The Baluchistan Issue

Dean Ali
Jan 18, 2005

So, what is going on in Baluchistan? Baluchistan is one of the 4 states/provinces of . It constitutes roughly 40-43% of the land mass with only 5%-7% share in the . It has the richest mineral and natural resources in the country, yet, is the most impoverished area of with the lowest , and infrastructure indices. Two days ago, "tribal" or "nationalists" or "foreign interests" launched an attack on the largest natural gas production facility in Sui, Baluchistan. This has halted the supply of natural gas to most of the country resulting in material and economic losses. The escalation comes after on-going sporadic violence in the region against the Pakistani forces. The General unequivocally warned the tribal/nationalist/foreign elements that his retaliation will be swift and that "they will not even know what hit them".

This has set the stage for a show-down between and what the Pak is terming "terrorist organizations" like the Baluch Liberation Front and Baluch Liberation Army. At least Jang Daily expressed severe in their editorial about the mere existence of these organizations (which is the usual hint that is behind it all). If they, uh, google’d it, they would know that not only do these organizations exist and have a fairly comprehensive web presence but that their grievances are long standing and, at least to this Punjabi/Kashmiri, fairly justified.

Let me start with a bit of history. The region was largely under Iranian kingly control and the autonomous principality of Kalat. The British wrested control away from the Khan of Kalat in the early 1840s and it became the staging ground for the various Afghan-British wars (the Great Game) in the later half of 19th century. The 1876 treaty between the Khan of Kalat and Robert Sandeman accepted the independence of the Kalat as an allied state with British outposts in the region. After the 1878 Afghan , the British established Baluchistan as a provincial entity centered on the municipality of Quetta - Kalat, Makran, and Lasbella continuing to exist as princely realms.

The British interest in the region was largely to use it as a land-mass bulwark against Central Asian encroachments. Besides a train track, the development and settlement of British holdings excluded most of the tribal . The administrative and legislative reforms of late 19th and early 20th century overlooked Baluchistan. Around the 1930s, Baluchi nationalist parties emerged to contest for freedom from British rule. They took the princely state of Kalat as the focal point of a free and united Baluchistan. Iqbal’s vision of autonomous federation of Muslim state included Baluchistan but the Khan of Kalat never brought into the Punjabi nationalist paradigm, arguing that the Kalat had special treaty powers. Baglar Begi Khan declared the independence of Kalat on August 15, . He assured the neo-state of that Kalat will participate in the defense and infrastructure but will be autonomous. That didn’t go over well at all and the Pakistani army entered the region to occupy the area immediately. On Mar 27, 1948, the Khan of Kalat gave in to the State of and his old attorney M. A. . His brother Abdul Karim Baloch refused to surrender and revolted until his arrest in 1950. Baluchistan was put under Governor General control and no elective body formed in Baluchistan 1973.

After Partition, the threat of E. Pakistani - read Bengali - hegemony (55% of at the time), forced the Punjabi and civil elite (in , Punjabis made up 77% of the army being only 25% of the ) to constitute W. as One Unit in the 1956 . This was done presumably to guarantee equal representation for W. but the measure was highly unpopular in Sindh, Baluchistan and NWFP because it meant rule of the Punjabi over their regional interests. Separatist, sub-national movements triumphing local languages and cultures and protesting Punjabi hegemony arose in all the three states. Especially in Baluchistan, the Khan of Kalat led a stringent opposition to the One Unit. But the wave of dictatorships quashed all such designs. In 1970, Yayha Khan dissolved the One Unit to appease E. but the horrific damage done by the army in soon-to-be- proved too much.

After , the sub-nationalist movements in Sindh and Baluchistan demanded their fair share of the nationalist pie. With ’s independence, Punjab became the most populous and richest state in the country. It had 58% of the while Baluchistan had 4%. Led by Bhutto’s central populism, Baluchistan had its first elected body in 1972. The National Awami Party won the majority of the seats in Baluchistan and started making noises about state . In 1973, it was clear to the NAP that Baluchistan was the least developed province with the majority of civil and bureaucracy coming from Punjab. They, quite correctly, saw this as a colonial . The discovery of natural gas reserves at Sui had made the area incredibly vital to and Iran’s developmental programs. The refusal by the Bhutto’s central to allow NAP internal autonomy escalated a tense situation into an outright revolt. Bhutto dismissed the Baluchistan assembly and re-instituted Governor’s rule. The Baluchi nationalists launched an all-out .

From 1973-1978, roughly 60,000 Baluchi tribesmen and militia faced off against the Pakistani army. Iran, eager to quell any similar uprising in its bordering area, contributed air force and personnel to the Pakistani efforts. They bombarded Baluchi villages into submission. Bhutto’s ouster, via Zia’s , forced a calm onto the situation as Zia launched into his One Through program. The , the Iranian and the Zia’s policies made Baluchistan into an island of outsider activity. US/UN aid for Afghani refugees poured into the metropolitan areas. During the 90s, the Benazir/Nawaz Sharif governments did little for Baluchistan as the Baluchi nationalist parties floundered in exile.

After The General landed into power (get it?), he tried to foster new relationship with Baluchistan. Over the last three years, the Kachhi Canal, Mirani Dam, Gwadar Port, Makran Coastal Highway, Saindak Copper Project and Quetta Water Supply Scheme were announced by Islamabad. Over 300 percent increase was made in the national budget for development programs in Baluchistan. Yet, all these things have failed to materialize from paper into concrete.

These latest incidents emerge from the same calls for Baluchistan’s equal share in the national programs and right to self-administer. The catalyst seems to be the assault on a female doctor, Dr. Shazia Khalid, by a gang of employees of the PPL at Sui. The company management, along with the local police, tried to quash the issue while the central authorities ignored all pleas to intervene. This caused the initial attack on the Sui facility. Nawab Akbar Bugti, the leader of Democratic National Party Baluchistan, clearly stated that the attack was borne out of frustration on the lack of action against the employees who did the assault and was NOT a nationalist struggle for freedom by the tribals. The General, on the other hand, is going to play this as another internal/external threat to and seems determined to carry out a response. His pointed reference to the 1973 uprising is meant to warn the Baluchi tribals that he will not negotiate on his terms.

Today’s actions by the tribals and the response in Baluchistan can be understood within the context of the acrimonious central-regional relationship in . The of states, the of , the of individuals are all negotiated within the vaccum of Islamabad power-brokers. Having no access to that, the aggrieved parties find no alternative except violent struggle. The history of MQM, of Sindh, of Waziristan and, of Baluchistan provides ample attestation to that reality. I to say it again but here it goes: there is no way out except a democratically elected and constituted assembly that will re-imagine as a federation with a secular and civil at the helm.