| Those who accept Punjabi slavery and call Punjab their elder brother have no right to call themselves Baloch Those who make claims of eagerly joining Pakistan and willingly accepted Punjabi slavery and domination and deny that Balochistan was forcefully annexed in Punjabi Pakistan. Have no right to call themselves Baloch. I a recent statement by Jam Yousaf, he claims Balochistan willingly merged with Pakistan. While it is a historical fact that Pakistan annexed Balochistan. In 1947 Balochistan had two legislative bodies Houses of Lords and House of Commons both houses opted against joining Pakistan but against all opposition Balochistan was forcefully annexed in Pakistan. While this is also a historical fact that Jam Yousaf’s forefathers their kind opted for joining and willingly joined Pakistan. That proves his loyalty to the Baloch and Motherland Balochistan. From then onwards Balochistan has remained a colony of Pakistan and subdominant to Punjabi will. Balochistan never enjoyed any authority or equality in Punjabi dominated Pakistan (Punjabi Pakistan). Development of Balochistan and exploration of natural resources, education of local people, etc etc, were never at Baloch people’s discretion. Though the Baloch have been made slaved in our own homeland without their will and they are not proud of it, but there are a few who have willingly excepted the slavery and chosen to serve their Punjabi masters by fooling the masses and leading them to the edge of a cliff. Every thing happening in Balochistan was and is for the benefit of Punjab and its multinational masters directly or indirectly. In such a set-up Jam Yousaf or other Punjabi stooges make high claims of development and talk of a golden age of Baloch progress. At this stage a question arises, development and progress but for whom? When all decisions are being taken by Punjab, the so-called Mega projects are being run, manned and controlled by Punjab. In such a scenario people like Jam Yousaf, Zafarullah Jamali and their collaborators want us to believe that Balochistan is entering a golden age of development and progress. Many have played such tunes earlier, it’s been 56 years since we are listening to such tunes of progress and development but the ground reality is that we are at the brink of extinction. Our culture, history, heritage, land, language and even survival is at stake. If we have still not learned anything from our past experiences then no one can save us from the disaster we are heading towards. In the news papers, radio and electronic media we come across such statements “Punjab our elder Brother. Punjab the bigger province. Balochistan the smaller Province.” Have we ever though why do they use such statements. Maybe it is an intentional indoctrination of the Baloch people to willingly accept the fact that we Baloch are smaller shareholder and Punjab is the larger province (larger shareholder). Then it will be easy for Baloch to accept the Punjabi domination and authority. The psyche of a smaller will be accepted and hence accepting every thing in smaller shares. While the fact remains that Balochistan is nearly half of Pakistan and the major contributor of natural wealth, oil and gas and 75 percent of the country’s coastline lies in Balochistan and Pakistan’s strategic importance is due to Balochistan. If we take all these things into consideration then I find no reason for accepting Balochistan is the smaller and Punjab the bigger province. One more thing which the Pakistani media continuously repeats that Baloch is the smaller brother and Punjab the bigger brother. I believe that no honourable Baloch would want to be called a Choudary’s Son. As it may seem harsh but the fact remains that if we accept Punjabi as our elder brother, it makes the Choudary our father. I am sure no moral Baloch would accept that. In Pakistan Baloch, Pushtoon and Sindhis are not even treated as equal partners let alone as brothers. Baloch, Pushtoon, Sindhi or Punjabi are different Nations in one country and should have equal share in authority and decision making no one should be bigger or smaller if Punjab insists on maintaining its grip over other nations in this country called Pakistan the future dose not hold any prosperity and progress for the Baloch or other dominated Nations. It is appalling on the part of international media especially those who claim to be impartial, for example BBC to use the same terminology is the Punjabi oppressors branding Balochistan as the smaller province and Punjab the bigger province. I appeal to all Baloch people especially to the intellectuals, political workers, students and writers to refrain from using the word small in context of Balochistan. We owe a lot to our motherland Balochistan (meaning the country of Baloch), our country (Baloch Watan) is our history, culture and more then every thing our identity. If we cannot, and do not defend it against all odds then we will have no identity. That is why I once again appeal to all my fellow Baloch to take up this issue at every level because this is also a step in the struggle for Baloch equality and awareness of our rights. Think about the consequence of the use of this word. Statement by Nawabzada Balach Marri 11.3.04 |
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