Baloch national issue
By: Shay Raza
Balochistan’s unending sufferings testify the tyranny of Pakistani state on the centuries-old Baloch nation. The recent outrages of the increasing grievances of Baloch in every walk of life proves that Baloch cannot live peacefully with this immoral state. From dishonoring the Baloch women to abducting and killing Baloch scholars, journalists, writers, teachers, students and common public in all spheres of life, Pakistan is justifying its atrocious behavior towards the Baloch nation. Baloch people have to grasp this well that Pakistan’s biggest threat is “national identity” of Baloch. To crush the national feeling of Baloch, state practices multifold atrocities – physical and mental – to distract the Baloch youths and other public from the ongoing Baloch national movement.
Today, thousands of people – including children, women, elderly people and youths – have marched on roads to ask for ends of living in Gwadar, which the tyrannous state is using as its hub city for China’s manipulation. On one end, state portrays a false image of the city to the world showing ‘unpractical developments’ in the city, whereas, she has caged the locals of the city from even chanting slogans of freedom – what actually the people demand wholly – by injecting in them fear of being abducted, tortured and death.
As Pakistan, in real sense, is the colony of world powers which was basically formed to save their interests in the given region, it adopts policies from upward. The “Divide and Rule” is one such policy implemented in the Baloch territory adopted from the British rulers when they were in power in half of the world. Because state, or its masters, know well that Baloch issue is to be diverted at any cost. Hence, they introduce different people to turn away the actual path of Baloch nation from independence to curtailing them to social reforms. If today, residents of Gwadar are facilitated with water, Chinese or other illegal trawlers are ceased to come into sea on 12 nautical miles, drugs dealers are punished, then will the Baloch issue get resolved? Won’t China, or even Pakistan herself, snatch their rights of Baloch in coming time? Didn’t Baloch come on roads before? And if they came, what were the outcomes?
With their divide and rule policy, they divert the attention of the masses from liberation to small, tiny basic needs. Baloch issue is not of some reforms, which are never permanent, but it is slavery. It ought to be clear to the nation that we are slave and slave nation has nothing of its own prior to liberation. More unfortunate for us as we are the slave of a nation which has no past history of its own, no language, no customs and traditions, and above all, it is the slave of the external powers. On the other hand, Baloch have a past history of thousands of years, their own languages, customs and traditions, national heroes, land and everything of their own. How can we think to settle down with a so-called state having nothing of its own.
Besides this, we have to keep this in our mind that Pakistan is nothing to do with the Baloch masses, but the Baloch land. Zia Ul Haq, their proud, former Martial law administrator, replies to a journalist in an interview that for them (Pakistan), “Baloch land is of mainstream, not the Baloch people”. What else can we hope from the other rulers of this inhuman state? They are openly rejecting the Baloch people in their media, how can we think of a middle way? How can we let an external power come and rule us, abduct us from our homes, torture us in their prisons, throw our mutilated bodies, dishonor our women by jumping into our homes at midnights? As a Baloch, how can we settle down with a state which even abducts our small children of six to ten years of ages? The recent incident of Gichk, where Sanam Jamil (10 years) and her younger brother Ghazzain Jamil (6 years) were whisked away for two months should be an eyeopener for the entire Baloch nation.
Pakistan’s issue is “Baloch Identity”. Their matters of concern are the Baloch norms, customs and traditions. Their headaches are the Baloch culture, unity, political maturity and everything belonging to Baloch, Balochi and Balochistan with the growing sense of national spirit. They try every possible attempt to crush “Balochiyat” in every walk of life. They are distorting Baloch nation internally and externally both.
Another matter of great concern is, we often mix the Baloch issue with Balochistan issue, quotes Inayatullah in his book “The Problem of Greater Balochistan”. Balochistan issues involves every sort of “legal right” on Pakistani perspective; Baloch issue deals with the issues arising owing to distorting the Baloch national identity. We can observe in Pakistani established institutions where they try to call Baloch an “ethnic group” other than a nation; Pakistani media and analysts try the same propaganda to make Baloch believe that they are an ethnic group and not a nation. Inayatullah further quotes in his book that “Rise of nationalism is the biggest threat for a state nation”.
The rise of the feeling of one nation gives challenging danger to a state-nation (developed in twentieth century and Pakistan is said to be a state nation). Baloch is a nation with a thousands of years old history. We have our own land, culture, norms, traditions, languages and ways of life. Although disparate external powers, in different eras, tried to occupy the Baloch land for their interests, but Baloch have always resisted; and still resisting. From Persian kings to Afghanistan’s Shahs, British Empire to Pakistani state, everyone rose in the ground to make the Baloch dance on their tune and occupy their land. But Baloch resisted and are resisting.
Today, it must be in the mind of every Baloch that Baloch issue is national slavery and its solution is collapse of the Pakistani state and formation of a Baloch state. As says a Balochi proverb, “After a Baloch child is born, each step he keeps outside, falls under gold.” Baloch are blessed with a naturally blessed territory. Its geostrategic position holds great importance for the world powers. This is why they got the need to form a state in this region to serve as their slave and protect their interests regarding the region. The same state has kept her occupation on us, the Baloch nation.
Therefore, every Baloch has to contribute in the Baloch national movement in either way they can. As every single Baloch is a part of this war for liberation against the unethical state of Pakistan. Everyone ought to deliver to the best of their capacity so that Pakistan is defeated sooner than later. Because the issue is of every single Baloch; it is his national identity. He ought to fight for it.