Extremism: Pakistan’s counter tactics against Baloch freedom movement

By Shahdad Baloch

One may wonder what prompted me to decline the claim of Pakistan that there is extremism in Balochistan, despite knowing the utmost reality that Pakistan is the godfather and mass-producing machinery of religious fanatics. Evidently, the news is gaining weight concurrently that, Christian and Shia community are sporadically being targeted in the heart of capital city of Balochistan – Quetta.

On 15, April two members of the Christian community were killed and three more were injured, including two girls after ‘Unknown’ gunmen opened indiscriminate firing in Isa Nagri in Quetta Balochistan. Two of the injured – Rashid Khalid and Azhar Iqbal – died on way to the hospital. But the shooters escaped en route despite the fact that entire Balochistan, particularly Quetta is a military garrison of Pakistan army. This is not the first time that Christians, Hindus and other non-Muslims have been targeted in Quetta city. On April 2, four members of a Christian family were gunned down in Quetta a day after the Christian community celebrated Easter on Sunday. Provincial police official Moazzam Jah Ansari said. “It was an act of terrorism,” This time also the target killers escaped safely.

The crux of Pakistan terrorism policy in Balochistan is to confuse the world against the Baloch national struggle for the freedom of Balochistan. Pakistan is pushing her terrorism doctrine just to confuse the global arena for her personal financial, military and strategic goals. The purport of the created doctrine is to divert the attention of international community and its media from freedom struggle of Balochistan towards the terrorism, and by diluting the genuine cause and sufferings of the Baloch nation in specific and Pashtuns in General which are imposed by the army of Pakistan.

The evident of which is the recent upsurge and resentment of Pashtuns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa against their harassment and enforced disappearances by Pakistani army from the time of mock Swat operation. Pakistan has taken a dual approach in Pashtun case; firstly Pakistan has portrayed the Pashtun nation as religious fanatics, Taliban and intolerant people, thereby creating a worldwide bad image for the Pashtun nation. Now when Pashtun realized the truth that Taliban are none but Pakistani army and their nurtured goons, which compel the Pashtun nation to raise voice against the duplicity of Pakistan, due to which the activists of PashtunTahafuz movement (PTM) are being abducted, labelled as the agent of RAW and NDS – again building a narrative that foreign hands are behind the PashtunTahafuz movement.

Likewise in Balochistan, Pakistan is trying her utmost effort to prevail the notion of extremism, tactic to counter Baloch national liberation struggle, but the Baloch nation is profoundly aware of the fact that the doctrine of extremism is Pakistan’s self-styled propaganda to diminish Baloch liberation struggle before the world and Western media. Like in the Pashtun belt, Pakistan is promoting Balochistan’s insurgency as religious oriented to gain her personal gains as she did in FATA, Swat and rest of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa where billions of dollars were poured in the pockets of military generals of the Pakistani army.

Baloch national leader Mr Hyrbyair Marri has reiterated on several forums that Pakistan is backing and producing religious extremists to gain the sympathy of the world. In his recent statement on social media, Mr Marri on the targeted killing of Christian community said: “Today’s attack on the member of the Christian community and the continuous persecution of other religious minorities exposes the real face of Pakistan – the state created on the basis of religious hatred. As long as the artificially created state, “Pakistan”, exists, such attacks and other heinous crimes against people of different faiths will continue. The world must take notice of Pakistan’s war crimes against the Baloch nation and its promotion of hatred toward Christians, Hindus and Shia minorities.”

From the statement, it is clear that the state of Pakistan is the promoter of extremism with different methodologies.

In different eras of Baloch liberation struggle, Pakistan has played different counter tactics to sabotage Baloch nationalism and struggle for free Balochistan. In the 70s keeping in view, the global politics Pakistan had played well with the capitalism and socialism ideologies to counter Baloch movement. When there was a rift within the Baloch politics as being socialist based freedom movement of Balochistan, Pakistan has penetrated her ISI sponsored Punjab based socialists within the Baloch movement to counter the liberation movement for an independent Balochistan and confuse the Baloch freedom seekers in the name of class struggle to weaken their national struggle.

Moreover, to curry the favour of the then USSR Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto convinced the Gorbachev’s regime that Pakistan would join the socialist block if USSR hands off from their support to the freedom movement of Balochistan. On contrary, Pakistan was working with capitalist block USA to diminish the USSR, by launching her sponsored jihadist extremist movement against the Soviet Union. Today once again Pakistan is playing with the same cards by introducing China to counter the USA in South Asia by intensifying her jihadist literature in the region with the backing of China.

But this time Baloch nation under the leadership of Mr Hyrbyair Marri has understood that Baloch nation’s ideological basis is based on patriotism and the struggle for freedom of Balochistan is patriotic, not socialist. Indeed Pakistan is trying her utmost effort to divert Baloch nationalism to socialism so that Pakistan might once again sabotage the movement through any probable deal with the socialist or capitalist block against any favour that might tilt in favour of the Baloch freedom movement. But the worrisome for Pakistan is “Baloch nationalism” ideology which is not possible for Pakistan to be negotiated with any regional or global power.

Due to this Pakistan is crying wolf that there is extremism in Balochistan because Pakistan is thoroughly aware of the fact that extremism and religious terrorism is global phenomenon, which might help Pakistan to put a notion before the world that her war on terror is being affected by Baloch insurgency in Balochistan, which would be helpful for her to use the influence of global powers against Baloch national liberation struggle.

Indeed in many localities of Balochistan Pakistan has provided safe havens to the Taliban and other extremist groups, from where they penetrate on the soil of Afghanistan and carry out their attacks on Afghan people. But the clandestine reality is that Pakistan is entertaining her terrorists with many benefits through Gwadar. It is reported that acres of land is being allotted to Hafiz Saeed and other religious goons around the coastal areas of Balochistan which are being considered as the protectors of Chinese nationals in Gwadar and adjoining areas. In a recent photograph on social media Chinese officials are seen with the members and head of Pakistan army-backed death squads confirm the Baloch claim that Pakistan and China a jointly promoting religious extremism in Balochistan to counter Baloch freedom struggle.

The world should ponder on the fact that Pakistan is launching her propaganda of extremism in Balochistan. The global arena should not mix extremism with the Baloch national liberation movement, which is Pakistan delusion based approach to confuse the world regarding Baloch freedom movement. Baloch nation is secular and peace-loving; there is no term ‘minority’ in Balochi literature because the Baloch nation has never segregated people on the basis of their faith and conducts. The articles (4 & 5) of Balochistan Liberation Charter confirm that an independent Balochistan would be a secular nation:

“Article: 4- The Baloch national struggle is a secular movement. It is for the separation of religion from state and politics. It is for the power of reason and in opposition to any religious and ideological dogma.

Article: 5- Freedom of religion, belief and expression are among the most fundamental rights of the citizens of Balochistan. Every individual is free to follow any religion or unorthodox belief provided that in so doing they do not impose their religion and belief and hence infringe the liberty of other people to believe the contrary.”