The Baluch Special By Lt Col Noel Ellis

Editor's Note:

This  article  in 3 parts by Col Noel Ellis is a personal analysis of the author about the  recent train hijack by BLA ,the manner in which ' The Train of Pakistan is being run ' and the exposure of  ' The Pakistan Bluffs’ .

Collectively the 3 parts give the reader a fairly  logical analysis of the state of affairs in Pakistan, especially about  the situation presently  prevailing in  Baluchistan . The author in his inimitable style  impresses   the reader and at the end leaves him  'wondering' about the reality of the events  and situation in Pakistan !

To bring further clarity and update of the situation responses are welcome . 

Editor, MVI 

TRAIN JACK ( Part -1) Lt Col Noel Ellis 

Train jacking was unheard of and it happened in none other than Pakistan. The BLA which has taken the responsibility has done it with thorough planning and surgical operation. ISPR is silent on the incident. The buzz is only on social media through which scanty details are emerging. There has been loss of life which is unfortunate.

The official response from Pakistan is expected on obvious lines. They would scale down the casualties of both their Armed forces personnel and civilians and exaggerate the numbers of the BLA forces killed. The culmination would be that they would tell the world that this is another “RAA ki Sazish”. 

I would not go into the details of the Jaffar Express, the number of bogies and passengers, the starting station and its destination, the terrain it traversed and its route. All that is on the internet. This train had been cancelled for a while but had been restarted a little while back.

Pakistan could never have imagined that the BLA could execute such an attack. The Chinese too must have gone into shock. The first responders have a herculean task ahead. Helicopters, relief trains and Forces have been rushed to the tunnel where the BLA chaps are holding out with the contents of the train. 

I am anticipating an air assault and even use of Artillery. Civilian casualties would be immaterial for the sake of Pakistan is my gut feeling. Very unfortunate and sad for those travellers. Most of them would be coming from or going on chutti especially in the month of Ramzan. I wish them luck.

Could it be an ‘off the cuff’ operation? The answer is an absolute NO. Meticulous planning, preparation and the final consequences would have been thought through by the BLA. For them laying down their lives for the cause they are fighting for is not important, but getting recognition and their rightful place in Pakistan is the major issue besides return of their missing persons if not AZADI would be the fulcrum.

While analysing the way they would have gone about getting hold of the train, certain points came to my mind.

Firstly, where to hijack the train? The terrain and spot were important. Non availability of mobile networks, so that news could not be leaked would be another factor for consideration.

The Location of the derailment had to be precise. Getting hold of the engine driver would be next or have someone who had served as an engine driver to replace and shunt the train as per their plan.

BLA chaps would have travelled on this route time and again understanding where the train halts, slows down or speeds up. Bogies where Forces personnel travel would have been under scrutiny. Behaviour of those personnel and their railway protection force, their locations and modus operandi would have been studied in detail.

Stations between which this train jack could be best carried out as a retaliation by the security forces would have been anticipated. Shafts into the tunnel would have been covered by fire. To operate in darkness, night vision and thermal imaging devices would have been procured or captured. Ammunition to last as long as possible would have been dumped in advance by the BLA.

Prominent heights around the tunnel would be manned with anti aircraft weapons as induction of special forces in helicopters would have been predicted. Locals would have been taken into confidence and sworn to silence.

Mobile phones of the travellers would have been confiscated. They say the train had nine bogies and about four hundred passengers. Man power to man all the bogies would have been catered for. All those who would have resisted or tried to escape must have been executed without remorse or pity. 

Change of scene. A thought passed by that as a consequence of the ‘assumed involvement’ of our spy agency, could Pak plan/carry out such an attack on our recently commissioned trains in J&K through their Jehadis. If so, then what are the SOPs which need to evolve to run our trains smoothly. 

Would we have TOPs (Track Opening Parties) like the ROPs (Road Opening Parties)? Do we have to man every tunnel/bridge and blind spot continuously? How would the passengers be kept under scrutiny? Our intelligence would now have to step up to keep their eyes and ears open both physically and electronically.

This need not happen in J&K alone. The North East is as vulnerable. With Bangladesh  already giving signals of being rebellious and ungrateful to India, we would have to beef up our guard there too. 

Could there be dummy trains running on these routes? Would there be a need for deception like sending a TOP and not sending the train. Or sending the train when the TOP doesn’t deploy. Sending a ‘light engine’ ahead of the passenger train to take the brunt of an uprooted track/ derailment.

There are lessons for India from this attack. Hope we do not take it lightly.

Pakistan cannot differentiate between their knee and their elbow after being hit both internally and externally due to misplaced priorities and mishandling of their Balochistan/Afghanistan situation. God forbid, they go into a war with Afghanistan as the TTP and TTA are in collusion with the BLA. By the way, all Baluch organisations have now come under one umbrella, which is a far more dangerous situation.

How will Pakistan handle this train jack and beyond? I wonder!

THE TRAIN OF PAKISTAN( Part -2) 

Lt Col Noel Ellis 

At the very outset, I would like to thank ‘Mr Tahir Gora Chawla’ for giving me the idea of this ‘train’ through one of his Vlogs.

In 1947 there were ‘Trains’ from and to Pakistan. ‘Human massacre’ was done for no fault of the people who chose to change platforms when this all began.

In 1948 a train was sent to Baluchistan ‘forcefully’. They had sent another train to Jammu and Kashmir previously and took a sizeable portion of the territory from India illegally, which remains a bone of contention till today.

One train first brought ‘natural gas’ from SUI to Lahore. The irony was that people of Sui never got to use that gas but the people who never saw those gas fields were consuming it. It was the start of the ‘rift’. We are told that today that gas has run out.

Trains started bringing mineral resources from the sparsest populated state to the mainland, depriving the locals of benefits that accrued from mining including ‘employment’. Rather, this train did not bother for the citizens of Baluchistan ever. They requested to add the ‘bogie of autonomy’ but permission was denied.

As time went by, the Paki train was used for wars against India. India gave them a bloody nose every time. They continued to send ‘passengers’ in the form of terrorists with support of a bogie called ‘establishment’. It would carry misguided Kashmiris back, train them, fund them, brainwash them, and send them back to India. We took care of them at a very heavy cost.

This Pakistani train ‘tried’ to add a compartment called ‘democracy’. Instead, they added military engines with ‘cow catchers’. The train chugged smoothly for sometime but then derailed for obvious reasons.

They could not accept a ‘Bangla Engine driver’. This decoupled the coaches and led to the formation of a new station in a huff and puff. A dashing driver called Bhutto who took over was later hanged by a military man. 

This train needed to focus on the ‘best services’ it required to give to its people. The ‘bogie of education’ was supposed to be added, but they chose ‘not’ to educate their people the way the world did. They focused on ‘Islamic education’ of the most skewed, primitive and anti India narrative being taught which exists even now. 

That added ‘compartments’ of unemployment, illiteracy, poverty and misgovernance instead. Prices of train tickets became unaffordable by the common man. The reserved military compartment always stayed.

They added another ‘rake of corruption’. The Military drivers tried to curb corruption but the shrewd politicians knew how to manipulate things & made money to send it abroad. The passengers kept suffering the consequences of their skewed policies. The third class now became fourth class citizens.

A time came when they thought of adding the ‘health care bogie’ to that train. Instead, the country loaded up its war arsenal and even became a nuclear state at the cost of the health of their population. A wrong set of priorities and legislations and an inimical mindset against India became their basic slogan. 

They added the ‘American bogie’ and invited them to be their ‘guard’ both literally and figuratively. The Americans had their own interests till the Russians left Afghanistan. Much of Pakistan got ruined in the bargain by misaligning their tracks and focusing outwards instead of inwards. The ‘superfast’ train reverted back to a ‘passengerr’ train run by a ‘shunting’ engine.

The train to Baluchistan was always kept in neglect. The railways focussed more towards India, by announcing false narratives and propaganda to no avail. People of the world could see through their bluff. The train kept losing steam and traction and now is close to hitting a ‘dead end’. Their own people are uprooting the railway tracks, hijacking trains, and attacking them relentlessly.

The military detached their bogies at their convenience and kept them aside at a ‘railway siding’ called Rawalpindi. They ensured that the blame of ‘it’ not running on time was always put on the politicians who could neither change tracks nor show a green flag at will or reroute the train on their own to run as per schedule.

Then came a time when a popular leader came into power. He was thrown in the clink. His ‘gauge’ didn’t match the gauge of the military. People have got frustrated and are waiting for an opportunity to vandalise the military band wagon at the first instant.

This train, instead of carrying ‘relief material’ to understand and support the Baluch people carried guns and ammunition to execute them or remove them from the scene without accountability. After their popular leader Bugti was assassinated courtesy the military special, the Baluch got stirred like a hornets nest. Now they sting time and again.

The military instead of taking both the driving seat and guard has left the country to run on its own steam. 

They allowed the Chinese to take over their train. An enemy’s enemy became their friend. They brought in investment, promised infrastructure, and built an airport and a sea port which was not acceptable to the Baluchis as they did not involve them in any way. The agitated people now want to send this Chinese train back in reverse. By the way all diesel engines hauling Paki trains are of Chinese make.

Overall, the focus of the Military who run the show, left the maintenance of tracks and stations in neglect. Their railway is being run on ‘charity’ and ‘loans’. The bogies have grown old, fatigued and falling apart due to rust. Stations like Sindh and KPK may go into different railway zones following Baluchistan, as they too have started retaliating and revolting.

In between, a station called Afghanistan, where this train frequently visited sent their fighters to blow off the Pak military special bogies. They move freely and fearlessly, like a train out of control. The military came into action but with little or no success.

It is well known that whenever there is a ‘accident’, they blame India without any proof. They lie, deflect, and hold an internal inquiry for which the findings are pre-decided. God save them.

Pak rolling stock now needs a complete overhaul. The driver and the guard need to be changed. Bogies have to be upgraded. The tracks and signalling system need to be refurbished. Stations need to be renovated. Major refit is the need of the hour. Revamping and modernising may lead to its smooth running. Otherwise, this train will only ‘loose shunt’ aimlessly.

Their politicians need to become drivers rather than being silent passengers whose bogies are attached or detached by the Military at will or else a station called Baluchistan is ready to be inaugurated.

When will they learn how to run Pak Railways smoothly? I wonder!!!!!!

PAKISTANI BLUFFS EXPOSED (Part -3) 

Lt Col Noel Ellis 

As days pass by after the train hijack in Pakistan, for which the BLA staked its claim, my mind has been churning because of how cooly the Pakis shifted the blame to India.

It was no surprise when DG ISPR, without naming India, referred to their ‘Eastern neighbour’ responsible for this train tragedy. Why would India or for that matter the world buy his argument? They have no proof, none whatsoever.

To deflect the issue and shift the narrative has been their USP. Citizens of Pakistan felt happy that they had found the conspirators, not realising that the person briefing them is the biggest culprit and conniver, as he was caught with his pants down when these attacks happened.

It can never be an ‘intelligence failure’ in Pakistan. ‘Raa’ tiptoed in, did their job, wiped off all evidence and sneaked out undetected. Their Army had no role to play except they deployed protection ‘pickets’ on that train route. There is supposed to be a bomb disposal drill before this train passes, which was news to me.

About 400 feet of track has been uprooted. Out of the ten bogies and engine, five derailed. The track can be made operational within eight hours as per the railways spokesperson.

Be that as it may. I have a counter argument to prove that when the DG ISPR says that the ‘attackers’ were trained by India is all rubbish, nonsense, bunkum, white lies, and claptrap. Why? Read on….

Those 33 who were sent to Jahannam must have come to India to train. Through the fence along the IB or by infiltrating through J&K. All infiltration that takes place is under the watchful eye of Pakistani regular troops. Knowing what these BLA guys were going to do after returning, they would never let them infiltrate in the first place. Therefore, no Indian involvement. Period.

These people could have infiltrated through Nepal, Myanmar, Bangladesh or through the sea and returned the same way. It would have cost time and money to execute that mission, unless this training would have been undertaken years ago. Therefore, India is out of it.

These BLA guys would have trained under some Indian training team in Afghanistan. Except for similarity in terrain, there is no train which runs in that country. To create such a big dummy train for target practice cannot go undetected. 3rd lie exposed.

The Indian Mission in Afghanistan has been withdrawn for a long time. Unless they trained under the US teams who left weapons for the Taliban, India is nowhere involved. Could TTA have trained the BLA? DG ISPR Saab, please find out.

Now the moment of truth. It is actually the Pakistan Army who are and have been training the BLA and other Balochi groups. Since the time the Baloch regiment, which is one of the oldest regiments, was raised, people of that region have been recruited as part of the Pak armed forces on a regular basis.

They are sons of the soil, know the terrain well and serve not only in the Baloch regiment but their Corps of Engineers which are masters of mine warfare and IEDs. They are taught to handle explosives besides firing all sorts of weapons and guns in their Arty and Air Defence Regiments. Some of them are Int Operatives too.

Besides this, the Balochi soldiers are part of their SSG commandos. A commando is trained to improvise explosives from materials available and blow-up things up. They are also masters of camouflage, concealment, and stealth.

For such well trained men, getting hold of a train is no big shake, where they knew the terrain, timings, halts, curves, blind spots, no mobile coverage areas, location of pickets, passenger manifest, et al.

Like we have the Balidan badge, where volunteer soldiers pledge to lay down their lives for the nation, so must be the case with the BLA “fidayeen”. By the way the motto of the Baloch Regiment is “Ghazi ya Shaheed” meaning “Victorious or Martyr”, which says it all.

These BLA activists are retired people from the forces, who have served as officers and other ranks. Many must have been instructors in various training establishments of the Pak Army. They have now joined the ranks of the BLA and are playing merry hell to get their genuine demands met at whatever cost.

So, my dear Pakistanis. We understand your hurry to shift the blame. My submission is to introspect and don’t shoot from your hip.

The solution to their problem is political, which is just doing lip service and politicians are subservient to the Army. Using brute military force may lead to devastating results.

There are rumours of mutiny and mass desertion about to happen in the Pak Army, which you guys are hiding.

If you want to keep Balochistan from separating, then rather blaming India, please revamp your approach towards that land and its people. Your bluff has been totally exposed. Will Pak ever understand? I wonder!!!!!!!