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WASHINGTON DC : A senator from Balochistan may face questioning by American law-enforcement agencies when he arrives in the U.S. next month to attend the convention of the Sindhi Association of North America in Houston, Texas.
Pro-Pakistan Senator Hasil Bizenjo, who has recently welcomed a drug kingpin in his party called the National Party, is among the confirmed guests at the conference of the Sindhi Association of North America on July 3 and July 4.
The controversial drug kingpin is wanted by the U.S. and his name surfaced in President Barack Obama's list of four wanted international drug barons in 2009.
The wanted drug kingpin, Imam Bheel, is also said to be financing the infamous Inter-Services Intelligence and supporting the military operations against the Baloch resistance in coastal Mekran division in Balochistan, according to Press reports in Balochistan media.
Bheel, who is tribeless Baloch and drug smuggler, was given the tribal status of "Bizenjo" by nationalist leader Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo, the late father of Senator Hasil Bizenjo.
Imam Bheel and his son Yaqub Bizenjo have hundreds of truckloads of supply of foreign Scotch whiskey -- a major weakness of Senator Bizenjo.
The Bizenjos have become total opportunitists since the death of late Mir Bizenjo and Senator Bizenjo has moved further towards the center under alleged influence of the Inter-Services Intelligence. In a recent talk with this correspondent, Senator Bizenjo denied any links with the I.S.I., but the Baloch resistance says inclusion of Imam Bheel, who is one of the main henchmen of the I.S.I. in Mekran, in the National Party speaks volumes.
According to a recent news report in Baloch Hal web newspaper, the Baloch Liberation Front (B.L.F.), an underground armed group struggling for the independence of Balochistan,criticised the National Party’s decision to welcome drug baron Imam Bheel aka Imam Baksh Bizenjo in the party's fold.
Imam Bheel and his son Yaqub Bizenjo, who is a member of the national assembly, are accused of providing information about the Baloch resistance hideouts to the Pakistan military and intelligence services. Imam Bheel is said to have donated Rs. 120 million, or $1.5 million, to fund the military operation in Mekran to capture Balochistan national hero Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch.
Dr. Allah Nazar Baloch, a former chairman of the Baloch Students Organization [Azad] is a folk hero and Robin Hood of Balochistan, though Pakistan military accuses him of terrorism.
Imam Bheel and his son are widely believed to have played a role in the abduction and killing of three prominent Baloch activists, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch, Lala Munir Baloch and Sher Mohammad Baloch. According to news reports, the Baloch resistance is said to have carried out a parcel bomb attack on Yaqub Bizenjo in retaliation for the killing of the three Baloch leaders in April last year.
In an unprecedented move, the U.S. embassy in Islamabad had condemned the killing of the three Baloch patriots.
The Baloch Hal quoted Doda Baloch, a spokesman for the B.L.F., as saying National Party was working for the interests of the Pakistani establishment on a new front by providing shelter to drug barons and child traffickers.
The Baloch resistance has been saying in the past that National Party was affiliated with the drug mafia; a charge denied by the party.
Doda Baloch said Senator Hasil Bizenjo and Dr. Abdul Malik used to wail that Imam Bizenjo was the establishment’s man and now they have welcomed him in the National Party proving themselves as stooges of the Pakistani establishment. Hasil Bizenjo is vice president and Malik Baloch the president of the National Party.
Senator Bizenjo is now likely to face the music when he arrives for the S.A.N.A. conference in Houston because of his links with Imam Bheel.
According to a White House Press rlease, On May 28, 2009, the President identified Daniel Rendon Herrera (Colombia), the Haji Juma Khan Organization (Afghanistan), Walid Makled Garcia (Venezuela), and Imam Bheel (Pakistan) as Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers as appropriate for sanctions under the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act (the "Kingpin Act").
This action underscores the President’s commitment to targeting the world’s top drug traffickers and trafficking organizations, particularly their financial infrastructures.
The Kingpin Act, which became law in 1999, targets significant foreign narcotics traffickers, their organizations, and associates who act on their behalf, denying them access to the U.S. financial system. Further, it prohibits all trade and transactions between the traffickers and U.S. companies and individuals, and immobilizes any assets they may have within U.S. jurisdictions. The Kingpin Act does not target the countries in which these foreign individuals and entity operate or the governments of such countries.
Since the naming of the first Significant Foreign Narcotics Traffickers pursuant to the Kingpin Act on June 1, 2000, a total of 82 persons or entities have been identified by the President for sanctions under the Act.
In May last year, because of the sensitive nature of the case in a letter to the chairmen and ranking members of House and Senate Committees on Armed Services and the Judiciary the chairmen and ranking members of the House Permanent Committee on Intelligence, the house committees on foreign affairs and on ways and means, the chair and vice chair of the senate select committee on intelligence, the chairmen and ranking members of the senate committees on finance.
Pakistan military has traditionally maintained close ties with drug smugglers to finance its intelligence operations.
According to Valeed Shaikh, the S.A.N.A. president, note intellectual Ram Jethmalani, who is member of the Indian Rajya Sabha and president of the Supreme Court Bar Association in India, is the chief guest at the Houston event. He said S.A.N.A. has booked 300 rooms at the Westin Galleria in Houston.
