Failed Assassination Attempt on the Leaders of Baloch Yakjehti Committee

By Shahzavar Karimzadi

The Baloch liberation movement has entered a new phase in its history, marked by mass protests and the leadership of Baloch women. The colonial rulers have so far deployed every criminal means imaginable to crush and hold back the Baloch freedom struggle, but to no avail.

One of their criminal schemes has been to turn Baloch against Baloch. A typical example of such acts was the recent failed assassination attempt on Baloch political and human rights leaders. The details of this calculated scenario are as follows: On July 26, 2024, Sarfraz Bugti, the henchman of the Punjabi army of Pakistan (currently serving as the Chief Minister of Balochistan) in Balochistan’s bogus parliament, said that “we have full intelligence report … that BLA (Baloch Liberation Army) will be exploding a bomb in Gwadar gathering.”

Sarfraz was referring to the Baloch Raaji Muchi (Baloch National Gathering) in Gwadar, which was held on Sunday, July 28, 2024. The Pakistani army, along with political, religious, and commercial establishments, employed every means at their disposal to prevent this gathering. Despite all obstacles, the rally went ahead, with tens of thousands of Baloch men, women, and children participating in this historic event.

During the time when Baloch political and human rights activists were delivering their speeches, the organisers of the rally became suspicious of two individuals trying to approach the stage. These two armed individuals, identified as Waleed and Islam, were detained, and they confessed that they had been trained and sent by Pakistani Military Intelligence (MI) to assassinate the leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, particularly Dr. Mahrang Baloch and Sammi Deen Baloch.

Political assassination is embedded in the DNA of Pakistan’s colonial theocratic structure. That comes as no surprise. What is less obvious in this failed assassination attempt is the tactic of Baloch killing Baloch, orchestrated by the Punjabi Muslim coloniser of Balochistan. This barbarous conduct is adopted by the vilest regimes, like the Islamic regimes of Pakistan and Iran, against their political opponents, particularly targeting political and human rights activists of their subjugated nations.

Sarfraz Bugti’s bogus warning that the BLA would attack the meeting was merely a choreographed attempt to conceal their criminal plan. The assassination plot was premeditated, with Sarfraz being one of its principal masterminds. In such a criminal conspiracy, the perpetrators are often selected from the most ignorant, impoverished, and delinquent sections of society. Unbeknownst to these thugs, after they commit the crime, they are likely to be arrested, tortured, and forced to confess to being something they are not. In the case of these two Baloch youths, Waleed and Islam, if they had succeeded in their crime, they would have been arrested and forced to confess that they were members of the BLA. Such individuals are usually eliminated by their sponsors when they are no longer needed.

Meanwhile, the colonial rulers would launch a propaganda campaign to create a rift among the Baloch, claiming that Baloch kill Baloch and that they have arrested and punished the perpetrators of the crime. In such heinous scenarios, the only victims are the Baloch. On one hand, we lose the most conscientious and informed members of our society; on the other hand, we are blamed for their criminal acts. Sarfraz Bugti’s speech is of this nature—it was deliberate and part of a premeditated plan. Fortunately, he and his masters’ plan failed. Had it succeeded, they would have claimed, “we told you so” about the BLA plan. This is just one of many barbaric policies of colonial rulers that we must not lose sight of, and we must pay due attention to defeating our enemies’ criminal schemes. The colonial rulers use every dirty and inhumane trick to divide us and continue their colonial rule, but our unity means the end of their domination.