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Anatomy of Hope and Betrayal: The State and Baloch Nationalism

I

No other ethnic group has suffered as much as the ethnic Balochis and Kurds have due to ulterior colonial and post-colonial geographical divisions in South Asia and the Middle East. With respect to Balochis, the colonial power (Great Britain) in the region ‘divided an otherwise contiguous terrain— spanning from Bandar Abbas in the west to Jacobabad on the east and from the Makran coast in the south to the Toba Kakar range in the north— among three states i.e., Iran, British India and Afghanistan ‘* during the 19th century. Meanwhile, the colonial designs to staple the fate of a large nationality with geographically proximate nation-states succeeded because Balochis always formed a ‘loose confederacy’ during the course of their existence, and ‘colonial might’ magnificently manipulated this fact to its advantage. Then with the advent of de-colonialization, Balochis again, though intermittently, tried to regain their centuries old status but failed miserably. Moreover, among the three contiguous states, Pakistan inherited the largest segment of the Baloch population at the time of independence. As of today, there are 6,511,000 people living in a province covering almost 44 per cent of Pakistan land mass and straddling Iran, Afghanistan and Arabian Sea.

The present government in Pakistan came into power in March 2008 with the promise to share democratic dividend with all the stakeholders across the board. It set off to fix the broken places (conflict ridden areas) across the country and address the long held aspirations of oppressed ethnic minorities, especially of the Balochis. The government achieved a lot, at least in resetting the relationship of the Center with Balochistan; and promised to solving long standing issues and especially of gas royalties, which according to Balochistan government estimates runs in trillion of rupees, presented seventh National Finance Commission (NFC) award, and announced Aghaz-e-Haqooq-e-Balochistan Package in the Parliament on November 24, 2009. But some factors such as the boycott of elections by nationalist political parties, continued intrusive role of the security establishment in civilian governance and public security, ever fragile and volatile security environment in the 1200 km of the Baloch territory that touches Balochistan, impinge on the capability of the present government for effectively implementing the package.

II

Generally, nationalism is defined as a ‘sense of nationalconsciousness, loyalty and devotion to a nation being exalted above all others and emphasizing the promotion of its culture and interests as opposed to those of othernationsor supranational groups.’ Being an expressed desire of people to establish and maintain a self-governing political entity, nationalism has been a dominant social force in recent history, leading to both the creation and destruction of the modern nation-states across the globe.*

The emergence of the notion of nationalism is often attributed to the French Revolution of 1789, when the first ‘nation-state’ is said to have been created. Although states where the boundaries of the state and the nation overlap, existed before 1789, yet but states had not used the situation to their advantage to the extent that France was able to. It is where nationalism crept into international arena as a powerful and a meaningful concept of modern state structure.

As being a relatively free civilization throughout the history, Balochis continued seething under colonial rule for being torn apart and put under cotangent neighbors. And this exasperation further augmented when largest Baloch community in the area became part of Pakistan in the form of Balochistan. And thus, soon after joining Pakistan, an autonomous state within Balochistan, the Kalat State, revolted against central authorities of Pakistan. In response, the central government launched military operation in 1948 against the rulers of Kalat in order to enforce accession. This is where the history of Baloch nationalism kicked off in Pakistan, and continues even today in one form or the other, at one level or the other, and comprising one actor or the other. The rebellion flag raised by Khan of Kalat in 1948 has been passed over to other major Baloch tribes from time to time, and the number of its beholders is inexorably soaring, particularly in recent years.*

Against this backdrop, where once the demands for nationalism were based on geographical control, they now stem from economic, political, cultural and social undercurrents. Looking at the potential of natural resources, one finds that Balochistan is generously blessed by the Nature, with enviable wealth in the form of strategic land, marine resources, vital coasts, and countless energy resources as the world second largestcopper-gold reserves, Reko Diq and Saindak, are in Balochistan Chaghi region. But so far this natural blessing has proved nothing but a ‘curse’ for the province. Since its strategic location lured foreign powers into the inside the province, the void left in political spectrum sucked security establishment into the field, and its natural potential lured central government exploitative organs like oil and gas exploring organizations into the arena.

As a result, Balochistan is teetering due to scores of structural political, security and economic factors such as stubborn poverty, widespread unemployment, rampant corruption, dysfunctional administration and above all fledgling security situation. The social and economic indicators in the province suggest that the ill-fated province always topped the charts in poverty, unemployment and low per capita income since accession to Pakistan. Even today, its literacy rate is 26.6 per cent as against national average of 47 per cent; only 20 per cent of the population has access to drinking water as compared to 86 per cent in rest of Pakistan, and 47 per cent of the population is living under poverty line. Thus, these factors form a perfect catalyst for smoldering the underlying flames of nationalism.

In general, Baloch nationalists claim to be struggling for protecting their identity, while some of them (separatists) have gone too far and taken up arms against the state, since the state not only ditched the Baloch people but also failed to live up to its ideals of creating a harmonious federation. For instance, at the time of independence in 1947 the Baloch people accepted the amalgamation with Pakistan but got apprehensive about the fact that Baloch population was only a small fraction of the total population of Pakistan and was, hence in a serious danger of loss of identity, if not duly protected. The later events such as establishment of the ¿One Unit– during former President Ayub era (declaring east Pakistan one unit and west Pakistan one unit) further fortified these apprehensions, and later on, the ulterior political maneuverings during military rules and intermittent military operations against five Baloch insurgencies further aggravated the miseries of hapless province. Balochis, who had a scant representation in military and civil services of Pakistan, developed a serious sense of alienation and deprivation along the way.

The Baloch separatist insurgency has resurfaced in recent years, and the scenes of bloody skirmishes and violent encounters between Baloch militants and Pakistani security forces are order of the day in the province. Thus, nationalist violence has remained a major issue in Balochistan throughout its checkered history, and primarily revolves around the issues of exploitation of resources and threat to the political identity and culture of Balochis.

III

Though geographically Balochistan is the largest province (constituting roughly 45 per cent of Pakistan total landmass), and the richest of all in terms of its mineral resources, it is still the least developed part of the country. There have been a number of recommendations and efforts in varying degrees and commitments, by various governments, for Balochistan but have never been materialized. The current government elected in 2008 manifested relative commitment and seriousness towards the Balochistan issue and formulated a package termed as ‘Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan’. It is an initiative that was launched two years ago on 24th of Nov, 2009 with the objective of addressing the deep-seated sense of alienation and deprivation among the people of Balochistan and to grant them much contested emancipation in political, cultural and economic.

The socioeconomic package termed ‘Aghaz-e-Huqooq-e-Balochistan’ does not simply mean a beginning but is a continuous process to give what is due for Balochistan. Already mentioned in the NFC Award, ‘for the first time in the history of Pakistan multiple criteria for resource distribution has been adopted which includes population, human development index, inverse population density and revenue generation’, discontinuing the sole criterion of population. This has resulted in nearly doubling the share of Balochistan from the federal divisible pool of 5.ll to 9.09 per cent.

Under the package mandate, some 61 policy actions in four categories were promised. Out of those, six steps were constitutional in nature, five were political, sixteen were administrative and 34 were financial.Though Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani often takes pride in claiming that over 80 per cent of the Balochistan package has been implemented, the truth of the matter is that the Federal and Balochistan governments have so far fulfilled 65 per cent of the commitments made in the Rights– Package. As of the total 61 policy actions committed in the package, 34 have been implemented, while five are in advanced stages and twenty two are either in the initial phase or not implemented. Of the six constitutional actions, five have been implemented and one is in the later stages. Two out of five political policy actions and seven out of 16 administrative measures have been implemented. Twenty out of 34 economic policy recommendations have also been implemented, and among the remaining 14, two are in advanced stages while 12 are awaiting implementation. The federal government has also committed to transfer 120 billion rupees to the province over ten years against royalties accruing from the gas.

Exiled Baloch leaders, however, summarily rejected the ¿package– soon after its announcement on the grounds that it failed to address core issues and long- standing demands for provincial autonomy. Talal Bugti, the eldest son of late Nawab Akbar Bugti, former governor Balochistan and president of the Jamhoori Watan Party, alleged that the package had been prepared by ¿invisible forces– and not by Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani team or a parliamentary committee. His reference was the Pakistani security establishment. ‘Our stand remains unchanged that the federating units must be treated as per the 1940 Pakistan Resolution,’ Talal Bugti declared, adding, ‘We don–t believe in dialogue anymore, as it has been unproductive.’ Similarly, Harbiyar Marri, the London-based leader of the Marri tribe, while opposing any compromise with the government, termed the package a ‘mockery and a cruel joke’ with the people of Balochistan, and observed that it flatly fell short of Baloch expectations. He asserted that it was only an exercise in buying more time. On the other hand, one cannot label these statements as mere political rhetoric; there is indubitable substance to back these claims of Baloch nationalist leaders. Moreover, the president of Nationalist Party (NP) Senator Dr Abdul Malik said: ‘The package did nothing to address long-standing grievances of the province. Issues like recovery of missing persons, return of self-exiled Baloch leadership into Pakistan, and investigation into the extra-judicial killings of political leaders are still far from implementation.’ The government is faltering to create a trickledown effect of its socio-economic initiatives so far. The Baloch youth, political dissidents and exiled political leaders are not ready to embrace state and its policies towards their province.

IV

Against the backdrop of recent government efforts to bring back the Baloch dissidents into political fold, the Rights– Package, National Finance Commission Award and the presidential apology to the Baloch people for past injustices to them , the ground situation refuses to change, and continues to overshadow all efforts for change. Recent trends suggest that calls for greater autonomy, and in some cases, complete independence are getting louder with the passage of time. Also, these calls are vigorously being translated into violence against state security apparatus, infrastructure and indiscriminate killing of non-Balochis in the province. On the other hand, the state security apparatus is also allegedly getting malicious in silencing the dissent voices, with Baloch nationalists claiming that secret agencies are eliminating political activists. The army and the provincial government have repeatedly rejected these allegations.

Following figures, however, highlight the deterioration of security conditions in Balochistan, which in return instills impression of omnipresent law and order situation in the province:

  • In 2010, over 317 people perished and 702 injured in 425 incidents of violence across Balochistan.
  • In 2011, according to Human Rights– Watch, 150 so-called ‘kill and dump’ deaths were recorded inBalochistanfrom Januaryto July.
  • Data compiled by CRSS suggests that 220 people have lost their lives since July till November (five months) in different episodes of violence across the province.
  • In sum, 390 people across Balochistan fell prey to violence so far during the current year.

Fallout of Continued Violence

Surge in violence not only creates a sense of instability and uncertainty but also dampens hopes of political settlements in the Balochistan conundrum. This situation also has often prompted questions as to if Balochistan became independent, would Pakistan be able to withstand dismemberment once more¶and what effect would it have on regional stability? As in 1971, majority Bengalis seceded from Pakistan and formed their separate state, Bangladesh. Pakistan would lose a major part of its natural resources and thus becoming more dependent on the Middle East for its energy supplies. Balochistan independence would also bring to naught Islamabad plans for benefiting from r the deep-sea Gwadar Port and other related projects ´ all of them designed to make Pakistan an attractive hub for foreign investors. Pakistan losses from an eventual secession would not be limited to the economic domain, although, the central government could still find facilities for testing its nuclear weapons and missiles, the test sites would have to be in the vicinity of more populated areas.

The neighboring countries, Iran and Afghanistan, having quite large segments of Baloch populations, are also not very enthusiastic about the prospect of a Pakistan weakened by the secession of Balochistan; as the independence of Pakistani Balochistan would inevitably give rise to the fear of the revival of Baloch support for a Greater Balochistan. Whereas all down the eastern side, India may be tempted to look at the further partition of Pakistan as an opportunity for forging a new anti-Pakistan alliance. Hence it is the time to address the issue seriously which otherwise may foster into separation given the increasing pressure from the sentimental and disenchanted youth of today Balochistan.

V

Looking at the case of Baloch nationalism and the state responses to it, one finds that history is repeating itself in full circle once again in Pakistan. The eastern wing (Bangladesh) was lost forty years ago just because of denying political and rights and economic justice to the Bengalis, whereas today, the same treatment is being met by the Balochis. History bears ample testimony to the fact that economic and or security therapy will never work in the absence of the political balm that disenchanted Baloch peoples desperately need. Baloch nationalism is nothing but a political issue. Thus, only political resetting between state and Balochistan can reverse the rising tide of nationalism. One may conclude that Balochistan has strong lungs (natural potential, human resources) but needs clean-up of its respiratory system (governance structure), which has been palpably made dysfunctional by the unjust intrusions of the federation, and being aggravated by the attrition that the province suffers as a result of continued attacks on crucial state interests such as utility installations and a heightened wave of target-killings.

Notes:

Following sources were consulted to compile the paper:

  • Government of Pakistan, Establishment Division Statistics

Contributed By: Imdad Ullah (Senior Research Fellow, CRSS) and Ayesha-bint-Rafique

* British authorities marked boundaries of Balochistan with Iran in 1870s, with British India in 1896 and with Afghanistan between 1896 and 1905.

* The implosion of Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia in Europe, and independence of East Timor in Asia are famous cases in point.

* The central government launched military operations against Baloch tribes like Khan of Kalat, Bugtis, Marris, Mengals etc., respectively in 1948, 1958, 1973 and 2006. But in general the time span of low intensity conflict always preceded the era of relative calm in the province.

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