Baloch Activist Wants India To Take Initiative In Balochistan

India has failed to raise Balochistan issue in international forums as strongly as Pakistan has managed to do in the case of the Kashmir issue

By Koushik Das

Naela Qadri Baloch, the Baloch liberation activist who is now living in exile in Canada after suffering imprisonment in Pakistan for her activities, recently visited India to tell the Indians about problems faced by the people of Balochistan.

The timing of her visit was crucial, as Naela arrived in India a couple of days after the Pakistani forces arrested former Indian Navy officer Kulbhushan Jadhav on the charges of espionage in Balochistan – one of the four Pakistani provinces located in the south-western part of the country. Her visit once again brought the troubled Pakistani region into focus.

Balochistan discourse: the tale of dominant narratives

When it comes to the Balochistan discourse, there is always a built-in and dominant narrative that represents the ‘selected’ side of the matter — be it political, social or economic

By: Noor Ahmed Baloch

These days Balochistan is in news for two reasons. One, for the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gwadar, which gets a great deal of coverage in mainstream media; two, a combination of multiple problems, including the ongoing insurgency, which is a point of little discussion in media. Nonetheless, the historical background of Balochistan reveals much, and its current state of affairs is beyond how it is viewed. The other day in a discussion regarding Balochistan, a friend raised a very valid point saying that as much as Balochistan is rich in terms of natural resources, it is also rich in manpower and talent. There is much truth to that. But what really counts a great deal is how that is being utilised, facilitated and given the due space.