A love for liberty – Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Many political analysts claim that Nawab Sahib was a late convert to the idea of an independent Balochistan; but this is patently incorrect.

NAWAB Khair Bakhsh Marri, born on Feb 29, 1928, was named after his illustrious grandfather who, unwilling to provide Marris as cannon fodder for the First World War, fought the historic battles of Gumbaz and Harab against the British in 1918.

He was also a descendent of Sardar Dodah Khan, under whom the Marris in May 1840, at Sartaaf, decimated the troops led by Lt Walpole Clarke. Again in August 1840, a large force under Major Clibborn sent for relieving Kahan was routed at Nafusk.

A tragedy within the tragedy

The adverse consequences of frequent natural disasters compounded by the wilful neglect and deliberate relief obstruction the Pakistani authorities in Balochistan create, and we see the crudest enactment of ‘a tragedy within the tragedy’ scenario

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The UN relief agencies have warned that the humanitarian situation in flood-hit Balochistan has become ‘very precarious’. Mr Martin Mogwanja, the regional UN humanitarian coordinator said, “The situation in Balochistan is a tragedy within the tragedy.” I presume he too will be labelled as a RAW agent with a mission to malign Pakistan. Another UNHCR representative said, “We all have a tendency to follow the course of the River Indus, and Balochistan risks being neglected…But we will not let this happen, and are scaling up our response.” Lofty and commendable ideals but sadly the ground realities are quite different and the UN and its bodies here are restricted to Hotel Serena in Quetta due to unjustified restrictions imposed in the name of security and which have led to “a tragedy within the tragedy”. 

How Pakistan Systematically Tried To Wipe Out The Baloch Identity

The State has allowed and empowered religious groups and madrassas to proliferate in Balochistan, hoping that religion will change or at least dilute the nationalist sentiments.

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Nearly all nation-states actively try to discourage diversity and the right to be different. No discourse on diversity is allowed in mainstream narratives, and a false sense of uniformity is forced upon people. History is replete with the horrors perpetrated by these dominant actors in attempts to create uniformity through both subtle and brutal ways.

This could lead to a conflict with dominant actors as we have seen it happening in the case of Bangladesh and Balochistan. Historically, this forced uniformity didn’t bode well either for Pakistan or for the Soviet Union and Yugoslavia, as they broke up.

Timeless tactics

Any self-respecting government would have resigned long ago but this toothless and powerless CM and cabinet continue to selflessly serve the Centre and persist in hoodwinking people with bluster and false promises

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Chief Minister (CM) Balochistan Mohammad Aslam Raisani has demanded that the Frontier Corps (FC) be placed under provincial control in accordance with the 18th Amendment. He claims that from day one he has advocated avoiding the language of bullet and stick and adopting a policy of reconciliation in Balochistan for resolving all issues. He promises that the Balochistan government would never allow the use of force against its people. Wishful thinking, because he is a figurehead only.

Although in power since April 2008, Raisani has failed to understand the real power equation. In January he had said, “The FC has established a government parallel to the provincial government.” He had also rubbished the Balochistan package and had alleged that bureaucrats in Islamabad were the biggest obstacles in implementing the government’s decisions pertaining to Balochistan.

A deafening silence

The atrocities in Balochistan are just as bad as Indian atrocities in Kashmir or Israeli atrocities in Palestine. While those are vehemently condemned here, the silence on this dirty war is truly deafening

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Arundhati Roy, an intrepid novelist, essayist and activist, focuses on social justice and economic inequality issues; she deserves accolades for her fearless persistence. Undeterred by the right-wing Hindu extremists’ goons, she relentlessly highlights the plight of the oppressed sections of society and neglected regions in India. Her contributions towards securing rights for the indigenous people and human rights in general are admirable.

She is, by and large, the darling of the Pakistani media, civil society and even the establishment and the right-wingers because she speaks up fearlessly for Kashmiri rights. Her recent support for Kashmiris created a furore in India but was highly appreciated here, especially by those who considered it a vindication of their Kashmir stance.

A new social contract?

The Baloch have suffered immeasurably for their rights and there seems to be no end to it because there is a systematic and concerted attempt to thwart the Baloch attempts to secure these rights. In such a scenario, speaking about ‘new social contracts’ is absolutely futile

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

Balochistan’s Chief Minister Nawab Muhammad Aslam Raisani recently stressed that, “No compromise would be made on the provincial autonomy issue and rights of the nations” and demanded a “new social contract” to resolve the Balochistan issue. However, he did not elaborate what form or shape this new ‘social contract’ would take and on whose behest and behalf it was being demanded.

French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau in Du contrat social (1762) defined the social contract as: “A contract between persons in a pre-political or pre-social condition specifying the terms upon which they are prepared to enter society or submit to political authority.” Notably, Thomas Jefferson held that the preservation of certain natural rights was an essential part of the social contract, and that “consent of the governed” was fundamental to any exercise of governmental power.

How The 1973 Dislodging Of Elected Govt In Balochistan Sowed The Seeds Of Discontent

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

It’s Pakistan’s security apparatus alone that has been deciding what happens in Balochistan since 1948, much to the detriment of the Baloch men – and now women too – who keep getting abducted and killed at a whiff of suspicion.

The only time that nationalist Baloch leadership was accorded a chance to govern Balochistan was after the 1971 debacle – and that too grudgingly– as Ataullah Mengal took the reins of the provincial government on May 1, 1972, only to remain in power for nine months.

His government was cut short due to a number of challenges created by the Zulfikar Ali Bhutto-led central government in Islamabad.

Khan Abdul Wali Khan’s National Awami Party (NAP) and Mufti Mahmood’s Jamiat e Ulema e Islam (JUI) had swept the elections in 1970 in Balochistan and Northwest Frontier Province (now Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), respectively.

Ganging up

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

States with resisting minorities have found it convenient to label them as sectarian, criminal and terrorist to discredit their struggle and to justify the atrocities and crimes committed against them. The Iranian state has long denied the Baloch their rights and suppressed them but the resistance has continued.

The hanging of 11 jailed (allegedly) Jundullah members in Iran after the Chabahar bombings is reminiscent of the brutal 1988 hangings of Mujahideen-e-Khalq and other imprisoned dissidents in revenge for the Mujahideen-e-Khalq attacks; the estimated number varies from 5,000 to 30,000 killed. Amnesty International puts the recorded figure at around 4,500. Many women dissidents too were executed then. The enormity of the crime of retaliation killing is unparalleled even if a single detained person is executed in reprisal for acts he/she is not responsible for.

Memories of Another Day

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The Baloch resistance to the unwarranted and unjust military operations – after the illegal and unfair dismissal of Sardar Ataullah Mengal’s government in February 1973, only 10 months after being sworn in – was the most protracted, pervasive, and forceful struggle in the province’s history.

The Mengal government was sworn in on May 1, 1972, amid high hopes and expectations but from the first day encountered hurdles in its path. The federal government created upheaval in Lasbela by encouraging supporters of Jam Ghulam Qadir, the last ruler of the former state, to take up arms against the provincial government alleging persecution. The Mengal government had to raise a Levies force to quell the trouble as the federal government refused to send help. Jam Ghulam Qadir, the Jam of Lasbela, later became the chief minister following the dismissal of Mengal’s government.

At a public meeting in Lahore in 1973, Nawab Akbar Bugti claimed that a plan for a ‘Greater Balochistan’ had been hatched, which envisaged independence of Baloch majority areas in Pakistan, Iran, and Afghanistan through military means. The issue of sending Punjabi officers to serve in Balochistan also became a sore point, though later, it emerged that Ghulam Mustafa Khar, then governor of Punjab, had encouraged the officers to return. Iran, too, was insecure about the Baloch being granted minimal autonomy, fearing a resistance movement within its own borders.

What Songs Sangat Sana Sang?

The policy of repression in Balochistan has always been indiscriminate, but now it is the students who bear the brunt.

Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

The world knows Balochistan as the 44 per cent land mass of Pakistan, but most do not know that becoming part of Pakistan was not its own choice. It wanted coexistence, but was forced to merge with Pakistan. Moreover, it isn’t ‘terra nullius’ (nobody’s land), but is seen as such. There are people in Balochistan too; people whose lives have been destroyed by injustices that they have been subjected to since the forced merger on March 27th 1948.

Muhammad Ali Jinnah’s use of force to make Khan accede forever forfeited civilians’ say in Balochistan’s matters and gave unchallenged dominance to the military. This injustice also resulted in the Baloch people’s eternal mistrust in Pakistan; prompting resistance which to date has not only continued but intensified in proportion to atrocities and injustices against the Baloch people.