What is the Good of Pakistan to Baloch?

By Archen Baloch
For Baloch the meaning of “struggle for rights” has changed to a sense of stupidity altogether. To Baloch, the characters of Pakistani parliamentary politics and peaceful street protests have always been a perpetual curse of 68 years’ self-deception that bore nothing except misery and deprivation. The objective question underlined here marks Pakistan’s nasty relation with Baloch – What is the good of Pakistan to Baloch?
Despite being one of the world richest lands, Balochistan is amongst poorest nations on earth. This sentence contains question marks, therefore, Instead of citing the abysmal social indicators of our society; let us ask the fundamental questions that might help us to reach to a conclusion about the future of Baloch nation with Pakistan. In first place, Why Pakistan kept and contained Baloch in abject poverty despite being the owners of one of the richest lands on earth? Why Baloch should be on perpetual struggle for rights when Pakistan says they’re a part of Pakistan? Now that Pakistan has pushed them to the point of Survival Struggle, let alone the struggle for their rights, the best option for them, instead of perpetual struggle for rights, is to restore their sovereignty which they lost to Pakistani aggression in 1948.
If depriving someone of one’s rights is a crime, then Pakistani state has been committing this to Baloch nation since 1948 to date. Then don’t you think Pakistani state deserves to be punished for its crimes? What about dragging it to International Court of Justice in Hague for suppressing Baloch rights? If the hearing of Baloch case in International Court of Justice in Hague is not acceptable then what about Islamic sharia law which says “May Allaah curse the thief who steals an egg and has his hand cut off, or steals a rope and has his hand cut off.” [Al-Bukhaari]. Whereas Pakistan, as it calls itself a so called “Islamic State”, has been stealing Baloch natural resources for the past 68 years. Now in the light of Islamic Sharia Law Baloch reserve the rights to cut them free from Pakistani clutch as it has committed thievery in Balochistan.
It isn’t the case that Baloch didn’t struggle for rights within Pakistani ambit.
During 68 years’ occupation, there were many occasions when Baloch leadership resigned to Pakistani federalism and explored every avenue of democratic ways and means to gain the control of their own natural resources and be the master of their own fates. But Pakistan army, led by ultra-nationalist Punjabi Generals, has never reciprocated the genuine overtures of Baloch leaders for a graceful settlement.
Despite illegal occupation and years of despotic military rules since its inception, in 1973 when Pakistan army gave way to democratic process, Baloch leadership too welcomed it and participated in that process and with an overwhelming majority formed a provincial government. However, as soon as Baloch leadership asserted itself as provincial authority and started owning the natural resources, the federal government, led by Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto – the frightful Punjab army snob – dismissed it and imposed a governor rule at the behest of the army and civil bureaucrats on a miserable excuse of arms recovery at Iraqi embassy in Islamabad.
Then the Baloch rebelled and took to mountains and started a guerrilla war against Pakistani armed forces to restore their lost sovereignty to Pakistani aggression instead running after mirage. During that war, civil population was the main target of Pak army. People were abducted and killed in the dark dungeons of military torture cells, and in some cases they were thrown from high flying helicopters or made to walk blindfolded to the edges of the high mountain cliffs and then the fall into pieces.
Again, in 1988 when Gen Zia’s mysterious death gave way to democratic process in Pakistan, this time too Baloch tried their luck and participated in the general elections; the nationalists won the provincial elections, however, when they were about to form a government, the entire provincial election results were turned null and void by so called federation’s appointed governor, later, the apex court dismissed governor order and restored the election results.
At last, when the new provincial government was formed by Nawab Akber Khan Bugti, the bureaucracy in Islamabad, supervised by GHQ in Rawalpindi, did all that it could to turn Nawab’s government a failure. Later on this government too was toppled within a year by GHQ’s top pointed men in the assembly by withdrawing their supports. Dr Malik and Akhter Mengal were the main suspects of that dirty game.
During Nawaz Sharif’s second terms of office, the elder Baloch leaders, Nawab Bugti and Sardar Ataulla Khan Mengal with considerable Baloch mandate visited Islamabad and hoped that the past mistakes would be regretted by Nawaz government, as he was a Punjabi representative, and Baloch good will gesture will be recognized with genuine intention and their representation would be ensured by offering them one of the key posts, either the presidential slot or the senate’s chairmanship. But as usual, the Punjabi elite, as arrogant as ultra-nationalist, could not come up to Baloch expectations. The Baloch leaders returned home empty handed. Do you know what impact it had on Baloch sociopolitical psyche?
When Gen Pervez Musharraf came in power through a military coup, he started Gwadar Deep Sea Mega Project with huge China’s financial help; but it threatened Baloch demographic setup. For, this project’s implications for Baloch identity as existential threat were immense and the prospects of the influx of non-Baloch to Gwadar and the surrounding areas were beyond imagination! It gave a new reason to armed struggle which begun in 1999 when the prospects for democratic settlement were rather dim due to Gen Pervez led military takeover in Islamabad.
To begin with, in March 2005, the genuine Baloch leaders Nawab Akber Khan Bugti, Balach Marri and Gulam Mohammed presented 15 point of demand titled, Saving of Resources and Coast – for consideration as to how avoid the conflict from going to conflagration, so that the decades old conflict is resolved peacefully. The main demands were including a stop to Gwadar Deep Sea project as it had threatened Baloch demographic setup on their own soil, the second demand was to stop building military cantonments in Sui and other areas of Balochistan and third demand called upon Islamabad to remove all military check-posts across Balochistan. Now Instead of heeding to genuine Baloch demands, the khaki-man, Gen Musharraf thundered and said “I will hit you [the Baloch leaders] in a way that you don’t know what hit you”.
The above precedents of Baloch acquiesce to democratic process for rights show that democratic gestures were also not acceptable to Punjab led Pakistan. Though, Baloch did their best to reconcile with Pakistani federal system, but ultra-nationalistic whim of Punjab left no stone unturned in aliening Baloch to utter dismay. Even in 2009, Baloch Liberation Army declared a unilateral ceasefire to give peace a chance. This was too squandered.
From Pakistani side, the answer to Baloch question is RAW. There hardly goes a day by in Pakistani media when RAW is not blamed for Balochistan’s insurgency. Pakistani media, hardly reports the daily occurrence of events related to human rights abuses, has become the mouthpiece of state narratives specifically designed to exonerate Pakistan of its state crimes it sponsored and committed in Balochistan with great impunity thereby shifting the blame on India.
To assess the extent of Pakistani state crimes in Balochistan, one needs not go far away. As recently as yesterday, Pakistan army gifted six mutilated dead bodies to Baloch mothers, they were found in Mashky and Hub town of Balochistan. Four bodies of previously abducted Baloch have been thrown from a helicopter in Gujar area of Mashky. According to Balochwarna.com reports “The victims have been identified as Fida Baloch resident of Gujar Mashky who was reportedly abducted from his university hotel in Khuzdar on March, 23, 2014, Adeel Iqbal Baloch resident of Faizabad Khuzdar, Abdul Qayum Baloch resident of Goharabad Quetta and Abdul Mohim resident of Nasirabad Kech Balochistan”.
Finally – being inspired by sophisticated Pakistani coin of Amen-Ki-Aasha – I would like to suggest to Indian government that the Indo-Pak joint statement in 2009 in Sharm el Sheikh on Balochistan issue provides a sound reason to India to ask Pakistan a favor if it allows Indian civil society members, comprising journalists, lawyers, actors, philanthropists and the parliamentarians to visit Balochistan and assess the ground realities themselves as to who is running Balochistan affairs, who is calling the shots, and who is behind Balochistan insurgency – India or Pakistani barbarism?

Archen Baloch is a freelance Balochistan journalist in English, Balochi and Urdu languages. he regularly contribute articles tobalochwarna.com on Balochistan issue besides reporting the daily events taking place in volatile Balochistan.

Besides this, he also do blogging, http://archenspeaks.blogspot.com/ and translation from Urdu and Balochi languages into English language.