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Section
1
History of the Peace
Process in Balochistan
- Introduction
The
question of peace, human rights and justice for Baloch people is
embedded in the colonial history of the region and the very formation of
Pakistan. The origin of the conflict can be traced back in the early
days of the country when the newly formed state of Pakistan was in the
process of consolidating its control over the territory it
“inherited” as a result of the partition of the British Indian
Empire. The annexation of Baloch territory into Pakistan did not face
much of a popular resistance but the "one nation, one people"
policy of the central government failed to integrate the Baloch people
into the folds of Pakistani nation as was the case with other ethnic and
national minorities of Pakistan.
The
political developments of the first two decades are marred by uneven
development, which resulted from the central government’s policy of
negation of language, culture and ethnic identities of nationalities in
an attempt to create a highly centralized state apparatus. The first
constitution adopted in 1956 acknowledged the federal nature of Pakistan
but failed to recognize the existence of distinct ethnic groups in
Pakistan. The 1962 constitution had failed to recognize the federal
character of Pakistan. This was the period when the One Unit policy”
was enforced. During this period, Baloch people were the most neglected,
discriminated and isolated. They had no political representation in the
power structure of the country.
The
national and the nationality question in the context of peace, human
rights and democracy is something that spills over the defined
boundaries of ethno–nationalism. Nation states became even more
oppressive and tyrannical in the post-colonial era. The old forms of
oppression, and discrimination continue to subjugate masses under the
garb of nationhood and the need to build a strong unified nation. Thus,
raising fundamental questions of social justice, equality and democracy
for the members of the “marginal and the inferior” peoples within
the “nation” becomes important.
Excluding
those who are not a part of the main national identity is a common
practice among the post-colonial nation states in South Asia.
Bangladesh, which got its independence as recently as in 1971 from
Pakistan and formed a new nation state also failed to incorporate into
its constitution sufficient safeguards for the protection of the rights
of the ethnic and religious minorities. This failure led to practices,
which caused massive migration of Bengali Hindus from Bangladesh to
India. The rejection of the legitimate demands of the indigenous people
of the CHT for protection of their cultural and religious identities led
to more than a decade long armed struggle. Though a peace accord was
signed in 1997, a democratic resolution of the dispute still eludes the
CHT people and Dhaka. Substantial questions of regional autonomy and the
return of the land and other resources to the uprooted CHT people remain
unrealised. The half a decade old peace talks between the Indian
government and the Naga nationalists are yet to enter substantive stage.
The national question, intrinsically a complex issue, therefore, demands
a greater understanding from a broader perspective and the framework of
human rights, democratic practices and social justice.
The
two-day deliberations of Baloch national question held in Kathmandu
raises a number of serious issues, which in a sense go beyond the
limitations of mere nationalist aspirations of the Baloch people. It was
observed that even within the small group of participants serious
differences surfaced in a manner that call for a deeper understanding of
the national question.
Gender
relations in a nationalist movement It is imperative to recognize that
people have different understandings of the issues relating to rights
and justice. And this understanding is determined by their position in
the power structure of a society and the space they occupy in the
struggle for justice. They have different identities and diverse roles.
An individual’s ethnic identity alone or one's affiliation with a
specific national group does not necessarily define or determine his or
her political relationship with other members of the group. For
instance, at the outset of the deliberations of the peace audit, a woman
participant pointed out that it was necessary to understand, "why
women are so poor in Balochistan" for a proper understanding of the
internal dynamics of the Baloch national question. This aspect was
discussed in a later session and it added a new perspective to the whole
issue and informed the discussion on gender relations within Baloch
society where women continue to be in a subordinate position.
In
many indigenous societies, though women have a significant role, they
lack individual or collective rights. Their participation and
representation in the decision making process is almost nil.
Interestingly, while a women participant wanted this issue to be
discussed by the group as a whole, most of the other participants argued
that the Baloch tribal system provided women with sufficient protection
and the Baloch women had a different role to play in Baloch society. It
was clear that male participants had a different view of society from
that of the women who were usually unheard, or not allowed to speak when
such issues were discussed.
However,
during the course of discussions all the women participants expressed
strong opinion about what was called subordinate role of women in Baloch
society. They brought forth some vital issues and concerns into the
discussion that fore grounded the gender question. These issues
confronted the popular view of nationalism. The women participants felt
that the Baloch society was “a union of men”, where women were not
allowed to play their due political and social role. Their subordinate
position never changed no matter what role they were assigned to in the
course of their lives. It was pointed out that the Baloch men took all
decisions regarding lives of the women. Even the mobility of women was
limited within the boundaries of the house. Women had no say in the
family decisions and control over family resources.
The
question of legitimacy of any political movement remains unanswered
until such movements are capable of addressing the gender issue. The
inability of a predominantly patriarchal leadership to recognize the
rights of women to equal social and political status in a nationalist
movement represents a serious challenge. The necessity to make the
nationalist aspirations gender sensitive and more inclusive was clear
from the discussion.
The role of tribal
elite in the nationalist movement
What
role can or should the traditional elites of the indigenous communities
play in a movement for justice and political rights? How to transcend
the tribal identities and build a national movement that would be
inclusive and democratic? How inclusive could it be in terms of
participation of those who were not necessarily a part of the tribes but
were part of the larger ethnic/linguistic millue? Could women be treated
equally as men and would they get equal rights in such a society or
movement? These were the questions which came up in the group
discussions. There were mixed reaction to these issues; however,
majority of the participants were of the view that the issues of caste,
class and gender within a tribal society could be addressed and in the
Baloch context attempts were being made to resolve these issues.
Participants
felt that the Baloch tribal system was different from other tribal
systems and internally it functioned on democratic principles. The
tribal chiefs were elected through consensus and people of tribe had the
right to dislodge the chiefs if and when necessary.
Secondly,
it was important to understand whether tribal nationalism could be the
answer to the larger questions of political nationhood relating to the
principles of democracy, human rights and social justice. The recent
history of Baloch national movement was examined from the perspective of
the growth of democratic institutions and its ability to question the
notion of tribal supremacy and racial superiority. The question was
asked how to democratize the tribal foundations of Baloch society and
lead people towards liberation without destroying the bonds and the
cultural markers of the indigenous system? In the Baloch context, the
role of educated elite was significant as the majority of educated elite
had strong affinities with tribal chieftains and tended to espouse
conservative values.
Federal
solution or secession?
The
constitutional history of Pakistan is marked with many interruptions.
The
first constitution was not adopted until 1956. Within three years it was
abrogated. The second constitution was promulgated in 1962 but was
replaced by the 1973 constitution, which is currently operative although
it was suspended for years under martial law. The military rulers have
amended current constitution to the extent that it has virtually lost
its legitimacy.
The
first two constitutions did not recognise the Baloch people as a
distinct national group. It was the 1973 constitution, which granted
Balochistan the status of a province. In all the three constitutions of
Pakistan, the preamble declares that, divine sovereignty is exercised in
trust by the people of Pakistan and it is their will to establish an
"order" ordained by God. Unfortunately, it is not the people
of Pakistan, but the ruling elite who have always interpreted the
“order ordained by god” and exercised that “will”. As a result
the “will” of Baloch people was never honoured and the interventions
by the centre in the affairs of Balochistan continued uninterruptedly.
Finally in 1973, under Z.A. Bhutto's government a massive military
operation started, it lasted till the ouster of Bhutto government from
power by the military ruler general Zia-ul-Haq in 1977. The people of
Balochistan, in the last fifty-five years of their history, have tried
to live within the federal arrangement with dignity. This right has been
denied to them by all the governments who ruled the centre. In such a
situation, some critical questions arise. One is tempted to ask: why was
not the constitution of Pakistan able to guarantee and ensure a just and
dignified relation between the provinces and the centre? What are the
possible mechanisms and instruments to address the national question of
Balochistan – and can the national aspirations of the Baloch people be
accommodated within the federal arrangements of Pakistan is the struggle
for right to self- determination leading towards secession or the only
way out? Similarly it is important to ask: has the nationalist
leadership of Balochistan the capacity and the mass support to create
and sustain a new state in the present imperialist world order? And,
will the new state be able to change the imperialist economic and
political order to provide their people with democratic governance, and
a dignified livelihood?
Politics
of Resources:
The
rich natural resources and the geo-strategic significance of
Balochistan, in a sense, has been an important contributor to much of
its troubles. The so-called “resource card” has been played upon by
all the actors who matter in the politics of the province. In the last
fifty years, people of the province have been deprived of the benefits
of these resources by the centre. For instance, natural gas is supplied
to part of the country except to the people of Balochistan. However, it
would be a total misconception to link the sporadic battles for control
over natural resources by one tribe with the question of autonomy, or
for that matter with the overall democratic struggle in Pakistan,
because the tribal leadership has basically protected just its own
interests irrespective of what people aspired on the issue. The
electoral history of the country also witnesses that no political
opponent was ever allowed to successfully challenge the established
tribal leadership and its political authority. That is probably one of
the reasons why central governments found it much easier to deal with
tribal leaders on one-to-one basis rather than dealing with the masses
on the issue of resource distribution, thus, successfully isolating
non-tribal political parties that advocated a broader dialogue on
resource allocation and distribution. As a result, we find that the
political agenda of Gwader, or of Mekran division, is different from the
politics of Dera Bugtti.
Secondly,
international powers also have vast economic and strategic interests in
this area. At times, it seems hard to de-link these interests from the
tribal interests. The increasing Chinese investment in development
projects and US military presence in Balochistan carry serious
consequences for political aspirations of the people. The royalty of
natural gas brings no benefits for the ordinary people of Balochistan as
the funds are usurped by the tribal chiefs. The question arises: what
will the development of Gwader deep-sea port, coastal highway or gas and
oil exploration projects bring to the ordinary people?
Thirdly,
these projects are viewed differently in different regions of the
province. The point of view in Gwader, with regard to the development of
area, is different from how rest of the region views these projects. For
example, both the people and the leadership, where mega projects are
underway, have a more “pragmatic” approach towards the development
schemes. They are concerned about displacement of population, creation
of new employment opportunities for local people, environmental impact
and influx of non- Baloch people into the area. This also determines the
outlook of their politics and can be witnessed in the overall formation
of political parties in Balochistan.
2.
Balochistan: a Brief History
Land and the people
Balochistan
meaning the ‘land of Baloch’ is a vast territory of some 225,000
square miles located on the southern Iranian plateau. The Bloch homeland
commands more than 900 miles of Arabian sea coastline, including the
northern shore of the Strait of Harmuz through which oil tankers bound
for the West and Japan must pass on their way to the Persian Gulf.
Strategically Balochistan occupies a very important position. Throughout
history invading armies have passed through Balochistan including
Macedonians, Sassanid, Persians, Sindhi Brahmins, Arabs, Seljuk Turks,
Afghans, Mongols and Tatars.
Who are the Baloch
Baloch
people, historically, are known as a non-sedentary race that moved from
one place to another in search of food and pasture. The majority of
Baloch are Sunni Muslim but there is a significant population who belong
to the Zikri sect and most of them live in Makran region, and Lasbela.
Anthropologists
are of the view that Bloch people belong to the Chaldean branch of the
Semitic people, owing their name to the Babylonian King Belus. The
traditional view claims that Blochs were a tribe dwelling in the area of
Allepo, in what now is Syria, prior to the emergence of Islam.
Between
1928 and 1948, the Baloch people were divided by the boundaries of
Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan by the British; there are also
approximately fifty thousand Balochs who reside in Turkmenistan. The
incorporation of Baloch areas in Iran and Pakistan in 1928 and 1948
respectively are resented by the Balochs on both sides of the border.
The social origins of the national movement
Baloch
struggle for the independence is embedded in their very existence.
The
people of Baloch origin were separated by the colonial British rulers
without guaranteeing their accepted international rights. The invasion
of Kalat state by British in 1839 followed the introduction of Sundeman
System that awarded great powers to the Sardars who were loyal to the
British rule.
The
new system completely ignored the Khan of Kalat as a ruler. In the
following years, in order to solace local population British installed
Mir Naseer Khan II, as ruler but these measures could not lessen the
hatred which was inculcated by the occupation.
The
British continued to conspire against the people of Balochistan by
creating internal conflicts among the various sections of Baloch
population.
In
1893, Mir Khudadad Khan was detained by the British and his son Mir
Mehmood Khan was appointed as the Khan. There were some examples of
revolt against British occupation organized by some tribes. The most of
them was Zehri tribe who lost its leader in a battle in 1894 against
foreign rule. The other significant rebellion movement was initiated by
the people of Makran division but the movement suffered great losses due
the betrayal of some of its trusted companion and primitive weaponry.
Anjuman-e-Itehad-e-Balochistan
formed by Mir Yousuf Aziz Magsi and Abdul Aziz Kurd and started
underground activities for liberation of Balochistan till 1931. In 1937,
a new party emerged from which started its political work under the name
of Kalat State National Party. The Party declared that it would unite
Baloch people with one center and their own representative government.
This party had the support of the Khan of Kalat and was totally against
the Sardars. This position soured its relations of Sardars who also took
position against the leadership of the Kalat State National Party. In
1939, under the pressure from British, and Sardars declared the party
illegal and its leadership including Malik Abdul Raheem Khuaja Khel, Mir
Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo, Abdul Kareem Shorish, Gul Khan Naseer were exiled
from the Kalat state.
The
party was not allowed to contest for elections held in 1947 though the
leadership of the party in their individual capacity contested the
elections and won thirty-nine out of fifty-two seats in the Lower House.
This was the time when Pakistan had also come into existence but the
Khan of Kalat had declared Kalat as an independence State.
On
December 14, 1947, the leader of the National Party, Mir Ghaus Baksh
Bizanjo reiterated. That "we have a distinct civilization and a
separate culture ike that of Iran and Afghanistan. We are Muslims but it
is not necessary that by virtue of being Muslims we should loose our
freedom and merge with others. If the mere fact that we are Muslims
requires us to join Pakistan then Afghanistan and Iran, both Muslim
countries, should also amalgamate with Pakistan…we were never a part
of India before the British rule…Pakistan’s unpleasant and loathsome
desire that our national homeland, Balochistan, should merge with it is
impossible to consider. We are ready to have friendship with that
country on the basis of sovereign equality but by no means ready to
merge with Pakistan. We are told that Baloch cannot defend themselves in
the atomic age. Well, are Afghanistan, Iran and even Pakistan capable of
defending themselves? Today, if Russia and America so desire they can
wipe out many such states from the world map. If we cannot defend
ourselves, a lot of other cannot do either…As regards the question of
statehood, let me emphasize that no Asian country including Pakistan
fulfills the criteria of a modern state in the crude sense…They say we
must join Pakistan for economic reasons. That is also absurd. We have
numerous means of income: we have minerals, we have petroleum and we
have ports.
We
should not be made slaves on the pretext of economic viability. We can
survive without Pakistan. But the question is what Pakistan would be
without us…? I do not propose to create hurdles for the newly created
Pakistan in the matters of defense and external communication. But we
want an honourable relationship not a humiliating one. If Pakistan wants
to treat us as a sovereign people, we are ready to extend the hand of
friendship and cooperation. If Pakistan does not agree to do so, flying
in the face of democratic principles, such an attitude will be totally
unacceptable to us, and if we are forced to accept this fate then every
Baloch son will sacrifice his life in defense of his national
freedom".
On
4 January 1948, the upper House comprising Sardars met and discussed the
question of merger with Pakistan. The house declared that "This
House is not willing to accept merger with Pakistan which will endanger
the separate existence of the Baloch nation". The parliament was
once again convened in Dhadar on 25 February 1948. The Prime Minister
spoke favoring the accession to Pakistan but Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo
again made his speech against the merger.
On
1 April 1948 the Pakistan army attacked Kalat. Khan surrendered and
accepted the merger by signing an agreement. The legal status of Nepal
and Kalat were different from that of the other princely states in the
Indian subcontinent as other native states were dealing British India
government in New Delhi while Nepal and Kalat maintained their treaty
relations directly with Whitehall.
In
1958, Pakistan army again marched into the Kalat state under the pretext
of secessionist movement. The following years, saw a huge political
turmoil.
General
Yahya Khan replaced president Ayub Khan in 1969 and dissolved one-unit
and held elections. The National Awami Party emerged as the majority
party in Balochistan. Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo was appointed the governor
of Balochistan and NAP formed the provincial government.
The
NAP government was dismissed and Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto, the then prime
minister and civil martial law administrator appointed Akber Bugti as
the Governor of Balochistan and military operation was started against
the Baloch people. Although there are no accurate statistics regarding
the number of casualties but one could not dispute the claims that there
were large number of casualties on both sides in the army operation that
continued from 1973 to 1977 till General Zia-ul-Haq took over Pakistan.
In jail, serious differences developed between the Baloch and Pashtoon
leaders. Khan Abdulwali Khan had assured the Baloch leaders of the
support of the Pakhtoons for the arm struggle. But no support came. The
Pashtoons in Balochistan have been complaining of about unequal status
in government services according to their population. The Baloch
leadership takes a position that they have supported demand of a
separate province of the Pashtoon comprising of pushtoon districts
therefore, they was no reason to accommodate these demands. However,
Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP), led by Mehmood Khan Achakzai,
advocates equal rights for the Pashtoon living in Balochistan as they
are the citizens of this province.
Impact of the armed struggle
The
armed struggle of Baloch people against the Pakistani forces had a
negative impact on the movement in the long run. General Zia-ul-Haq,
announced a general amnesty for the guerillas and promised
rehabilitation of the displaced families, which remained unfulfilled.
The poorly trained and armed guerillas against a professional army,
without any foreign support could produce no better results. The failure
of the tribal forces also brought a new realization for a more active
participation of masses.
3.
Chronology of Events
1839
- The British invade Kalat. Khan of Kalat Mir Mehrab Khan is killed and
the Sundamen System is introduced that gives the Khan a nominal position
1876
- The Bristish obtain treaty rights to station troops in return for
subsidies and guarentee of tribal autonomy
1920
- Mir Yousuf Aziz Magsi and Abdul Aziz Kurd form the
Anjumane-Ithahad-e-Balochan
1931
- Mir Yousuf Aziz Magsi takes over the leadership of
Anjuman-e-Itahad-e-Balochan
1937
- A new party in the name of Kalat National Party emerges from the
Anjuman-e-Itahad-e-Balochan
1939
- Kalat National Party is declared illegal and its leaders Malik Abdul
Raheem Khuajakhel, Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo, Abdul Kareem Shorish, Gul
Khan Naseer and other exiled from Kalat State. Party establishes
headquarters in Quetta
1947
- Elections held; Kalat National Party barred from contesting, Its
leaders contest elections in individual capacity, win thirty-nine out of
fifty-two seats in the Lower House; Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo speaks
against merger with Pakistan
1948
- The Upper House meets and rejects merger with Pakistan; Pakistan army
attacks Kalat, the Khan surrenders and accepts merger- Prince Abdul
Karim (the younger brother of the Khan) leads a revolt and tries to
cross over Afghan border but is arrested
1958
- Pakistan army once again moves in Kalat with the pretext that Prince
Abdul Karim has prepared a force to make Balochistan independent with
Afghanistan’s support- Nawab Nouroz Khan comse down from his hiding in
the hills; his son and followers executed while Nawab Nouroz Khan dies
in jail in 1964
1967
- Baloch Students Organization (BSO) formed in Karachi with the
amalgamation of several Baloch student bodies to carry out cultural and
academic activities; BSO later splits into two groups
1969
- Yahya Khan replaces president Ayub Khan; one unit dissolved and
elections held
1972
- National Awami Party forms Coalition government with JUI; Sardar
Attaullah Mengal as the first chief Minister of Balochistan - Mir Ghaus
Baksh Bizanjo becomes the governor of Balochistan
1973
- Soviet-made arms discovered in the Iraqi embassy at Islamabad -
The
government alleges arms meant for the liberation movement in Balochistan
- NAP denies allegations – Mengal led governement dismissed and NAP
leaders Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizanjo, Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Khair Baksh
Marri imprisoned – Army operation launched in Balochistan
1977
- Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ousted- Zai-ul- Haq takes over- Military regime
announces general amnesty for the Baloch leaders and gueraillas -
Negotiations between Zia and the Baloch leaders fail
1979
- BSO’s council session amends its clause of provincial autonomy with
that of right to self-determination
1981-
Hameed Baloch a prominent member of BSO executed on the order of a
special military court for attacking the Omani delegate Colonel Khanfan
- Street protests take place
1983
- The two factions of BSO merge
1986
- BSO splits again later to form two separate parties Progressivce Youth
Movement ( PYM) and Balochistan National Youth Movement
1988
- Elections held in Pakistan- The newly formed Balochistan National
Alliance (BNA) formed by BNYM and Nawab Akber Bugti wins a large number
of seats in the Balochistan assembly and forms government with Nawab
Akber Bugti as Chief Minister - Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizano’s PNP losses
elections
1990
- Balochistan National Movement (earlier BNYM) splits into two groups
– one led by Dr. Abdul Hayee Baloch and the other by Akhtar Mengal
1997
- BNM (Mengal) and Pakistan National Party (PNP) merge to form a new
party by the name of Balochistan National Party (BNP) with Sardar
Attaullah Mengal as its chief. The party wins a substantial number of
seats in the provincial assembly and forms a coalition government with
Jhamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and Jamiat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) - Akhtar
Mengal is the Chief Minister
1998
- Pakistan conducts nuclear test in Chagai (Balochistan) in response to
India’s test in Pokhran. BSO holds protest rallies against the nuclear
tests. BNP Splits into two groups – BNP (Mengal) and BNP (Awami).
Mengal-led government losses majority in the provincial assembly -
Muslim League withdraws support as well - Akhtar Mengal resigns as Chief
Minister
1999
- Pakistan government commemorates the day of nuclear test as
Youm-e-Takbeer thoughout the country on May 28, 1999, while blackday is
observed throughout Balochistan against the nuclear tests
4.
Major Political Forces in Balochistan
Baluchistan
National Movement (BNM)
The
Baluchistan National Movement (BNM) emerged from Baloch Student's
Organisation. In the beginning, it was called Balochistan National Youth
Movement (BNYM). In 1989, during its annual session, the word
"Youth" was removed and it became Balochistan National
Movement. The new party opened its membership to all age groups and made
inroads among the masses.
In
1990, before the general elections, the party split into two groups –
one led by Dr. Abdul Hayee Baloch and the other by Sardar Akhtar Mengal,
the son of veteran Baloch leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal. After 1997
elections, BNM (Mengal) formed a coalition government in Balochistan.
Presently,
Balochistan National Movement (BNM) is led by Dr. Abdul Hayee Baloch and
has a clear stand against the domination of Sardar and Nawab centered
politics over Baloch national struggle. The party has a good
organization all over Balochistan but their strength is much more
visible in Makran Division and have always won three to four provincial
assembly seats from this area. BNM comprises activists with communist
background-those who view Baloch nationalist struggle from Marxist point
of view.
Balochistan
National Party (BNP)
The
veteran Baloch leader Sardar Attaullah Mengal on his return from London
after ending self-exile formed this party. The party formed as result of
a merger of two major political leaders of the province when two leaders
of Baloch national struggle – Sardar Attaullah Mengal and Mir Ghause
Buksh Bazinju decided to struggle together. They abandoned their
respective parties, Baluchistan National Movement (Mengal) and Pakistan
National Party. The merger took place on the condition that the
leadership of Pakistan National Party would replace provincial autonomy
with right to self-determination.
Pakistan
National Party while merging with BNP lost the support of important
leadership from Karachi which decided to continue working under the
banner of PNP.
Though,
the new party was welcomed by many in Baluchistan, several political
workers felt the domination of sardars, businessmen and other
opportunist elements in the party. Key party positions were given to
those who always had opposed the Baluch nationalist movement. The party
won a large number of seats in 1997 elections and formed a coalition
government with the support of Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP),
Jamaiate-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) and Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz). The son
of Sardar Attaullah Mengal, Sardar Akhtar Mengal became the Chief
Minister of Balochistan.
Balochistan
National Party saw another split during the council session of the party
when Moheen Khan, with the support of six provincial assembly members
formed its Awami Group. Akhtar Mengal resigned from the Chief
Ministership after losing support of the Awami group.
Jamhoori
Watan Party (JWP)
Jamhoori
Watan Party (JWP) is headed by powerful tribal chief Nawab Akhbar Khan
Bughti. The party was formed in 1990 after the dissolution of
Balochistan National Alliance government. Nawab Akbar Khan Bughti was
Chief Minister of the alliance government. Jamhori Watan Patry is
limited to oil and gas rich area Dera Bughti and Naseerabad districts
where the Nawab has total control over party, politics, and natural
resources.
Governments
often have to please him for the smooth running of gas and oil supply to
other areas. Nawab Bughti has played both nationalist and
antinationalist roles depending on his political and economic interests.
He was appointed as governor of Balochistan when Z. A. Bhutto dismissed
nationlist government of Sardar Attaullah Mengal before starting
military action in Balochistan.
Pashtoon
Khawa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP)
Pashtoon
Khawa Milli Awami Party (PKMAP) primarily represents the interests of
Pashtoons living in Balochistan but advocates a homeland for all
pashtoons living in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Formed in 1987, this party
is an extension of Pashtoon Khawa Milli Party which was formed in 1971
after the liberation of Bangladesh. The present party is result of
merger of Pashtoon Khawa National Awami Party and a faction of Mazdoor
Kisan Party. The main slogan and program of the new party is
Pashtoonistan (homeland for Pashtoons) within Pakistan. Sardar Mehmood
Khan Achakzai is the chairman of the party.
Baloch People's Liberation Front
The
Baluch People’s Liberation Front (BPLF) was a guerilla force formed
with a strong membership of 7500 persons who fought against the Pakistan
military from 1973 to 1977. A 2700 strong cadre of the front was based
in the Afghanistan while 1700 were scattered in different parts of
Pakistani Baluchistan. Approximatley 3000 cadre, mostly Marris, were
“active reservists” who worked in Karachi and other parts of Sindh.
The front had a mass appeal among the youth and students due to its
revolutionary ideas with a dream to create "Greater Baluchistan"
comprising all Baloch territories of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
When
the communists took-over Afghanistan in 1978, the nationalist leadership
hailed it as a good omen for the liberation movement in Baluchistan.
However, the Soviets invasion of Afghanistan disappointed most BPLF
leadership including Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, who wanted a non-aligned
Baluchistan.
There
had been allegations regarding receiving support from Peking and Moscow
for the ‘liberation’ movement. The cadres of the front have
disappeared over the years or have merged with mainstream political
parties.
According
to historians, Pakistan army killed thousands of Balochs in the military
action. Inayatullah Balochs, a historian and teacher of the West Asia
Institute in Heidelberg University, states that "Pakistani troops
suffered about eight to ten thousand casualties. The number of guerillas
and their casualties is not reliably known, thousands of Baluch
civilians were killed in the military action and bombardments by the
Pakistani air force, and thousands migrated to Afghanistan or took
refuge in Sindh or Derajat in Pakistan".
Jamiat
Ulema-e-Islam (JUI)
The
partition of India also partitioned Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind giving birth to
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, the Pakistani version of Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind. JUI
has good support among the Pashtoons of Balochistan and NWFP and the
party has been present in almost all assemblies in these two provinces.
Presently
it has majority government in NWFP and partner in Balochistan assembly.
Party has also significant presence in national assembly and the senate
of Pakistan.
JUI
is radical Islamic party with a strong support base in Balochistan. This
party was instrumental in the formation of Talibans regime in
Afghanistan and runs thousand of religious schools (Madaras) in all over
Pakistan. The party is headed by Maulana Fazal-ur-Rehman.
Muslime League
Muslim
league does not have mass base in Balochistan but ruling elite of
Pakistan has alliance with some powerful families of Balochistan. These
families have their constituencies and are in a postion to make or break
seats in the provincial assemblies with the help of the centre. The
present provincial government is headed by Muslim a leaguer.
Pakistan People's Party
The
Pakistan people's Party could not develop roots in Balochistan, because
it was a staunch centrist political force and the party had supported
military operation against Baloch people in 1973 when Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto was the civilian chief martial law administrator.
Pakistan National Party
Pakistan
National Party (PNP) was headed by the well-known Baloch leader Mir
Ghause Baksh Bizanju who most of his politial life advocated provincial
autonomy instead of secession from Pakistan. The party had its branches
in all provinces of Pakistan till its merger with Balochistan National
Party.
The
merger proved to be fatal for the party which lost most of its
leadership and cadre in other provinces of the country. After the death
of Bizanju his son tried to organize the party but his opportunist
politics was rejected by the people. This party played a major role in
the politics of the province but does not exist anymore.
Baloch
Student's Organiation (BSO)
Baluch
Students Organisation (BSO) was one of the strongest political and
intellectual forces in Baloch history. Formed in 1967 in Karachi with
amalgamation of regional Baloch student bodies in order to promote
cultural activities it soon became the centre of political activities of
students and Baloch youth.
Influenced
by socialist ideas, BSO played very active role in intellectual work and
mobilization of masses. It also encouraged students of far-flung areas
to seek admissions in educational institutions of Karachi and strongly
rejected the leadership of Sardars. During 1970's general elections, BSO
played an important part in bringing National Awami Party into power in
Baluchistan. While NAP was in power, BSO was divided into two groups as
some sections of the students were not satisfied with NAP and PPP
relationship.
BSO
advocates the right to self-determination of Baloch people. Its leader
Hameed Baluch was executed in 1981 by a special military court
established by military regime of Zia-ul-Haq.
Pakistan
Oppressed Nations' Movement (PONAM)
This
is an alliance of several parties which have resolved to struggle
jointly along with nationalist parites of other provinves. Although, the
leadership of the alliance belongs to Balochistan but many ethinic
parties have joined the movement including Sindhi, Pashtoon, and Saraiki
ethnic groups and parties.
Section
2
- Nationality
Question and the Federal Solution in Pakistan
Dr.
Jaffer Ahmed, Director of the Paksitan
Studies Centre, Karachi University presented the complex history of
constitutional arrangement and autonomy question in Pakistan. He
stressed the need for a democratic political arrangement through sharing
of powers among the federating units of Pakistan in order to achieve a
viable and lasting solution to the nationality question. While giving a
brief resume on the national question in Pakistan he said, "We all
know that national aspirations have been there in Balochistan even
earlier and were consolidated in the modern time when modern politics
began in the province. The Baloch nationalist movement is linked with
nationalist aspiration in other parts of South Asia. There have been
very strong national aspirations in Balochistan and we witness that in
the twentieth century the first nationalist organisation emerged in
Balochistan".
The
role of leadership of Muslim League vis a vis Balochistan was
condemnable as it forgot all the promises it had made to the Balochs
before the creation of Pakistan. A highly centralized policy was adopted
to govern the federating units instead of giving people the right to
govern themselves.
Since,
Balochistan was not a province of Pakistan, the ruling class of the
newly established state, taking advantage of this situation, decided to
put Balochistan under Governor's rule. This undemocratic attitude
towards the Baloch people fuelled the already heightened tension between
the people of Balochistan and the centre.
Although,
Balochistan was granted provincial status in 1971 the question of
autonomy remained unsettled. At the same time, a peculiar situation
arose when Pakistan People's Party, which had its government in the
centre, named its governor for the province by ignoring the verdict of
the people. This act was seen as insulting the people of Balochistan and
was resisted not only by the Baloch but all nationalist forces in the
country. The duel system of governance also created a lot of problems in
those years of history of Pakistan.
There
was presidential system in the centre but provinces were being run
through parliamentary system. The following years saw a brutal military
operation in Balochistan which continued incessantly for many years in
one or another form.
The
leadership at the centre did not have the political will to address the
issue of national minorities through the framework of an adequate
constitutional arrangement based on the aspirations of the people. On
the other hand, the leadership of National Awami Party (NAP) also failed
to assert the issue of autonomy during the talks with Zulfiqar Ali
Bhutto. Instead, they were looking for some immediate and insignificant
political advantages by ignoring the issue of autonomy. The 1973
constitution was a highly centralised political arrangement which did
not address the core issues and problems of federation for a
multi-cultural, multi-national polity. Because of its overtly
centralized nature, this arrangement failed. Paksitan, despite fifty
five years of independence, was not able to evolve a system of
representation acceptable to the people and nationalities of the
country. For instance, the resources of Balochistan are being used by
all of Pakistan except Baloch people which have serious consequences for
Pakistani state and society in the days to come. It is clear that until
and unless Pakistan addresses these issues, the nationalist aspirations
of the Baloch people and other national minorities will continue to
flounder.
Habib
Jalib, the secretary general of
Balochistan National Party focused on the present state of politics vis
a vis federating units in Pakistan. His analysis represented the
political aspirations of the majority of Baloch people. He said that
parliamentary form of democracy could have provided federal solution of
the national question, had it been given a chance to function from the
beginning. The obsession of Pakistani ruling elite with martial laws and
the consequent continued disruption of democratic process in Pakistan
were more harmful to its existence than the so-called secessionist
movements. These movements were the natural outcome of a situation in
which people were denied the right to a peaceful and a just democratic
political setup. The recent dissolution of the parliament by the
military rulers created more unrest and the Provisional Constitutional
Order promulgated by the military regime now further polarise and divide
the political classes in the country. The nationalist forces have come
to the conclusion, that the present political order is a direct outcome
of the changing international political imperatives in the region. With
a General Musharraff's full support to US led international campaign
against terrorism, intelligence agencies have been given a free hand to
curb and oppress national minorities and their related political
movements in the country by converting the campaign against terrorism
into an opportunity to settle score with opponent political forces.
According
to Mr. Jalib, the Baloch are facing a special type of internal
colonialism. The province has been converted into 47 blocks in order to
exploit the natural resources, particularly oil and gas. This
development has given a new dimension to the Baloch question. Till, as
late as 1970 the Baloch used to think that federation was better than
the centralism and that a solution was possible within a federal
framework. But things have changed rapidly in the last few years.
Balochistan never received its due share from the centre in fifity-five
years of exploitation of its natural resources. The wealth and resource
of Balochistan contribute to the development of whole of Pakistan,
except Balochistan.
After
September 11, the United States assumed the role of the world policeman
and subsequent decision of Pakistan to provide military bases to the
United States in Balochistan and other parts of the country held grave
consequences for the people of Balochistan and their nationalist
aspirations.
The
increasing presence of US military in Balochistan may bring a new kind
of political repression on the arena as the rulers can now link a
nationalist movement with terrorism.
Another
significant point to note is the mounting pressure of the big players of
region in the area. Besides the military presence of the United States
in the province, the Chinese have been invited to revive their
investment plans in Balochistan. The establishment of Gowader deep-sea
port, construction of coastal highway, and a naval base can change the
demographic balance in Balochistan. According to an estimate, these
projects would bring about 500,000 non-Baloch people in Gwader and its
adjacent localities reducing the local population to a vulnerable
minority. The issue of over 0.7 million Afghans is yet to be settled. It
had great pressure on the meagre resources of Balochistan. The armed
forces have already moved towards Dera Bugti which produces 56% of
energy used by Punjabi industrialists. The Baloch people are looking for
a respectable resolution of the national question, but in the existing
political framework they cannot trust the ruling classes of Pakistan in
the search for a solution.
2.State
of Education
Jan
Muhammad Dashti, in his paper, presented
an account of deteriorating state of education in the province of
Balochistan. By linking education with poverty and social infrastructure
in the province, he attempted to evaluate social policy of the
government towards the most neglected and backward region of Pakistan
where over 70 percent of population lives under the socalled poverty
line. Mr. Dashti was very critical of the role international financial
institutions and the NGOs in Balochistan. To him, these organizations
were completely unaware of the local realities of the province.
He
was particularly critical of the government's education policy in
Balochistan saying that government of Balochistan had decided to
increase tuition fees and hostel charges many-fold. The newly revised
fee for bachelor and master degrees in various disciplines had gone 400%
higher than the existing fee structure and the highest increase in
one-go for any institution in the history of Pakistan. In a province
where education ratio was the lowest and where more than 70 percent of
the population was living beyond subsistence level this step was a
lethal blow for the people of Balochistan and a clear negation of
professed aim of the government to enhance higher education in the
province. It was estimated that 70% of the population in Balochistan was
living below the poverty line. It is estimated that only 4% people in
the province was earning Rs. 100,0000 annually and the ratio for those
earning more was nearly 1% of the entire population, which meant that
99% families would not be able to send their children to the university.
It
was also noteworthy that the University of Balochistan was keeping huge
staff and highly paid employees from other provinces. During the last
few years, living conditions of most people had worsened. Real income of
most households had declined sharply. Malnutrition was rampant. Food
production had fallen relative to population, and social services had
deteriorated both in quantity and quality. All these problems had been
occurring at a time when the country was implementing social and
economic reforms prescribed by major donors and financial institutions
such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Statistics
showed that there had been very little development in educational
infrastructure during the period of Structural Adjcement Programme
(SAP).
The
increase in population had rendered the number of parliamentary seats
fixed 30 years ago unrealistic and the proposed increase in seats is not
substantial. Roughly, it means one person representing nearly 400,000
souls.
If
the intention of the government was to make constituencies manageable
and more representative then the seats should have been increased up to
600 in the lower house of parliament in order to give proper
representation to the masses. People of Balochistan had been struggling
since long for proper representation in constitutional bodies of the
state. While determing the number of seats Balochistan should have been
given reasonable weightage.
Under
the proposed plan Balochistan had been given representation apparently
on population basis, but even in that, seats should have been far more
than the proposed 18. Balochistan population increased from 3.5% to 5.6
%, of the country's population an increase of nearly 60%. Population of
Punjab did not have a 60% increase in 1998 from the earlier census, but
seats had substantially been increased. Now in an assembly of 350
deputies Punjab would have 196 including one from Islamabad capital
area. Thus Punjab would be controlling 56% of the seats in the all
powerful lower house of parliament, while population increase in Punjab
registered only a 5% but it got an increase of 69%.
Firstly,
the quota of seats for women has been revived and raised to 60 as
against 10 previously, while 25 seats have been reserved for
technocrats.
Both
women and technocrats would be elected on proportional representation
according to a given party's total poll of votes. Many may think that
this is a significant step, because apart from promoting the cause of
woman's in national life, it will ensure a better balance in legislative
and decision-making processes. The increase in women representation had
been taken obviously in line with donor agencies’ well acclaimed,
“gender empowerment and equity approach” in third world countries.
The need to enhance women’s participation in activities and
decision-making processes at all levels is the issue most stressed by
these agencies. These agencies put pressure on countries such as
Pakistan to adopt policies, which were not commensurate with ground
realities. The funding agencies incorporate gender dimensions in donor
funded development programmes, and countries like Pakistan have now
least options but to follow those multi-national approaches for its
internal and external policies. In a broader context of Pakistani
society, this increase seems to be intriguing. Even in the western civil
societies that the military government is blindly following, there is no
quota for women in their policymaking institutions. In a plural
democratic society in our immediate neighborhood – India – no such
quota in relations with total number of seats in the parliament is
fixed. The increase in women’s representation does not imply that
these representatives will be representing the whole segment of sexual
divide.
Also,
the decision to debar those who do not have a college degree is the most
controversial clause in electoral reforms. In a way, it is shifting the
system of governance of the country from democracy to an obsolete form
of aristocracy. It will be a government by a relatively small privileged
class and theoretically means the rule of the best few, governing in the
‘interest of the people’. Practically it amounts to denial of a
basic human right to a vast majority of our population. Religious minded
persons can also see it as a deliberate and blatant insult to majority
of early Muslim rulers including some of the Khulfa-i-Rashidin, the
Caliphs. Except for Ali bin Abu Talib, remaining three Caliphs had no
formal education.
Majority
of Muslim rulers and generals from Ghaznavi to Ghori, from Abdali to
Akbar in Mughal India, had no formal education. In a tribal traditional
society, literacy is not the prime factor for a successful chief or
tribal administrator. Even in modern societies one has to fulfill some
other important qualifications for being a ruler and among these
possessing a degree is not essential or even relevant.
Even
in western societies there are numerous examples when not only their
legislators but also even many presidents, as of the United States of
America, had no formal education but were successful representatives and
lawgiver to their people. Among 43 Presidents of the United States of
America, which are certainly the role model of NGOs who are dictating
the present Government to adopt such ridiculous ideas by debarring
almost the entire population of the country from contesting elections, 8
(eight) of them had no formal education.
In
Pakistan, the literacy rate has been recorded as 37.8%. This includes
people who can read Quran or can write their names or read an address on
any envelope; and there are a large number of people who can read only
the holy text. Such people have been included among literates in census
figures.
Those
who have obtained a degree do not cover more than a fraction of overall
literacy rate. Therefore, we may calculate our literacy level in the
following format:
Total
Population of Pakistan 135,135,195
Total
Literacy Rate 37.8 %
Informal
Literacy (Quran, R.W Skill) 8.0 %
Primary
12.6 %
Middle,
Metric and Intermediate 16.5 %
Graduate
0.7 %
No.
of Total Literates 51081103.7
No.
of Total Graduates 357567.7
July
1998 EST.
Thus,
individuals who are qualified to contest elections and become our rulers
and lawgivers will be amongst 0.29 % of our population. Therefore
massive majority of our population will be barred from contesting
elections and will be disfranchised.
The
safeguarding of Pakistan nuclear assets was one of the three achievable
objectives cited by General Musharaf which were paramount in the
decision of abandoning the decades old afghan policy and giving away the
proudly mentioned strategic depth by military hierarchy, and siding with
western alliance against terrorism. President re-assured in a television
interviewer that there is no threat to nuclear assets of the country. In
an other development, a two member team from Italy visited Pakistan for
talks on nuclear safety.
They
reportedly expressed their concern about the possibility that terrorist
groups have acquired weapons of mass destruction or may be striving to
acquire such weapons. They also met authorities and discussed the
effectiveness of control over Pakistan’s fissile material facilities.
An analysis regarding atomic assets compels one to wonder whether the
nuclear potential of the country is an asset or a liability.
3.
Complex Politics of Self-determination and Principles of Reconciliation
Sana
ullah Baloch, member of the Senate of
Pakistan, in his presentation took a broader look at the nationality
question in South Asia. He was of the view that the emergence of
territorial states created manifold problems. Many nationalities were
divided by artificial boundaries - Kashmiris between India and Pakistan,
Pashtoons between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the Balochs between
Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Similarly, Kurds were divided between
Iran, Iraq and Turkey. Mr. Baloch stressed, "We must remember that
the colonialists, without account of geographical, cultural, or
historical factors drew the boundaries of India, Pakistan, Iran, and
Afghanistan. The "international" boundaries of these countries
run through territories inhabited by individual peoples dividing them
into several parts. These divided nations are exerting pressure for
territorial revision with the object of uniting the people of same
racial, linguistic, and cultural background and creating new national
states. In the sub- continent national aspirations were suppressed by
merging different national entities with no racial or cultural harmony
amongst them, to create the state of Pakistan. The remaining
sub-continent was put together to form the Indian union in a similar
fashion".
The
oppressed national minorities of Pakistan are aspiring to be accepted as
national entities. The state, although, claims to be a federation does
not acknowledge national minorities as having specific geographic,
racial and cultural identities. Their homelands have been demarcated and
maintained as administrative units and not as autonomous geographical
and historical entities forming the federation of Pakistan. India and
Iran are pursuing the similar policies towards many nationalities within
the union. The South Asian region is facing many problems including
poverty, uneven development, unemployment, corruption, sectarian
violence, ethnic and national conflicts.
These
problems are being exploited by political and religious leadership in
favour of their movements. India, probably, is one of the most
vulnerable states in south Asia. It is faced with a number of
secessionist movements.
The
broken promises and lost confidence in the federal structure, the
feelings of unease are now shifting towards the struggle of the national
right to selfdetermination and the struggle for separate homelands. On
the other hand, the remaining Pakistan, is completely under the control
of armed forces.
The
Punjabi ethnic group with its civil and military bureaucracy holds the
command of state institutions. The rest nationalities are deprived not
only of avenues of power sharing, but they have been excluded also from
the entire arena of state affairs. Presently what we are experiencing in
the region, especially in Afghanistan is because of the policies of
ruling Punjabi military group. For petty interests, they have put the
bordering provinces of Balochistan and NWFP into a continuous war
destroying their political cultures, economies and societies. They are
compelled to follow the unjust rule of Islamabad for their very
survival. The intelligence agencies like ISI and state institutions have
introduced Talibanization in order to undermine the national movements
of the Balochs and Pashtoons.
Bangladesh,
after freedom from Pakistan, is confronted with question of the rights
of minorities. The constitution of independent Bangladesh does not
recognize minorities as groups distinct from the Bengalis. Everyone is a
"Bangladeshi". The question of right to self-determination of
the CHT people has badly implicated the political position of
Bangladesh. That question needs to be resolved through mutual
understanding, agreements and experiences. In Sri Lanka, constitutional
denial of autonomy and political, cultural and physical repression
against non-ruling nationalities, particularly the Tamils made the
situation intolerable for the latter. They have no means to change the
constitution. There is need to accept the reality of nationalities and
their rights must be safeguarded constitutionally. Nepal’s
Constitution has similarly failed to resolve the question of minorities
and various national groups. The absence in the constitution of true
democratic arrangements of autonomy for the nationalities and regions
has made the ruling political culture of the country intolerable for the
minorities and the national groups.
The
ruling elite in Pakistan soon after independence began to centralize
power in their own hands to the complete exclusion of the smaller
nationalities. They treated the national state as the focal point of
identity, denying the rights of the subject nationalities. The main
issue in Pakistani politics was building and sustaining an integrated
national consciousness as distinct and different from the Indian
identity. So, when Pakistan was established, the rulers thought that the
country needed some theoretical base for its existence and people had to
be given an identity as the basis for their new political reality.
Pakistan’s ideology and the two-nation theory was the slogan, which
they raised in order to consolidate their own position on the one hand
and to create an atmosphere of hatred and mistrust between India and
Pakistan on the other. The immigrant ruling elite of Pakistan from day
one started to legitimize its rule over the historically formed and
diverse nationalities on the basis of these false theoretical notions.
One can notice how a particular group of Pakistani leaders and
intelligentsia is very quick in picking up ideas and Islamising them in
their attempt to hoodwink the people. Surprisingly, any thing, which
appeals to the people, is immediately attached to Islam and Pakistan.
Islamic socialism, Islamic democracy, Islamic martial law, Islamic
referendum, Islamic nationalism and even Islamic bomb, are mentioned
carelessly with few if any qualms with the objective of making the
repressive rule acceptable to the recalcitrant masses. The country’s
intelligentsia has never played an appreciable role, but only magnified
the growing confusion. And, the ruling civil-military aristocracy has
been consistent in its refusal to recognize the multi-national character
of the country. It has rather stressed the unity and integrity of the
country on the basis of its Islamic character.
In
1978 the law minister of Zia-ul-Haq military regime Mr. A. K. Brohi
launched a blistering attack on politicians belonging to the political
parties of Pakistani's nationalities. He wrote in DAWN in October 1978,
“Pakistan is a successor state to British India, which had a unitary,
rather than a federal form of Government First there was a Centre, which
extended to peripheral parts (now forming Pakistan) and it was this
Centre, which delegated powers to the provinces for the sake of
administrative convenience. Thus, when Pakistan was founded, it retained
its unitary character. Subsequent federalization was merely a result of
Center’s progressive decentralization rather than a product of
voluntary surrendering of partial sovereignty by the constituent parts
of Pakistan. Furthermore, Pakistan was founded on the basis of
‘religion and religion alone. It can be kept together only by the
cementing force of Ikhwan There are no nationalities in Pakistan
or, for that matter, anywhere else; and the idea of nationalities is
subversive.”
The
reason behind the denial of the existence of nationalities and the
multination structure of Pakistan is the anxiety of the rulers to retain
their hold over the country at any cost. But the acceptance of the
presence of nationalities in a multi-national polity dose not mean the
disintegration of the country which is truly formed and run by the
nationalities. There are several pluralistic states which have
nationalities and communities that possess nation-like characteristics,
but do not have their separate states. The classic example of an
adequately functioning multinational state is Switzerland where German,
French and Italian nationalities enjoy the rights of nationalities
within a single state and without the desire to form nationstates.
Afghanistan
also admits the existence of several nationalities within its state
borders. Even a country like Ethiopia in its constitution accepts the
question of nationalities and their national right of
self-determination. None of the states mentioned above is faced with a
threat of disintegration. On account of its multi-national character.
Strange as it may seem, the use of the term nationality has come to
denote the preclusion of the right to selfdetermination.
Thus,
when rights of a historical community or ethnic group are demanded on
the basis of ‘nationality,’ it more or less means all the rights,
except the right to self-determination. It may also be added here that
even when the right to self-determination is demanded, it does not
automatically mean the desire to secede. It may only mean the obtaining
of guarantee against national oppression and exploitation.
The
Balochs, Pashtoons and the Sindhis feel that they are living under the
oppression of political establishment dominated by the Punjabis. They
feel that the Punjabis, who dominate the army and the bureaucracy, have
been denying them their due rights. The present style and ongoing
policies of Islamabad towards the oppressed and subjugated nationalities
of Pakistan will lead to another sever phase of instability within the
country. The Balochs, Sindhis, Pashtoons and the Siraiki people are
demanding the re-writing of constitution on the basis of equality and
social justice.
Demand for rewriting the
Constitution
The
continued reliance in Pakistan in its initial years on the Government of
India act, 1935 provided an opportunity to the ruling elite of Pakistan
to impose their unjust and unfair policies on the smaller nationalities.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, wanted to become the
powerful Governor General of the country, so he held the positions of
the governor general, the president of Constitutional Assembly, and
president of the Muslim League - all three. The Act of 1935 was amended,
and by virtue of it, the Governor General dissolved the assembly of NWFP
and later dismissed the chief minister of Sindh. The whole structure was
again changed after his death that suited the new ruling elite. All the
three constitutions of Pakistan failed to safeguard the political rights
and autonomy of nationalities, and constitutions failed to check the
military interventions of 1958,1969,1977, and 1998. As a result of
military coups, two constitutions were abrogated and the third one was
mutilated and put in abeyance. In all these cases of military
interventions, the judiciary, which is mainly controlled by the Punjabi
ethnic group justified the legality of the Punjabi dominated military
governments on the basis of Doctrine of Necessity. The Supreme Court in
these words legalized Zia’s coup: "Extraconstitutional step taken
by the armed forces of Pakistan was justified by requirements of state
necessity and welfare of the people." Former East Pakistan,
presently Bangladesh, took the geographical advantage of distance from
the capital of the country and from its western part and succeeded in
getting rid of unjust rule of Punjabi civil and military bureaucracy.
Rest of the nationalities like Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtoon and Siraiki are
presently trying to convince the rulers of Pakistan to accept the right
of nationalities and introduce a new social contract.
Pakistan
Oppressed Nation's Movement (PONM), since 1998 has started a broad-based
political and democratic campaign to convince the civil and military
rulers to rewrite the constitution of Pakistan on the wishes and will of
all nationalities to promote equality and social and political justice
in the country. PONM, has demanded that a new liberal and democratic
constitution based on the equality of nations be formulated according to
the spirit of the 1940 Lahore Resolution to safeguard the very basic
rights of nationalities and has demanded autonomy for all the provinces.
"Under this constitution all provinces shall have total autonomy.
All present functions of the federation with exception of defense,
foreign affairs and currency shall be transferred to the provinces.
Federal interference in matters of provincial rights and authorities
shall end. This constitution shall also provide a foolproof guarantee to
safeguard rights and authorities of provinces. Composition of the
Pakistan Army should be recomposed, having equal representation of
nations from all provinces so that it can effectively and practically be
presented as the national army of Pakistan. Army should not be allowed
to run the affairs of the country. They are responsible only to defend
the geographical boundaries of the state,” The right to govern will be
through a parliament composed of equality of nations, and directly
elected by the people and accountable to them. The armed forces,
including all its related institutions, shall be subservient to the
elected parliament, so that Pakistan can become a true democratic and
federally accepted state for the oppressed nationalities.
The
principles on the basis of which the rewriting of the constitution will
be done:
- Pakistan
is a multi-national, multi-lingual, multi-cultural, and multiethnic
country.
- All
nationalities, ethnic groups should have equal rights and an equal
opportunity to advance.
- All
languages and cultures should be declared and promoted as national
languages and Urdu and English promoted as a medium of communication
among the nationalities, and there should be mutual respect and
tolerance for all languages.
- Suppression
of diversity in the name of national unity, or on any other pretext,
not only amounts to violation of human rights, but is
counterproductive to the aims of co-existence.
- The
right of self-determination of all nationalities should be accepted.
- The
question of re-demarcation of national units should be accepted on
the basis of mutual consultations and all nationalities should be
allowed to form their own national units on the basis of geography,
history, ethnicity, culture and mutual deliberation.
These
principles assumes significance, if we keep note of the fact that, since
the inception of Baloch nationalism, it has been confronted with
international frontiers, which divided the Baloch people among three
countries. The Baloch people have found their aspirations frustrated by
national boundaries and central administration over their lands. The
Baloch nationalism is not ready to accept the unjust decision of
colonial Empire as Afghans do not recognize the Durand Line or Pakistan
does not accept the, Line of Control in Kashmir. Balochistan, divided
between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan, was a compact unit. The total
area of "Greater Balochistan" was approximately 340,000 square
kilometers. Iran occupies about two hundred eighty thousand (280,000) sq
miles. Approximately 350,000 sq miles (including the Baloch populated
districts of Sindh and Punjab) is controlled by Pakistan and some sixty
thousand sq miles (60, 000) area is under the control of Afghanistan
given to them by British imperialists under Anglo-Afghan boundary
commission agreement of 1896. Thus despite the size of its territory and
relatively large population (currently between 12 to 15 million), the
Baloch do not enjoy even limited political and cultural autonomy. The
governments of Iran and Pakistan have always viewed the Baloch quest for
self-rule as a threat to their territorial integrity and, therefore have
joined hands to deal with the Baloch. In 1957, they assisted each other
on a bilateral basis to suppress Dad Shah’s revolt and later the
Balochistan Liberation Front’s movement in Iran in 1968. Till 1973-77
the government of Iran fully backed the aggression of Pakistan Army
against the Baloch political movement. In April 1973 Prime Minister of
Pakistan Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto met Shah of Iran in Tehran and received
$200 million in emergency military assistance. Again in 1974, Iran
dispatched thirty US-supplied Huey cobra helicopters, manned mostly by
Iranian pilots to help the military aggression of against innocent
Baloch people.
The
first representative government of Balochistan in Pakistan was dissolved
in February 1973, after nine months of its existence. A serious
political crisis of legitimacy arose in the aftermath of dismissal of
NAP government in Balochistan and the resignation of coalition
government of Jamiat Ulemae-Islam in N.W.F.P. province. According to
historians these were the precise moments when Baloch leadership
concluded that the only way out for their rights was an armed struggle.
The mistrust had grown so deep that all avenues of dialogue were closed
down. Pakistan military went on offensive against the Baloch people in
1973. In September1974, army launched operation Chamalang against the
Baloch Mari tribe. Pakistan army used both air force and military in
this operation and approximates are that 1500 Baloch women and children
were killed in this operation who failed to take refuge in the
mountains. The following years between 1973-1975, over 180 major
encounters were recorded between Baloch guerillas and army. Five
thousand (5000) Balochs were killed while 3000 soldiers of armed forces
of Pakistan lost their lives in the battle. Until 1978, there were six
thousand political activists; students and politicians were in jails all
over Pakistan. Emergence of Balochistan Liberation Army.
Today,
people have developed serious grievances regarding the exploitative
nature of the various economic projects such as, the exploration of oil
and gas under various agreements. The people think that these projects
would benefit only Punjab or others and its industrial interests and it
will not bring any positive change in the lives of the Baloch people.
The discontent is imminent in various forms of protests. Baloch
nationalist leaders have objections to these projects as with regard to
none of these the Baloch people were invited or consulted in the course
of signing of MoUs and agreements between international companies and
the government of Pakistan.
In
Iran also, the highly centralized and Persian-dominated rulers
deliberately ignored the ethno-linguistic and multi-national reality of
the country. The non-Persian national groups were not recognized and
accorded national rights. In the absence of constitutional guarantees
and recognition of the national rights of non-Persians, the government
translated its nation-building campaign into a set of integrationist
policies and practices aimed at their economic integration and
socio-cultural assimilation into Persian dominated state structure.
The
process of tampering with the historical existence of the Baloch people
is going on in Iran. The western province of Balochi speaking people was
divided into three parts in 1958-59 and parts of it were included into
Persian speaking province of Kerman. Such attempts are meant to reduce
Baloch into minority in their own land.
Until
1809, Western Balochistan was under the control of Khan of Kalat. In
1871, with the help of Britain, Iran managed to divide Balochistan.
According to M.G. Pikulin, a Russian scholar on Balochistan, the Baloch
tribes revolted against the unnatural division and occupation by Iran.
During the First World War, the British occupied Western Balochistan. In
1915 the leaders of the resistance movement were arrested by the British
and sent to India. In 1916, mass anti-British demonstrations took place
among the Baloch tribes. In spite of defeats, the resistance lasted
until 1924, when joint British-Iranian forces put it down. In 1925, Raza
Khan became the Raza Shah of Iran. He adopted a policy to crush
nationalism in Iran. The Iranian regime under the Shah rule pursued a
ruthless, hard line policy towards the Baloch designed to stifle any
expression of Baloch identity. Publishing, and distributing and even
possession of Balochi language literature was a criminal offense – one
of the most resented aspects of the Teheran regime against the Baloch
people.
The
policy of dividing the Baloch and integrating them in Persian-speaking
provinces has compelled more then 150,000 Baloch to leave their
ancestral land where they were treated as virtual aliens. They had to
migrate to Arab Sheik doms across the Persian Gulf. Dad Shah's struggle
became the first attempt to flourish nationalist sentiments among the
Baloch people both in Pakistan and Iran on a common concern
"Greater Balochistan". In 1964, the exiled leadership of
Iranian Baloch established "Balochistan Liberation Front". The
front was by Iraq and PLO of Yasser Arafat. The BLF advocated that
" the only way to liberate Balochistan is the armed struggle of the
masses – the Baloch do not believe in the stage-by-stage pursuit of
independence".
The
Governments of Syria and Egypt granted quasi-diplomatic status to BLF in
the 1965-66 as the representative of provisional Baloch government in
exile. Later, Baghdad became the headquarters for intensified radio
broadcastings and insurgent activity in Iranian Balochistan. In March
1975, Baghdad and Tehran signed a peace agreement in which Iran promised
to stop its support of the Kurds in exchange for Iraq’s termination of
help to the Baloch and the Khuzistan Arabs.
Like
Iran and Pakistan, Afghanistan too is a multinational country comprising
of Pashtoons, Tajiks, Hazaras, Turkmen, Uzbek, Baloch and several other
ethnic groups. The Baloch population in Afghanistan is concentrated in
the Southwestern part of the country adjoining Iranian and Pakistani
Balochistan.
Unlike,
Iran and Pakistan, Afghanistan has maintained close links with Balochi
population by extending political and moral support to the Baloch
nationalists, particularly those living in Pakistan. During the reign of
Mohammed Zahir Shah, Afghanistan supported the Baloch and Pashtoon
opposition against the imposition of one-unit plan for West Pakistan.
Later, President Mohammed Daud, supported very categorically the
movement against the Bhutto regime. This solidarity was reflected in
numerous efforts to raise the question of nationalities at various
international forums. In 1973, the Afghan ambassador to the UN, referred
Balochistan and Pashtoonistan as "usurped land". In 1976,
Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto visited Kabul and in return President Daud came to
Islamabad in August the same year. During this visit Bhutto and Daud
reportedly reached a far-reaching agreement. Pakistan agreed to grant
provincial autonomy to Balochistan and NWFP and in exchange Afghanistan
would recognize Durand Line as a permanent border.
The
Balochs lost the Afghan support when Pakistan backed Talibans came into
power and withdrew all political and moral support to the Baloch
national issue. Taliban regime shut down the Balochi radio service from
Kabul and closed all Baloch refugee camps in Helmand and Khandar.
The
strategic importance of Balochistan has significant implications in
terms of national right to self-determination. Because of its strategic
location in the Perso-Oman Gulf, with a 700 miles long seacoast, the
area has been important to the trade of the West since the rise of
imperialism. Its strategic importance provides an opportunity to the
Balochs to deal with the big or superpowers in order to liberate the
country.
In
1952 Maneck B. Pathawalla, Honorary Technical Advisor of the Pakistan
Ministry of economic Affairs, published a monograph based on the
materials secured from the government agencies discussing the
potentialities of Balochistan.
- Of all
the provinces of Pakistan, Balochistan has the highest potential of
mineral deposits, including chromites, coal, and petroleum.
- Its long
coastline has very rich fishing grounds and can repay the cost of
its development, if again fresh water can be made available to the
native population of Las Bela and Makuran, who are direct decedents
of the ancient class of fishermen, called Ikhthyopagoi, by the Greek
historians.
- Balochistna
is the only province in Pakistan that can claim a certain number of
potential hill-stations and health-resorts. An enormous tourists
trade is likely to follow an extension of its lines of communication
and particularly its airfields.
- Its
population is very thin and its area is very extensive, thereby
giving an immense scope for resettlement and stabilization of the
population, particularly the refugees, in this lowest-density zone
of Pakistan.
The
leaders of oppressed nationalities maintain that the interest of the
country should be kept in mind by giving nationalities the right to
culture, language and traditions. The ruling elite of Pakistan is
supporting the self determination movement in Kashmir but is not ready
to listen the demand for provincial and regional autonomy within
Pakistan.
In
South Asia territorial conflicts, ethnic animosities, religious
extremism and growing enmities make it imperative that South Asia must
be reorganized so that the region can become peaceful and stable. We can
propose four interim measures towards that;
- There is
an urgent need of confidence building measures between the state and
subjugated nationalities. This confidence building approach may be
achieved through principle of compensation.
- The
principle of co-existence should be accepted and adopted by the
rulers at the center and the leadership of the nationalities.
- There
is need of extra constitutional and international arrangements to
secure and ensure the political, economic, cultural and regional
autonomy of the disempowered nationalities.
All
nationalities should be allowed to be governed by their own people
within their political, cultural, historical and geographical
identity.
4.
Current unrest
Rashed
Rahman, a noted journalist and editor of the daily Frontier Post,
presented an account of few recent incidents of bomb blast in and around
Quetta city and attempted to contextualize those incidents in the
background of the regrouping of rebel forces in Balochistan. He pointed
out that the bomb blasts that shook four cities in 2002 and the rocket
attacks on the Command and Staff College in Quetta and at Kohlu in the
Marri tribal area pointed to the continuing violence that underlay the
surface of normal life in Pakistan.
The
nature of the comparatively low intensity explosives used in the bomb
blasts, and the locations selected indicated a pattern. The objective
appeared to have been not so much to cause maximum loss of life as to
spread terror.
The
authorities responded according to a tired script. The ubiquitous
‘foreign hand’ was conveniently trotted out as usual, although it
must be admitted that the link between the December 22 Lashkar-e-Tayyaba
attack on the Red Fort in Delhi and this coordinated series of bombings
in Pakistan did appeal to logic. A high level committee was set up to
probe the incidents.
The
fact remained however, that saboteurs had been able to mount a sustained
campaign of violence, which since 1987 has involved 233 blasts that took
535 lives and injured 3,000. In the year 2000 alone, the number of bomb
blasts all over the country was at least 51. The casualties these blasts
inflicted included at least 85 killed and 468 injured. Of these
incidents though, 17 took place in and around Quetta, claiming 11 killed
and 44 injured.
Admittedly,
catching presumably trained saboteurs was no easy task. The bomb blasts
all over the country, apart from Quetta, the most popular theory went,
appeared to be part of the tit-for-tat covert war being waged by the
Indian intelligence agency, RAW. This campaign was intended to raise the
cost for Pakistan of its support for the struggle in Kashmir. It was
this reasoning which made the linkage between the Red Fort incident and
the recent bombings in Pakistan attractive.
Apart
from the rejectionist Kashmiri groups, many of the others, including the
largest, Hizbul Mujahideen, have not reacted in knee-jerk fashion to New
Delhi’s ceasefire initiative. A window of opportunity seems to have
opened up for exploring a peaceful resolution of the Kashmir conundrum.
However,
complacency and/or failure to capitalise on it by any or all of the
actors, could rapidly shut this window. This could make it much harder
next time round to rehabilitate trust and confidence between the
protagonists.
The
present signs are more hopeful than they have been for many years, but
the extreme fundamentalist groups and their backers amongst religious
parties in Pakistan seem bent upon sabotaging the emerging peace
process.
The
case of the bomb blasts and rocket attacks in Quetta and elsewhere in
Balochistan was different. The claimant of these actions, a hitherto
unknown group calling itself the Balochistan Liberation Army was widely
perceived to be composed of supporters of the incarcerated Marri Sardar,
Khair Buksh Marri. He was in prison for a long time on the charge of
being involved in the murder of a Balochistan High Court judge. The case
was complicated because of internal political rifts in the Marri tribe,
with the largest section, the Bijaranis, at loggerheads with the Sardar
on a host of issues dating back to the guerrilla resistance in
Balochistan of 1973-77.
The
murdered judge belonged to the Bijarani section. Five sons of Khair
Buksh Marri, also charged with the murder, had fled abroad. Khair
Buksh’s bail application was turned down by both the Balochistan High
Court as well as the Supreme Court. The investigating authorities,
because of their ham-handed handling of the case, whereby they kept
Khair Buksh in solitary confinement and attempted to interrogate him
(without success, one might add) only on the years of guerrilla
resistance, quite unrelated to the case in hand, have merely succeeded
in giving a new lease of life to Khair Buksh’s political fortunes.
Inside Balochistan itself, amongst nationalist elements, as well as in
the human rights community throughout the country, sympathy has
resurrected for Khair Buksh.
The
Balochistan Liberation Army in its communiqué to newspapers and news
agencies following the rocket attacks singled out the military as the
enemy of Balochistan and reiterated its stance of not targeting
civilians. Its actions might have been unrelated to the other bombing
incidents, but its timing threw more fuel on the fire of exposing the
incompetence of the security agencies.
It
is a commonplace in political theory that force often is the midwife of
an existing society pregnant with a new one. The violence of resistance
is justified by aggrieved groups on the touchstone of the justness of
their cause.
To
maintain the image of a victim resisting injustice, such groups have to
be careful not to strike out blindly and thereby forfeit the sympathy of
the public at large. The Balochistan Liberation Army, whatever its
credentials as a vehicle for giving voice to the long standing
grievances of the people of Balochistan, appears to have imbibed this
lesson. Hence its almost exclusive focus on administrative and military
targets, with bombs being placed strategically so as not to cause
civilian casualties. Unless the authorities handle the affair of Khair
Buksh Marri with care and according to due process, they may end up
fuelling another round of bitter conflict in Balochistan.
Mr.
Naimatullah Gichki, a professional and a
political activist, also contributed to the discussion in the same vein.
He presented an account of the deep feeling among the Baloch population
of being a separate entity. He went back to Pakistan Resolution adopted
in March 1940 by the All India Muslim League in Lahore that was to
provide the basis for a separate homeland for the Muslims of India. He
said that the federation of Pakistan
comprised Sindh Panjab, NWFP, East Bengal and the Baloch
territories.
Yet,
successive regimes in Islamabad never honoured that reality. Pakistan
was conceived as a federation, but ended in autocratic rule and unitary
form of Government. People were continuously denied their democratic
rights and repressive forces were unleashed on those who raised voice
against autocracy. The Balochs were never accepted in the power
structure and the attitude of the ruling group remained hostile towards
national minorities who were never trusted as true Pakistanis.
As
far as the question of autonomy and right to self-determination was
concerned as a political solution to the problem, he said that Balochs
wanted a political settlement of the national question in Pakistan. The
present situation had pushed the Balochs to rethink their policy in the
new world economic order, under which the multimillion investment plans
of China and the United States would have serious consequences for the
people of Balochistan in particular and for the region in general. For
peace, development, human rights and justice, people's right to exercise
their will must be honoured. And the solution lay in giving the Baloch
true representation in decision making process through granting autonomy
to the nationalities.
Ms.
Naela Quadri, a political and women's
rights activist while exploring the historical and political bases of
the Baloch issue for self-determination from the point of peace politics
human rights and justice, focused on the state of literacy, population,
and development of the province in the recent years by pointing out that
the population of Balochistan is 7.8 million and the literacy rate among
men is 12.5% and in women is 2.9%. Balochistan is rich in oil, gas, gold
and minerals. The original recoverable quantity of gas only in the
fields of Sui and Pir Koh was estimated as 9.976 trillion of cubic feet
(TCF). From 1953 up to July 01, 1988, 4.299 TCF has been consumed.
This
gas is supplied to all big cities of Pakistan to run the industries in
Sindh, Punjab and NWFP. She like other noted that nuclear development in
South Asia had created many crucial problems for the economy and
environment. The most cruel and inhuman side was the misuse of the lands
of indigenous people and leaving them all alone to face the deadly
consequences, in the wake of the nuclear explosion. It was ironic that
while all the missile testing was supposed to be for defence against
India, the missiles were test fired on Balochistan land.
Mr.
Tahir Muhammad Khan, a human rights
activist and lawyer, looked at the genesis of autonomy for Balochistan.
He explained that the British came to Kalat in 1839 while returning from
Afghanistan war. In the subsequent events, the British captured and
obtained increasingly more and more political concessions. Mr. Khan
surveyed the history and concluded that centralized state apparatus was
the major reason for secessionist aspirations of the people. Mr. Khan
also raised some issues which were intrinsic to the Baloch society and
politics. He pointed out the internal rift that existed between Baloch
and Pashtoon populations on a number of issues.
He
was also very critical of the human rights situation among the tribes
and in the tribal system. He linked these features with the undemocratic
nature of local politics in which ordinary citizens had no say.
5.
Other issues and views
In
a note sent for discussion, Shah Noor Mengal looked at the growing
geostrategic interest of world powers in the region. The increasing
Chinese investment in Balochistan, particularly in the post September 11
scenario spoke of Chinese interests in the region. For the Balochs these
interests entails long term consequences for the people of Balochistan
who did not have a say in the whole process of negotiation between the
government of Pakistan and China. The construction of deep-sea port at
Gowader and the building a network of roads in Balochistan with Chinese
investment raised serious questions in the minds of Balochs. They were
also scared of ever growing interest of the United States of America in
the region that according to the Baloch leadership could turn
Balochistan into a battlefield of world powers to achieve their
strategic and economic gains. He noted that China’s growing interest
in Balochistan had raised many eyebrows and created suspicions regarding
Chinese political and economic motives in developing Gwadar sea-port and
engaging itself in Sandak copper-gold mines project.
The
Chinese interests had triggered a series of counter measures by the
interested quarters and Balochistan had now become the focus of
attention as a possible route for world trade, facilitating transmission
of central Asian oil and gas through Baloch waters. The visit to
Pakistan by the Chinese Premier Mr. Zhu Rongji in 2001 had brought
another round of economic cooperation between the two countries.
They
had signed six agreements and one memorandum of understanding (MoU) on
May 11, 2001. According to these agreements China would provide a grant
of 50 million Yuan for promotion of economic and technical cooperation
between the two countries. Chinese Minister for Foreign Trade and
Economic Cooperation, Shi Guangsheng and Finance Minister, Shaukat Aziz
signed the agreement which provided among others 10 year lease to
Metallurgical Construction Corporation of China (MCCC) of Saindak
Copper-Gold Project. The point to note was that the Chinese assistance
came at a time when
Pakistan was facing serious financial crisis. The details reveal that
China would extend assistance for projects worth over one billion
dollars including provision of $200 million supplier’s credit for the
modernization of Pakistan Railways, $100 million for providing new
equipment to Paksitan Telecommunicaiton Limited and $120 million for the
oil pipeline project.
Another
$240 million was expected for development of Gwadar port and $200
million for coastal highway project. China would also invest $40 million
in the Saindak copper-gold mine project which was to be constructed by
the Chinese. It needed operational funding worth RS. 1.5 billion which
the government was unable to provide, thus leaving this mega project in
shambles.
The
high profile investment by the Chinese in Balochistan had raised some
questions. The area which was portrayed as desolate and difficult to be
developed by Pakistan leadership had now attracted the Chinese. This had
not only sparked a rivalry among world economic powers but had focused
also on huge untapped resources of region and geo-strategic location of
the province.
Certain
sections of Baloch opinion were against exploring their wealth, which
they claimed, would be used only for the benefit of others. Some
powerful tribal leaders were also resisting tapping resources without
firm guarantees that the revenues so received would be spent on the
uplift of the people of Balochistan. Recent attacks on Chinese engineers
working on a project in Balochistan, and that too at such a time when
the Chinese Prime Minister’s visit had been scheduled, told much of
the story.
In
the context of all these, Mr. Mengal also stressed on just distribution
of resources and wealth of the country and the participation of Baloch
people in decision-making process.
Dr.
Naseer Dashti analysis of formation of a
nation and the process of nation state building was very informative and
enlightening. His note surveyed different phases of history where people
had successfully achieved and preserved their unique identity, culture
and history. The less successful cases also came in discussion in his
analysis of nation building where people had not been able to safeguard
their distinct cultures.
According
to Naseer Dashti, there were more nations or potential nations than
existing states. Many nations aspired to attain statehood yet had not
and might not attain it in the near future like the Balochs in West Asia
and Kashmiris in South Asia, the Kurds in the Middle East, the Tamils in
Sri Lanka, Québecs in Canada and Irish in Britain.
He
drew attention in the perspective to the fact that the national
minorities in Pakistan were aspiring for acceptance as national
entities. The State of Pakistan's claim to be a federation had yet to
acknowledge these peoples as geographic, racial and cultural identities.
Their homelands had been demarcated and maintained as administrative
units and not as geographical and historical entities uniting to form
the federation of the country. India was pursuing similar policies
towards many national groups within the union.
In
Iraq, Iran and Turkey, Kurds had their historical, cultural and
geographical entity. A large chunk of Kurdish country was merged into
Iraq with the British help without any considerations to Kurdish
feelings. A portion remained with Turkey. Iran also had its share of
Kurdish land. Thus, Kurds were now divided within three territorial
states. Same approach had been and is being adopted by Iran, Afghanistan
and Pakistan regarding aspiration of Baloch people for their national
sovereignty.
He
said that languages had characteristics that fit into the nationalistic
notions of states and nationalities. Language was undoubtedly the main
carrier of ideas, sentiments, traditions, customs and religious dogma
from one generation to another. In their assimilation efforts, Iran,
Afghanistan and Pakistan had not allowed Balochi to be the language of
instructions in schools even at primary level. Balochi publications and
institutions for academic research were never encouraged. In Iran, such
institutions were not allowed to function. In the University of
Balochistan in Quetta, Balochi language was taught at Masters Level but
not in primary schools or basic educational institutions. This is the
unique case in educational history anywhere.
The
dominant nationality in Pakistan had manipulated print and electronic
media, and state institutions. Intelligence services became crucial for
media management and approaches aimed at so-called ‘assimilation and
integration’ of Balochs in the misconceived nation of Pakistan.
Nevertheless, in the prevailing international political atmosphere the
states cannot solely depend on religion or any other identity as the
sole binding force for uniting different ethnic or national entities.
Recognition of the national aspirations of minority nationalities in the
federation of Pakistan and due consideration to their cultural,
linguistic, economic and political rights is imperative in order to
lessen the sense of deep alienations prevailing among the masses of
these nationalities.
In
multi-ethnic countries, the ascendancy to power by one specific ethnic
group over another tended to occur through the minimization of political
and economic opportunities of other group. It was generally argued that
scientific and cultural closeness might paves the way to an affinity of
sociocultural traits that will ultimately prove to be a check on extreme
national urges among the nations or ethnic groups within a territorial
state.
Nevertheless,
national appeal or ethnicity never depended on such affinity. Cultural
and national differences will persist in spite of inter-ethnic contacts
and dependence. Kurds in Iran were not a community altogether segregated
from other Iranians but this has never proved strong enough for them to
renounce their claim for separate nationhood. The majority of Balochs
had been part of Pakistan for more than five decades. Its youth were
getting education in its schools and universities with syllabi evolved
by Pakistani authorities with strong arguments for Pakistani
nationalism. However, the sense of national identity was stronger among
the educated youth than in other sections of the population. Quebecois,
Basques, Irish and Tamils, Kashmiris were not isolated entities nor did
they reject cultural influences from other groups within their
respective territorial states, but their demand for national self-rule
was overwhelming.
Nationalism
is a state of collective mentality, which represents the people's
political will aimed at achieving a state where it can live for the good
of all its members. Territorial or multi-national states are facing
tremendous problems within from the contending nationalities for
identity and recognition and for sovereign status of their own. The
subjugated nations consider present political boundaries unsatisfactory
and inappropriate for their national requirements. Self-determination is
being favored as a universal principle for the solution of political
issues. The principle of national self-determination will change the
entire political and geographical landscape of the globe. It may not be
acceptable to many, but it clearly involves an unavoidable principle. In
order to grant the right of national self-determination to oppressed
nationalities the entire world political map especially that of Asia,
has to be reshaped and remodeled.
The
Audit Exercise having discussed the historical-political-social nature
of the Baloch national question, and having taken note of the colonial
origins of the issue, the post-colonial continuity of the same, and the
state of the divided Baloch people today in three countries and more
sub-regions, recommends that:
- Resolution
on the Baloch National Question and Federal Solution
1)
The Baloch national question will have to be addressed in its totality
so that the basic rights and identity of the Baloch as a people are
safeguarded in the entire region, and the issue is resolved amicably
ensuring regional peace and stability.
2)
Federalism had never been given a fair chance in Pakistan to resolve the
Baloch national question. Elected, civilian, and military rulers have
personified their misrule. There is a need to address the national
question in a constitutional way by using peaceful means. The issue can
be taken up with the mutual consent of other nations and peoples of
Pakistan towards rebuilding the political-legal structure for the
country with all nations and peoples enjoying equal rights and
representation at all level.
3)
Pakistan should be declared a multi-national federal state, which
comprises distinct peoples with distinct cultures, languages, and
geographical and historical backgrounds.
4)
The Baloch national question is an issue of regional peace, which calls
for recognition of the essential elements of justice. Gross violations
of human rights happen in acute conflict conditions as has happened in
Balochistan. Regional peace can be preserved only when legitimate rights
of the Baloch people and other peoples are protected and conflicts are
resolved peacefully.
5)
The right of Baloch people to own resources of their land has to be
recognised and the other peoples should also be given the same right.
Exploitation of other's resources is impermissible and a violation of
basic rights of the people. The right to access over own resources is to
be combined with principles of interdependence and need for help to the
backward and deprived peoples.
6)
A Truth Commission comprising eminent jurists, academics and
representatives of the civil society has to be formed to find out the
truth about the sufferings to the Baloch people in the past 54 years, so
that responsibility for the same can be determined towards restoration
of justice and dignity.
7)
The establishment of a truth commission can work when the nations and
peoples of Pakistan enter into a new social contract renewing trust on
each other and begin journey towards new federalism enriched with new
forms of autonomy and new notions of shared sovereignty.
8)
Towards establishing such new federalism there is a need for a
re-demarcation of internal territorial boundaries between the provinces
based on deliberations among different nations and peoples, voluntary
consent of affected people, contiguity, and history. Such re-demarcation
must be accompanied by guarantees of the rights of national, ethnic,
racial, and other minorities.
9)
After re-demarcation of national boundaries, the Baloch people will have
to defend the rights of the cultural and religious minorities in all
circumstances giving them equal rights in all spheres of human
activities.
10)
The spirit of new federalism will draw from some of the ideals of a
con-federal association, shared sovereignty, and the above-mentioned
need for a new social contract.
11)
Balochi language should be adopted as a medium of instructions and
education beginning at the elementary level of education initially.
12)
The Baloch national question will have to be viewed and analyzed in the
broader perspective of a divided people, which will need forms of unions
such as the Sami parliament and other such arrangements that combine
state existence with inter-union of people spread over more than one
country.
13)
Free movement of Baloch people within the boundaries of Pakistan, Iran
and Afghanistan should be guaranteed with facilities for travel, trade
and cultural exchanges for promoting understanding among different
segments of Baloch people in the region.
2.
Resolution on the Historical and Political Basis of the Baloch Quest for
Autonomy And Self-determination from the point of Peace, Human Rights
and Social Justice
1)
Where there is political deprivation, issues of violations of human
rights, peace and social justice become vital for social and political
discourse. The Baloch question of autonomy has been prominent and has
been raised by Baloch leaders and intellectuals as political issue and
has been a cause of many repressive actions by the State against the
Baloch people.
2)
Balochistan means the eastern and Southeastern part of Iran from Dasht e
Lut in the west to the lower half of the Indus valley in Pakistan,
including the Southwestern part of Afghanistan. Its total area is
approximately 340000sq. miles and its population is estimated to 20
million. Geographically Balochistan is a part of the Iranian plateau and
culturally it forms part of Southwest Asia, also the area where South
Asia ends.
3)
The Baloch resisted against Iranian attempts to domination up to 1928
when Raza Shah of Iran subdued them with British support. The eastern
part of Balochistan was further divided into British Balochistan,
Balochistan states, while a part of Siestan was given over as lease.
4)
At the end of the nineteenth century, in greater imperial interests the
British negotiated with the Afghan government and decided to draw the
Durand line and Goldsmith line which resulted in dividing Blaoch
homeland in three parts. And, in the name of administrative purpose,
huge tracts of land from Balochistan were annexed to the provinces of
Punjab and Sindh under British control.
5)
The land and the people of Balochistan have a distinct national,
cultural and political and administrative entity and identity from
centuries. By the beginning of the twentieth century territorial changes
occurred in this area. Political maps of the world have changed
repeatedly to serve the interests of the imperial hegemonic powers.
Wars, revolutions, and political movements have brought major shifts in
human population and values of various cultures and societies.
6)
Many countries have divided and re-divided and new states have emerged
as independent states. Borders have run through cultural and linguistic
entities. And thus the national issue of Balochistan was left
unresolved. The area of Derjat and Khangarh (Jacobabad) were demarcated
and given to British India.
7)
Early 20th century when the movement for independence in the Indian
subcontinent gathered momentum, the Baloch people also asserted their
political and geographical identity. The people of Balochistan under the
auspices of Kalat National Party started a movement for their democratic
rights. During this period conferences were held highlighting Baloch
identity, and the inspiration to sovereignty. In March 1940, the Lahore
resolution was passed by the All India Muslim league which clearly
declared that the new potential state of Pakistan would be a federation.
At that time Balochistan was an independent state (Kalat State Union),
having a bicameral assembly. The issue of annexation was debated and
rejected by both the houses of Balochistan parliament. However, a year
later after the creation of Pakistan the annexation was forced on the
State of Kalat by Pakistan. That created a wave of resentment and
political unrest, which resulted into an armed revolt and had to be
quelled by coercion.
8)
In 1920, Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd and Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Magsi initiated a
political movement, Anjuman e Ittehad Balochistan (Organization for the
unity of Baloch and Balochistan). In 1931 Kalat State National Party was
formed by Mir Ghous Bux Bizanjo, the aim of these attempts was to secure
United Balochistan.
9)
The first Baloch national conference was held in 1932 to shape the
future contours of Baloch nationalist agenda which continues till today.
The movement has seen various ups and downs in the last hundred years.
Political movements of the people have been going on in form of various
demands for self-determination and autonomy.
10)
On August 11 1947, before the independence of India and Pakistan
Balochistan’s Independence was announced by British.
11)
On March 27, 1948, Balochistan was annexed by force in Pakistan. Mr.
Ghous Bux Bizanjo, Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd and several other political
leaders were jailed or placed under house arrest or exiled. On May 1948,
Agha Karim Khan, the governor of Makran, launched a rebellion against
Pakistan and went to mountains with numerous members of the National
Party.
12)
The newly created state of Pakistan did not honour its resolve to
achieve a true and genuine federal political arrangement. The political
and administrative structure was highly centralized.
The
rights of smaller groups and federating units were denied by the Punjabi
ruling clique. Pakistan's ruling elite treated all nationalist
movements, particularly Baloch nationalist struggle, as a threat to the
state and the so-called ‘national security’. The establishment
reacted to all political movements with strong oppressive measures.
13)
Baloch struggled for political recognition has continued till now in
different forms and strategies that have included constitutional
struggles also. Unfortunately the constitutional attempts have remained
unsuccessful – one instance being the first elected Baloch nationalist
government in Pakistan, headed by Sardar Ataulla Mengal, which was
forcibly dissolved by the Federal Government eight months after its
establishment, with majority of the members of assembly being put behind
bars. Two elected provincial governments in Balochistan were broken by
power and conspiracy.
14)
Balochistan has gone through four armed conflicts since 1948.
The
discrimination against Balochistan in term of resource allocation,
government services, education, and development of basic infrastructure
has been conspicuous from the beginning.
15)
One hundred years of continued human rights violation and oppression has
reduced the indigenous Baloch population into a ‘minority’. The
people of Balochistan see the recent development projects as another
threat to their livelihood and political aspirations. It is feared that
these projects will result into greater displacement of Baloch people
and an inward migration of others, which will be again a blow to the
demography of Balochistan. The nuclear blasts and defense programs of
Pakistan have made the people poorer and more vulnerable.
16)
The present traditional Baloch society has a number of inherited
structural discriminations. The hierarchy of tribe, caste, clan and
patriarchy is reflected in various forms of oppression within the
society at various levels. The colonial system provided full support to
the tribal ruling class and strengthened and contributed to the
perpetuation of tribalism. The ruling elite of Pakistan and Iran have
also joined hands with the tribal ruling class to continue the system
based on undemocratic values.
17)
The worst form of discrimination and violation of rights can be
witnessed against women in present Baloch society. The patriarchy is so
strong that women are being killed in the name of honor and treated as
third class citizens. Their mobility is extremely restricted which has
resulted in marginalization of women at all levels of society including
their access to information, education, resources and to the decision
making institutions. Women’s participation and representation is also
negligible in all spheres of state and society.
18)
The notion of peace in the present Baloch context is intriguing.
The
grievances of the ordinary citizens of Balochistan remain un-addressed.
The post 1977 situation has worsened the plight of people. This is a
continuous phase of human rights violations, which include torture and
extra judicial killings. Nuclear tests and missile tests in Balochistan
have created health sufferings, drought, displacements and rising
insecurities. The neighboring Shia fundamentalism in Iran and Sunni
fundamentalism in Punjab are threatening the traditional secular society
of Baloch where Hindus, Christians, Zikris and Sunnis had lived for long
in relative peace. In the structure of decision-making, the Baloch has
no representation, so development and all related policies are against
the existence of Baloch people.
3.
Resolution on the Current State of the Nationality Question
1)
The term "nationality" implies a group within a state, which
may seek the right of self-determination. Though that particular
nationality can uphold the right to secession and the formation of an
independent state, it does not imply that it necessarily has to seek
only that solution in gaining political recognition and
self-determination. Autonomy with guarantees for provincial and national
rights may satisfy a particular nationality’s aspiration.
2)
In South Asia, the question of nationalities has asserted itself in the
post-colonial multinational states. Dominant nationalities in these
states have not accorded fair and just treatment to their minorities or
their deprived and marginalized nationalities – a situation that has
given rise to movements for national rights.
To
resolve these nationality issues, and achieve inter-state and
intra-state peace, development and progress in South Asia, it is
necessary to take concrete measures to satisfy the national aspirations
of all nationalities in a democratic manner.
3)
Pakistan, being a multinational state in which this reality has not been
recognized, has seen enormous conflict in its relatively short history.
In the case of East Pakistan this resulted in its separation, whereas
Balochistan, Sindh and NWFP in the course of this period have
experienced at different times and in varying degrees, similar
oppression.
4)
In the context of Balochistan, the people having been through enormous,
costly struggles for national rights, including armed resistance against
central government’s oppression in the last 54 years, desire peace and
just political recognition. Such recognition can come only through
genuine autonomy within a restructured, federal, democratic state of
Pakistan. Any arrangement for autonomy must offer guarantees for the
following national rights of the people of Balochistan.
- Freedom
to elect all their representatives at provincial and national level.
- Access
to and control of their own resources with priority being given to
the development of these resources for the benefit of the people of
Balochistan.
- Constitutional
safeguards at the federal level against encroachments on the
national and provincial rights and the autonomy of Balochistan.
- Guarantees
for the rights of the minorities within Balochistan rights within
the framework of provincial autonomy; also guarantees for rights of
women.
- Adjustments
and re-demarcation of provincial boundaries on the basis of
consensus and on the basis of the criterion of geographical,
historical, and cultural contiguity – the consensus must take note
also of the wishes of the people inhabiting in the area to be
affected by re-demarcation.
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