“The Pakistan state has completely lost its writ in 5-7 districts of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwan which are in a position to declare independence soon.”

This was the statement of Pakistani lawmaker and cleric, Maulana Fazlur Rehman in his country’s National Assembly in February this year, comparing the situation to the 1971 liberation of Bangladesh.

While Pakistan has harbored and perpetrated terrorism from its soil over the years, lately it has itself been at the receiving end domestically. A lot of it has to do with the violent crisis in the Balochistan province. In this Blog, I will elaborate on the history of the conundrum and why it again shows that the very idea Pakistan claims to be based on, is a ‘failed’ one.

Core Issue – ‘Systemic Exploitation’ and ‘Enforced Disappearance’

The whole conflict in Balochistan stems on three major fronts: Lack of development, exploitation of resources and suppression of rights. Despite close to 80 years since Pakistan’s independence, the Balochistan province continues to lag behind in all major development index (life expectancy, literacy, infrastructure) as compared to the rest of the country. Despite being country’s most resource-rich province – with huge reserves of oil, gas, copper, gold and uranium – it has always remained at the bottom end of development and prosperity.

There is a famous example of the Chagai region of Balochistan, where huge reserves of gold and bronze were discovered. But, after the project was realised, 98% of the benefits were reaped by the Pakistani state and China (more details below) and little to nothing reached the locals. Even the royalty for resource-rich land in Balochistan is way lesser than rest of the country. This discriminatory treatment has led to massive discontentment among the Baloch people.

Another dangerous pattern being observed in the province has been the enforced disappearances. Under this, hundreds of people are abducted every year, with majority of them getting killed and the families not even receiving the bodies of deceased. In 2024 alone, 830 people were forcibly disappeared in 2024, out of which over 480 were killed. In the month of March alone this year, 151 such cases were reported. The situation is so dire that families wait for years with no information of their loved ones. This situation has compelled the affected Baloch women to call themselves ‘half-widows’, which in itself, underscores their tragic fate.

The situation has been further worsened by its handling by the Pakistani state. Even the protest marches and gatherings held to highlight this systemic issue are quelled with brutal crackdown, arrests and persecution. Earlier this year, a massive group of Baloch women under the leadership of activist, Mahrang Baloch marched till Islamabad demanding the release of abducted people. Nor did anyone from the government even met the protestors, instead they were stopped before reaching the capital and many including Mahrang were arrested where they continue to be till now.

A map displaying the Balochistan region (Photo: Wikipedia)

Balochistan Before 1947

As the saying goes “If two fishes are fighting, Britishers must have passed by”. Even I hadn’t anticipated this, but even the Balochistan story has a British angle to it.

So, as is quite well known, before 1947, neither India or Pakistan existed in their present forms, and it was all a part of the British Empire. But, interestingly, the current Balochistan province was NOT a part of the British empire nor a part of pre-British India before that. The whole region was a huge landmass, resided by several tribes with no defined borders or an organised governing body. Different tribes; Makran tribe, Kachchi tribe, Sistan tribe, Turbat tribe, etc, had their control over their respective areas. As the Mughal Empire in India got very strong in India, the Baloch factions got organised into a ‘Rind-Lashari Union’ headed by a ‘Khan of Kalat’ (the ultimate sardaar). Notably, the first mention of ‘Baloch’ word in their name was still 200 years away.

Now, during the 1850s, a parallel competition was running between the British empire and the Russian empire of expanding control, with the latter reaching near Iran. The Britishers wanted to enter Afghanistan and keep it as the buffer zone, for which they signed a couple of Anglo-Afghan treaties and fought four Anglo-Afghan wars. But, for entering Afghanistan, the British needed to pass through Balochistan region, which as I mentioned, was not a part of their empire. So, they signed a deal with the ‘Khan of Kalat’ Mehrab Khan to use that route to pass into Afghanistan.

The deal, however, didn’t go well with the locals, who considered it as a breach of their sovereignty, and unleashed attacks on British. Infuriated Brits decided to bring things into control and killed Mehrab Khan replacing him with more loyal Shah Nawaz Khan.

Subsequently, the ‘Treaty of Kalat’ was signed in 1876, through which Britishers got the access to use the Kalat route under a lease-type agreement, and the area was termed as ‘British Balochistan’, which received 1,00,000 Indian Rupee yearly from Brits. It was the first mention of ‘Balochistan’ in their nomenclature. The other part of Balochistan region remained as a free province named ‘Khanate of Kalat’. Now, what is noteworthy is the British-Baloch treaty nowhere mentioned that any part of Balochistan was a colony of Britishers and it was more of a lease sort of agreement.

Muhammed Ali Jinnah with the Khan of Kalat before partition (Photo: Wikipedia)

Partition’s Dilemma and Jinnah’s Betrayal

The situation of the Balochistan region remained like that for quite some time, till the Britishers decided to leave the sub-continent, and time came for a significant yet tragic episode – the Partition. As it became clear that a separate country, Pakistan will be carved out, long negotiations went for division of regions. Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (North-Western Frontier), and part of Punjab was certain to go towards Pakistan. But, a complex question remained over the future of Balochistan. The Baloch leaders were confident that they will become a free country, as they have nothing to do with India, Pakistan or the British. But, what awaited them was some bad surprises and a betrayal.

Muhammed Ali Jinnah, who was trying his all might to carve out as much region into Pakistan as possible, termed the drafts of the maps of the two countries, as a “moth-eaten” Pakistan. Lahore (initially to be given to India) went to Pakistan only because the Islamic Republic didn’t had any ‘big city’. In this course, he approached the Baloch leaders, and offered them to join Pakistan, while promising them full autonomy and separate status.

Britishers had already planned to give the ‘British Balochistan’ part to Pakistan, and despite local opposition, held a referendum of Jirgah (Baloch gathering body) which voted go with Pakistan. However, even till today questions remain over how fair the voting was, and how much was the participation. Not just that, some small parts of traditional Balochistan area were also given to Iran and Afghanistan, which has also stemmed tensions in the region from these two countries.

On the other hand, the Kalat province wanted to remain independent, and initially Jinnah too supported this idea, acting as their ‘legal advisor’ in front of the British. Jinnah and the Khan of Kalat signed a stand-still agreement for the same on August 4, 1947. Accordingly, as India and Pakistan emerged as independent nations 10 days later, the Kalat province declared its autonomy as an independent state. But, the game was far from over.

The Balochistan area was strategically very important, as it served a corridor between Pakistan and Iran, and the Britishers didn’t want to leave that part unstable. In September, the British categorically said in a statement that the Kalat province is “not in a position” to call its independence. This was followed by Pakistan increasing its troop deployment around Kalat region and placing it naval warships down south. The other three princely states – Kharan, Makran and Las Bela ascended into Pakistan in January, 1948, after they were promised full autonomy and leadership positions. This left Kalat province completely land-locked and surrounded by Pakistan. It urged Britishers for help, but got none. Even India refused to intervene into the matter. Eventually, the Pak troops captured the area, took Khan of Kalat to Karachi and made him sign the accession papers, after which ‘Balochistan’ formally became a part of Pakistan.

Start of Violent Conflict for ‘Freedom’

Just when the Khan of Kalat was made to sign the accession treaty, his brother Prince Abdul Karim gathered people and launched guerrilla warfare against the Pak forces. This was perhaps, the first ‘freedom’ movement by the Baloch against Pakistan. What made the whole conflict significant was the Baloch people were very well-versed with the hilly and the less-developed terrains of the region, which was making it very difficult for the Pakistani troops (who are mainly from Punjab) to fight against them.

It is believed that to counter the situation, the Pak forces promised on Quran, to the Baloch fighters that they would not attack them if they come down and lay their arms. But, when the Baloch fighters came down, they were betrayed, arrested and subsequently executed. This story has been ingrained among the Baloch fighters and has fuelled their revolt against the Islamic Republic.

Horrific visuals from the site of Jaffar train hijack (Photo: Al Jazeera)

Political Developments and Rise of Baloch Militancy

In another disaster, Pakistan launched the ‘One Unit Policy’ in 1955 referring to the whole of West Pakistan. on obvious line, this didn’t go well with the Baloch and even Sindhis and Pashtuns, as it was clearly seen as an attempt to impose one set of culture subverting all diversity (whatsoever was left). This led to even violent and severe rebellion from the Baloch. After years of conflict, General Yahya Khan abolished the ‘One Unit System’.

In 1970, the first general elections were announced in Pakistan. It is known that how the episode turned into a nightmare and led to the creation of Bangladesh (for more details read my Blog). After this Pakistan didn’t wanted any more chaos, as it worked on a new constitution of the redrawn Pakistan. Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, promised chief ministership and prominent positions to local Baloch parties – NAP (National Awami Party) and JUI (Jamiat Ulema Islam), and got their support in the process. But, keeping Pakistan’s trend of turning back from the promises, Bhutto after coming to power, banned NAP – accusing it of colluding with outside forces against Pakistan – and launched a full-scale military invasion of Balochistan, bringing the situation back to square one.

The situation remained comparatively under control during the regime of Zia ul-Haq (though he did more damage to Pakistan’s prospects than anyone else). But, as Pervez Musharraf seized power from Nawaz Sharif, the situation of Baloch people started deteriorating again.

In 2000s, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), was formed as a militant organisation fighting for the ‘independence’ of Balochistan. In 2018, the situation reached next level, as the Baloch groups formed Baluch Raji Ajohi Sangar (BRAS) demanding a separate ‘Baloch nation’ with even its own armed force named ‘Baloch National Army’. On expected lines, this has resulted in a series of terror attacks inside Pakistan with massive casualties. On most occasions, the people travelling from Pakistan’s Punjab are targeted and killed by the insurgents. In August 2024, over two dozen people were pulled out of their vehicles and killed. Even deadlier was the Jaffar train hijack in March this year, where Baloch insurgents bombed the train tracks and hijacked the train demanding the relase of Baloch prisoners. At least 64 people including insurgents and hostages were killed in the operation by Pak forces.

Visual from the Gwadar Port in Balochistan operated by China (Photo: ORF)

The ‘China’ Angle

While the conflict between the Pakistani state and Balochistan have been at the centre of the conflict, slowly a third character has also entered the story – China. As Beijing and Islamabad have ramped up their ties over the years, a big part of it has been the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), which is a crucial component of the China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

Now, this CPEC majorly runs through the Balochistan region. The Gwadar Port, in particular, is a pivotal component because of its geo-strategic location. But, as I highlighted initially, the Chinese projects have further fueled insecurity among the Baloch residents that their resources will be further exploited with little to nothing coming their way. The situation has been particularly worrisome for the local fishermen, whose access have been reduced in the port area due to Chinese influence. Also, once Chinese projects start, only people with proper access and ids can enter the area. This has further infuriated the local Baloch people who feel alienated from their own lands.

This has resulted in a series of attacks on Chinese engineers, citizens and project sites in Balochistan from the local militants. In March 2024, a massive suicide blast killed 5 Chinese citizens and a Pakistani national in a bus near a project site in Turbat. Just between 2021 to 2024, over 20 Chinese citizens were killed and over 40 were injured in attacks carried out by Baloch militants. These repeated attacks have also increased apprehension among the Chinese about the security situation and delayed the execution of most of the CPEC projects. Beijing has also expressed its frustration on it, at times even pressing the need of putting its own armed forces in Balochistan for security.

In the latest setback for Islamabad, Beijing has backed out of Main Line-1 railway upgrade, which was one of the most ambitious projects under the CPEC. Following this, Pak has moved to Asian Development Bank to help with the project.

The ‘Failed’ Idea of Pakistan

“Pakistanis are people are not only more aggressive than the British, but they are also in the habit of biting off their own friends…We will see nothing but Punjabi fascism…there is no place for any other community in this government, be it Baluch, the Sindhis, the Afghans or the Bengalis”

These were the words by the Khan of Kalat’s brother after they were forced to sign the accession into Pakistan. Today, looking at the conflict, the statement indeed sounds true. Pakistan was founded on a ‘failed’ idea. On this great land, which had a beautiful history of intermingling and harmony across different religions and faiths, the leadership of that time pressed on carving out a separate nation just on the basis of ‘religion’. The tragic episode charred both nations into massive phases of violence, chaos and unbridled hate.

Pakistan, while ‘manufacturing’ itself into an Islamic Republic, tried to suppress all regional cultures and diversity whether Sindhi, Baluch, or the Bengalis, and imposed on everyone the only identity of Islam. Even the 1971 episode couldn’t make them realise their grave mistake, and they continued to ascend on this dark path. As a result, 50 years down the line, another Bangladesh-type situation stands in front of them in Balochistan. NOTE: This episode is also a reminder to the hateful minds in India’s leadership establishment today who are hell bent on their path of religious fascism.

Now, am I happy at the situation in Pakistan and do I support the violence by Baloch insurgents. The answer to both the questions is a big NO. I have time and again, advocated for peaceful and friendly India-Pakistan relations, and am one of the rare members of the ‘Aman Ki Asha’ brigade. I genuinely wish for all the success and prosperity for the neighboring country. But, the thing is the whole terrorism menace is Pakistan’s own making which it has sown  over the decades. Now, that same violence is stemming out of their control. As Hillary Clinton said, “You can’t have snakes in your backyard and expect it to bite only your neighbours”.

Nor do I support any terror attack by Baloch groups that led to killing of innocents. This, however, can’t be used as an excuse to brush off any concerns presented by the Baloch people. The state of Pakistan will need to understand that they are their own people. This discriminatory treatment won’t go on for life. Better facilities, opportunities and share in progress after peaceful and frank dialogue is the only way forward. But, the rogue and hate-filled remarks by Pak Army Chief Asim Munir (both before and after the brutal Pahalgam massacre) just goes on to show Islamabad has not got its lesson yet, and its still trying to deflect from this imminent concern.