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PAKISTAN: Government blocks Baloch
websites
28 Apr 2006 14:19:00 GMT
Source: IRIN
LAHORE, 28 April (IRIN) - The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, a
government agency responsible for telecommunications, has ordered the
country's internet service providers to block access to four websites
containing Baloch nationalist material, according to a directive issued by
the agency's office in the western city of Lahore.
"You are requested to block access to the websites immediately to your
subscribers," the directive read, requesting compliance to be undertaken
by Wednesday, 3 May .
Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province has been the scene of
sporadic clashes for decades between government forces and separatist
guerrillas fighting for autonomy. Since 1 January, violence in the
troubled province has claimed 158 lives, media reports quoted Interior
Minister Aftab Ahmed Sherpao as telling a cabinet meeting earlier this
month.
Of the dead, 53 were civilians, 33 were security forces and 72 were rebel
tribesmen, the English-language newspaper, Daily Times, reported, citing
the minister, adding that 41 people had been injured.
Balochistan, Pakistan's largest and most sparsely populated province,
borders Iran and Afghanistan. The ongoing insurgency has influenced
Pakistan's relations with neighbouring countries - with Islamabad accusing
India, Afghanistan and Iran of supporting Balochi separatists. In an
effort to win public support in the poorest of Pakistan's four provinces,
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has announced major infrastructure
projects in the area.
But that will prove a challenge. Balochs have long felt that their right
to self-determination has been compromised and they remained unhappy with
economic development plans that they claim had exploited their
resource-rich province, primarily to the benefit of Islamabad.
According to the government directive issued on Tuesday, the websites - (a
href="http://www.balochvoice.com" target="_blank")www.balochvoice.com(/a),
(a href="http://www.baloch2000.org/"
target="_blank")www.baloch2000.org(/a), (a
href="http://www.balochfront.com/" target="_blank")www.balochfront.com(/a)
and (a href="http://www.sanabaloch.com/"
target="_blank")www.sanabaloch.com(/a) had been spreading 'spreading
misleading information'.
The Baloch Voice has been carrying reports on security forces, pictures of
mutilated bodies of children, statements by Baloch rebel leaders, links to
reports, interviews, articles and editorials in the international media on
Balochistan, details of attacks on state installations, including those
Pakistan's government has been blaming on the Balochistan Liberation Army
(BLA), a breakaway movement.
"Balochs will never accept this ban on websites. The government will have
to face tough times if it does not withdraw the decision," said local
resident Mir Hazar Khan from Kohlu in Balochistan.
Hasan-Askari Rizvi, a political and defence analyst, said that instead of
resorting to such measures, the government should address the chronic
problems of Balochistan through effective economic and political measures.
"We cannot risk delaying this in the face of a rising Baloch nationalism
and the threat it represents for the federation [of Pakistan]," he said.
REUTERS; AlertNet
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/5cd11e3eeb9509c973e98dc4fe744062.htm
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