A Lesson to be Learnt: the Baloch Perspective

REPOTED BY JUMA BALOCH


There is no doubt that the world has shrunk and has become a global village andmany members of this global community are facing similar problems. Some countieshave willingly or unwillingly chosen a path as a solution to their troubles,while others have ignorantly adhered to their policy of denial and are facingturmoil.Indonesia and Pakistan have many things in common; both the countries have aMuslim majority, both gained their so-called freedom after the Second World War,both have a history of occupying other nation's territory, both the countrieshave been ruled for most of the time by military dictators and both thecountries' natural resources have been utilised for the benefit of the dominantruling nation.Because of these similarities some Baloch intellectuals are trying to give animpression that the Baloch nation is willing to solve their dissatisfaction withIslamabad on the line of peace agreement between the government of Indonesia andthe Free Aceh Movement (GAM)/ Aceh Sumatra National Liberation Front (ASNLF),mediated by the former Finnish President Martti Ahtisaari. Under the agreement,Aceh would receive special autonomy and government troops would be withdrawnfrom the province in exchange for ASNLF's disarmament.When we, the Baloch look at the history of Indonesia, we need to ask ourselves;with whom does our heart beat? With whom do our aspirations flow? With whom ourhistory has similarities? Before we jump to any conclusion or suggest anysolution to the Baloch question, we should acknowledge the public opinion of ournation. We should know the dreams of our elders, aspirations of our youth andhopes of our children. We should know the objective condition that surrounds usand the strategic importance of our land in the global war for energy.Baloch nation has gone through a lot since March 23, 1948, when the Pakistanarmy moved in and occupied Kalat, the capital of the free Balochistan. Afterexperiencing only 227 days of freedom in which we elected our representativeassembly and wrote a constitution as a free nation of this global village.Pakistan's army trampled every thing under their boots - Baloch nation's pride,freedom, representative assembly, constitution and mostly our mother land anddeclared it a part of Pakistan. Similarly in 1975 East Timor lost its freedomafter being free for nine days from Portugal. The puppet regime installed byIndonesia in East Timor, after its invasion, endorsed the integration of EastTimor into Indonesia. Thus, on July 17, 1976, East Timor officially became the27th province of the Republic of Indonesia.Similarity between East Timor and Balochistan does not stop there, during thetime of their decolonization; cold war became a hurdle for both to become a freenation. Washington expressed its concern over East Timor, because Indonesia wasan ally in its war in Vietnam and it did not want to see the vast archipelagodestabilized by a left-wing regime in its midst. Gough Whitlam, Australia'sLabor Prime Minister told Suharto that an independent Portuguese Timor would bean unviable state, and a potential threat to the stability of the region, and heconsidered integration with Indonesia to be in Portuguese Timor's bestinterests. In Balochistan's case a memorandum dated 12 September, 1947 was sentby the British Minster of the state for the commonwealth relations to the UnitedKingdom High Commissioner in Karachi in which he was asked to do what he couldto guide the Pakistan government away from making any agreement with Kalat whichwould involve recognition of the state as a separate international entity.The solution to Baloch national question can not be found confined to theadministrative boundaries defined by Pakistan. Baloch nation historically neveraccepted the Goldsmith Line (1871) nor has it ever recognized the Durand Line(1893), commissioned by the British Raj to stop the Russian influence in theregion. These artificial boundaries may have divided the Baloch into separatestates but could not stop them from considering themselves a single nation.Today nobody can deny the strategic location of the Baloch land for peace andeconomic stability in the region. Robert G. Wirsing, in his article "BalochNationalism and the Geopolitics of Energy Resources", wrote, "A sizable hint ofenergy's gathering importance to the conflict in Balochstan was, of course,already apparent decades ago in the pages of Harrison's book." If it were notfor the strategic location of Baluchistan and the rich potential of oil,uranium, and other resources," Harrison observed, "it would be difficult toimagine anyone fighting over this bleak, desolate, and forbidding land." Shrinking of the energy resources is the main factor in the instability of theworld economy today, and because of it, wars were waged to secure them. The vastamounts of untapped fossil fuel reserves in Central Asia need to be channeledinto the world market to stabilize its demand. All the projects to channelCentral Asian fuel to the Arabian Sea or the IPI (Iran-Pakistan-India) gaspipeline to India and China run through Balochistan. Unless there is peace inBalochistan these projects will remain on paper. Even Pakistani writers likeShaukat Qadir in his article, "Strategic significance of Balochistan", acceptthe importance of Balochistan's strategic location. He wrote, "Analysts havefrequently adverted to Pakistan's `strategic location'; linking the Middle Eastvia Iran, Central Asia, China, and South Asia. While Balochistan provides theonly direct link to Iran and onwards to the Middle East, the truth is thatwithout Balochistan, the remaining linkages that Pakistan provides to otherregions are reduced to less than half their strategic value, since the onlyother port at Karachi could never handle the magnitude of the potentialcommerce".When the riches and the strategic importance of this land were not known to theworld. when it was only a "bleak, desolate, and forbidding land" the Balochnation called it its home. As a free nation it resisted domination andoccupation by the Afghans, Persians, British and Pakistan. The last one hundredyear history of Balochistan shows that it lost its freedom and was occupied byforeign powers but these foreigners never ruled Balochistan peacefully. Balochpolitics has always been dominated by rebellions. Intermittently there weretimes when the Baloch elders tried to negotiate peace with the occupiers but italways left a bitter taste and a deep scar in the collective memory of theBaloch nation. Khan Kalat Mir Mehrab Khan's peace treaty with the Britishresulted in the martyrdom of Mir Mehrab Khan and the occupation of Kalat. Theoutcome of Mir Dost Mohammed Baranzai's peace negotiation with Reza Shah Pehlaviwas the hanging of the Baloch leader and the occupation of western Makuran byIran. The outcome of Prince Karim's acceptance for talks with Pakistan was abrutal crushing of the movement and long prison sentences for the Balochleadership. Peace, even in the name of the Holy Quran could not change the fateof Nawab Nouroze Khan and his sons. Negotiations with General Ayub Khan resultedin incarceration and hanging of the Baloch leaders in Hyderabad and Sukkerjails. Signing the 1973 Constitution of Pakistan by Mir Ghous Bux Bezinjo andSardar Attaullah Mengal did not stop the ban on NAP and the dissolution ofBalochistan Government followed by the military operation and the long termsentences in Hyderabad Conspiracy Case.The people of East Timor fought against the occupation by Indonesia for 24years. There were times when many of the Timorese thought that it was a lostcause, but Xanana Gusmão's Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor(FRETILIN) never surrendered its demand for freedom. FRETILIN resisted theinvading Indonesian army, suffering heavy losses at times; they retreated to themountains to keep the struggle alive. The East Timor Diaspora, scattered aroundthe world initiated a solidarity movement for East Timor which initially facedlots of problems but ultimately they won the international opinion in favour ofEast Timor. During the historical struggle for freedom there were times whenFRETILIN was very weak but it did not surrender its demand for East Timor'sfreedom. FRETILIN never participated in any elections held under the supervisionof the occupier; it never accepted Indonesia's occupation over East Timor. Both,the struggle inside East Timor by FRETILIN and outside the country by SolidarityMovement for East Timor brought the Indonesian government to its knees.Indonesia had no other choice but to accept United Nation mediation. On 30thAugust 1999 referendum was held under the supervisor of UN for East Timorself-determination. Defying threats and intimidation by Indonesia's army and itsEast Timor puppet pro-Indonesia militias, the majority of East Timorese votedfor freedom. On 20th May 2002 East Timor became an independent nation on theworld map.History shows that Baloch nation's struggle for self-rule swung in differentextremes during the course of its history from provincial autonomy toindependence. Lacking political unity, wisdom and a clear vision persistentwith the genuine aspirations of our people, the leadership confused long termobjectives with short term gains and the nation suffered as a consequence. Thisis the fifth time that the Baloch nation has picked up arms to stop the militaryaggression of Pakistan, started 60 years ago, which clearly indicates that allother means have failed to make the rulers of Pakistan understand the realitiesof the Baloch nation. The recent revolt that started in 2004 at Dera Bugti andKohlu has now spread all over Balochistan as a widely popular movement in theBaloch masses. Geopolitical changes in the region, modern communication networkand a stark awareness of the fact that the Baloch as a nation faces the risk ofbeing annihilated from the face of the earth. No wonder this new phase ofstruggle in Balochistan is popularly called the `Last War'.Since the coming in power of the new so-called democratic forces in Islamabad,hopes for peaceful resolution to the Baloch conflict are being echoed fromdifferent quarters of the Baloch leadership. It should be clear to the Balochmasses and its leadership that these new so-called democratic forces are handpicked corrupt political managers of the old establishment which started theaggression on Balochistan sixty year ago. Within six months the new governmentinstalled in Islamabad had shown its ethical bankruptcy. President Asif AliZardari, leader of this new regime backtracked on his written agreement with hiscoalition partners saying, "Written political agreements are not binding likethe Koran". Those Baloch leaders who think these new unprincipled corruptpolitical managers in Islamabad are sincere in solving the Baloch question areeither politically naive or as devious as the new mouth organs of the oldestablishment, in either case they are damaging the Baloch national movement.This is the final call for the Baloch leaders who claim to be nationalists. It'sabout time that they should get their act together and chalk out a clear cutprogram as per the desire of the nation. We should learn from the history ofEast Timor never to surrender our demand for freedom and keep the struggle liveat any cost. Until and unless the forces against our freedom are brought totheir knees, they will not accept our demand. It's not just the question of thePakistani army top brass and its handpicked politicians, even the Pakistaniintelligentsia is not yet ready to treat us the way Indonesia is treating Achepeople. Daily Times editorial dated, 6th August 2008, commenting on SanaullahBaloch's article, A lesson to be learnt, wrote, "One can say that Pakistan is indisarray today but it has not reached the state of Indonesian collapse in1999."And it continues, "It would be extremely perverse to tell Mr Baloch thathe may have to wait till the state of Pakistan collapses as completely asIndonesia did in 1999 before Balochistan becomes another Aceh." Then itconcludes, "Most Pakistanis are favourably inclined to grant a lot more autonomyto the provinces than is now granted in the Constitution." It is clear that theyare now willing to give us some sort of autonomy within the framework of theinterests of the dominant nation and save the army from complete embarrassment,but not the status of Aceh, let alone complete freedom. It is now up to ourleadership what they want? Accept their perverse autonomy or fight for a specialautonomy like Aceh. In both the conditions, after all these sacrifices, we willleave our nation at the mercy of Pakistan's corrupt and brutal rulers who in thepast never kept their promises or else go for complete independence and gift ournation the freedom to choose their own destiny.http://www.articlesbase.com/politics-articles/a-lesson-to-be-learnt-the-baloch-p\erspective-610375.html