By
Jai Kumar Verma
A high-intensity deadly bomb blast in Islamabad on April 9 killed at
least 25 people and left more than 110 injured. The Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan
(TTP) explicitly and in unmistakable terms condemned the bombing. Pakistan
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif also
condemned the blast and stated that it was an effort
by enemies of Pakistan to destabilize the country and sabotage the peace talks.
Bomb blasts are a regular feature in Pakistan which is
the biggest sponsor and exporter of terrorism all over the world. The bombings
mostly occur in Peshawar or in Karachi, Islamabad is relatively safe. The
previous bomb blast was on March 3 in an Islamabad court in which 11 people,
including an additional districts and sessions judge, were killed.
The spokesperson of the United Baloch Army (UBA),
while taking responsibility for the April 9 bombing, stated that “we carried
out the attack in reaction to the continuous military offensive against us in
our homeland”. This was the second explosion by UBA in 24 hours. The other bomb
attack occurred on Jaffar Express at Sibi railway station in which 17
passengers lost their lives and several others were injured. The banned outfit,
UBA, pointed out that it was its revenge for the killing of more than 35
militants in Khuzdar and Kalat districts of Balochistan by security forces in
cold blood.
The Pakistan administration and all-powerful
Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are trying hard to propagate that the Apri 9
bomb blast was the handiwork of a foreign power. They want to show that the
bombing was not done by UBA. Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan also
rubbished the claim of UBA as “ludicrous”. The Pakistani administration alleged
that UBA has no reach up to Islamabad, and generally its activities are
restricted to southwest of Pakistan. That the UBA is reaching Islamabad so
frequently is a disturbing factor.
The UBA, which is also known as Balochistan United
Army (BLA), was constituted in 1999 by Baloch separatists in Balochistan
province, which is the largest and poorest province of the country. Besides
BLA, other organizations fighting for independent Balochistan include, Baloch
Republican Army (BRA), Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), Lashkar-e-Balochistan,
Balochistan National Party- Mengal (BNP-M), BNP-Awami, National Party (NP) and
Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP). Besides these, there are several splinter groups of
the Baloch Students Organisation (BSO).
Baloch separatists maintain that the Pakistan
government is exploiting the vast resources of the province for the benefit of
Punjab and other provinces. The separatists also claim that the immense mineral
wealth of Balochistan is looted by Pakistan, and China is an equal partner to
this loot. China is trying to exploit the coal, copper and zinc deposits as
well as gas and oil reserves. In the Saindik gold project, Balochistan gets
only 2 percent, while Islamabad and China get 48 percent and 50 percent
respectively. Besides several other factors, including human rights abuses,
economic deprivation of the province is the main factor behind the insurgency.
In the beginning, the demand was for greater autonomy, but now Baloch people
are fighting for an independent state. The separatist organizations declared to
establish a ‘Greater Balochistan’ which would include Baloch-dominated territories
of Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan.
The UBA has hardcore cadres of about 1,000
separatists. However, the number of active sympathizers may reach up to 10,000
as a large number of Baloch feel exploited by the Pakistani government. The
outfit was declared a terrorist organization by Pakistan and UK in 2006. The
Pakistan government alleges that BLA is financed by India. The Baloch maintain
that the nefarious ISI and personnel of Pakistani security agencies have killed
peaceful Baloch political and human rights activists, students and several
intellectuals. The Baloch people were fighting for provincial autonomy up to
2006, but that year the Pakistan army attacked Balochistan and killed the most
powerful political and tribal Baloch leader. Nawab Akbar Bugti, and after that
Baloch nationalist leaders started demanding a separate Baloch state.
The Baloch leadership and Pakistani administration do
not trust each other; hence the intervention of some international agency like
United Nations or European Union is crucial. The international body should be a
guarantor of the terms of a peace settlement. The Baloch nationalist leaders
feel that Baloch people are being tormented since 1948; hence the international
community has the responsibility to force Pakistan to stop state-sponsored
repression of Baloch nationality.
Baloch nationalist leaders challenge the Pakistan
authorities to give any proof of involvement of foreign powers, including
India, USA or Afghanistan in their nationalist movement. The allegation is baseless
and mischievous. In Balochistan, the only foreign hand is of the ISI, Pakistan
army and Frontier Corps. All these agencies comprise of soldiers from Punjab
and Pakhtunkhwa. The Baloch movement is a homegrown movement. However, it needs
assistance from international agencies and the democratic world to end the
butchery of Pakistan. Baloch leaders mention that not only Baloch, but others
like Shias, Hindus, Christians, Sindhis and many others in Pakistan are
tortured and are uncomfortable in Islamic Pakistan. The time has come when
Pakistani rulers should revisit the fundamental idea of an Islamic country.
Several military actions in Balochistan in the past
made it clear that the Balochistan problem cannot be solved militarily.
Pakistani security agencies should disband its death squads, stop extrajudicial
killings and end forced disappearances. Not only this, security forces should
stop using proxy groups and lawful authorities should be used to curb the
violence in the area.
There should be economic development of the province.
Men and women of all ethnicity should be educated, unemployment should be
reduced and the people or groups resisting the progress of the province should
be punished. Pakistan should become a social welfare state instead of a national
security state. There should be a political agreement between the central
government and nationalist Baloch leaders which could end the current impasse.
Pakistan must stop blaming India, USA or Israel for
the failures of its domestic policies. Pakistan could not provide any proof
that the Baloch national movement was getting any type of assistance from
abroad. In view of the animosity Pakistan has towards India, if it has any
evidence it will propagate it in the international arena with full force. The Baloch
nationalist movement is an indigenous movement and Pakistan should stop
repression and exploitation of the mineral wealth of Balochistan.
(Jai Kumar Verma is a Delhi- based strategic
analyst. He can be contactedatjaikumar.verma909@gmail.com)
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http://www.eurasiareview.com/27042014-unending-bloodbath-pakistan-revenge-baloch-separatists-analysis/
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