Vikas Kapoor
Proverb “As you sow, so shall you reap”is aptly valid for Pakistan as a country. Globally Pakistan is isolated as an epicentre of militancy barring China, who supports Pakistan for his expansive reasons with heavy investments on setting up strategic links against India, be it Gilgit – Baltistan Karakoram Highway leading up to Xing xiang province brushing with India near Daulat Beg Oldie and Gwadar port in Baluchistan for China’s own economic benefits like Minerals, Gas and Copper etc.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken very significant steps towards two difficult nations – China and Pakistan,.Two years back, Modi reached out to Pakistan’s Nawaz Sharif and China’s Xi Jinping, in an effort to regenerate momentum in bilateral relationship.Infact visited Pakistan twice to develop cordial relationship. Yet Pakistan seems unwilling to reciprocate the PM’s goodwill. China is also reluctant to accommodate India’s core interests. Therefore, forcing Mr Modi to take other option to secure India’s interests. This is evident from two facts – acknowledging Baluchistan, Gilgit Balistan and POK as core problem areas in Pakistan from Red Fort on Independence day& Public arguments on China on India’s membership of the Nuclear suppliers group & Delhi’s opposition to China’s economic corridor in Pakistan appear to be part of a shifting strategy towards Islamabad and Beijing. In the past, Indian Leaders unlike Mr Modi,have been unwilling to express their differences with China in public & hesitant to question in private those policies of Beijing that hurt Delhi badly.
Question of Baluchistan independence is quite relevant. Baluchistan by and large contributes 43% of Pakistan’s geographical area, Pakistan can ill afford to lose after being losing East Pakistan ie Bangladesh in 1971. Subsequent to Modi’s appreciation of Balochis, Pakistan immediately invited major Baloch Leaders for discussion on August 16th, 2016 to contain the situation but of no avail as Baloch protests have spread across world.
Hamid Karzai, former Afghan president has also said few days backthatPakistan should stop supporting Islamic State or Daesh in Afghanistan. Karzai, who openly applauded Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks on Baluchistan and POK, said, “It’s a reality. You can’t address reality without first accepting reality.” Karzai has advocated Indian support for Balochistan for many years.
Ever lasting Conflict –
People of Baluchistan never wanted to be part of Pakistan. In 1947, when pakistan came to existence, Baluch nationals demanded a separate state for ethnic Baluchs which are settled in south western Pakistan and south eastern Iran. Since then demand for separate home state for Balochs is gaining momentum especially after fall of Dacca and creation of Bangladesh. Baloch people claim that their land is just used for economic benefits and proportionally major funds are diverted to Pakistan while their people are treated as second grade citizens.
Baloch nationalists have been fighting for their right to independence against the Governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Baluchistan region, which covers Baluchistan Province in southwestern Pakistan, Sistan and Baluchistan Province in southeastern Iran, and the Baluchistan region of southern Afghanistan. Baluch want an independent nation-state having control over natural resources and revenue.
It is a fact that non-representation to Baloachs in the political set up gave rise to Baloach People Liberation Front. It received the support of Bugtis and Mengals, especially after Ayub Khan’s response to Baloach demands took a brutal turn. From 1958-60 many insurgents, including a 90 year-old chieftain SardarNauroz Khan Zarakzai was hanged along with son and five others. In 1970 80,000 soliers were sent by the Pakistan to crush the insurgents. The war claimed about 5300 lives among Baloach. In Pakistan’s Baluchistan province, insurgencies by Baluch nationalists have been fought in 1948, 1958-59, 1962-63 and 1973-77 – with an ongoing and reportedly stronger, broader insurgency beginning in 2003.
This insurgency gained strength in conjunction with the deteriorating law and order situation in neighbouring Afghanistan and instability at the federal level. Insurgents had attacked “almost all prime installations” of the Pakistani Government, including the military cantonment in Quetta, Baluchistan’s capital; important Government buildings and “killed senior Government officials”. As of May 2015, one foreign-based Baluch journalist (Malik Siraj Akbar) calls anger over Pakistan Military operations among people in the province “growing and often uncontrollable”. The Pakistan Government is considering asking the United Nations to take up the matter of foreign involvement.
Although it has vast natural resources, despite that Baluchistan is one of Pakistan’s poorest regions. Baluch separatists allege that the Central Government of Pakistan is systematically suppressing development in Baluchistan to keep the Baluchs weak, whilst their opponents argue that international business interests have been unwilling to invest in the region due to the continuing unrest.
The Baluchistan Liberation Army, designated as a terrorist organisation by Pakistan, is the most widely-known Baluch separatist group. Since 2000 it has conducted numerous deadly attacks on Pakistani troops, police, and civilians. Other separatist groups include Lashkar-e-Baluchistan and the Baluch Liberation United Front (BLUF).In 2005, a rebellion by Baloch against the Islamic Republic of Iran began. The fight over the IRI Baloch region bordering Pakistan, has “not gained” as much ground as the conflict in Pakistan.
In the period 2003 to 2012, it is estimated that 8000 people were abducted by Pakistani security forces in Baluchistan. In 2008 alone, an estimated 1102 Baluch people disappeared. An increasing number of bodies “with burn marks, broken limbs, nails pulled out, and sometimes with holes drilled in their heads” are being found on roadsides as the result of a “kill and dump” campaign conducted by Pakistani security forces in 2009, particularly Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and the Frontier Corps (FC) – which, until the 9/11/01 World Trade Center attacks, had sided with the Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda against the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. On April 3rd, 2009, the president of Baluch National Movement was abducted from his Lawyer’s office & his body found in mountains 06 days later.In July 2011, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan issued a report on illegal disappearances in Baluchistan and identified ISI and Frontier Corps as the perpetrators. The Pakistan Rangers are also alleged to have committed a vast number of human rights violations in the region. No one has been held responsible for the crimes.Islamist parties such as Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Jamaat-e-Islami have systematically targeted Shia Muslims in Balochistan, with about 600 being killed in attacks in recent years.
At present, Pakistan is a failed state or a state in denial. Pakistan could not understand that Four Ethnic Groups namely, the Baloach Self-Determination Movement; the Pashtuns, from Pashtunistan to Pakhtunkawa and, Muhajir Movement have been eroding the edifice of Pakistan. Moreover, Pakistan has not come out of the syndrome of religious fundamentalism, militancy, and separatist movements. The powerful army dominates the country’s corridors of power, and democratic forces and legal institutions remain weak. Pakistan could not learn the lesson that those who live in glass houses should not throw stones on others. On the contrary, India is a stable and progressive state. India has always stood for Democracy, Non-violence, Justice & Peace. India has a great reputation internationally for all these virtues.
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