Rakesh Kapoor
Rakesh KapoorPunjab Kesari

Balochistan resentment creeps in Pakistan

Balochistan's Struggle for Independence Intensifies
Published on: 

When India and Pakistan were partitioned in 1947, Balochistan was an independent state bordering Iran on one side and Afghanistan on the other, but the British had leased a part of this province of Greater Balochistan from the chieftains of some tribes during their rule. Therefore, when the British divided India into two nations India and Pakistan on August 15, 1947, the rights of these leased areas were given to Pakistan, while Khan, the ruler of the Kalat region of Balochistan, declared himself independent. In 1946, the Khan of Kalat appointed Muslim League leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah as his legal advisor to present the case of united Balochistan before the British. On India's independence, Khan declared that his country would remain a secular country, but later Jinnah's attitude changed and in March 1948, he signed a letter of merger of his entire princely state with Pakistan under military pressure from the Khan of Kalat, but it also talked about its separate flag and constitution. Until 1956, Balochistan was called the United States of Balochistan and its flag was also hoisted along with the flag of Pakistan, but the way the Balochis were forcibly made Pakistani citizens, there was a sense of revolt among the general public from the beginning, which now seems to be on the boil. The Balochi people have been opposing the call of themselves as Pakistani from the very beginning and many organizations of this state have been raising the flag of revolt. One of them, the Balochistan Liberation Army, was formed around 1970. These same forces are now leading the rebellion against the coercive attitude of the Pakistani army in their area. The Mukti Sena wants India to raise its voice for the rights of the people of East Pakistan in the same way as it did in 1971. Earlier this week, the army announced the establishment of an independent Republic of Balochistan and requested for permission to set up a temporary embassy in New Delhi. By the way, the relations between India and Balochis are very ancient and the influence of Hindu culture is also seen on their culture. One of the various Goddess Shakti Peeths of Hindus, the Shaktipeeth of Hinglaj Devi is also in Balochistan, which is located in the hills of Makran. Hinglaj Devi has a great reputation among the entire Hindu public. Baloch people also believe in Hinglaj Devi and visit this religious place once a year and give the name of 'Dadi ki Haj'. Pakistani Baloch are so restless for the independence of Balochistan that they have been tolerating the oppression of the Pakistani army for the last seven decades, but now the pot of Pakistan's sins is being filled, due to which the Baloch people have come out on the streets. The Balochistan Mukti Sena has fought the Pakistani army 58 times in the current one month and has shaken the whole of Pakistan with its exploits. In fact, the British were so vicious that even after going they broke India into two, they fixed a safe place for themselves in the form of Pakistan. The biggest problem of the British was with Russia and they wanted to stop Russia's influence in Central Asia, they wanted a buffer state in the Indian subcontinent which they could use against Russia when the time came. This was also the main reason behind the creation of Pakistan, because Mohammad Ali Jinnah had accepted all the conditions of the British and assured them that if the opportunity arose, Pakistan would serve as a military base for them even in the Indo-Pacific sea region and prevent Russia from entering Afghanistan in Central Asia. Because Russia had occupied countries like Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan adjacent to Afghanistan in the 19th century.

The British did not trust the Congress party and its leaders who gave independence to India. He believed that leaders like Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru etc. of the Congress were inclined towards the Soviet Union, which the British considered their enemy number one. Therefore, the British wanted to use a buffer state for themselves in the form of Pakistan, in which all the Western European countries were with them, while on the contrary, America believed that China was a bigger threat to it than the Soviet Union, so India should not be divided and it should be strengthened against China. But after the emergence of America as a world power after World War II, the British had to partition India in a hurry to secure their interests, to which America also agreed. America's interest was that the sooner the British would move out of India, the sooner its economic liabilities would be reduced, because at the end of the Second World War, the salary of the British Indian Army was also going from the American treasury. But on the way, the British also gave their share of Balochistan to Pakistan to strengthen it, so that Pakistan could be strong. The area of Balochistan is so large that 44 percent of Pakistan is part of it, but the mineral and natural resources of this state are occupied by the Punjab state of Pakistan and now China has added a new dimension to it. Balochistan has mines ranging from oil and gas to gold, but with the help of China, Pakistan has occupied this property. The extent is that gas from Balochistan is not available to the Balochis. Balochistan also touches the Arabian Sea and its Gwadar port is occupied by China. The Sea Pak project of China and Pakistan also passes through Balochistan. For this project, the land of the Balochis was bought at throwaway prices and in return, they did not even get wages. China and Pakistan have jointly continued to persecute the Baloch people.

By the way, Balochis have been kept as second class citizens within Pakistan and the Pakistani army abducts Balochis whenever they want, so far thousands of young Balochis have been kidnapped by the nefarious army of Pakistan. The human rights of the Baloch people have been trampled upon by the Pakistani army under all the common shoes and it does not seem to have any effect on the world, especially the western countries, while these countries make the most noise for human rights, so if the Baloch have also started on the path of Bangladesh, then no one should be surprised in it.

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