Inside the struggle for Balochistan

An exclusive interview with the leader of the Balochistan Liberation Front

Series: Profiles in courage from Balochistan

In this exclusive interview, Jahanzeb Hussain talks to Allah Nazar, currently the top commander of the Balochistan Liberation Front, which is engaged in an armed struggle for freedom from the Pakistani state. In correspondence with the editor, Nazar asserts that taking part in Pakistani parliamentary politics would be akin to legitimizing Pakistan’s rule over Balochistan. And yet, he says, he would rather choose the book over the gun, though each informs the other.

Can you shed some light on the genesis of Baloch nationalism and its evolution since the creation of Pakistan?

Baloch culture, customs, code of honor and common psychology are the ingredients that sustain Baloch nationalism, which is rooted in hundreds of years of history. As soon as Pakistan invaded Balochistan in 1948, it imposed its cultural hegemony on us in order to erase our identity. The Urdu language was imposed in schools. Our children were taught about the histories of Arab, Afghan and Mongol invaders in a way that is completely different from and contradictory to our own history. Instructors were brought from Punjab and other areas so that the new generation of Baloch students could be moulded into Pakistanis. In a way, a slow cultural genocide was initiated. To shift the demographic balance, population settlements were created in and around the provincial capital of Quetta.

Girls’ Right to Education Threatened in Balochistan

By Yousaf Ajab Baloch, Journalist and Human Rights Defender

If the Pakistani government doesn’t effectively combat the terrorist assault against women’s education, Balochistan will be pushed back in to the Stone Age.

Threats to girls for abandoning education in Pakistan’s Panjgur district and in other areas of Makran, has unfortunately failed to gain media attention or response from International human rights organizations.

Tanzeem-ul-Islami-ul-Furqan, is another Boko Haram in Balochistan, that has got forcibly closed down all private running schools and English learning centers in Panjgur district opposing coeducation and Western-style learning.

Acid thrown on two women in Balochistan on second day

Two victim sisters were on way back from a market after Eid shopping in Mastung * Both girls shifted to hospital after their faces severely burnt

BALOCHISTAN: Two young sisters were doused with acid on Tuesday in Mastung District alarming the masses who see the acid attacks as an organised attempt to scare women indoors in Balochistan.

The victims were two adolescent sisters of 13 and 14 years of age identified as Mahawish and Sehrish. They had visited a shopping centre ahead of the occasion of Eid in Mastung District.