Partnership with Iran and Pakistan Will Be Considered Complicity in Baloch Genocide: Hyrbyair Marri

LONDON: The head of the Free Balochistan Movement and Baloch national leader, Hyrbyair Marri, stated to the media that not only has Iran enslaved the Baloch people, but it is also carrying out a genocide in Iranian Occupied Balochistan (IOB) with continued intensity.

Baloch national survival and identity are at stake due to Iran’s actions. In this context, any agreement made by any country with Iran regarding Balochistan’s resources is invalid and not recognised by the Baloch nation.

It should be noted that a few days ago, India signed a ten-year agreement, investing one hundred and twenty million dollars in infrastructure in the coastal city of Chabahar in Iranian-occupied Balochistan, along with a line of credit of fifty-two million dollars.

The Baloch leader further said that India should support the Baloch national struggle for freedom. He highlighted that, like India, Balochistan was also colonised by the British Empire and subsequently divided between Iran and other regions. The British Empire also directly supported Pakistan in occupying the eastern part of Balochistan, referred to as Pakistan Occupied Balochistan (POB).

He compared the current struggle of the Baloch to India’s situation before 1947 when the British Empire enslaved the Indian nation and severed a part of United India, naming it Pakistan. Although India has given up its cut off part, the Baloch nation remains sensitive about every inch of their land and will thwart any attempt to harm it.

The Baloch leader criticised India for supporting Iran’s exploitative actions in Balochistan, thereby aligning with Iran’s oppression and tyranny against the Baloch nation. He emphasised the contradiction in India’s stance, which claims to be a friend and well-wisher of the Baloch nation while simultaneously supporting the occupying power Iran against Baloch.

He explained that India prefers the Chabahar port in Iranian Occupied Balochistan to avoid using Pakistan’s land route and its associated challenges including smooth delivery of its good to Central Asian markets via Afghanistan. However, in doing so, India has disregarded the position and importance of the Baloch in this agreement.

The Baloch have never accepted Pakistani and Iranian aggression and occupation, and they continue to struggle and make sacrifices against these occupiers. Hyrbyair Marri reiterated that the Baloch will not accept any political or commercial agreement with the Iranian occupying government.

He noted that China, too, has exploited Balochistan’s coastal belt against the will of the Baloch nation, investing billions of dollars in Gwadar to plunder resources and improve military movements, which the Baloch nation rejected.

He urged India to consider the Baloch struggle and political resistance against the occupiers before making such agreements. Despite India’s political and economic interests, the Baloch cannot allow any country to enter into agreements or political partnerships with those committing genocide and destroying their national identity. India should remember that both Iran and Pakistan are eternal enemies of the Baloch nation and cooperate against it.

Detailing Iran’s atrocities, Mr. Marri mentioned that during the 1970s, Iran assisted Pakistan in crushing Baloch resistance by sending its Air Force and pilots. Last year, Iranian forces martyred hundreds of Baloch in Zahedan, the capital of Iranian Occupied Balochistan, by opening indiscriminate fire on peaceful protesters who were raising their voices against Iranian state atrocities in Balochistan.

Additionally, ordinary Baloch people face daily arrests, public hangings on false charges, abductions, torture, and their decomposed bodies are often found dumped across Balochistan.

Hyrbyair Marri concluded that these atrocities are a direct result of the Baloch land being occupied and the Baloch nation’s fight against fascist states like Iran. In this situation, India’s support for the Iranian state implies alignment with Iran’s brutalities and the genocide of the Baloch nation.

Therefore, any country that partners with Iran and Pakistan against Baloch national interests will be considered complicit in the crimes against the Baloch nation.