences

Reza Hossein Borr

The security forces of Iran attacked a mosque and a religious school at three o'clock in the morning today, 27 August 2008, arrested the students and staff and destroyed the mosque and the religious school in the North East of Baluchistan, Iran. The security forces used several bulldozers and tractors to completely destroy the building of Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque in Azimabad, a suburb of the city of Zabol. Nobody knows what has happened to the students, teachers and staff of the school and the mosque. The people who witnessed this morning operations observed that the students and teachers were very frightened. The security forces began beating them as soon as they attacked the school and bundled them into secure police cars as they were crying and screaming. The attack happened at a time that all of the students and staff were sleeping. There was not any warning by the police or security forces about the destruction of the mosque and the school.

The Iranian authorities destroyed another mosque about a year ago in the northern part of Iran and its Imam and staff were arrested and thrown into prison. Several mosques which belonged to the Sunnis of Iran have been destroyed since the emergence of the Shia fanatic Republic of Iran. There are 15 to 20 million Sunnis in Iran. They have been discriminated against systematically. Molana Ahamad Narouee, the deputy director of the main theological school in Zahedan was arrested two weeks ago. The security forces have demanded that the religious school must expel all foreign students who are studying at the school. According to the head of the school a small number of students from the Central Asian republics are studying in the school. But they have been denied students visas. There are hundreds of Shia students from the Central Asian republics who are studying in different Shia theological schools of Iran.

Fifteen thousand foreign students are studying in the Iranian Shia schools. The Iranian regime has given them scholarship and pays for their families too. These students learn the Iranian version of Shia which believes the Sunnis are infidels. The students will return back to their home countries with very strong radical, militant and anti-Sunni studies which will create enormous divisions between the Sunnis and Shia population of Islamic countries.

Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque was destroyed once before and the people had to relocate it. The religious leaders of Baluchistan and Iran protested against destruction of the Sunni mosques but so far the Iranian regime has continued its policy of destroying Sunni mosques in different parts of Iran while it is building new Shia mosques in Sunni dominated villages and cities. The Irna news agency reported on 25th of August that the government has sent 600 Shia missionaries to the Sunni dominated areas of Baluchistan to convert the Sunnis in Islam as if the Sunnis are not Moslems. The way they have trained these missionaries indicate that they clearly believe that the Sunnis are not Moslems and they must be converted into Shiism which is the real Islam. The process of Shiaeezation of the Sunnis began from the beginning of Islamic Republic but so far the regime has very little success in converting the Sunnis into Shiism, yet the financial rewards that the Iranian regime is providing for the newly-converted Moslems
( Shia) have been very tempting as some of the Afghani and Pakistani Shias have gone to Iran and claimed to be Baluch Sunnis and they were ready to have the honour of becoming Moslems (Shia). The Shia fanatic regime pays thousands of dollars to the newly converted Shias to persuade them to convert their relatives and children. Consequently some bloody disputes have happened among the members of the same family who have refused to change their religion.

The destruction of Imam Abu Hanifa Mosque in Azimabad will not be the last onslaught of the Shia regime on the Sunnis of Iran. The Iranian constitution allows diversity of religion and respects the performance of religious duties but the Iranian regime ignores its own constitution and arrests religious leaders, destroys the Sunni schools and mosques. In reaction to the systematic Shia offensive on the Baluch and other Sunnis of Iran, the process of intensification of religious feelings in Sunnis are widening and deepening all over ran. As the Iranian regime defines itself as the lawful and legitimate heritage of Islam, the Iranian Sunnis have responded by identifying themselves as true Moslems.

The Iranian Sunnis were usually secular minded people but the Shia aggression has turned them into Sunni political militants. Lack of support by the international community and Islamic countries have pushed the Sunni Muslims of Iran towards the only sources of support that are available and they are Taleban and Alqaedah. The international community could have supported the Sunnis of Iran to move them away from Taleban and Alqaedah but it seems that there is a concerted effort to allow the Islamic Shia regime of Iran to continue the oppression of the Sunnis. There was some news that some young Iranian Sunnis who have been disappointed by the Islamic and Arab governments have become sympathetic to Taleban. The majority of the people who live in the Eastern part of Iran are Sunnis and when they become sympathetic to Taleban, the movement of Taleban and Alqaedah members and the power of their manoeuvres in the region become more dynamic and widespread. The pressure by the government on the Sunnis is so brutal that the Sunnis feel desperate for any kind of help which relieves some of the pressures on them. The Sunni governments and countries so far have refused to help them directly as the Iranian regime is widely supporting the Shias of all countries, or exerting some practical pressure on the Iranian regime to stop further discrimination and pressure on them.

The international community must use all United Nations Conventions and human rights charters which allow freedom of worship to exert pressure on the Iranian regime to halt the destruction of Sunni mosques and media onslaught on Sunni principles. The Iranian Sunnis witness everyday unbearable offences against the Sunni principles of Islam. The intensification of pressure on Sunnis would have severe consequences, not only for Iran and Iranians but also for international community when the patience of Sunnis ran out and a religious war between the two sects of Islam may begin. At the same time when the pressure becomes unbearable on the Sunnis of Iran they may look for separation from Iran as their locations are located near the borders of Iran with other countries.

The Iranian government, the Shia population of Iran and the opposition groups of Iran, Iranian intellectuals, journalists and human rights activists will be responsible for any civil or religious war in Iran or for any separatist movement that maybe created in Iran if they do not stop the regime from further execution of the Sunni leaders and destruction of their schools, mosques and violations of their rights. The political, social and cultural discrimination against the Sunnis would have added consequences in which the Sunni people of Iran will lose any hope for a better life in Iran. Those Iranian who choose silence over the brutal oppression of the Iranian nationalities and Sunnis will be responsible for any civil war that might follow as the consequence of these repressive policies.

Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email:www.sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

An open letter to Mr Asif Zardari

Reza Hossein Borr

If you know what will happen to you after you become the president, you have to look at the fate of those who have become president before you. What happened to them will happen to you. There is no exception in history of Pakistan. Pakistan swallows its Presidents and Prime Ministers. If you want to be hanged like your father in law, if you want to be killed in an aeroplane crash like general Zia, If you want to have the disgraceful fate of General Musharaf, then become the president or Prime Minister.

I am writing this letter to you because your father was a good friend of mine. When he used to come to London he visited me regularly. He loved Persian poetry and I arranged for some of my great Persian poets to meet him in my home and read poem for him. I also met you once when I and your father arranged a meeting between you and your wife and a great Iranian friend of mine that I cannot name. And you are a Baluch and I don't want a Baluch statesman to go in history as a disgraced leader. Stupidity is not monopolized only by other nations. All of us had a share of it. But this is pure stupidity.

People want to become rich because they see the rich people enjoying life. If people love to become celebrity, it is because they see that the celebrities enjoy enormous popularity, wealth and fame. You have all of these things now without being accountable. You enjoy fame and power and you are not accountable to anybody. Why anybody should change this exceptional privilege? You are like a king with authorities and without responsibilities. At the same time, you have the authority to make things happen and appoint other people to do things and when they do not succeed, you can bring them down and make them accountable. This is a position that can happen really in history. The Gandhis are enjoying the same status. It seems that they have understood and the importance of respect and dignity.

If you want to go into a profession, first look at those who have gone in that profession before you and what has happened to them. Surely you do not want to happen to you what has already happened to previous president and prime ministers. Mr Zardari, your future is quite clear. It will be the same as of Bhutto, General Zia and General Musharaf. It would not be any different unless a miracle happens. You have acted like a statesman after the death of your wife, Mr Zardari. You have shown that you have the capacity to learn many lessons from the history of Pakistan but if you accept to become the president of Pakistan, You would prove that you have not learnt anything from the history and you deserve to become another victim of your ignorance. Ambition without skills can kill.

When you got married to Benazir Bhutto everybody said that you won a lottery. I did not agree with them. At that time the Bhuttos were abandoned by their friends. It did not seem that Bhuttos can bounce back. Yet, you took a great risk in marrying Benazir Bhutto. You helped her recover herself from the betrayals of friends and foes. When she became the Prime Minister, there were a lot of rumours that you got involved in large-scale corruption. You are the only person who knows whether those charges were true or not. If you were rightly charged, you paid for them when you were thrown into prison for a long time.

Maybe prison was the place where you learnt to become wise. Now when a lot of people flatter you, recall the days that you were in prison. Prison is still there. If you do not want to go back to the prison do not do what you did before. When people are in power they forget that their power will end one day. Surely you know that very well. You know the Baluch leader Akbar Khan Bugti. You know that he was a controversial figure. He did many things in his life but in the last days of his life he realised how well to die. Many people know how to live but most of them do not know how to die to achieve lasting life. Akbar Khan Bugti turned himself into a national hero when he refused high positions and went for justice and equality. It was the seeking of justice that made him eternally great, not seeking of high position.

It is your turn now, Mr Zardari. You have a chance to make history. But more than that, you can make yourself a great part of history. Kingmakers are more important than kings.

Reza Hossein Borr is an NLP Master Trainer and a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: www.sarawani@aol.com www.rezaaa.com

The destruction of another Sunni mosque in Iran and its consequences

Saturday, 2 August 2008

Can power shift to powerless nations?

Can power shift to powerless nations?
Reza Hossein Borr, London, 20.7.08

Do the powerless remain powerless forever? Do the helpless remain helpless forever? Do the nations who do not have their own governments will remain stateless forever? Do the powerful remain powerful what so ever? Do the strong remain strong forever? If this is the case, what has happened to the Persian Empire? What happened to the Pharaohs of Egypt? What happened to the Roman Empire? What happened to Islamic Empire? What happened to Mongolian Empire? What happened to the Ottoman Empire? What happened to the British Empire? What happened to the Austrian Empire? What happened to the German Empire? What happened to the Soviet Union? What happened to Yugoslavia?

These powerful Empires seemed invincible at the peak of their time. But all of them are gone and they are part of history. If it was not written in the books, nobody could believe that there was a Persian Empire looking at the present situation of Iran. If it was not written in the books, nobody could believe that there was ever a Roman Empire looking at the present situation of Italy and Greece. If it was not written in the books, nobody could believe that there was once the Mongolia Empire that ruled half of the world. If it was not written in the books, nobody could believe that some nomadic Arabs from the centre of Saudi Arabia had demolished two of the greatest empires of the world. This is the case with the rest.

More important than all, nobody believed that one small country like the United Kingdom could form an Empire that the sun did not set in it. And yet it happened. Nobody could believe that one State of Israel could defeat 22 Arab countries and 300 million people. But that's what happened. At the same time, nobody could believe that the same State of Israel was defeated and frustrated by the small organization of Hezbollah.

The fact of history is that power shifts from one country to another country and from one nation to another nation. One nation which is great today will be impoverished tomorrow and a poor country of today will become a great country of tomorrow. This is the rule of history. If it is understood by the countries that are powerful now they will act in a way that when they lose power they will be treated more humanely. The way today the great powers are treating the small nations will be remembered if not by all but by the oppressed nations. It is the oppression that creates intensive feelings for building power from within. This inbuilt and self-built drive for accumulating power becomes more intensive when the oppression on them becomes more extensive.

The Israelis state never dreamed that one day it would be frustrated by the smart strategies of a small organization that has accumulated power from within and without. The Hezbollah members have been suppressed and oppressed for centuries. They have been humiliated by many governments and rulers. They have been subject of discrimination and destruction. They have always been waiting for the right moment to grab to recover their strength, to rule out submission and generate sufficient sustainable ambition in themselves to create conditions in which they can stand firm in the face of an enemy which looked invincible. They could not convince anybody before they engaged in the war of attrition that they could last for 33 days instead of five or seven days. At the end, the Israelis did not achieve their objectives and were not able to destroy Hezbollah and its capabilities as their defined objectives.

It is true that Hezbollah received enormous support from different countries but it had unlimited inner strength too. The same case is true of Israel. When the Arab states could not defeat Israel, the Arab people did. Israel defeated Arab governments, not the Arab people. The Hezbollah opted for a people's war, for a war that people wanted to fight. In the war against the people, it is difficult to succeed. When you oppress people, you press them to summon their oppressed powers and open their horizon to new prospects. The globalization has spread power and divided it among different peoples and governments. Power is not concentrated anymore in one place and in one centre; it is generated everywhere. Because of their sheer persistent devotions and dedications, some people can acquire power through knowledge and skills. The fortunate thing is nobody can stop anybody from acquiring skills and knowledge for achieving a goal if there is sufficient drive behind it. Having knowledge is power but applying it with skill and wisdom makes it invincible.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Milosevic of Yugoslavia concentrated the state powers in his own hand and in the hands of state of Serbia. He never thought that he could be defeated by an assembly of nations. Several nations seceded from Yugoslavia one after another just because Serbia could not understand that what was powerless now may be powerful tomorrow. It is true that the world is extremely ruthless and merciless; but at the same time the world has become smaller than ever and globalization has put people near each other. They can feel each other now. The people and the governments of the world could remain silent if the powerful dictators begin to exert ruthless genocide and ethnic cleansing in certain areas of the world but if the target nations can continue their resistance long enough, there will be other people and other nations who withstand and support them. Yugoslavian government never thought that one day the American and European aeroplanes and armies would bombard its bases; yet they did as the international community observed unbelievable resistance of the peoples who had decided to pursue freedom.

When the British decided to politically occupy India, Britain had 10 million populations and India had about 100 million populations. The British technology empowered the British soldiers to defeat the Indian army and destroy their freedom and independence. Two hundred years later, India is emerging as a prosperous, strong and powerful nation. The fragmented India lost war against a very small but powerful country. Now the power is shifting from America and Europe to Asia where it was originally developed. To be able to compete with India and China, the European small but powerful countries decided to create European Union. They are expanding that regularly and continuously but yet, its population is less than India and its power is likely to be less than India in the next decades.

To enable themselves to continue their power, European countries are seeking alliance with other countries. The French president's initiative for forming Mediterranean Union is a great example. There are 44 countries that have borders with Mediterranean Sea. They have both similarities and differences with the European Union but they are closest to European Union geographically, historically and culturally. There are already millions of people from Mediterranean area who are living in Europe, building a possible bridge for the extension of European Union into Mediterranean Union.

Instead of all these initiatives, nothing is certain of the future. The weak countries of Asia are becoming aware of their identity and historical background. They are searching their souls in history to look for new guidelines and searchlights for their newly found power of emergence. Search for power is essential when your survival is at stake. The people, who are finding themselves at the brink of extinction, can invigorate now their will for seeking new strategies which can make them successful in retaining not only their identity but also getting the opportunity for a comprehensive resurrection.

The Baluch people like the Kurds have been subject of ruthless policies by several governments whose only point of similarity is their desire and will for breaking the will of these people for self-government. The more the Baluch and Kurds receive oppression, the more they become determined for searching for new ways of acquiring sufficient power to press for their national rights. A nation cannot allow itself to gradually disappear from the face of the earth because its enemies have forced them into that situation. Every people, every individual and every class now have different viable options for fighting constructively to regain its lawful rights. As the oppression spreads, more individual become aware of their oppressed status and seek new ways of asserting themselves in international community. Whatever the ruthlessness of the oppressive governments may be, the determination of the oppressed will double and triple to rise over the capabilities of the opponents.

The powerful will not retain their power forever. The powerless will not remain powerless forever. Power shifts from one country to another country and from one person another. The ruthless governments make the powerless feel the intensity of pressure. The intensity of pressure forms the scale and volume of will for actions. As the pressure becomes more intense, the natural resources of the oppressed for survival open up widely and flow in all directions to attract support and substantiate reasons for survival.
Intensity of the oppression also brings with it the intensity for personal, tribal and national awareness in the oppressed and forces them to know the ingredients in their identity that bring oppression. These phenomena will move the oppressed beyond the limits of consciousness that has been imposed on them. The new level of consciousness begins to grow. Along with the consciousness, a series of higher level of instincts wake-up to generate the kind of skills that are needed at the crucial times in life. The intensity of will for survival along with the extensivity of skills takes the individual or nations to a new level of creativity in which solutions begin to flow. The moments of death and life may happen for one individual in normal conditions very rarely but the moments of life and death are the most generative moments in life and happen in the life of the oppressed regularly and therefore, multiply his thinking and action power to a level where success becomes inevitable.

Nations like Baluch, Kurd, Pashtun, Chechen and few other nations are going through this extremely generative moment and process of life and death. This is the reason that we see the Pashtun nationalists employ Islam as a cover and a shield for promoting their nationalistic ideas of having their independent state. The intensity of oppression has created the intensity in the ideology they have brought in to rescue themselves. Intensity in the feelings of Islamism is directly related to the pressure on them from different sides. If we look at the history of Taleban and Alqaedah in the region of Baluchistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, you will see that the people of the region increased extremism of Islam to match the pressure coming from the West and the governments of the region. At the beginning, Alqaedah and Taleban movement were limited to a small region. No doubt it has spread in a wide region in Afghanistan and Pakistan. The main soldiers of Taleban are the Pashtun, the Baluch who look at Islam as their way of salvation. Radical Islam is roaming in the region which has major problems beyond Islam.

If the oppression of the Baluch and Pashtun continues, radicalism and extremism in Islam and nationalism will continue to grow to match the forces of the other side. Islam is not any more an objective and the struggle against the West and the governments of region is not a jihad against the infidels. It is their liberation movement that is seeking the liberation of some nations that are spearheading Islamic movement as the goal although it is for accomplishing other tasks beyond Islamic principles.

Keeping in mind that power shifts, the shifting of power requires certain tools and means. These tools and means are employed to attain some objectives that are not clearly defined in the public field. The idea is to do something but to achieve something else which is not publicised. What is publicised is an objective which is acceptable to the wider range of people who can help in materialising the hidden agenda. If they use the original goal and promote it, it is unlikely that they will receive international support. Certainly the cause of the people of Pashtun, Kurd or Baluch is not the concern of many nations. Talking about Baluch oppression and nationalism obviously will not give them the natural response that they expect from the people of region. The Pashtuns use another effective mechanism which has already been deeply felt in the hearts and minds of millions of people and it is Islam. They are using Islam to acquire national independence.

The Taleban were seeking the support of the regional governments to promote Islamic radicalism as a tool for liberation of Pashtunistan. When they did not receive positive responses from the governments of the region, they directly resorted to the masses and what was very dear to masses and that was Islam. If the governments could not support, the people could; and therefore now these are the Moslems all over the world that are challenging support for the Taleban and Alqaedah.

The Afghans used Islam to capture India and rule it for several centuries. They have employed Islam also for capturing Central Asia territories and ruling them. It has worked in the past and it may work now and in the future. The perseverance is the key word.
Reza Hossein Borr is a leadership consultant and the creator of 150 CDs and 14 Change management models. He is also the author of Manual Success, Manual of Coaching and Mentoring, Motivational Stories that Can Change Your Life, and a New Vision for the Islamic World. He can be contacted by email: balochfront@aol.com

Balochistan People's Front

Friday, 12 September 2008

Violation of human rights continues in Baluchistan, Iran

Why Zardari has been so much vilified?

A list of some of the arrested Baloch in Iran (between 2006-2008)

Saturday, 30 August 2008

The destruction of another Sunni mosque in Iran and its consequences

Wednesday, 27 August 2008

An open letter to Mr Asif Zardari

The destruction of another Sunni mosque in Iran and its consequences

Saturday, 2 August 2008

Can power shift to powerless nations?

Iran Federal

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