The arrest of Abdul Malek Rigi by Sultan M Hali

Abdul Malek Rigi, the Jundullah leader, wanted by Iran has been arrested, as announced by Iranian media. Jundallah, which means “Soldiers of God” in Arabic, has operated since 2002 in the border area between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Jundallah comprising Balochis, from both Iran and Pakistan, was formed about seven years ago in the southeastern Iranian province of Sistan-Balochistan, on the border with Pakistan.
Many of Iran’s minority Sunni Muslims live there, and Rigi and Jundallah claimed to be fighting against the discrimination that Sunnis suffer in predominantly Shiite Iran stressing that their aim is to fight for Baloch economic and political rights in Iran’s marginalized southwest. They are set apart from other Baloch outfits active on the Pakistani side by their staunchly religious character. Jundallah may have as many as 1,000 militants. The group’s first alleged major action came five years ago in an attack on a motorcade carrying then-newly elected President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. There have been many attacks since, including a bombing last October that left 42 dead, including five senior commanders of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard. Tehran has been accusing some Pakistani forces of providing tactical support to the group. There are conflicting reports regarding Rigi’s arrest. According to Iranian state media, on February 22, Iranian agents allegedly intercepted him when he was on a flight bound for Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, from Dubai when the Iranians forced the plane to land at the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas. A day later, Iran’s Intelligence Minister Heydar Moslehi hailed Rigi’s arrest as proof of “the power of the Islamic Republic.” Interior Minister Mostafa Mohammad Najjar announced on state radio the same day that the government “had spread a dragnet and managed to capture him. He is now in the claws of justice.” A state-backed Iranian cinema institute has been asked to make a film re-enacting Rigi’s capture. It is still unclear how exactly Tehran managed to track Rigi’s presence in Dubai and his travel plans further. After the October 2009 terrorist attack, Iran had been pressurizing Pakistan to hand over Rigi to them, The Iranian authorities were informed that Abdul Malek Rigi was not in Pakistan. Piecing together various bits of information pertaining to the circumstances of Rigi’s arrest is difficult without independent confirmation. Three days after his arrest, on February 25, Iranian state television broadcast footage of a confession purportedly made by Rigi, saying that he was flying to Central Asia to meet with his American handlers at the U.S.-run Manas air base in Kyrgyzstan. Intelligence Minister Moslehi had already pointed his finger at Washington and the hand of the CIA, claiming to have evidence that Rigi was earlier housed at a U.S. base in Afghanistan and set up with fake documentation by the Americans. U.S. officials as well as British diplomats in Tehran have denied any links to Rigi. According to USA’s National Public Radio NPR, “Asked about Rigi’s confession, a spokesperson for the CIA said claims coming out of Iran on this are nonsense.”On the other hand, Pakistan, which has bent backwards to eradicate terrorism and extremism from its soil has often been unduly blamed for “not doing enough”. At times there are allegations of favouring one group of extremists over another. When Pakistani Army and security agencies cracked down on the center of terror in Swat, there were demands of action against the terrorists holed up in the Waziristan region. Swat was a major and complex battle against insurgency and took a heavy toll of lives—both civilian and security forces. Hundreds of thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from Swat were forced to find refuge in safer climes, abandoning their homes and hearth. It goes to the credit of the Army and state agencies like the Special Support Group that the IDPs were enabled to return home after a displacement of only two months. Once the Army commenced its operations against the terror groups hiding in South Waziristan, there were immediate cries from the west for taking action against the terrorists in North Waziristan. It may be remembered that no invader has ever returned successfully from operations in Waziristan over the centuries. Instead of fully appreciating Pakistan’s victory and the success in the demanding and intricate operations in the rugged and inhospitable terrain, there were accusations that Pakistan was demurring in taking action against the Afghan Taliban as it wanted to maintain good relations with them in the post NATO/US scenario in Afghanistan. Even now Pakistan’s efforts are being described as “work in progress”. These objections and observations are coming from force commanders, who have not much success to boast of. Pakistan Army and the security forces must be having a lot of patience. Besides exterminating thousands of terrorists, apprehending and handing over hundreds of the wanted miscreants to international agencies, in addition to sacrificing own armed forces personnel; they have even arrested and brought to book members of the Afghan Taliban leadership too. At the same time, the people of Pakistan have a lot to complain of. Ever since Pakistan became an ally in the war against terror, it is the ordinary citizens who have been suffering; innocent victims of terror attacks; civilians killed as collateral damage; children abducted for ransom by the terror merchants. They have been bearing the trial and tribulation patiently. If on top of it they have to listen to demands of “Do More!” they must be truly exasperated and hurt with the salt in their wounds. Let us take the case of Abdul-Malek Rigi; Iran had been expressing and directing a lot of its ire at Pakistan for the loss of lives in the October 2009 attack. The loss of innocent lives is always a major human tragedy; however some of this incense and angst appeared to be oblivious of the sufferings of the people of Pakistan, who have been inflicted upon more attacks than anywhere else in the current history. Now that Mr. Rigi has been apprehended and locked away, perhaps Iran owes the people and government of Pakistan an apology for its earlier outburst.

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