Outline of oppression

Aftab Baloch

Rousseau, a well-known political thinker, captivatingly argued that man is born free, but
everywhere he is in chains. He believed that these “chains” were not natural but created
by society, often to serve the interests of the powerful. Powerful later marginalizes
minorities, exploiting each and everything around them, which they consider much more
beneficial for them. If we shot a glance over thehistory, we could find plenty of instances
of the powerful who stigmatized the people in myriad ways and snatched all the sources
through which consciousness comes from and brought those into implementation, which
were preplanned for the marginalized.
The concept of oppression has existed throughout history, manifesting in different forms
across societies and time periods. Historically, oppressed groups are those who have
been systematically denied rights, freedoms, or opportunities due to social, political,
economic, religious, or racial factors.
Different times the colonial powers were defeated in various ways, and they faced
different types of movements and Oppressed nations have historically resisted colonial
powers through various means, including armed struggle, political movements, cultural
resistance, international alliances, guerrilla war, direct wars, and demonstrations, and so
on. But the colonial power never ruled consistently on the minority or the marginalized.
As time passed, everything started changing their shapes. Technology brought a
catastrophic revolution in different fields, especially changing the entire battlefield with
different technologies to turn the face of the battles or wars.
On the other hand, technology has polished the mindset of the marginalized about using
it in a helpful way so as to get rid of the colonial powers. Most importantly, the colonial
power invariably uses its ultimate powers over the people and also leaves a direction of
resistance for the people to resist; the direction can be in the shape of using ultimate
power or creating a suffocating atmosphere where everybody suffers terribly. It depends
upon the people whether to choose the path of resistance to get rid of the colonial powers
or to bear it shamelessly. History indicates that most of the people chose the path of
resistance against the colonial powers and defeated them with their utmost resistance.
There always exist some people, classes, or organizations to lead the people towards
resistance or to mentally edify the people to get rid of the settlers. The enumerated ones
should lead the people in different ways, like to mobilize the youth of the nation, bring
them under a single ideology, and prepare them for the counter-measurement of
defeating the settlers; mobilize the women because women had played a most important
and captivating role against the despotism; history bears witness to this. Furthermore, the
empowerment of women should be a most crucial consideration, especially of a slaved
or colonized nation. If we have a glance over the history, we can get ample instances
regarding women who had fought against colonial powers; for instance, during the
Algerian War of Independence, Algerian women actively participated in the struggleagainst French colonial rule, engaging in armed combat, providing support to fighters,
and participating in political activities.
In 1929, the British began unfairly taxing women in southeastern Nigeria. These women
protested at warrant chief’s offices and attacked colonial buildings to demand an end to
unfair taxes and the warrant chief system. The women used protest methods that were
historically used by Igbo women to express their disapproval of men who abused their
power. The women danced, sang songs about their poor treatment, and destroyed
courthouses. This protest was known as the Aba Women’s Rebellion and lasted two
months. The protest ended on December 17th, 1929. During the protest, the British
military fired into crowds of protestors and killed 55 women. But the protests did help
remove warrant chiefs in certain areas, and women began to participate in Native Courts.
Throughout the time the British were in Nigeria, women protested. Groups like the Market
Women’s Association led by Alimotu Pelewura and the Abeokuta Women’s Union led by
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti pushed for women’s rights and helped spread a sense of
nationalism―the idea that people should be able to govern themselves. This nationalism
eventually led to Nigeria winning independence from the British. Unfortunately, Nigerian
male leaders did not support women’s rights and downplayed women’s role in winning
independence.
In Egypt, women fought against colonialism and discrimination. Egypt had fallen heavily
in debt to European powers by the late 19th century and was seized by the British in
1882. By the early 20th century, Egyptian nationalism—the desire to self-govern—grew
in response to British rule. Saad Zaghloul led Wafd, the first major nationalist party. This
party, led by men, fought for independence from Britain but also called for improving the
rights of women in Egypt.
Women also spoke out about the need to improve women’s education. They argued that
women could play important roles in society beyond being mothers and wives. When
Zaghloul and his party members were forced to leave Egypt, women helped organize the
growing revolution against British rule. On March 15, 1919, women joined in strikes,
protests, and marches in Cairo. The next day, the wives of the nationalist leaders were
forced to leave Egypt. Safia Zaghloul, Huda Sharawi, and Mana Fahmi Wissa led
thousands of women on a march. They carried flags of the crescent and cross, showing
that Muslim and Christian women both opposed British rule. These women also led
boycotts of British goods and continued to protest throughout the struggle for
independence. Huda Shaarawi, wife of a Wafd party organizer and the former leader of
the party’s women, founded the Egyptian Feminist Union (EFU). The EFU called for full
political rights for women, equal education, and changes to the personal status law. (The
personal status law ruled women’s rights in marriage, divorce, child custody, and
inheritance, and often unfairly favored men over women). In 1954, a group called the
National Liberation Front (FLN) fought against French colonialists in Algeria. Many
Muslim women joined the FLN even though they were not allowed to have leadership
roles. But during Algeria’s war for independence (1954-1962), women supported the FLN
by raising money and serving as soldiers, spies, nurses, and cooks. They served as spies
in the Battle of Algiers from 1956 to 1957. They worked undercover, hiding messages,money, and weapons under their veils. They even dressed as Europeans in order to enter
areas where Europeans lived and plant bombs. The roles that women played in the battle
for independence were far different than the roles they were allowed in Algeria’s pre-
colonial male-ruled society. However, when Algeria won independence in 1962, most
male Algerian leaders pushed for women to return to traditional roles in the home.
Currently, women are participating in movements against colonial powers. Women in the
Baloch Armed Struggle is an explicit instance of the current resistance against colonizers.
When women take part in armed struggle or in mobilizing people, then it would be an
unbeatable challenge for the colonizer to wipe out the nation.
Furthermore, wars in today’s world have taken many shapes and have reached the fifth
generation, where wars need different tools to fight against the opposite; apart from this,
this is known as the digital era, where wars are being run through the digital. In the time
of the digital war, the most vigorous tool is propaganda, through which one can counter
the narratives of the opposite and can build very strong narratives against the opposite
power to show it very weak and despotic. Narrative building is what ensures the people
believe what they see and read or hear. Propaganda in digital warfare against colonial
powers involves controlling narratives, exposing injustices, and mobilizing resistance.
Anti-colonial movements have historically used media—such as the Algerian FLN’s radio
broadcasts against French rule or India’s use of newspapers to fuel independence
sentiment. Today, digital tools like memes, viral videos, and cyber leaks expose
neocolonial control. Hacktivists disrupt colonial interests, while social media campaigns
like #RhodesMustFall challenge imperialist legacies. Psychological tactics spread doubt
among colonial forces, just as Vietnam’s anti-U.S. propaganda demoralized troops. By
shaping perceptions and inspiring action, digital propaganda weakens colonial influence
and strengthens resistance movements worldwide.
To use media against a colonial power, colonized communities can leverage various
forms of communication like newspapers, radio, film, and social media to expose the
injustices of colonial rule, promote resistance narratives, mobilize public opinion against
colonial policies, and highlight the cultural identity and resilience of the colonized people,
often by challenging the dominant colonial narrative through alternative media platforms
and storytelling.
Most importantly, there needs to be a propaganda cell to manage each and everything
about the colonial narratives; a propaganda cell counters opposing narratives through
rapid response, information control, and psychological tactics. It monitors enemy
messaging, identifies weaknesses, and deploys counter-propaganda via social media,
influencers, and cyber tactics. Fact-checking mixed with emotional appeal discredits
opposition, while memes, viral content, and satire ridicule their stance. Coordinated
messaging ensures consistency across platforms, while bot networks amplify narratives.
Leaks and exposés weaken enemy credibility, similar to Cold War-era disinformation
campaigns. Psychological warfare spreading doubt, fear, and division—neutralizes
adversaries. A successful cell adapts to digital trends, infiltrates opposition spaces, and
turns their own tactics against them to dominate the information battlefield.The educated class has the spine of the nation and has the most important and fragile
role in a colonized nation. Let’s see what history articulates about this class. The educated
class played a pivotal role in defeating colonial powers by shaping nationalist ideologies,
countering colonial narratives, and organizing resistance movements. Intellectuals,
journalists, lawyers, and teachers became the architects of independence struggles,
using their knowledge to challenge imperial rule politically, legally, and culturally. They
formulated nationalist ideologies that inspired mass mobilization, as seen in the
leadership of Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru in India, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam,
and Kwame Nkrumah in Ghana, who studied Western political thought and turned its
principles against the colonizers to argue for self-determination and democracy. Through
media and literature, educated activists spread anti-colonial sentiment by publishing
newspapers, pamphlets, and books that exposed colonial exploitation, such as Bal
Gangadhar Tilak’s Kesari in India or Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth in Algeria.
They also played a crucial role in legal and political advocacy, challenging oppressive
colonial policies in courts and international forums, as Gandhi did in South Africa and
Jomo Kenyatta did in Kenya. Additionally, they organized protests, strikes, and
revolutionary movements by mobilizing students, workers, and the general populace into
structured resistance groups like the African National Congress (ANC) in South Africa,
the Indian National Congress, and the Viet Minh in Vietnam. Many educated leaders also
engaged in diplomatic efforts, securing international support and using their knowledge
of global politics to weaken colonial legitimacy. By combining intellectual resistance,
media influence, legal strategies, and political mobilization, the educated class became a
driving force in dismantling colonial rule, proving that ideas, education, and strategic
leadership were just as powerful as armed resistance in the struggle for independence.
Similarly, we as Baloch should learn something from those events and people, how they
mobilized their people and united their people and brought them under one ideology.
Besides this, we have to be realistic against the colonial powers as well, which shapes
our ideas and thinking as realism.
In the ultimate illustration, there are countless ways for the subjugated nation to
decolonize itself because technology has advanced a lot, and every subjugated nation
has access to it, and they should utilize it against the colonial powers in many ways. The
subjugated nation has to edify its people in the field of technology and provide them
technical services for the purpose of preparedness against the colonial power in coming
days. Colonial powers always lack something, and they very little try to update
themselves, and the subjugated nation has to be invariably updated about each and
everything around it. Because the colonial powers are always intoxicated in their luxuries,
while the oppressed have to take advantage of it and pave the way for their freedom.