Balochistan: A Burnt Homeland

The Baloch Hal

By Maheen Baloch

The news of a large mass graves with more than 100 dead bodies last week outraged the whole Balochistan, splintering the hearts of millions of Balochs. On the other hand, the blackout of this story in the national media was an additional shock for the province although it too was expected.

Over the past few decades, Balochistan had not been less than a combat zone. The abduct, kill and dump had been a common set-up of the province while strikes, protests and demonstrations have now become usual too. Economic crisis had been dominant where as the richest province’s people suffer poverty, illiteracy, unemployment as well as health and other major issues.

People in most regions of the province are still compelled to live a life which truly pictures Stone Age. People living in other provinces benefit from the natural gas of Sui however not only other parts of Balochistan, but the people living within Sui are still deprived of the natural resource of their own homeland. Owning the world’s fifth largest gold mine in Chaghi, Balochistan also possesses the longest coast line through out Pakistan. Country’s third deep sea port in Gwadar is not only generating massive revenue for the country but is also a substantial venture for the nation. It truly astonishes the whole world along with the Baloch nation that how could such a resourceful region be so underdeveloped. It of course can, if it is handed to unjust hands.

Balochistan is the land which has never got any attention from any government so far. If, something got attention that had only been the Baloch Land but not its people. Gwadar Port’s construction can benefit the whole country along with having significant trade links with several countries, but it again gives no benefits to Baloch nation because its revenue is not used to renovate schools, construct colleges or hospitals to develop the region. Makran coastal high way’s construction in 2004 was also only to bridge links between Gwadar to Karachi but not between Makran’s people and the country because this particular high way is the major route for the loaded large containers of port that reach Karachi and then to different parts of Pakistan.

Perhaps one of the most unforgotten incidents is the Chaghi Nuclear test on 28th May 1998 during the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s previous government. Country’s all plains were left behind but for devastation only Balochistan’s district Chaghi was chosen. It was the day when a massive area of the district was destroyed. This experiment increased another bullet in the list of misuse of Baloch land. The day is considered as the Balck Day in the whole Balochistan till today. After numerous unjust brutalities to the Balochs, if a Baloch talked or talks about the rights of the nation, that individual was or is considered as disloyal to Pakistan. How can a person be disloyal if he demands for fair rights from a state that claims to be an Islamic democratic country? There might be no constitution in this world that defines a person demanding fair rights, disloyal. Firstly, the federal government only uses the resources of the land but presents no attention towards the people living there and when those people demand for rights, they are considered disloyal. What an unjust democracy this particular country represents.

Hence, Balochs had been struggling for their rights from the day Balochistan was annexed by Pakistan on 28th March 1948 according to the nationalists. The political resistant as well as uneasiness through out the province had deteriorated the whole province. Thus, the greatest political up rise began when the dictator government of Musharaf assassinated one of the greatest Baloch leaders Nawab Akbar Bughti in August 2006. Since then thousands of Baloch leaders, teacher and intellectuals had been abducted, killed and dumped in different parts of Balochistan. In the mean while, the absence of the national media in most cases is another unacceptable indication.

However Balochs continued to struggle for fair rights and for the safe release of the abducted Balochs. VBMP (Voice for Baloch Missing Persons) which includes the people whose loved ones had been abducted held hunger camps in front of Supreme Court in Islamabad with High Courts in Quetta and Karachi but these courts failed to provide justice. Hanger campers stated that if a person is accused of a crime, he or she should be presented in the court but the scenario is totally contradictable here when people are abducted and kept in secret torture cells where they cruelly killed and then dumped!

After several hunger camps, VBMP finally initiated a historic long march. One of the longest Marches of the world, by the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons from Quetta to Karachi and now from Karachi to Islamabad is a continuous attempt for the safe release of the abducted Balochs. It had been several days now to this particular March today however still none of the abducted Balochs had been released safe yet. Instead a miserable reward of more than a hundred young Balochs had been discovered in the mass graves in Kuzdar last week.

Decades ago, some similar miserable incidents occurred in East Pakistan which is today’s Bangaldesh. But these mass graves were truly provoking not only for Balochs but for the whole world. It is reprehensible for the Chief Minister to give statements of blaming India for the mass graves. After this irresponsible statement, the current Chief Minister might be paving toward the vestiges of the previous CM of Balochistan. On the other hand the Prime Minister mentioned to initiate new projects for Balochistan, the roads and solar energy project but what will the people do with the roads when they don’t get social security in the state. Prime Minister considered it important to remember the Mastung incident but lips dried to even say a word about Balochs’ mass graves.

Today Balochistan is not less than a battle field and a combat zone, where brutality and bloodshed had dominated the panorama. However the situations are deteriorating each day and situations might worsen more if the government carries its brutality of slaughtering the Balochs.