The killing of 2 Baloch students by the Frontiers Corps (FC), a paramilitary regiment under the command of the Pakistani army has sparked off outrage in Balochistan and Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. On Tuesday, several senators abandoned the Parliament in protest against the events after calling for the upper house to open an investigation. According to the Human Right Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), the paramilitary troops shot at a Balochi student peaceful demonstration, killing 2 people and leaving several others wounded. The Frontier Corps, whose task is mainly to patrol borders alongside Iran and Afghanistan, have been increasingly used to persecute political dissidence in Baloch-populated areas, the Pakistani newspaper Daily Times reports. Only last year, the FC harassed several Baloch media, one of which Asaap had to close down after its editor was attacked.

Disappearances of a number of Baloch pro-independence militants and other political activists are also attributed to the Frontier Corps. Three nationalist leaders, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Mohammad Baloch, were kidnapped last year and their bodies found a few weeks later, an incident that aroused people in Balochistan.

But tension-building confrontations do not end there. The Baloch Liberation Army is held responsible for the assassination of members of other ethnic groups. The recently published Human Rights Watch 2010 world report on human rights warns against violations of human rights in this region of Pakistan both by Baloch rebels and Pakistani intelligence services. It also brings to light attacks on the media by the FC.

Balochistan National Party rejects the reform package

In a bid to ease the confrontation the Pakistani government unveiled last November the "Package for a new beginning in Balochistan", a set of measures proposing the facilitation of the return of political exiles, the establishment of immediate political dialogue and the setting up of a commission to investigate the circumstances that led to the death of three Baloch nationalists. Yet the Balochistan National Party (BNP), which is the main nationalist party in East Balochistan, discarded the package arguing it did not address the conflict's key issues. As the exiled Baloch leader Hyrbyair Marri said, Pakistani "President Zardari and his government may have good sentiments but they were powerless and the real powers rest with the military establishment".

In the aftermath of the students' death, BNP sources have reiterated their opposition to the government plan and called for a complete autonomy of the Baloch province, as well as for the control of the area's natural resources.

Further information:

• The Nation: No compromise over autonomy: Baloch leaders
• Pakistan Observer: Senators stage walk out, demand justice
• Article at Daily Times on FC and the failure of the reform package: COMMENT: Plans to sabotage the Balochistan package - Malik Siraj Akbar
• Nationalia: Dossier Pobles i nacions d'avui: Balutxistan.