Muhammad Akbar Notezai - The Balochistan Cauldron – Short History of a Long Conflict that now involves China and soon, India
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and mineral rich province
has been burning since 1947, at times piece by piece, at times wholesale.
Problems facing Balochistan have never been addressed by any government to
date. Now, when Baluchistan has its first middle-class Chief Minister, Dr.
Malik Baloch, dumped bodies of “missing persons”, Hazaras’ genocide, and the
exodus of Hindus and Christians goes on unabated.
When a new government was formed last summer, Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif had an opportunity to bring the dissident Baloch to the
negotiating table. However, instead of visiting Balochistan, Mr. Sharif,
accompanied by the Chief Minister of Balochistan visited China
with the aim of handing over Gwadar-Port and the Reko Diq project to the
Chinese authorities.
As a result the Baloch people lost hope that the new
government would remedy their problems. Regarding their current visit to China,
Baloch believe the purpose is to exploit their resources with the collaboration
of China. On the other hand Baloch nationalists say that Islamabad is not
interested in the Baloch people; that they are only interested in the resources
of the Baloch people. Because of this the Baloch people are alienated from
Islamabad.
After coming to power, Mr. Sharif thought that he had
resolved the Baloch issue when he appointed a middle-class Baloch nationalist
to the position of Chief Minister of Balochistan. In doing so he failed to
understand Balochistan’s on the ground realities. From the start he had the
opportunity to recover the Baloch “missing’ persons” and stop the fifth
military operation in the province. But he did not do so. On the contrary,
atrocities against the Baloch people, including the Hazaras, have increased.
Dawn’s recent report stated that 592 “mutilated” bodies have
been recovered over the past three years. Most of the dead bodies were found in
Quetta, Kalat, Khuzdar and the volatile Makran belt. Most of the dead bodies
are Baloch political workers.
The Governor of Balochistan, Mohammad Khan Achakzai, from
the PKMAP (Pakhtun-Khwa Milli Awami Party), says he does not know if a military
operation is going on in Balochistan. In the past, PKMAP opposed military
operation in the province. To understand the Baloch issue, we must look at its
five conflicts.
Since independence Islamabad has openly come into conflict
with the Baloch insurgents five times: 1948-52, 1958-60, 1962-69, 1973-77 and
2004.
First Conflict:
On August 15, 1947, one day after Pakistan was formed, the
Khan of Kalat declared Kalat’s independence. The independent status of Kalat
was affirmed by the Pakistan Muslim League several times. In spite of this the
“princely state” in Balochistan was invaded on April 1, 1948. The Khan’s
brother, Prince Abdul Karim and his militia of 700 resisted this invasion but
were crushed.
Second Conflict:
The second conflict broke out in 1958 when Islamabad merged
the four provinces into “One Unit” to counter the strength of East Pakistan
(which later became Bangladesh). Subsequently a large “anti-one unit” movement
erupted in the Mir Ghat Mountains of Balochistan, led by the chief of the Zehri
tribe, Nawab Nauroz Khan Zehri, along with his militia of 1000 men. After that Nawab Zehri was sworn in by the army on a Quranic
oath. He surrendered in May, 1959. Ultimately promises were broken and he was
imprisoned along with his relatives. His relatives including his sons were
hanged and he died in jail.
Third Conflict:
The third conflict began in 1962 when the central government
announced their intention to establish military bases in Balochistan.
Resistance to this was continued by Sher Mohammad Marri. The conflict ended
with a cease fire agreement that the Balochs would be given greater autonomy.
Again promises were not kept and a fourth bloody conflict
arose in 1973.
Fourth Conflict:
This conflict was triggered when Balochistan’s elected NAP
(National Awami Party) government was dissolved by Zulfiqar Ali Butto. At the time,
all the key Baloch leaders, including Sardar Attah Ullah Mengal, Nawab Akbar Khan
Bugti, Mir Ghous Baksh Bizenjo and Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, were put behind bars. Prime Minister Bhutto alleged that the government in
Balochistan had colluded with Iraq and the Soviet Union to separate Balochistan
from both Pakistan and Iran.
Pakistani authorities claimed that a cache of 300 Soviet
Union sub-machine guns and 48, 000 rounds of ammunition, intended for Baloch
leaders, were found in the house of the Iraqi-Defense Attaché in Islamabad. It
was subsequently revealed that the arms had actually been in Karachi and were
meant for Iranian Balochs in retaliation against Iran’s support to Iraqi Kurds.
It was revealed that the Iraqi Defense Attaché collaborated with Iranian and
Pakistan intelligence agents, staging the arms exposure to put pressure on the
Iranians.
Therefore in 1973, the Shah of Iran, aided and supported
Pakistan by providing US-Cobra helicopters along with pilots to shell and crush
the Baloch guerillas in the Marri Mountains. It is also to be noted that during this conflict well known
socialist figures and journalists, like Asad Rehman, Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur,
Dilip Das, Rashed Rehman, Ahmed Rashid and Najam Sethi joined the Baloch. They
fought with Baloch guerillas against the Pakistani army. Dilip Das and Najam
Sethi were arrested. Sethi was released, but Dilip Das was tortured to death in
a military run dungeon. The situation normalized in 1977 when General Zia-ul-Haq in
1977 deposed Zulfiqar Ali Butto and granted general amnesty to the Baloch key
leaders and their warring tribesmen.
Fifth Conflict:
The fifth and current conflict began to take shape in the
late 1990s. It was spurred on in 2004 when a female physician was raped by an
army officer in Dera Bugti. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti reacted strongly and demanded
punishment for the rapists as the physician was in his “Bahot” (protection). No
one heeded his demand. On the contrary the army shelled Dera Bugti. In response
Baloch guerillas fired rockets at General Parvez Musharraf’s helicopter in
Kohlu, Balochistan.
This conflict was fuelled in August 26, 2006, when Nawab
Bugti was assassinated in Taratani’s mountains in a military assault. His
assassination tremendously changed the circumstances of Balochistan. A full
army operation began in the province. The Baloch activists went missing.
Members of the provincial and national assemblies of the
Balochistan National Party, headed by Sardar Akhter Jan Mengal, resigned in
protest against the operation and to condemn Nawab Bugti’s assassination. They
held massive rallies in Balochistan against Bugti’s killing. Sardar Akhter Mengal
was jailed. He was released when PPP (Pakistan People’s Party) came to power in
2008.
Under the Musharraf regime, Balach Marri, the son of prominent
Baloch leader Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, was killed on 21 November 2001. The
repression went on even after Gen Musharraf was deposed. Three prominent Baloch
nationalists, Ghulam Mohammad Baloch (Baloch National Movement),
Lala Munir Baloch (Baloch National Front) and Sher Mohammad Baloch (Baloch
Republican Party) were killed. Now when Muslim League is in power, repression
as usual goes on.
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