Monitoring Desk: Director General Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) of Armed Forces of Pakistan Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has confirmed once again that there is terrorism going on not insurgency in Balochistan.
While talking to Al Arabiya English Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry rejected the description of the situation in Balochistan as an insurgency, calling it terrorism, and saying Pakistan has both, tactical and strategic clarity, and ascendancy.
Responding to question he said more than 32,000 of over 40,000 intelligence-based operations, were carried out in Balochistan, describing this as proactive action against armed groups operating in the province.
Lt Gen Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said Pakistan’s strategy combines kinetic action against militants with public engagement, sustainable development, employment and improved governance, while acknowledging that these efforts can be improved and accelerated.
He said the federal and provincial leadership are engaging with political circles, students, the intelligentsia, and other sections of society, with a particular focus on Baloch youth rather than elites and sardars. The general warned that those who take up arms against the state would be hunted wherever they operate, vowing that Pakistan would continue these operations, and expressing full confidence in Pakistan’s victory.
Transcript of his televised talks is hereunder:
Tom Burges Watson: Okay, you’ve been very generous with your time. I’d just like to ask one last quick question about Balochistan, which, for the benefit of our viewers, has faced a long-running insurgency, some political and economic grievances. I just wondered what’s the latest on that? Is Pakistan winning tactically, but struggling strategically there, do you think?
DG ISPR Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry: There is no insurgency. There is terrorism. Just terrorism. We respectfully beg to disagree that there’s any sort of insurgency. Why? I’ll explain. Secondly, tactically, strategically, in both case, we have clarity and we have ascendancy.
Tactically, I can tell you that out of this more than 40,000 IBOs that I talked about, 32,000 more plus were done only in Balochistan. I can tell you that how proactively the security forces of Pakistan are taking out these so-called proxies who associate themselves with Balochistan, and have got nothing to do with it.
Strategically, why I say… but I will not go into details because those numbers are all available and we keep on issuing our press releases on daily basis on that. Strategically, why are saying, why we think that we have a clear clarity on that, and because we understand, the Government of Pakistan, the Government of Balochistan, the military, and most importantly the Balochistan, people of Balochistan, that the way this terrorism has to be dealt is that you kill these terrorists. You take them on kinetically, that we are doing. And you embrace the people of Balochistan. That the Government of Balochistan and the and the Government of Pakistan are doing.
And for that, there is a systemic plan that is there, in the shape of engagements, in the shape of sustainable development initiatives from the village, town, at the district level, in the shape of employment. And if I say as an umbrella, that is good governance. So the people of Balochistan need to be provided good governance. They need to be engaged.
So that is the strategic clarity that they have, that is being done. Can that be done better? Yes, that can be done better. Can that be expedited? Yes, that can be expedited. But is that being done? Yes, that is being done.
If you see, the there are so many evidences of that happening. The engagement is being done at the Prime Minister level, it is being done by the Field Marshal. Very recently, the Field Marshal, and he repeatedly keeps on engaging with the political, with the students, with the intelligentsia, and all walks of life. The Chief Minister of Balochistan keeps on engaging, the Government of Balochistan keeps… So we are talking. We are listening. And we are telling, and we are communicating that you, the people of Balochistan, matter. The elites and sardars don’t matter. We are not in a business of appeasing and looking after the elites and sardar. It’s the young, youth, boy and girl of Balochistan who matters.
So that is where we are going, the state is going, and need to keep on going. And those who think they can pick up arms, they can fight against the state, we say, okay, most welcome, come and fight. You don’t need to fight, we will go and hunt you. Here, there, wherever you are. And that’s what we are doing, and we’ll continue, and we’ll win. There’s absolute clarity on this in Balochistan, in Pakistan.
Tom Burges Watson: We are going to have to wrap up now because we’re out of time. You’ve been very generous with your time. We’d like to thank you very much indeed, the Director General of the Inter-Services Public Relations Division of the Pakistani Army, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry. Thank you very much indeed for your time, sir.
DG ISPR: Thank you very much, Tom. Thank you
