A history of revolutionary situations is often the prerequisite for insurgencies. Recently, in many cases around the world, we have seen how movements scatter into spontaneous revolutions that breed a group of leaders who then proceed to organise and conduct insurgencies. The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is known to be one such movement.
The goals of the militant secessionist organisation include the establishment of an independent state of Balochistan, free of Pakistani rule. The organisation is often described as a relic of the Cold War. During the USSR-USA war in Afghanistan, the Soviets supported, armed, and funded the organisation. Over the years, the organisation has claimed credit for a series of terrorist attacks in various parts of the country. In 2006, it was declared to be a terrorist organisation by the Pakistani and British governments. It has also been included on a list of 25 banned militant organisations, which includes organisations such as Al Qaeda and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi.
Most media coverage of the BLA in Pakistan revolves around the belief that the organisation is associated with and financially dependent on the Indian intelligence agency RAW. Recent increased and widespread activity of the organisation prompted Federal Interior minister Rehman Malik to claim that India was funding the BLA as a tool to destabilise Pakistan. Similar statements have also been made about the Taliban in Fata and the Frontier province, all of which have been dismissed by the Indian authorities.
Irrespective of the funding source for the BLA, the resurfacing of the organisation should be Pakistan’s main concern. The fact that an ideology has sustained an insurgency over the decades reflects official negligence in its worse form. If it weren’t for government negligence – both with regards to the needs and rights of the people of Balochistan as well as the overall security situation – it would not have been possible to recruit people and mobilise a movement, and that too one with motives as extreme as the liberation of the country’s largest province. Members of the BLA have not been recruited under strenuous brainwashing techniques or guerrilla warfare; these are men who claim to have a history as old as the partition of the subcontinent.
In a recent interview with Dawn, Brahmdagh Bugti, the chief of the Baloch Republican Party, made strong statements about the history and motives of the BLA. His descriptions of the BLA and its support are quite frightening. He says, ‘we need nothing from Pakistan. We want them to leave our land and release our people from their torture chambers,’ and claims that separatist groups have overwhelming support in Quetta, Makran, Mastung as well as many other areas in Balochistan. The claims go as far as showing an overwhelming confidence on expanding militancy, despite army deployment.
Such blatant claims about anti-state movements enjoying large public support raise serious questions about the state of law and order in the country. Should we allow private armies to function within the country against the state? Should we hold those who sympathise with these movements responsible for their actions, even while realising that they have been offered no alternatives by the authorities? The brunt of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan is still being dealt with. And while we blame Talibanisation on the Afghan war, there is no one to blame for the worsening situation in Balochistan but ourselves.
The fact is, Pakistan is currently involved in counter-insurgency operations in various parts of the country with increasing foreign pressure and scrutiny at all levels. To promote disorder is a legitimate objective of an insurgent and the absence of laws to stem anti-state activities leaves citizens clamouring for protection. With regard to the Taliban, we have had to learn from the mistakes of the past and take decisive action.
The presence of a private army such as the BLA within Pakistan’s border is a harsh reminder that dire action is needed on other fronts as well. No action will be possible without a national recognition of the fact that organisations such as the BLA cannot flourish without a well-grounded cause. In this case, the cause has been facilitated by the sense of deprivation that is prevalent amongst Balochis.
With recent news of possible drone attacks in Balochistan the situation is bound to worsen. Caged in a no-way-out situation, the authorities need to realise the power of ideological movements and use tactful methods in order to dismantle such movements. If the authorities allow the cause of such insurgencies to remain dynamic, we will meet defeat and no amount of strategic initiatives can compensate for our ideological handicap.
Let’s not wait for the situation to worsen to the extent that it can only be tackled by violence. It would be more productive if actions against organisations such as the BLA is taken promptly and at the grassroots level, with due attention for human rights and ideology. For now, the most basic requirement would be to remove the sense of deprivation amongst the people of Balochistan by taking practical measures – such as halting the development of cantonments, allocating development funding, employment and resources, and ensuring amnesty for former separatists – with utmost sincerity.
Sana Saleem is a Features Editor at BEE magazine and blogs at Global Voices, Pro-Pakistan her personal blog Sana Saleem is a Features Editor at BEE magazine and blogs at Global Voices, Pro-Pakistan her personal blog Mystified Justice. She tweets at twitter.com/sanasaleem.
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
Pakistan Zindabad, Balochistan Zindabad, and all other provices in Pakistan Zindabad. We need to stand together as one nation. And if to save Pakistan means more sacrifice, then be it. Give the Balochis their atonomy, in fact, I read one persons sugestion who said desolve the Provincial system in Pakistan. I AGREE. And make smaller, much more managable unite in Pakistan, call them A, B or C or what you like. Just get rid of this painful debate of provinces all together. Full atonomy for all Pakistanies, Complete decentralization is the only solution. Wish all Pakistanies the best, and God Bless – Sab say pehlay Pakistan!!!!
Finally, some coverage to Baluchistan, this is the first of its kind on dawn, correct me if i am wrong =)
@Qurat ul lain I really do hope the matter is taken up and some important steps are taken.We have always (habitually) kept things pending until they worsen up to an irreversible state!
Really like the interview you conducted!
Cheers!
This problem is not isolated to Baluchistan. The same vaderas and superiority complex exists in Sindh and Punjab. Pakistan will never improve unless it empowers people with the rights to educate themselves and lift themselves out of poverty. However, I fear this will never happen because if the does, then who will bow and scrape to Nawaz Sharis, Bhuttos and Zardari’s? Until we ditch these failed and oppressive so called democrats we will never progress. With the end of elected local governments and the removal of local administrations we are back to the feudal system. We will never be able to escape this vicious circle.
The murder of Nawab Akbar Bugti tore the remaining fabric of national cohesion and harmony. This landmark event rekindled old fires and rubbed more salt on festering wounds.
With almost three (3) divisions of Army, levies and FC deployed to ensure a minimum semblance of security, and most of the province a de facto no go zone; it is obvious that the province has parted away from the mainstream Pakistan.
The only solution is to recalibrate the definition of what actually constitutes “mainstream Pakistan”. Balochistan has to be given an unprecedented level of autonomy; with at least 50% of its mineral resources spent on its people and infrastructure; a total and absolute freedom to do whatever they like. In simple terms we really have to “bribe” our way out of this nasty situation.
FATA, Swat and Bajaur too have been essentially pushed out of Pakistan; at least in mind and hearts. Army rule is a assured recipe to lose whatever is left of the national unity. Using forces on Pakistani soil against Pakistani citizens under whatever pretext is essentially a graveyard spiral.
A friend of mine from Lahore asked me why do the people in balochistan abuse punjab. My answer was that the day they come to know the answer of”Why”, the problem will be resolved.
Few elements, with support of outsiders have made the people of province think like this. Actually, the general population of the province have not been accommodated due to monopoly of Sardars, Landlords, who has been using their powers, resources obtained from the centre. This is unjustified, a few persons mis-utilizing the whole province, there is no accountability, no check and balance.
If any autonomy has to be giving to the province then it must be ensured that real Baloch are in power not the BLA militants.
Nice article!
I’m sickened by the comments of some people on this blog. They are have nothing else to say but blame the Sardars and Nawabs. I don’t know what is wrong with you people? Why don’t you understand? Do you actually know what is a Nawab or Sardar?
You people have Sardar phobia. No Nawab has ever stopped any Baloch from going to school and doing anything else that is in the benefit of Baloch people. Yes, Tribal system does still exist in Balochistan and for us (the Baluch) Tribal system is much better than the corrupt Pakistani judiciary system. We don’t expect any justice from Pakistan, its army and judiciary but we expect full justice and equality from our elders (Nawabs and Sardars).
Federal Government is ready to pay more than 200 Billions PER YEAR to ipps but not willing to pay one time royalty to our Baloch brothers. They have been deprived of their rights from last 62 years and all that resultant hatred is being directed against common people. It is so unfortunate keeping in view that our downtrodden nation is paying international prices for the energy. The money is going to MAFIA (politicians, generals, special interest groups, Jagirdars, foreign looters). URBAN PAKISTANIS have to sacrifice. We have to live without eight lane roads, flyovers, underpasses and push the so called leaders to invest in rural Pakistan.
Give rights to baloch
Give rights to downtrodden pakistanis
Give balochs ownership of all resources.
Invest in social services (education, health, drinking water)
Invest in cheap energy (no rpps)
Invest in innovation (industrial, technological, agricultural)
Invest in agriculture and irrigation
Reduce military, mullahs and bureaucracy.
Pakistan is too soft on armed groups in nation. If the Native Americans again revolted in US, the Americans would have sought to completely wipe out threat. In Pakistan, we do nothing just give concessions, the insurgency picked up in Balochistan after Zadari became President because he wanted dialogue but he was talking to wrong people. The armed groups ignored plea for peace. Situation in Balochstan is not dire, security can be improved, even in NWFP situation has improved with use of sustained political and military force. Carrot and stick approach only option to crush all armed groups in Pakistan.
People of Baluchistan need to understand they are living on Pakistani soil, The soil is not a part of them, but they are a part of the soil.
Baluchistan and its people needs sincere leadership, Bugti like a typical feudal leader did NOTHING constructive for its people, except for spreading hate and sense of deprivation which he himself and many Baloch Sardars contributed to, along with the state for the past 60 more years.
People running this country and the decision makes should invest in the youth of this province and provide them equal opportunities if not more.
In my view, the BLA is nothing but a pawn of foreign powers. These powers will dump people like Brahmdagh Bugti and other militants when their motives are achieved. I think we Balochs first need freedom from the Sardari systems which exploits the entire population of Balochistan. This should be Pakistan’s first priority. To get rid of Sardars and Nawabs we need to set aside the political appeasement. Pakistan has to break away from province system which was divided on linguistic basis. The providence should be broken down into smaller units with local government. Punjab, Sindh and Baluchistan and Tribal belt should be divided in 20 more provincesas they done it in India. We must then offer full autonomy to these 20 provinces with local govt who is able to make their own decisions. That is the only way out of current situation. Talking to militants who are sitting in safe havens of Kabul and New Delhi will not solve any problems. These people have not done a single good to Baloch and Baluchistan in last 500 years. Baloch people need to stand up against everyone who is exploiting them and it has to start from Sardari system.
Dear nawaz ahmed,
Education is not a provincial subject, it is a federal subject. Province has no authority to establish university. In makran there is no sardari system , but there is no single university. There is only one medical college all over Balochistan. If federal government can forcibly build cantonments and checkpoints , it could also build colleges and institutions. It can build Gwadar port , but it cant make technical institutions in Gwadar. pPlease don’t now say there are sardar and nawab in Gwadar. Awful support from people of pakistan with follies of its government.
Resistance has carried out by different organisations , recently with the names of bla , bra blf and b.u.l.f. militants’ organisation does not favor negotiations and they claim sovereignty of Baloch people over Balochistan with the exclusion of iran and pakistan. A similar type of insurgency also going on Iran that does not make news in here. the magnitude of insurgency has been widened by the follies of successive government and their policies of colonial rule in Balochistan..
I do feel that the ordinary people in Balochistan are not the problem, but like in the rest of the country, the Sardars, the Khans, the Feudals, the Landlords, the Pirs, the Sugarists, the Faithologists, …, are the brain and control the political institutions of the country. The civil society with the help of the judicial institutions must try get rid of them. This is the only way to solve the problems the land is facing. This is an immense and historic opportunity for the Chief justice of the SC, whoseems to be fully aware of this shocking situation.
Spot on Sana. If the people of Balochistan do not want an independent state, a handful of organisations will not be able to create a separate state either. All Pakistanis should be treated equally, regardless of their ethnicity. That is absolutely necessary to keep the country together — justice.
As for the Taliban, they too did not emerge in a vacuum and roles of states in the region need to be studied in more detail as far as the Taliban movement’s creation and evolution is concerned. While India is look at with suspicion regarding the operations of the Pakistani Taliban, we also need to look into the Afghan Taliban, where they came from and who all were involved in funding and assisting them. If we want to deal with these issues, we have to be honest regardless of what that search for truth reveals.
I hope the suggestions in the latter part of your blog are noticed and followed through by those who have the power to change a whole lot in this country.
best,
Qurat ul ain
In order to understand the discontent prevalent in Balochistan we need to take into consideration several factors such as the rules of Nawabs, Vaderas, their way of cruel governess, keeping their subjects as slaves, discouraging literacy amongst the children of their slaves, etc. Several TV dramas were produced highlighting the plights of the poor. The ancient Nawabs and Vaderas of Balochistan were themselves illiterate people totally un aware about human rights, to say in short their concept about their peoples was no more than their horses or camels. Let us stop discussing further about their system of governess and oppression as it may not do any good.
Coming to finding a solution for the prevailing issues I think there should be an in-depth debate about the affairs in Balochistan. Leaving it bleeding will germinate in untold miseries for the peoples of Balochistan in particular and Pakistanis in general. The focus should be on solving their problems rather than twisting the issue. Why have we not learnt what we should have from the events that led to the destruction of East Pakistan? We should clearly understand that discontent, if not treated properly can lead to a far more serious disease than the deadliest. Honest approach should be made to overcome this lingering problem once and for all. Blaming India for having a negative interest in Balochistan is understandable because a loose link is always considered a valuable asset by the enemy. If we want to distract India from mouth watering in Balochistan, we need to secure our loose corners first.
AH
Sana I think you have missed the point with regards to the Balochi Separatist movement. The Pakistan they find themselves is not the Pakistan that was promised to them by the Quaid at the inception of the country. The Baloch find themselves at the tipping point whereby they fear that if the development of Gwadar and other projects go ahead without the indigenous Baloch’s involvement then they will become a minority within a very few years. The Baloch know from experience that people from the smaller provinces are treated differently then the majority, simply take the case of the common Sindhi, who is fast losing his language, culture and natural resources (yes Sindh produces more oil than all the other provinces put together but you wouldn’t think so if you went to the interior of Sindh)but still remains some of the most backward and poor areas of Pakistan. No one wants special treatment but just equality. Give more powers to the provinces and you will make the federation stronger!
Sana, don’t you think Pakistanis in general have maintained double standards. Here you say “Such blatant claims about anti-state movements enjoying large public support raise serious questions about the state of law and order in the country. Should we allow private armies to function within the country against the state”. If India takes the same action against the Kashmiri extremists, why such hue and cry in Pakistan.
An impressive piece (as always) by Sana on a topic that is difficult to tackle and frequently overlooked.
Establishment has no reason to resolve Baloch problems when it can repeat Azad Kashmir formula of populating area with its sympathisers. It does not trust Baloch people while Taliban, JUI are its own babies. So “resolving grassroot problems and addressing BLA” are all good theory and moral-politik, Real-Politik means this issue will only be resolved by one winner of multitudes of powers fighting for influence there.
Till then, Adios to Peace.
sense of deprivation ? what deprivation ? and who is responsible for deprivation ? the answer is simple, the baloch society and its nawabs and sardars who treat the poor as there personal property!
If someone bestowed with the natural resources by Nature then if they are usurped by the ones called themselves the majority of the country will really bring such results in the form of so-called insurgency. It is the absolute right of the province people to utilize their own resources as men of the other provinces are exercising.
To add to the dismal shape, and of the realities the worst to handle is the fact that some of these militants are people who prior had a life of joy and decency, then deprived by continual enforcements and withdrawal of basic rights from Baloch People.
Some who I’ve met, as they detail their peaceful background comprising college life tales, that later turned into fire, sparked some Musharraf’s crucial measures and statements to burn a promising boy’s future into explosions & ashes.
Still, there has’t been improvement. Deprivation of rights, fake promises continue to prevail.
Sana a good article. But i guess we need to understand that the elders of Balochistan believe that they have been added to the Pakistan Map at gun point in 1948 Listen to interview of baksh Marri and Akber Bugti. They go on saying that they were happy with the British Raj where they had their traditions and their way of governance. Then there are the leaders read sanaullah and others who talk about post 1970 where they were declared as a province.
Then we have the die hard anti Pakistan who will do what ever it takes to cut it away.
My question is they have either too much money to spend on weapons and that too sophisticated ones being used in Afghanistan against allied forces or else they have support.
What i gather is that they want full autonomy on what ever resides in their land. They want greater Balochistan and thats their quest. For people who have hunger and that too at this level how do you address their issues. This is where the debate should be not on what is wrong, for them 1948 when Quaid was alive they were betrayed and pulled in at gun point. If this is the state and their grievances run to that part of time then what can be done…………
I am of the age of Pakistan, 63 years and have seen the activity of history well before me. Baluch sardars were governing their province right from the day of independance. They and their children are getting education from top education institutions in Pakistan and abroad. They don’t bother to give education to Baluch youths just to keep them in poverty. Bugtis, Murees, Mangels etc all have been on the top slots there. They were even cruel with their own people, sending them into their private jails. People of Pakistan including Baluch will only get real freedom when they will get rid of Sardars, Waderas, Chaudharis, Maliks. Our industrist are cruel people. Just imagine how they made billion of rupees by increasing sugar prices before and during Ramzan. There is only one slogan left. Eliminate these thousands people who are sitting on the country’s resources which are in fact the lifeline of Pakistan’s 17 crore people.