Rejecting New US Consulates

Farooq Hameed Khan 

The American efforts to gain permanent foothold in Balochistan and South Punjab by establishing Consulates in Quetta and Multan  suffered a blow after  serious opposition from  Pakistani security establishment specially after the Raymond Davis and Abbottabad episodes.  Reportedly the  Foreign Office denied the US their requests to open these new Consulates..

    US Ambassador  Cameron Munter’s  recent declaration   that ‘Balochistan was very significant for the United States’ reveals the superpower’s intentions when viewed in the context of  US obsession  to open up  the  new  Quetta Consulate.

     In early 2010, then US ambassador Anne Patterson had cited  two main reasons for the Quetta Consulate : to oversee the development activities carried out by Americans in Balochistan and ensure a close liaison with the Baloch people  for speedy  visa facility instead of  dealing with  US Consulates in Karachi and Islamabad.  Pakistanis, however, view these as a   cover for greater sinister US designs In Balochistan.

     But US Ambassador Cameron Munter is not willing to give up so easily too. He recently visited  Quetta , where he met with the Balochistan  Chief Minister and  Speaker Balochistan Assembly to lobby for the Consulate which  was obviously not agreed to. These Baloch leaders also rejected the American  themes regarding  presence of   Al –Qaida and Taliban   leaders  Al Zawahri  and  Mulla Omer  in Balochistan or  Taliban intrusion from around Quetta into Afghanistan.   Such narrative also points towards a US  agenda of   expanding  the Afghan war into Balochistan .

      Why is US Consulate in Quetta considered to be against Pakistan’s security interests? Because this would  serve as a launching pad for greater  American interference in Baloch istan affairs  to further American interests in the region. It is feared that US security personnel are  likely to intensify their clandestine activities  and further fuel the insurgency in the province in coordination with RAW sponsored Baloch militant groups.

      A recent media report  quoting  top-level sources in our foreign ministry is significant : “In fact, we have received a lot of secret correspondence by security agencies about the CIA operatives’ involvement in a number of nefarious plots against Pakistan. This is the reason we refused them establishment of new consulates.”

      The United States has clear strategic interests in  mineral rich  Balochistan which provides a regional  trade and energy corridor to Afghanistan and energy rich central asian states. According to media reports, the US is also eyeing a setup at Gwadar to maintain a watch over Chinese  activities in the area..

     Therefore US presence in Balochistan could threaten the security of strategic  projects  that are likely to takeoff in 2011/2012 including the  Chinese sponsored  second phase infra-strucutre development  of Gwadar port ,  construction of  Pak- Iran gas pipeline  and the mega Reqo Dik copper/gold mining facility,   which  do not converge with  Indo- US strategic interests in the region.  

    American interest in Balochistan’s  division on linguistic/ethnic lines was reflected in a senior  ANP leader’s recent statement  suggesting carving out a ‘South Pakhtun khwa’ province in Pashtun dominated regions of Balochistan  , that links with long term designs towards   Greater Pashtunistan.  Incidentally few months ago , Ambasador Munter  had  participated in a Pashtun tribal jirga in Quetta an event that had raised eye brows in Islamabad.  Baloch leaders seem conscious of such a conspiracy and have rejected any plan to breakup Balochistan. 

      In  the article  titled ‘The Destabilization of Pakistan’ dated  May 12, 2011 Dr. Stuart Jeanne Bramhall writes , “Following a familiar pattern, there are indications that the Baloch insurgency is being supported and abetted by Britain and the US. Washington favors the creation of a “Greater Balochistan” which would integrate the Baloch areas of Pakistan with those of Iran and possibly the Southern tip of Afghanistan, thereby leading to a process of political fracturing in both Iran and Pakistan. The US course consists in fomenting social, ethnic and factional divisions and political fragmentation, including the territorial breakup of Pakistan.”

    The American interest in South Punjab through their new found love for Sufism/ Barelvism has led to  renovation of  few Sufi shrines in South Punjab . Former US Ambassador  Anne W. Patterson  had announced  lavish grants   for the conservation and restoration of  three  shrines (Hazrat Rajan Qattal in Uch Sharif,  Hazrat Musa Pak Shaheed in Multan and Hazrat Khawaja Ghulam Fareed in Rajanpur) in South Punjab under the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.  It is not known how much of these funds were actually used for the intended purpose.  

  Ambassador  Cameron Munter maintained the traditions of his predecessor when , during his latest visit to Multan,  he  laid floral wreath at the shrine of Hazrat Shah Shams and reassured US aid to restore the shrine in its original shape.     

      The American  double game is clearly visible. While on one hand they  present themselves as supporters of Sufi Islam, on the other the US embassy in Islamabad organized the  despicable  first ever gay, lesbians, bi sexual and transgender(GLBT) pride celebration ceremony  and assured its  Pakistani participants that Washington would continue to support their cause  in Pakistan.

      After the CIA’s  reported failure at acquiring land  in Dera Ghazi Khan, the next station of choice is obviously  Multan. But thanks to US funded mango processing project, that will facilitate American ingress into the interior of South Punjab. We also currently witness a coordinated  US/UK effort to engage   leaders/influentials  of South Punjab.

       Some questions arise. Is American support for Sufism  designed to promote inter sect hatred and  divide in an already polarized  religio- cultural environment in Pakistani society? Or is the strategy to penetrate the shrines culture a cover to establish links with  some banned  religious/militant  outfits  to destabilize  South Punjab ?  

           Do we see an American/British  link with the  sudden move for  creating Seraiki province by the ruling party? Are  few top ‘gaddi  nashins’ and power hungry opportunist politicians and waderas  of South Punjab falling into the American/ British trap?  Is this  a conspiracy to unnerve and divide Punjab  and create hatred   on linguistic/ethnic lines to  weaken Pakistan?

  It is also essential that movement of foreign diplomats specially the American and British personnel   be regulated and monitored and US/UK embassies should observe the Foreign Office protocol / procedures laid down for travel of their diplomats as well as meeting   Pakistanis in various cities.

        

     New US Consulates in Quetta and Multan  pose a threat to Pakistan’s security and our principled stand against their opening must not be compromised for short term political gains and vested interests.

  The writer is a political/defence analyst.

NOTE:THIS IS A CROSS POST.