Balochistan is no less than Palestine

By Sadiq Raisani Advocate

Pakistan and Iran have been continuously carrying out genocide of Baloch people in the illegal occupation of Balochistan in 1928 and 1948 respectively.  Since the Baloch genocide is committed by so-called Muslim states, there is no outcry from the “Muslim World” or the OIC.

There is no day that Baloch people end their day without shouldering the dead bodies of their loved ones in both parts of occupied Balochistan. The continuous falling dead bodies of the Baloch, however, do not make headlines to the world media and neither do the champions of human rights gather in Western capitals to protest against Pakistan and Iran’s crimes against humanity.

As the late American scholar, Selig S Harrison wrote in an article in 2006, “The slow-motion genocide being inflicted on Baluch tribesmen in the mountains and deserts of south-western Pakistan does not yet qualify as a major humanitarian catastrophe compared with the slaughter in Darfur or Chechnya.” This, unfortunately, still remains the case for Balochistan.

The Israel-Palestine conflict has exposed the double standard of many states and state actors i.e. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan continues the genocide of the Kurds in Kurdish regions in Turkey, Syria, and Iraq but then has the audacity to shed crocodile tear on the plight of Palestinians.  

Similarly, Pakistan is responsible for the genocide of Bengalis in 1971 when the people of former East Pakistan demanded independence and waged a liberation struggle. The international community’s ignorance to acknowledge the genocide of Bengali people emboldened the Pakistani state to repeat the same crimes in occupied Balochistan.

The atrocities and black deeds that these states have committed are recorded in the pages of history. Just one year before the genocide of Bengalis, General Zia-ul-Haq played a major in September 1970 attack on Palestinians in Jordan. The September 1970’s operations by Jordan and supported by Zai of Pakistan killed around 25,000 Palestinians – in Palestine that September is remembered as Black September. Yet, today Pakistanis not only ignore the genocide of Bengalis and Black September but they criminally justify such crimes and continue the same in Balochistan.

In 1973 – 1977 Pakistan army committed atrocities against Baloch liberation struggle and killed over 10,000 Baloch including in a major offensive in Chamalang valley of Balochistan in Kohistan Marri region in 1974 in which Pakistan army bombed and strafed 15,000 Baloch families. In these operations Iran’s shah also supported Pakistan’s crimes against Baloch nation by providing gunship helicopters along with Iranian pilots.

In the same manner, Iran has destroyed Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Palestine through its nurtured proxies for power gain and sectarian dominance in the region.

Iran also brutally suppresses the voices of Baloch, Kurds, Al-Ahwazi Arab, Turks of South Azerbaijan and others. The recent escalation of the execution of Baloch and Kurdish activists, target killing and shooting dead of Baloch ‘Sokhtbar’ fuel trader and Kurdish ‘Kolbars’ border traders is yet another example of Iran’s state crimes against occupied nations.  

Despite war crimes and crimes again humanity against oppressed and occupied nation including Balochistan, Kurdistan, Al-Ahwaz and other, Pakistan, Iran and Turkey trying to act the champion of the Muslim world only to hide their black deeds and ugly face in the name of Palestine.  

No matter how much one tries to hide oneself in the shroud of religion, history will not let them go without being held accountable for their crimes.