Balochistan Independence: to Support or Not to Support...That is the Question

“Your rulers are misleading you by singing songs on Kashmir and reading out scripts written by terrorists on Kashmir. You should ask your leaders…why they were not able to handle east Pakistan and why they cannot handle Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK), Gilgit, Sindh, Balochistan and Pakhtunistan…” - PM Narendra Modi, 24th of September 2016

We have reached a point in history when governments should no longer support territorial injustices. Since the British government decided to start the cycle of historical injustice by reducing India's territory to form Pakistan and then remove land intended for the Jewish People and offering it to its Arab allies, for national interests, thus sparking a 69-year old conflict in the Middle East and low-intensity conflicts in South Asia; the world has been repeating the same mistake over and over again. The result? There's no peace on earth.

World governments support the Arab occupation of Israeli land; they support the Pakistani occupation of Indian land; they also support the Chinese occupation of Tibetan land; the Moroccan occupation of Western Sahara; the French occupation of Corsica; the British occupation of Northern Ireland; the Iranian, Syrian, Turkish and Iraqi occupation of Kurdistan; the Pakistani, Iranian and Afghani occupation of Balochistan. Etc etc...

 What on earth are we doing?

The world promptly calls Arab terrorists settling in Israel “Freedom Fighters” while labelling the Baloch freedom fighters as “Terrorists”. They also acquiesce when the Kurdish independence seekers are called “Terrorists” by Turkey. All in the name of National Interests – i.e. nurture wars that will fund our economies and then repeat the word Peace, as if it truly meant something to most politicians.

Do Balochs Deserve Independence?

All peoples are entitled to self-determination where self-determination is due. 

Pakistan, for instance, controls the greatest swath of Baloch territory – a land rich in natural gas, oil, sulphur, coal, copper and gold – yet it doesn't develop the region properly as a means of control over the population. The Pakistani purposefully impoverishes the Baloch to stem their political aspirations – this is an utter violation of their human rights.

China has reportedly invested more than US$40Bn in Balochistan under the guise of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) however, as pragmatic as only the Chinese can be, it can't be discarded the possibility that the Red Dragon's investment has also been done eyeing the possible future establishment of a Baloch State. Nevertheless, this latter assessment is not shared by most and therefore the CPEC is viewed with discontentment by the Baloch Liberation Front who fear the project will eventually lead to a change in demographics (i.e. Punjabi Sunnis will reduce the Baloch to a minority in their own land), hence diminishing the chances of the creation of an independent state – a concern that has been present in the Arab-Israeli conflict since inception (the Balochs have much to learn from the Israeli example).

This article started with a quote by PM Modi – the first political leader to affirm support for the independence of Balochistan. The importance of his statement is capital since soon after he made the bombastic declaration, on Indian's Independence Day, both Bangladesh and Afghanistan echoed India's position (we wonder if this means the Afghans are willing to forgo their part of Baloch Land). Such level of support weakens Pakistan and it remains to be seen how the Iranians will react to it (in spite of the apparent tensions between Islamabad and Tehran, ever since India and Iran rekindled their good relations).

The sooner Pakistan disintegrates into its component national parts, the better it will be for the people who today live under the tyranny of Pakistan’s Mullah-military mafia - Amir Suleman Daud, Khan of Kalat

Therefore, it is capital to bring the Baloch plight to the international arena. Not only because it is the right thing to do, but also because doing so will serve many purposes; for example:

• Delegitimising Pakistan in the international forums
• Helping India, Afghanistan and Bangladesh to contain Pakistan in peaceful terms (at least initially)
• Weakening Pakistan will help to control the nuclear axis (Iran, Pakistan and North Korea)
• Disrupting the nuclear axis will help to control major threats in both the ME and Asia
• Reducing Pakistan's ability to fund certain enterprises will reduce its ability to destabilise Afghanistan (Taliban), Bangladesh (Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh) and India (Jammu & Kashmir). 

During the Cold War, the West made a mistake of supporting Pakistan – much due to India's reactive behaviour, truth be told – but now that India has made significant foreign policy shifts, there's no reason for the Western world to continue supporting a Terror State Sponsor that has much contributed to the present state of chaos around the globe.  So, why not start by hitting the country where it hurts the most right now?

May the debate about Balochistan's independence begin...

NB: For more details on this important issue, please click Here.

(Image: Bolan Pass, 1842 - Wikipedia)

[The views expressed in this publication are solely those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Dissecting Society]