Balochistan Issue

Bear with me because it is going to be long one. But it is needed.

“Walking with the Comrades” is a book by Arundhati Roy where she narrates her firsthand experience of forests of Central India. Among Maoists. Naxalites. Dr. Manmohan Singh famously said that Naxalites / Maoists are “single biggest internal security threat” to India.

Why? What was the problem? Why were these Adivasis / Lower Castes hated so much? Why “Salwa Judum” kind of lethal forces were made to kill them? Why were the police unleashed on them. Even Indian military was launched against these people who had nothing to eat. Air Force was used too.

Because Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, etc. had iron ore, coal, bauxite, copper, and other minerals worth billions of dollars. India wanted to make rich richer by selling these minerals abroad. So, these people had to be rooted out from their homes. With bullets. Through force.

Who are these people. Of course they are poor. Hungry. Illiterate. But that’s not what they all are. There are doctors, engineers, middle class revolutionaries among them too. They read. They write. And they try their best to fight against the propaganda. But they are shunned on mainstream media. Newspapers don’t cover them. They are hated by default all across the country.

So, when they get nothing in return, they fight. Once, in 2008, they raid a police armory and captured 1,200 rifles and 200,000 rounds of ammunition. They killed police in return. They took as much vengeance as they could. And sometimes, they killed innocent citizens too. Happens. Collateral damage happens both ways.

Now imagine Gandhi meeting these people and asking them to go for hunger strike. Idiotic, right? When you have no audience, you can die in any kind of strike. You need to be Gandhi in order to be successful. Hence, in such cases, resistance is the only way-forward.

So far so good. Right? It’s India, so you have an obvious conscientious side.

Big dams in India have displaced 40-50 million people. That’s 4-5 crore people. In 1980s, the same kind of Adivasis / lower caste people stood under Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) to stop the dams that were going to drown their homes and history. They failed. and But they made their mark. World Bank (always against poor in different formats) withdrew from it after Morse Commission stated that the project was actually not feasible.

Large dams were a myth. They destroy more land than they cultivate. They destroy villages and history. Silting. Deforestation. Downstream water shortage. Disrupting deltas. And displacement of millions of people.

Where do these millions go?

In slums. Of Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata. They are moved from their already lower hierarchy to the lowest and then their generations rot in slums without becoming a slumdog millionaire.

NBA did whatever they could. They even stood in their homes when the water level in the dam was rising. They stood till they were drowned till their necks. What else could they do even after beating World Bank? NBA were not able to initiate an armed struggle. So, they lost it. Just like farmers. From 1995 to 2014, around 300,000 farmers have committed suicide in India.

Naxalites were able to pick up arms – advantage of being in jungles – so they did and are not lost yet.

Now come to Pakistan’s Balochistan. Let’s take a 180 shift from our collective conscientious. Because we are going to enter the same paradox that everyone in their country has – one way or the other i.e., treating a certain segment with discrimination and violence.

Balochistan has minerals worth billions (start relating it with the above examples of India). Those who want to get rich are posted there in both civil and military establishment. Remember General Papa Johns? Other than minerals, smuggling is a big market there. But these are all for establishment guys. People there remain poor.

Balochistan has been targeted since 1948. Military operations after military operations were launched. After assassination of Bugti by General Musharraf, BLA was formed. Organically. Now this BLA is not of sardars or militants in literal sense. It is of young – most educated people. There are doctors and engineers among them. Well-read and trust me they will beat you on table talks with their knowledge. They are not under any sardar or feudal lord. They are their own masters.

Umm… Naxalites!

How was Mama Qadir was treated? He just wanted to talk but LUMS was denied.

Why was Sabeen Mehmood killed? Just because she allowed a space in Karachi to talk about Balochistan?

Maulana Hidayat? Why this huge propaganda against him when he isn’t armed?

And now, Mahrang Baloch? Her father was abducted. Then killed. She has questions. She is a victim of state terrorism. She came to Islamabad with her questions and with her demand of constitutional rights. What did we do? Answer violently. Soaked her and all others in water in winter. Threw her out of the capital.

Narmada Bachao Andolan resonating?

Same thing with PTM. They have been hated and tagged ‘anti-nationals’ since forever. They are not armed. They just want implementation of National Action Plan and Constitution of Pakistan. Yet, they are as ugly as anyone who asks questions.

So, what is the option left for them? Revolution? Arm resistance? To make noise to be heard?

As Nehru said, “Only Israfeel’s trumpet can wake the dead.” Let me write that in Urdu:

مردوں کو جگانے کے لیے صور پھونکنا ہی پڑے گا۔

I condemn murder of innocent people. They were as poor as any poor anywhere. We are condemning since 1948. Condemned. Condemned. Condemned. What next? Condemnations till we ourselves will be condemned for our own miserable deaths?

I condemn the deaths of the innocent ones. But before condemning the perpetrators – I would prefer to condemn the big perpetrators whose policies gives birth to small perpetrators every now and then. The ones who keep the flames burning. The ones who make fortunes over the wars, dead bodies, and coffins.

There is only solution. The same we forgot in 1950s and 1960s that ended up as 1971.

Islamabad – and of course the adjacent city – needs to sit with Balochs with honesty. Military solution is not a solution but a mess as we have seen since the foundation of this country.

Those you hate – or the ones hated on mainstream media with propaganda – are the key figures to peace: Mahrang, Hidayat etc. Their grievances need to be heard and addressed. Their difference of opinions should be part of dialogue on mainstream media. No one should be censored as long as hate and violence are not part of communication.

That won’t happen obviously. Duffers rule here. And life of Balochs never mattered.

They would love to sit with TLP and TTP but not the ones who are just angry for not being given their constitutional rights and are fed of their loved ones gone missing in a ritual.

This is the shortest it could be written on this topic. Else a whole small book like “Walking with the Comrades” can be written on this topic in a single go.