Another attempt of deception

By Rindani Gutt

Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan announced his carrot initiative yesterday in Gwadar coastal city saying that he is considering talking with the “Baloch insurgents” in Balochistan, “the government would pay attention to Balochistan because when the province progressed and there was peace, Balochistan’s people would “understand that Pakistan is also theirs. And in line with PM’s announcement, Fawad Chaudhary, the Federal Minister for Information said that they’re going to determine the agenda for dialogue with Baloch nationalists added that they have also broken the Indian network in Balochistan with great success”.

Both Imran Khan and his media minister Fawad Chaudary say that “India is involved in Balochistan’s unrest”. In the same breath, they also say that Baloch people are aggrieved because previous governments neglected Balochistan. However, both have failed to tell Baloch and the world as well who should be blamed for Balochistan’s insurgency – India for its involvement or the Pakistani state for neglecting Balochistan?

At the same time, Army Chief of Pakistan Gen Qamar thundered with “stick” on Tuesday during a so-called National Workshop Balochistan held at the General Headquarters of Pakistan army saying that “security forces would remain steadfast to defeat elements against the province’s stability while terming “peace and prosperity in Balochistan as “the bedrock of Pakistan’s progress”.

The bedrock of Pakistan’s progress in Balochistan is the shabby condition of Turbat city of Balochistan where the Pakistan Navy’s second Headquarters are located. This city of Turbat is also divisional headquarters of three big districts including Gwadar, Kech and Punjgor districts inhabited by 2.5 million people. Despite being the second largest city of Balochistan after Quetta, Turbat city, apart from having a borrowed electricity supply from Iran which now cut off, has no sewerage system, no clean water system, no proper hospital, no internet system and municipality service!

So, what made Imran Khan announce such a step to talk with Baloch insurgents? If we see all these hallow announcements of Imran Khan in the context of current geopolitics of the region and the withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan, we find that Pakistan military establishment is trying to ward off or pre-empt the possible foreign interventions in occupied Balochistan by making it appear that Balochistan’s insurgency is a local issue and it can be resolved by internal efforts. Besides that, they’ll also attempt to draw a wedge between pro-freedom leaders of different organizations. Anwer Sajjidi, the chief editor of Inthekhab Akhbar, has already started that Kare –Khair- the noble task.

There is no buyer of Imran Khan’s offer of dialogue among Baloch insurgents, even those Baloch who’re still sticking with Pakistani politics for democratic rights don’t take seriously Imran Khan’s words for meaningful dialogue, let alone the armed insurgents who have taken on a gigantic task of dislodging Pakistan army from Balochistan and restore the lost sovereignty of the Baloch nation. They believe that the current government of Imran Khan is a selected stooge of a powerful army and used for eye washing and deception

The relationship between Pakistan and Baloch pro-independent forces is fraught with distrust. Pakistani rulers – always dominated by Punjabi army generals – have always sought to deceive, intimidate and subjugate Baloch patriots into submission one way or another over the last 73 years;  while the pro independent Baloch forces resisting all Pakistani attempts of deception, intimidation and subjugation have never relented in their attempts to restore their lost sovereignty over their homeland Balochistan.

 Those Baloch who several times explored the democratic avenue of struggle with public mandates for equal status in the federal system within Pakistani framework after losing Balochistan’s independence to Pakistani aggression, miserably exhausted parliamentary character of politics in the face of intrigues of dominant Punjabi ultra-nationalism and concluded that Pakistani rulers can only understand the language of ‘power of power’, so they picked up arms and take to the rigid mountains of Balochistan for resistance. 

 The current indigenous Baloch armed Insurgency, for the liberation of Balochistan, initiated by Hyrbyair Marri in 1996, has registered the fact that this insurgency has the general public support, otherwise, given the Pakistan army’s disproportionate aggression against the Baloch public in the form of collective punishment in a blanket media blackout, it would have vanished away a  long time ago. 

The Baloch insurgents from rigid mountains of Kohlu Kahan to far plunged Mand tehsil have engaged almost 300,000 Pakistan army troops and paramilitary forces in the vast terrace of Balochistan for prolonged guerrilla warfare for almost 23 years.  This war has over-stretched Pakistani forces across Balochistan which’s visible signs show that Pakistani forces’ war morale is fairly low in occupied Balochistan. A video clip of a recent attack on the Pakistan army shows how demoralized Pakistan army troops are when the Baloch insurgents run over a mountain top army outpost and capture it without any resistance from the Pakistani army! So it’s fair to say that Baloch patriots are still not in a hurry to rush for a fruitless dialogue with Pakistani rulers as the Baloch insurgents are in a better position for sustaining their struggle for independence of their motherland, Balochistan.