Vanessa Thevathasan and Monomita Raksit - Baloch activists interviewed on the struggle for self-determination
A recent escalation in violence underscores the pressing
need for a human rights-based solution to the challenges, violations and
brutality faced by the Baloch people. Vanessa Thevathasan and Monomita Raksit recently
spoke with human rights and political activists, closely linked with the
International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, on the case for Balochistan
self-determination. For security reasons, the names of the activists have been
withheld.
Why are you pushing for self-determination for
Balochistan?
The Baloch nation is one of the most ancient in the region.
Baloch lived in their homeland for thousands of years and had their own
sovereign state until the arrival of the British in 1839. British colonialism
and subsequent Persian and Punjabi Muslim occupations of Balochistan are
illegal and immoral. Baloch has the same rights as any other free nation, to be
free from subjugation and to determine its own affairs and future. Freedom is
our most natural, inherent right. In its absence there will never be democracy,
stability, security and prosperity in the region.
Do you believe the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) is involved in the oppression of the Baloch people? Do you have any
evidence to support it?
From the day Eastern Balochistan was illegally occupied in
1948 it has effectively been under the direct control of Punjabi army and
security forces. After crushing the Baloch liberation movement in the 1970s,
they have steadily increased their power. ISI works in Balochistan openly. To
display their power they come in broad daylight, pick up whoever they wish to
pick up, take them wherever they wish, and kill them whenever they want. For
this reason, the state of Pakistan and army does not allow any independent
media or researcher to investigate the crimes against humanity in Balochistan.
The Pakistani high court has acknowledged the direct involvement of the ISI in
the abduction and disappearance of Baloch political and human rights activists.
But even the court could not do much about it.
In fact, many Pakistani spy agencies are involved in
Balochistan, including Military Intelligence, ISI and the Intelligence Bureau,
and all are involved in human rights violations. The fact that there are many
spy agencies in occupied Balochistan was accepted by current Pakistani Interior
Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan in a parliamentary speech, when he said “if so
many agencies, with so many resources, cannot handle the security situation
what else can our government provide them?”
What is your opinion of the more violent Baloch
separatist groups like the Baloch Liberation Army and the Baloch Republican
Army? How connected are they to you? Do you feel they help or hinder your work
with the International Voice for Baloch Missing
Persons?
We would object to phrases such as “violent Baloch
separatist groups.” First Baloch are not separatists. Baloch and Balochistan
have been there for thousands of years. We had an independent state from 1666
to 1839 when the British Imperial army invaded Balochistan and subsequently
divided it into three parts. Then Persian and Punjabi armies invaded our
homeland in the 1920s and 1940s, respectively. Nobody called the French, the
Dutch, the Czech and Polish resistance groups against the German fascist
invaders violent separatists. There are many Baloch resistance groups in
Balochistan who operate according to international law and Geneva conventions.
Every human being and nationality has the right of self defense and self
preservation. Nobody can deny these rights to us. We have no connection with
the groups you cite but as long as they operate within the parameters of
international law and humanity we will support them. Violence and exploitation
have been imposed on Baloch by invading armies, security forces, and their
fundamentalist jihadist proxies. We have the right to resist these invading
forces and push them out of our homeland.
What do you seek from the international community?
We want the international community to recognize our
inherent democratic rights. It should acknowledge that our homeland has been
occupied by foreign forces and we have the right to determine our own destiny
and future. We want the international community to send observers to
Balochistan to investigate the crimes against humanity committed by the
occupying states of Pakistan and Iran. They should put pressure on these states
and stop assisting them, financially or otherwise. They should make their support
conditional on human rights conventions and practices. We want all open and
democratic nations to be on our side but particularly European democracies, the
U.K., and the U.S.
How do you want to see the conflict in Balochistan
ending, realistically speaking?
The most humane and democratic option for Balochistan is the
Czechoslovakian solution. That is to let each nation go their own way and
become independent. Only free nations cooperate on the principle of mutual
interest and respect.
Is India supporting either you or the BLA/BRA groups?
No state is supporting the Baloch resistance movement. If we
had some support we would be liberated by now.
Are you aware of any Chinese or Iranian involvement in
this conflict?
Of course, as we said earlier Iran is directly involved and
the Iranian and Pakistani states work very closely to crush the Baloch
liberation movement. For example, Iranian forces arrested Mohammad Younus
Baloch , an activist. He was then handed over to Pakistani security forces, who
tortured and killed him. Pakistani forces arrested Abdul Hamid Regi (Abdolhamid
Rigi) and handed him over to the Iranian government. He was tortured and
hanged.
The Chinese are more interested in Balochistan’s natural
resources and strategic location. As long as Pakistan and Iran can protect
their interests they will support these regimes. Currently all of these
undemocratic regimes are working together against the Baloch. Pakistan has
signed many contracts with China for Balochistan natural resources. Nobody
knows what the Chinese are doing in Balochistan. The contracts were signed in
total secrecy between the Punjabi rulers and their Chinese counterpart. These
Chinese interests are highly guarded. So the Baloch have no knowledge of the
extent of exploitation of their natural resources and the revenue generated.
China is involved in several exploitation projects in Balochistan, namely the
Saindark Project and Kachchi Cabal Project.
Do you see many similarities between your struggle and
that of the Kurds or the Kashmiris?
The Kurds are our closest cousins. The Baloch liberation
movement is a secular democratic movement similar to that of the Kurdish
liberation movement.
What are your concerns regarding the recent escalation in
violence, which saw the death of journalist Irshad Mastoi and the attacks
on schools?
There has always been state violence in Balochistan and
Irshad Mastoi is not the first journalist to have been killed. Around 24
journalists from Balochistan have been killed by Pakistani security forces.
Some have been abducted and killed in custody while others were assassinated.
Our main concern as a nation is of course the occupation of our sovereign
country by Pakistan and the human rights violations that followed. Attacks on
schools are new. The Pakistanis are paranoid of Baloch children receiving an
education, especially in English, because they know that the more educated the
Baloch youth become the more they will be aware of their rights and the better
they will expose Pakistan’s crimes against humanity. That is why they are
trying to keep Baloch children away from education and knowledge.
Given what is taking place in Iraq with the takeover of
ISIS in the north and eastern part of Iraq, do you fear a similar fate in Balochistan
of it were to gain independence?
The short answer is no. The main threats to Balochistan
independence are from Pakistan and Iran. After the disintegration of these
colonial geopolitical structures, these establishments will be too weak and
poor so they will find it practically impossible to manage their own affairs
let alone muddle in the affairs of their neighbors. In contrast, the ISIS is a
reflection of the unresolved question of Arab nationalism and the ideology of
Islamic imperialism. For most Arabs, the division of their land into somewhat
arbitrary states is unacceptable and several attempts have been made since the
First World War to unify what they regard as their land. ISIS principles are
the same as those who are currently in charge of Balochistan. But the Baloch
way of life, culture, morals, and social values are in stark contrast to those
of ISIS and the theocratic colonial states of Pakistan and Iran.
Do you think a response of fighting extremism will
resonate with the international community, given that human rights issues in Balochistan
rarely feature in international news?
The extremism mess is actually created by Pakistan for its
own interests at the expense of other nationalities. We believe that Pakistan
is using Islamic fundamentalism as a tool for regional hegemony, as in
Afghanistan, Kashmir and other areas. Baloch culture is a strong frontier
against this extremism, that’s why we can see Pakistan trying its best to
radicalize our nation. The burning of schools and paving the way for state
funded madrasas is Pakistan’s strategy for countering the Baloch democratic
movement.
