Balochistan
Baloch freedom and national rights
are being deprived by their powerful
neighbours.
During 19th century
and rules" policy among
geo-strategical
importance Balochistan has been used as buffer zone.
British
empire wanted to stop the threat
and expansion of the former super power (Soviet
Union) into
size of
reserves and natural resources like
the
are fighting to defend their land
and struggling for their political and
economical rights. Both powerful
regimes of
suppressing the Baloch
struggle. But Baloch are not ready to give up their
ancestral land and their rights.
Let me briefly explain the history of Balochistan
and then find out why Baloch
are up at arms?
Balochistan has never been part of
century the British Chief Commissioniare Maj. Genral
Gold-Smith was given the
task of dividing Balochistan into Easter and Western parts. Western part of
Balochistan was given to
1. Please
2. Keep
3. Compensate
4. And mostly to keep
All These agreements were done by the
consideration the history,
geography, culture, language and Baloch nation as a
whole. Ignoring
the Baloch peoples' wishes. 1872
disputing over Seistan
which is part of
however, ended with the partition
of Seistan between
In 1947, when British rule ended and sub-continent was
divided, Eastern
Balochistan emerged as an
independent State. On
Kalat declared the independent of Balochistan and Mr. Jinnah,
founder of
The clause # 1 of the agreement reads, "
Governement of Pakistan recognized
Kalat as an independent and
autonomous status has been different than the other
Indian states.( Author of "The
Problem of Greater Balochistan By Dr. Inayatullah
Baloch PHD.)
The New York Times reported " under
the agreement,
an independent sovereign state with
a status different than other
Indians.states" and the next
day Times printed a map of Kalat (Balochistan)
as
an independent state.
Geographically Balochistan is the
largest province while population wise it's
the smallest which is located in
the
coast where 40% of the world oil
passes through its long coastal routes.
Balochistan is the central
Balochistan is the only province
which links the other three provinces of
in
openly says " Without Balochistan
the most backward province among
three other provinces and it's the most
neglected frontyard
for
population is living below the
poverty line. "According to the report of United
Nation sponsered agencies in Balochistan, their report show and I quote
"
[Balochistan] is below the
recognized standard of illiteracy in many of the
third world countries."
(Author of "A Socio-Cultural and Political
Analysis" By Professor Mansoor Kundi,
University Of Balochistan
Political Science Department)
During 1980's, General Zai Ul Haq who ruled
vigorously spread fundamentalism
like a fire in Balochistan by using US
financial support against Soveit Invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, who countered
the Baloch
secular mind of the people, progressive, liberal, and socialist mind
leaders by opening Madrassas (religious schools). Throughout Balochistan " The
budget of Ministry of Religious
Affairs for the
to be approximately 1.2 billion
rupees given to the Madderssas, (religious
school) compared with 200 million rupess alloted to the Ministry of
education
for public school (Exploting Islam p11 Carnegie papers For International Peace
No 65 Januray 2006
In fact Baloch nationalists were
aware of that and demanded to reverse that
money for public school system but
they were powerless as the case has always
been. No doubt that former Air
Force Chief Nur Khan said very rightly about
Pakistani leaders and army chiefs by saying" ...
these regions (Balochistan
/ FATA/ Native Interior Sindh) like aliens in their
own country" And furthermore
he suggested that
them. (Dawn By
Air Marshal Nur Khan
Healthcare field is even worse. There is a shortage of
health centers, lack of
medical equipment, medicine and
shortage of doctors which is a big challenge for
health care department. It's ironic
that many young native Baloch doctors are
jobless, they are denied the job to
serve in their own home town. according to
the own governement
report says "The governement is spending rupees
55.33 (US $
0.92) per person per year for health in Balochistan
This includes payments of
the health staff."
( According to the Annuel Budgetary figures of Balochistan
for years 2001-2002)
BNS (Balochistan News and Features
Services)
Look at the railway line of Balochistan,
British completed the railway work
since 1885-1895 after that there
was no additional work done in railway lines in
Balochistan, except for fixing
what had been done in British era. Imagine the
railway link to Harnai
(name of the city) from Sibi (historical city of
Balochistan) established in 1897,
a land locked sub-division of Sibi. The train
speed is the slowest in the world,
it should be covered by the Guinness Book of
the Record because of distance of
52 miles it takes seven hours to reach the
that city.
The natural gas has been discovered at Sui,
Dera Bugti, Balochistan in 1953 and
started supplying gas throughout
dominated
the only capital city of
discrimination? Balochistan
produces more than 40 percent of
energy (natural gas, coal, and
electricity). The region in the future according
to the report of a Pakistani
geologist indicates " the presence of 19 trllion
cubic feet of gas and 6 trillion
barrel of oil resources is in Balochistan."
(
2006 For International Peace
Imagine if Balochistan had the
potential to become
natural resources) of
province's resources to the more
powerful
the generated revenues to
province's economy wiill implode. That is the injustice which has and is
occuring
against Balochistan since 1953.
When ever Baloch demanded equality,
their rights and freedom by demonstrating
agianst
anti-Baloch policies they have been subjected to arbitarary arrest,
kidnapping, detention, torture,
cruel, inhuman, degrading treatment and
punishment. The interior minister
of
we have arrested 4000 Baloch political acitivist."
Today young Baloch doctors,
teachers, students, tribal leaders
and politcal activist are detained mostly in
unknown torcher
cells. Their kids and families are sitting on hunger strikes in
front of the press in
walked in their bare feet infront of the governer's house
in Balochistan and
asked for justice to bring their
father in court. A mother has been resiting
Quran in Islamic Republic of Pakistan, in the world forum in
thought someone might hear her cry
as mother who sewed and by her labour money
supported her child to be a doctor
and he was the only bread winner of the whole
family. Today he is in the torcher cells. Human rights report of
Hundreds of political parties
members, students, doctors and tribal leaders have
been detained by government
security forces, many disappearing for months, even
years, without trails in well doccumented cases. Some have been tortured or have
died in custody, say (Offical of Pakistan's Human Rights commission.)
Since two years the deep-sea port of Gwader,
Balochistan is being publicized
nationally and internationally
through government of
media, but Baloch
leadership has serious conflicts with the central government
regarding deep-port city of
provincial assembly resolutions and
laws of the province, excluded the local
people of the city. Above all Baloch nationalists have never been consulted let
alone inviting them in the negociation table as representatives of their
province. Baloch
leadership voiced their concerns nationally and internationally
but General Musharraf
ingnored, as dictator tone said to the Baloch leaders and
people of Balochistan:
" This time even you don't know what hit you." Baloch
people know very well this is not
development but going to be a disaster for
them. Central government
distributed and sold the port city land below the
market value to his favourite beaurucrates,
professional business people, and
army generals. Big chunk of land is
also taken for Navy and Coastal Guards.
Former prime minister of
alloted
many acres of land on their own name while they were head of the state.
Both of them now are outside of the country wanted by NAB (nationa
accountability bearue)
and under investigation for massive corruption cases. "
Well educated politcal families,
such as the Butto's took a page from the
chinese
nationalist, telling westernners exactly waht we wanted to hear,
preaching democracy and the rule of
law abroad, they looted shamelessly at home
" (
In Iran Baloch people are treated
even worse by brutal forces. There is no
geniune
representation of Baloch people in central government
and neither are
Baloch allowed to
speak openly for their economic, politcal and
cultural rights.
Therefore, Baloch have never been
happy with the central government. During the
Shah regime, publishing and reading Balochi
magazines and books was banned, " He
also made it crimnal
offense to publish, distribute, or even posses
Baluchi-language books, magzines and newspapers." Baloch
kids are told in
schools by persian
teachers that Balochi is only a dialect and not a
language. "
Shah order to " Sharply limiting education in the Baloch areas, he banned the
use of the Baluchi
language in the few schools attended by Baluch
students and
made the Persians
mandatory...history texbooks in which the Baluch were
described as Persians in ethnic origion and prohibited the use in government
offices" said p95 selig
Nationalism and Soviet Temptation")
By Majority Shia Muslims central
government of
minority and many sunni Baloch clerics. Baloch people feel like outsiders in
their own ancestral land because
they are excluded economically, politically and
socially. "
For more than half a century political oppression, economical and
social injustice against Baloch been instituionalized in
are continously
being harrased and suffering from clerical regime,
where
regime's brutal operations have
always aimed to punish Baloch people
collectively." said Nasser Boladai,
Spokeperson for Balochistan
People's Party
UNPO (Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization)
Since
province for only 37 months. Why? because their democratically elected
government were dissolved or forced
to leave office.
policy to keep their puppet
government in
government who are only good for
taking dictation from
nationalist leadership never tolerate
such undemocratic rulers due to that fact
they faced military operations.
Central government seems determined to eliminate indiginous Baloch people from
their own land. Baloch
faced four army operation in 1948, 1968, 1973-1977.
During those operations 70,000 troops were involved against
55,000 Baloch
fighters about 5000 Baloch lost their life and over 3000 Pakistani army lost
their troops during that operation
against Baloch Shah of
prime minister Zulfuqar
Ali Butto by sending his cobra gun-ship helicopters
with
Iranian pilot to genocide the Baloch
people, according to (Selig Harrison auther
of In
5th army operation started in
people.
Last year in
and more than 200 were badly
injured. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, the most Baloch
senior leader was deliberately hit
by rocket while he was sitting in his guest
room. Now he is defending himself
and fighting for Baloch self rule in the hills
of Dera Bugti, Balochistan. He was a
former Governer, and the Chief Minister of
Balochistan. The whole crisis was started when Nawab
Akbar Khan Bugti amd all
Baloch leadership demanded to
arrest his army captain Hamid who rapped Dr.
Shazia Khalid while working in Sui, Dera Bugti,
Balochistan. CBC ( The
Canadian
Broad Costing Corporation) heard her documentary and the
whole truth came out.
But still President General Pervez
Mushraff remained unconvinced, he even made a
very degrading comment against
Pakistani women and later denied, but most of his
comments were recorded by
operation and genocide of innocent
citizen of Balochistan and displacing
hundreds of Bugti
and Marri Baloch tribes
(included: childrens, womens,
and old)
out of open sky who left with
wearing their cloth , leaving all their belongings
behind. This is all documented by
opposition leader of Balochistan assembly, Adovecate Kachkol Ali Baloch.
Dear ladies and gentelmen,
western countries, particularly
from
terrorism, what Baloch
have seen in recent army operations President Genral
Pervez Mushrarff
against them the American-supplied jets and helicopter gunships
which are supposed to be used to
fight terrorsim sadly are being used against
innoncent
nomadic Baloch citizens. All weapons are shown as
evidence which
clearly reads "Made in U.S.A
stamped on them, which is valve solenoid" made in
"Indeed huge craters and fragments from
American-designed MK-82 boms lay beside
a badly damaged school in the
bombing raid the Baluch fighters said occurred at the begining
of the March" (In
remote
Yes! Baloch are being developed
through the might of guns, by building
contonoment
in their cities to control the movement of Baloch
people otherwise
there is no international
boundaries linked from these cities to safeguard the
country. For every 36 Baloch population there is one Pakistani army, there are
600 army check posts with 60,0000
army members in interior Balochistan, roaming
around no one can even imagine in
Balochistan and this is the
development Baloch people who are noticing this in
their native land, Balochistan.
Thank you for giving me this opportunity to present Balochistan's case, I will
be happy to take questions from the
audience. Thank You. !
S. Aziz Baloch