Balochistan: A Critical Analysis

The term Balochistan is a Farsi/Persian origin word made of Baloch and Aastan, which means The place of the Baloch (people). Balochistan is a province of Pakistan and by area constitutes 47% of the country. Many ethnic nations and groups reside in Balochistan, which include Baloch, Pashtuns, Hazaras, Sindhis, Punjabis, etc. Historical Perpective Before the independence of Pakistan in 1947, Balochistan primarily comprised of 4 princely states and a British Baluchistan province during the British Raj that were later amalgamated to form the Pakistani province of Balochistan later. These states were: 1) State of Kalat 2) State of Lasbela 3) State of Makran 4) State of Kharan State of Kalat: At the time of Partition, the State of Kalat was ruled by the Ahmedzai tribal chief Khan Ahmed Yar Khan, who had succeeded Khan Mehmood Khan as the Khan of Kalat. It made up the areas/districts of Kalat, Khuzdar, Surab, Mastung, Bolan, Mach, Sibi, Dhadarh, Dera Murad Jamali (previously called Temple Dera), Jaffarabad - Usta Mohammad, and Munder Kot Jamali (now part of Jhal Magsi district). The Khan of Kalat maintained his Khanate by appointing two chieftains to help him rule State of Kalat: The Chief of Jhalawan and the Chief of Sarawan. The name Jhalawan is actually the old name of Khuzdar and the Chief of Jhalawan was Sardar (tribal head) of the Zehri tribe. The Chief of Sarawan was the Sardar of the Raisani tribe and the area of Sarawan came under Mastung. State of Lasbela: The State of Lasbela was headed by the Jam of Lasbela until 1947. The State was spread from the areas of Hub, Lasbela, and Uthal till Hinglaj. The last Jam of Lasbela was Mir Ghulam Qadir Khan, whose son Jam Muhammad Yousaf is now a former Chief Minister of Balochistan and is

also the local elected MNA (Member of National Assembly). Lasbela is home to the Lasi, Jam, Manjho, and Jamot tribes. State of Makran: The State of Makran (or Makuran as it is also called locally) included areas of Kech, Turbat, Mand, and Makran. These areas were ruled by the Nawab of the Gichki tribe. The last Nawab of Makran State was Nawab Baiyan Gichki and he acceded to Pakistan at time of independence in 1947. Makran is home to the Dashti, Hot, Rind, Gichki, Wadela, Bhel, Zigri, and Naqeeb tribes. State of Kharan: The State of Kharan was ruled by the Nausherwani tribe and was the 2nd largest princely state in Balochistan after the State of Kalat. It comprised of Kharan, half of Nushki district, Panjgur/Khudabad, half of Awaran district, and Mashkay. Despite being a barani area (irrigation by rainfall only), State of Kharan used to export wheat to what is now the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The Nausherwani Nawabs of Kharan were Nawab Abbas Nausherwani I, Nawab Azad Khan Nausherwani, Nawab Yaqoob Khan Nausherwani, Nawab Nauroz Khan Nausherwani, and Nawab Habibullah Khan Nausherwani who was the last Nawab of Kharan. The State of Kharan was the first Baloch state to formally accede to Pakistan. At the time of independence, Nawab Habibullah met Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah personally and introduced himself as Nawab Habibullah Khan Pakistani. This inspirational patriotism impressed the Quaid so much that he stood up in respect of the Nawab and loudly applauded him. Pashtun areas of Balochistan The predominantly Pashtun populated areas of Balochistan are primarily in the northern parts of the province. These areas include Quetta, Shahkot, Zhob, Loralai, Chaman (Qilla Abdullah), Pishin, Ziarat, Gulistan, Harnai etc. These were mostly part of the British Baluchistan province which was governed by the Quetta Municipal Board. The Quetta Municipal Board passed a unanimous resolution to opt for Pakistan in 1947. Political Agencies of Baluchistan Chagai Political Agency: Chagai was ruled primarily by the Sanjrani tribe. Dera Bugti Political Agency: Nawab Sohrab Khan Bugti was the primary head of Dera Bugti. Primarily a part of State of Kalat, Jaffarabad had a very strong pro-independence and pro-Pakistan movement going for years against British rule. From Jaffarabad, Mir Mung Khan Jamali, Mir

Jaffar Khan Jamali, Sardar Khan Jamali, Rais Nabi Dad Khan Jamali, and Rais Fazal Muhammad Khan Jamali all participated in the Pakistan Movement. In fact Rais Nabi Dad and Rais Fazal led uprisings against British rule for 12 years by basing themselves in the mountains of Khuzdar with Noora Mengal. Mir Mung Khan Jamali was imprisoned by the British and spent 8 years in their jails for being an advocate of Pakistan with the Quaid being his lawyer. Because of British atrocities on independence activists, many members of the Sobadrani Jamali tribe were killed. Jhal Magsis Mir Yousaf Aziz Magsi was also an independence activist. Separatist Movements in Balochistan The so-called independence movements in Balochistan since the independence of Pakistan have been primarily been on 3 occasions. 1st and 2nd Uprisings: In 1948, the Khan of Kalats cousin Khan Abdul Karim Khan began the first rebellion in opposition to State of Kalats merger with Pakistan. After that Ahmed Yar Khan Ahmedzai launched another insurgency in 1965 with Nooro Khan leading one from the mountains of Khuzdar. 3rd Uprising: In the early 1970s, Balochistan was ruled by the National Awami Party (NAP) whose members comprised of then-Chief Minister Sardar Attaullah Khan Mengal, Mir Ghous Bux Bizenjo, Abdul Ghani Baloch, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, and Mir Gul Khan Nasir. Nawab Akbar Bugti, who later became Governor of Balochistan, was once kicked out of a NAP meeting which enraged him. Akbar Bugti then approached the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and alleged that NAP is plotting to break away from Pakistan for Baloch independence. Akbar Bugti demanded, and got, a military operation against the NAP party members and their tribal supporters in Balochistan. The operation primarily targeted the Marri and Mengal tribes because of their allegiance to Khair Bakhsh Marri and Attaullah Mengal, with Akbar Bugti backing the operation that ended up killing nearly 20 thousand Baloch people in the 1970s. Yet today, Akbar Bugti is now considered a Baloch hero. This was the 3rd uprising in Balochistan. 4th Uprising: In the 1980s, the Soviet Union attempted to destabilize Balochistan by launching a 4th uprising. The Soviet KGB lured and influenced thousands of Baloch youth with tacit support from then-Afghanistan President Najibullah by making them raise their voices for Communism and a Red Revolution against the Pakistani military dictatorship of General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq. But Gen. Zia managed to stop the situation from deteriorating by negotiating with various leftist Baloch nationalist entities. By granting the nationalists amnesty and providing jobs to nearly 5000 young Baloch activists, Gen Zia managed to pacify what could have become a serious situation once again in Balochistan.

Gen. Zias efforts received a lot of support from the then Federal Minister and son of Khan of Kalat, Shahzada Mohiuddin Baloch to pacify nationalist elements in Balochistan. Also, a local student leader who now is Station Director of Radio Pakistan Quetta collaborated with the Govt. to form a Unemployment Cell which helped give many unemployed Baloch youths BPS17 grade govt. jobs. 5th Uprising: When Pakistan declared itself a nuclear state in 1998, after 6 successful nuclear blasts in the Chagai-Kharan area, the eyes of the outside powers fell upon this country again. Balochistan again became an area of interest for these powers, as they sent in special agents via Afghanistan to Dera Bugti and Kohlu to meet senior Baloch tribal chiefs. Among those who met these agents was the son of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, Balaach Marri. Just like his father, Balaach also had recently come back to Pakistan from self-imposed exile in Afghanistan. Many Marri tribal leaders had self-exiled themselves to Afghanistan in wake of the 1970s military operation, but a 1991 agreement allowed them to return to their homes as part of a general amnesty towards exiled Baloch nationalists that had escaped from the law. However, many Marri leaders did not soften their stances regards to status of Balochistan. Many of these senior leaders burned a Pakistani flag on their return to Pakistan to signal their refusal to mend their ways. Marri leadership maintained a deep resentment towards the Bugti tribe over the latters betrayal in the 1970s. By setting up close ties with Indian and Afghan intelligence agencies, the Marris loyal to Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri set up insurgent training camps in the mountains of Kalat and Kohlu to prepare for a new wave of instability in Balochistan. The Musharraf Years One of the first things General Pervaiz Musharraf did when taking power in 1999 was apologise to Baloch leaders as he vowed to make amends with regards to past resentments in the province among other things. Gen. Musharraf then appointed Mir Zafarullah Khan Jamali from Balochistan as Pakistans Prime Minister as a wave of development projects in the province opened up. The construction of the Gwadar seaport, Mirani Dam, Gwadar-Ratodero Road, the 600-km long Makran Coastal Highway, Kacchi and Rabbi Canals, and increased budget allocations to Balochistan brought great interest and focus on the province. By granting special dispensation to bring more Baloch youth into the Pakistan armed forces, hundreds of these new Baloch recruits became officers in the Pakistan Army. 7 new cadet colleges were also opened across the province, as well as inaugurating a womens university and IT university in Balochistan. The Musharraf era also saw various parts of Kalat and Jaffarabad finally be connected to the natural gas supply lines. However, this increased interest in Balochistans uplift did not go well with various non-state actors as they decided to lure Gen. Musharraf into yet another crisis in the province. These

elements launched a rocket attack on Musharrafs convoy in Kohlu, that although missed the target but got the attention of the authorities who vowed to pursue and punish those criminal elements. At the same time, it is alleged that Indian spies from RAW made matters worse when in January 2005, their local elements staged the gang rape of a Sindhi female doctor, Shazia Khalid, who was working for the Pakistan Petroleum Ltd. Office in Sui. The blame of the rape was levelled on a Pak Army officer Capt. Hammad who was part of the PPL security apparatus. This was then followed up by a rocket attack on the PPL office in retaliation to the alleged gang-rape accusations. Nawab Akbar Bugti capitalised on the situation and went to the media, demanding that Capt. Hammad be arrested for his alleged crimes. Gen. Musharrafs haphazard involvement to resolve this matter only made matters worse for his government as non-state actors increasingly exploited the confusion and chaos for their benefit. Expecting yet another military operation to counter deteriorating law and order situation, many Baloch leaders persuaded Nawab Akbar Bugti to leave his area and seek refuge in the mountains. They also told Nawab Bugti that the entire Baloch nation is with him in his quest for justice. But he found himself isolated and alone in the mountains as none of these Baloch Sardars joined him as the call for Baloch independence and Baloch rights gained strength in the media. Today these very Sardars shed tears in memory of Akbar Bugti and call him a hero of Balochistan. Finally on 20th August 2006, Nawab Akbar Bugtis location was found to be in the mountains Taratani-Namar area of Balochistan as Pak Army surrounded his hideout and sent in a few officers to negotiate his surrender. However, it is said that during negotiations an unknown miscreant detonated an explosive device placed inside Akbar Bugtis hideout that not only killed him but also killed the Pak Army officers who wanted to end this standoff and guarantee his peaceful surrender. The incident caused mayhem in the media as Akbar Bugtis death was blamed on an alleged Pak Army attack as they exploited this situation to heap more pressure on the Musharraf government. Even the ones who bitterly resented Akbar Bugti for many decades expressed their anger on his death in the media. The matters were made worse when Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marris son Balaach Marri was killed by a NATO attack on his convoy in November 2007 that attempted to illegally cross the Nushki PakAfghan border area from Sarlath, Afghanistan. Balaach Marris killing was also blamed on Pak Army as the flames of insurgency in Balochistan were fanned by the increasing media frenzy and outside interference in the province. Balaachs killing made his brother Hyrbyair Marri gain prominence as he became the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) that has been at the forefront of separatist activity in Balochistan over the last many years. Hyrbyair Marri now lives in London after winning asylum many years back and is often regarded as the public face of modern Baloch separatists fighting against Pakistan.

American Double Game The post-9/11 era has seen the United States of America be at the forefront of the Global War on Terror campaigns, and has used Pakistans help for the last 10 years. However, the Americans have been accusing Pakistan for playing a double game on and off the entire time, yet Americas own double game with regards to Balochistan should be raising alarm across the country. NATOs control in parts of Afghanistan has meant that Baloch separatist elements have found refuge, set training camps, and access to weapons in Afghanistan to keep the insurgency in Balochistan going as the pressure on Pakistan goes up. Among the most distinguished guests of NATO in recent years has been Nawab Akbar Bugtis grandson in Nawabzada Brahamdagh Bugti. Brahamdagh Bugti has found refuge and help thanks to outside interests in keeping Balochistan caught up in a vicious cycle of violence. Brahamdagh had spent many years hiding and organising attacks from Afghanistan. After the death of his grandfather, Brahamdagh Bugti subsequently formed his own militia the Balochistan Republican Army (BRA) that has been involved in attacks on govt and military installations and target-killing people opposed to BRA violence. BRA is also notorious for planting landmines across Dera Bugti district that end up targeting innocent civilians on a nearly daily basis. After travelling secretly across the region on an Indian passport for last few years, Brahamdagh Bugti won asylum in 2011 in Switzerland. Indian Involvement The death of Nawab Akbar Bugti in 2006 brought Balochistan further into the eyes of Indian intelligence agencies as they attempted to give the low intensity conflict (LIC) in Balochistan a new twist. They got hold of a middle-class Baloch activist named Dr Allah Nazar Baloch from Awaran district and helped him gain ascendency among Baloch nationalists. Dr Allah Nazar disappeared from public eye for a year before reappearing to declare his own opposition movement against the government in the form of Baloch Liberation Front (BLF). Unlike the more tribal oriented militias of BLA and BRA, the BLF was formed to supposedly cross divisive tribal rivalries and lure the disillusioned Baloch middle class youth to pick up a rifle and fight for separatist causes. In February 2009, Dr Allah Nazar gained prominence when he and Hasnain Jamaldini from the Jamaldini tribe of Nushki abducted an American UNHCR official for refugees Mr John Solecki from Quetta. John Soleckis abduction gave a lot of attention to Baloch separatist elements, and he was later released from captivity in April 2009 after a ransom of Rs 150 million was paid. The ransom money was then used by Dr Allah Nazar to recruit unemployed and confused Baloch youth to join BLF as well as buying weapons for use in anti-state activities that continues today.

Todays Baloch violence The coming of the PPP Govt as a result of the 2008 general elections saw them also form a provincial government in Balochistan. The PPP era continued the reconciliation process that began under Musharraf, as they attempted to have dialogue with Baloch nationalist elements across the province to put an end to the low-intensity conflict. As per the reconciliation policies, the PPP govt ordered the release of Mir Abdul Ghani Bangulzai from jail. Abdul Ghani Bangulzai had been named a primary suspect in the assassination of a Balochistan High Court judge, Justice Mohammad Nawaz Marri back in 2006. Justice Nawaz Marri was about to become the Chief Justice of the BHC but he was gunned down outside of his Quetta home days before he was to be sworn in. Justice Marri belonged to the Behrani clan of the Marri tribe. The Behrani tribe are considered arch enemies of Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, and Abdul Ghani Bangulzai is considered a right hand man of Nawab Marri. Mir Abdul Ghani Bangulzais release helped the BLA reorganise itself as they increased their propaganda and recruitment drives and setup training camps near Quetta at Killi Kabo and Harboi in Kalat district. Various Baloch youth were persuaded to join BLA and were trained to fight and perform anti-state activities in the area. The BLA have repeatedly attacked Quettas Army Cantonment with rockets, as well as intensifying their own target killing of political opponents, military/govt officials, policemen, and non-Baloch settlers from Punjab and Sindh that include labourers, teachers, professors, lawyers, officials etc that had been living in Balochistan for last 3-4 decades. BLA Training Camps The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) operates various militant training camps in various parts of Balochistan. Killi Kabo: BLAs Killi Kabo camp lies south of Quetta near Lak Pass in Mastung district. The Killi Kabo camp commander is called Aslam Uzbek who directly reports to his chief commander Mir Abdul Ghani Bangulzai of BLA. This camp mainly focuses to cause chaos and destruction in and around Quetta and Mastung districts. About 100 miscreants are part of Killi Kabo setup. Splunji: BLAs Splunji camp is located around 10-KM south-west of Kolpur Railway Station in Bolan district. Abdul Ghani Bangulzai also commands this camp. This camps strength is around 75 with mostly youth from the Marri, Bangulzai, Kalani, Ababaki, Masuli, Shahwani tribes being trained in anti-state activities alongside various Baloch students being brainwashed for separatist causes. Harboi: BLAs Harboi camp is found in Kalat district. Around a hundred terrorists are based here whose task is to cause fear and chaos in Kalat.

Nagau: BLAs Nagau camp lies north-east of Kalat towards Sibi and is also headed by Abdul Ghani Bangulzai. Primarily made of Marri tribal youths, it has strength of 60 miscreants that focus primarily on Bolan for their terrorist acts. Hajji Shehr Chinder: This camp is located near Bhag Nari in Bolan district and is also headed by Abdul Ghani Bangulzai. This BLA camp is primarily used during the winter months as it is located near Abdul Ghanis own personal estate. Koh-i-Baghi: This BLA camp is run by the Sabzal Marri and is located in Kalat district, about 70KM south-east of Nushki. This camps focus is primarily areas of Nushki, Kharan, and Kalat. Margat: BLAs Margat camp is located near the large Chamalang coal mines and as a result its prime objective is to derail and disrupt coal mining of the area as well as launching attacks on security forces protecting the mines. Neemragh: BLAs Neemragh camp is located in Kalat district, west of Nushki and its prime focus is to facilitate the smuggling of weapons across the Pak-Afghan border nearby. It is a supply point for arming miscreant elements across Balochistan. Other Baloch separatist groups: Many of these separatist militants often collaborate with one another on certain activities when they have common interests. Otherwise such groups often have strong political and tribal differences that cause mistrust, jealousy, and resentment among each other. BLUF: The Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) is based primarily in Nushki and its headed by Hasnain Jamaldini. Their main base is located in Koh-i-Baghi (Kalat) and Manjro (Nushki). It primarily relies on Baloch students and activists to indulge in violent activities. BLF: The Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) is a separatist entity headed by Dr Allah Nazar Baloch. Dr Allah Nazar is a former Chairman of Baloch Students Organisation Muttahida (BSO-M) between 1996-98. Its operating base is primarily in southern Balochistan in areas like Mashkay, Awaran, and Basima. BLF frequently recruits youth that is 15-18 years old to take part in terrorist activities.