The southwest province of Balochistan is one of Pakistan’s biggest security headache after several decades of armed rebellion seeking freedom for the mineral-rich region. A range of bloodshed is a train kidnapping by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), the latest rebel group active in the latest Iran and Afghanistan border region.
On the afternoon of March 11, the armed attackers blown the railway tracks to stop the Jaffer Express, which was on a 30 -hour trip from Quetta to Peshawar with more than 400 passengers. It was Ramadan, and citizens and officers were going home before Eid. The train stopped in a tunnel in a remote area, causing a gun bullet overnight with forces amidst the possibility of suicide bages.
The rebels allegedly abducted Baloch political prisoners and citizens by state forces, threatening to blow the entire train if their demand was not met within 48 hours. The siege did not exceed 30 hours, in which Pakistani forces killed 33 rebels and rescued the hostages. At least 21 passengers and four security personnel were also killed during the siege.
Kidnapping is a new episode in the Baloch movement, which has been furious since Pakistan attained independence and was excluded from an integrated India. At the root of the rebellion, there is a betrayal by Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, despite accepting the autonomy of one of the states who did not want to merge with him.
Why Baloch wants freedom
Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest and lowest population province, always had dreams of being independent.
The British used the region as a basis to protect their colonial interests from expansionist forces like Russia. But facing a strong resistance, he adopted a non-intervention policy in the nineteenth century, according to a research journal of Balochistan University.
But this scenario changed after Pakistan’s hand -twisted Baloch leaders to merge with him after the partition of India. It did not go down well with the original inhabitants and started an even more aggressive campaign to feel an independent Balochistan’s dream.
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Baloch now accused the resources and margins of exploitation, which has promoted ethnic dissatisfaction and serious anger against the Government of Pakistan.
Balochistan is mostly dry, but is rich in minerals and resources. Reko DIQ and Saindak, both in the Chaghi district, are the major gold and copper deposits. The province also has iron ore, lead, zinc and coal deposits. Baloch claims that the government is exploiting these resources, which belong to the indigenous population.
Many armed groups like BLA and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are at the forefront of this resistance.
The results have been targeted on Pakistan’s security forces and establishments, and infrastructure, especially on attacks funded by Chinese such as CPEC (China-Pakistan Economic Corridor). China also manages a deep -water port’s port port for CPEC.
Baloch realizes that volatility will create panic between Chinese and believes that they will pressurize Pakistan to accept their demands. Lack of local inclusion and exploitation has added to his anger. Human rights violations have spoiled the conflict over the years. Baloch accused the state forces of forcibly disappear by the state forces to suppress their movement.
Jinnah’s betrayal
Balochistan was declared an independent state with India and Pakistan. The region consists of four former princely states – Kharan, Makran, Las Bella and Kalat. Next to the partition, the princely states were given three options – in India or Pakistan or to be independent. Khan Mir Ahmed Yaar Khan – Khan of Kalat chose the last option while the first three went with Pakistan.
According to historian Dhakka H Syed, Kalat never held much importance in the form of Kashmir or Hyderabad as it was in the periphery of the Indian subcontinent, due to which it was not portrayed extensively for the competition between India and Pakistan.
Jinnah also initially accepted the freedom of Kalat. Khan trusted Jinnah – he was a friend and would ensure Kalat’s freedom.
Kalat announced independence on August 15, 1947, but the British feared that it was very risky to allow Kalat to remain independent due to the danger from expansionist rule. This pressurized Pakistan to bring under its control and this is when Jinnah made a U-turn.
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In October 1947, Jinnah advised Khan to accelerate the merger with Pakistan, but he refused.
“Since then Pakistani authorities have not only launched a campaign against 9 Khan to force to join Pakistan, but also designed to use tremendous methods for a forced merger of the state,” Taj Mohammad Braceg has written in his book ‘Baluch Nationalism: It’s Origin and Development Up 1980’.
On March 18, 1948, Jinnah announced the eclipse of Kharan, Makaran, Las Bella, which landlock Kalat and with less than half of its landslides. There was a fake news for Kalat to deteriorate that Khan wanted to join the Indian dominance, making Pakistan furious. Along with no help from other international players, the Baloch leader had no option but to go to Pakistan.
Rebellion in years
The second rebellion came in 1954 when Pakistan launched a one-unit plan to reorganize its provinces. In 1955, with the merger of the states of Balochistan with the provinces of West Pakistan, according to Bracegue, the feeling of neglect and absence became deeper and intensified. In 1958, Kalat Nawab Naoroz Khan’s Khan declared independence, but was cheated to surrender in 1959.
In his book ‘Inside Balochistan’, Mir Ahmed Yar Khan Baluch quoted Khan, describing the military action: “I gave myself to the army, which paraded with me on the streets and streets of Kalat. I saw many of my people falling on the ground for indiscriminate firing of the army, and I knew that I knew that I did not know anything.
In 1963, the third rebellion with Sher Muhammad Bijni Marree, also known as General Sheroff, leads a group of nationalists who supported their demand for return of Pakistani soldiers, a unit plan cancellation, and restoration of Baluchistan as an integrated province. It ended in 1969 when General Yahya Khan converted Field Marshal Ayub Khan as the head of the government and signed a truss. A year later, a unit plan was rescued in West Pakistan and Balochistan was made one of the provinces besides Punjab, Sindh and Frontier.
Bangladesh effect
In the 1970s, Baloch was influenced by Pakistan from Bangladesh’s independence and increased demands for maximum autonomy. But Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto refused, protested extensively and forced the then Prime Minister to dismiss the Akbar Khan Bugti Provincial Government in Balochistan in 1973.
Pakistan began a large -scale operation to suppress the protests, which led to an armed rebellion, which saw thousands of armed tribes a fight against Pakistani soldiers. It lasted for four years until Bhutto was removed by General Zia-ul-Haq. Baloch was given an apology and Pakistani troops were pulled from Balochistan.
The fifth struggle was allegedly provoked by military personnel in the mid -2000s to raped a female doctor in Baloch city. In the last few years, the conflict has deteriorated with fatal attacks on security personnel and infrastructure projects. But there has been no indication of the Government of Pakistan to agree with the demands of Baloch.
The struggle continues.
