“I believe there will ultimately be a clash between the oppressed and those doing the oppressing. I believe that there will be a clash between those who want freedom, justice and equality for everyone and those who want to continue the system of exploitation. I believe that there will be that kind of clash, but I don’t think it will be based on the colour of the skin. You’re not to be so blind with patriotism that you can’t face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.” — Malcolm X
I’ve traveled across Pakistan several times. I’ve been to the plains of Punjab, the Indus valley, the foothills of Karakorum, the delta of Indus river and the coastal region of Makran. Every region has its attraction and charm but if one asks me honestly, Balochistan is by far the most interesting and fascinating region of Pakistan. Why? It is because the land of Balochistan is blessed with a spectacular terrain that includes mountains, deserts, plateau, sea, valleys, oases, and so much more.
It was my first trip to the region and I was traveling to Quetta to watch a highly charged football match between India and Pakistan. Like cricket, both arch rivals promise to deliver some thrilling sporting moments in football competitions as well. Anyway, I boarded the bus and headed to the provincial capital Quetta from Pakistan’s largest city Karachi.
It is very hard for me to hide my excitement and suppress my feelings. Sat in the bus I couldn’t help but smile and peek out from the window. Soon I noticed that a young guy came to my seat and asked to sit next to me which I did not mind. After formal introduction he asked if I was a foreigner traveling to Balochistan for the first time. “I hope you don’t have preconceived ideas about our nation Mr. Khawaja,” he said in a sarcastic tone. “I believe in my own observations and forming my own opinion based on them,” came my reply with a smile to which he seemed much relieved.
Azizullah was a 23 year old student who was studying medicine at a university in Karachi. Appearing to be a very quiet and reserved young man, he later became more friendly and chatty. He came from a middle class Baloch family from Khuzdar area in central Balochistan. “My father and uncles are doctors as well but I wanted to break the tradition of our family and become a diplomat,” he lamented as we started the conversation. The driver set off to Quetta at the same time.
CONUNDRUM
As our chat progressed he went on to tell me how hard it is to become a diplomat due to his ethnic background. Soon my Baloch friend lobbed this conundrum at me: “Guess a land that is blessed with natural wealth yet suffers from chronic poverty. A civilization that is rich of culture and traditions yet suffers from degradation. A nation that takes pride in its values and traditions yet suffers from suppression of identity. A laborer that works hard with patience and diligence yet gets exploitation and oppression as wages. And ironically, a cow that is forced to give milk yet starves for fodder to survive.” I resorted to scratching my head and wondered what I’m about to learn from him…
Balochistan has been in the news over the past few years due to the low level insurgency going on in the region. Thousands of activists are actively fighting the authorities in the volatile provinces of Balochistan in Pakistan and in Sistaan va Balochistan province in neighboring Iran. Many people in both Pakistan and Iran insist that foreign powers are actively meddling in the state of affairs of these provinces and are bent upon breaking them away from the nation. One can find both Iranian and Pakistani analysts filling hundreds of pages of newsprint with information on how the Baloch fighters are getting weapons from U.S.A. and other regional powers. However, one thing you’ll seldom find them telling is the reason why some Baloch ‘miscreants’ have taken weapons in their hands and are waging a war for autonomy or independence.
I wasted no time and asked Azizullah the same question. “It is convenient to label someone a criminal or terrorist. A person commits a crime and he becomes a criminal. A kidnapping, shooting, killing, assassination or bombing and a terrorist is born,” the medical student expressed philosophically. After a brief pause while reading my facial expressions, he continued: “However, seldom we come to know what the motives were behind every criminal or terrorists’ action. It is not possible to believe that all these people are born evil and their only purpose of life is to bring destruction and harm to the society. So what is the rationale?” Azizullah’s questions started to become intense and critical.
LAND, PEOPLE AND PRIDE
Balochistan is a region that is spread across Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan. The combined area of this region is around 600,000 square kilometers, which is about the size of Ukraine; 347,000 km² is part of Pakistan, 181,785 km² in Iran and around 70,000 km² in Afghanistan. Despite having large areas in Pakistan and Iran, the Baloch population is around 5 million and 2 million respectively in both the countries. It is estimated that more than 200,000 Baloch people live in southern Afghanistan.
According to contemporary Baloch scholar Dr. Naseer Dashti, Baloch people trace their history to the ancient Parthian family of Aryan tribes living in the Caspian Sea region. The Baloch tribes began to settle in to present day Balochistan as early as 1200 AD. The migration of Baloch population from Caspian Sea region to the present semi-desert land of Balochistan took place in three different times and places.
Baloch tribes first migrated to present day Balochistan from the northern areas of Mesopotamia, what is now called Kurdistan. These Baloch are known as Narui (Nara denoting north in archaic Balochi language). They settled in the area of Sistan in present-day Iran, Helmand valley in southern Afghanistan and Chagai plains in present Pakistani province of Balochistan.
You do not have any knowelege on history.The Parthian and Persian are same family and the same history background.Pakistan became a nation after WWII by British rulers and they broke Iranian territory to give Pakistan Balouchestan and also Afghanistan was also broke from Persia two hundred years ago by British and help of Indian soldiers.Your brake away territories had brought poverty and fundementalist in that region that bring more losses to western nations then gains.What you did in Iran had changed our view on religion very fundementaly and that will bring a new and more powerfull Iran for you to handle.
REZA, you’re absolutely wrong to assume that Parthians and Persians are of the same family. Parthians came from what is Turkmenistan today whereas Persians come from south-central Iran region e.g. Shiraz or Esfahan. Both the people are distinct from each other. The Parthians conquered and ruled Persia for a long time.
As I wrote in my article, Balochistan was divided into 3 parts. The Sistan-Balochistan was occupied by Persia, Khanate of Kalat and adjoining areas by the British and southern Nimroz and Helmand by the Afghan king. Balochistan is a separate nation and can never be considered as part of Persia, the same way Kurdistan is.
As for poverty and fundamentalism, they’re bred by injustice and discrimination. The Baloch have experienced both the evils for at least a century. If they get their rights in both Iran and Pakistan, I don’t see any reason why they’ll be fighting anymore.
As for religion is concerned, you have a right to practice it as much as the others have a right not to practice it. Forceful imposition of any religion has brought chaos and destruction and resulted in bloodshed. A peaceful Iran will be an Iran where all the religions live side by side and respect the right to exist. This was the very principle of great Persian kings that brought stability and success to their empires. What today’s Mullahs are doing is nothing but spreading the seeds of sectarianism and division in the whole region.
you seems to be RAW sponsored group, That is all one can see and we shall get you
Do you really think highly of RAW shafqat? Do you think they will pay me for writing the truth? For writing what I saw on the ground and what I’ve observed over the years? If that’s the case then I don’t mind this source of income…
If I had written that Balochs are a bunch of miscreants and do not deserve their rights under the constitution of Pakistan and should be marginalised with their lands grabbed, will this qualify me to be on ISI’s payroll? Check your facts first before you label anyone as RAW or ISI agent. This is not some proxy war going on but lives and future of millions of people is at stake. People like you harped the same tune in 1971. What came as a result was a new nation called Bangladesh with a price tag of 1 million lives and countless human rights abuses. Open your eyes before it’s too late my friend!
Thank you Mr Moign Khawaja,
Well-written and brilliant article. Truth always hurts, especially when its about the hypocrisy of the Punjabi and Persian. They instead of condemning the atrocities of their brutal military in Balochistan keep on blaming the neighboring countries and Nations that they are interfering in Balochistan.
@ Mr Shafqat, your question is answered within the article, you only need to open your eyes and read it a bit more carefully an positively. Here it goes “People love to gossip that Baloch rights movement is controlled by India. You’ll see Pakistani politicians and military generals making statements about New Delhi’s interference in Balochistan. They’ll claim India has hundreds of training camps here in our province. My simple questions: Where is the proof? Show me at least one camp where Indians are training the Baloch separatists. And even if there are camps, what the hell is the Pakistani establishment doing? How did they let the Indians infiltrate and establish their bases thousands of kilometers deep into Pakistani territory?”
Thanx Mr. Baluch. Truth is bitter and sometimes blinds our judgment instead of helping it. I really hope this feature helps people understand the dynamics and sway the public opinion against the military operation in Balochistan. Admission of mistakes is first step towards reconciliation. Let’s see who’s honest enough to admit it.
Thanks for a very interesting articlet: Good research and excellent information
Thank you for commenting Mr. Mobaraki. My job as a journalist to provide you this.
This part of the history is very difficult to understand for some of us… who know nothing of that… or we know wrong things.
The best thing is how your posts work to arouse our curiosity and they help to understand something of this mess.
Even it´s the most difficult post for me to understand, it´s one of my favorite.
Thanks to move us to other places in the world :*
I totally understand that as an outsider it can be a bit difficult for you to understand the situation and background, hence you find the feature loaded with background information. However, you’re more than welcome to ask a question in your comment. The editor and I will get back to you as quickly as we can.
nice artical but you stated many times “” Baloch separatist “” i should inform you that Balochistan were never a legal or natural part of subcontinent /india …so the word separatist changes all the meaning of our movement ,you can use word baloch anti-occupation force ,baloch patriot ,baloch freedom fighters.Separatist is a suitable for those who are a part of a state or a country
kind regards
I’ve mentioned the activists as separatists due to the fact that Balochistan is in effect under Pakistani control since 1948. What you call as ‘anti-occupation force’, baloch patriots or freedom fighters are fighting to end the control of Pakistan over the province which is purely a separatist movement. My previous feature was about Chechnya http://www.foreignpolicyjournal.com/2010/04/05/chechnya-land-of-the-wolves/ Here I used the same term for Chechen fighters. They too believe that Chechnya was never part of Russia and are fighting to free it from Moscow’s control. The use of term ‘separatists’ is a standard and safe one. Any other term sounds partisan which as a journalist I feel hurts objectivity of the story.
“Seldom we come to know what the motives were behind every criminal or terrorists’ action. It is not possible to believe that all these people are born evil and their only purpose of life is to bring destruction and harm to the society”, Azizullah said – and I fully agree with him. This is my opinion, too.
Thank you, Moign, for this post. You do not only make your readers feel as if they are with you on this trip (which is wonderful) – you also (as always!) make an effort to bring up the motives and reasons behind crimes and fights. And this is exactly what people all over the world need: information. Information without prejudice, diverse opinions, and different views.
I hope your articles will gain more and more readers every day; your work should be spread! I am sure the world would be a bit better if more people held the same values as you do…
I honestly feel that opinions of people like Azizullah, you and many readers of FPJ are constantly ignored by the mainstream media and the governments that control/influence them. One of the reasons people resort to violent protests and agitation is the fact that they don’t trust the press anymore and want their voices to be heard in a different way.
Forum like FPJ gives writers as well as readers a place where alternative views are written, read, studied, discussed and debated. It’s a two way process. We cannot change the things abruptly but we can influence the direction of our future by debating it and making the right choices.
Deam Mr. Khawaja,
how is it that in no less than four occasions you take the chance of criticizing the Iranian government policies while reporting on a trip from Pakistan Balochistan?
Blame Iran really seems the sport of the year!
I recall people rejoicing in the streets of Sistan-va Balochistan when recently the head of Jundullah (yes, the terrorist group) was captured by Iranian forces. As far as it appears, its support among the population is insignificant (nil?).
Another major difference may be the fact that if, as you say, all sorts of goods are smuggled from Iran to Pakistans’ Balochistan, it is because thouse goods are available to Iranian Balochis. On the other hand the only good that seems to abundantly flow the other way is illicit drugs.
Linking the situation on both sides of the border only seems unfair on your side, not to say inaccurate. I do not know about Pakistan, but the Islamic Republic is really going long lengths to bring the minimum standards of living to the last and least of its villages. No one has the magic wand of course, so dry mountains won’t be turned to lands of milk and honey any time soon, and ways of living that survived for centuries will be there some more.
Regards
Dear Usul
My criticism stems from Aziz’ views about Balochistan in general. I’ve visited Iran from Tabrez to Zahedan years ago and found Baluchistan region well below the Iranian standard. If you live in Iran and ever visited this region you’ll come to know what I’m on about. You’ll admit that it is one of the poorest region in the Islamic Republic. What can be the reasons?
As far as I can understand, Balochs happen to be Sunnis whereas majority of the Iranians is Shia. Sunnis in Sistan-Balochistan have long complained of religious persecution, the same way Shia minority has complained in Pakistan. Jundullah’s tactics might be brutal but they’ve capitalised on the grievances of Balochs in south-eastern Iran. I’m not sure about their popularity but Balochs at the moment have genuine complaints and the Islamic government in Tehran should address them. Otherwise there will be a rebellion on the same scale as in Pakistani Balochistan.
Regarding the border trade, the drugs might be transferred from Pakistan but it originally comes from Afghanistan. The smugglers have no national allegiance and come from Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
If I’m not wrong, standard of Balochs on Iranian side is slightly better than on Pakistani side. However, given the resources that are extracted from their land in Iran, they should have been well-off long ago. Balochs have long complained of marginalisation in the field of education, public health and culture. Otherwise, Jundullah, which you say is a terrorist group, will gain more popular support and lead to things unimaginable for Iranian establishment at the moment. I truly believe that Iran genuinely needs religious freedom and more rights for its minorities.
I think that to enrichen the discussion and the breadth of knowledge on the subject, this piece from dr. Ahmad Reza Taheri, about innovation and culture of Iranian Balochistan is quite informative, and anyone interested in the subject should give it a look:
http://ahmadrezataheri.blogfa.com/post-209.aspx
Two more points unrelated to the linked article:
1. The supposed “rerligious persecution” thing is being repeated every time Iranian sunnis are mentioned (in western or sunny media tipically). I would like to know exactly what this persecution amounts to. What does it mean.
2. As the last part of my post remained unanswered (let’s call it “economic miracles happen nowhere”), I would like to bring you as small example from my own country, Italy. For decades the southern part of my country has complained of the difference in services and job opportunities in their region compared to the northern part. Huge amounts of money have been spent over this period from successive Italian governments to close this gap. Infrastructure has been built, services created. After 60 years (and a degree of improvement certainly obtained) large swathes of people in the south still think that the government “should do something”, such as providing them with a job. Well, many of them still migrate, many of them wait, but the gap has not closed.
Regards
I truly appreciate your principled approach to this dialogue, perhaps the use of ‘Usul’ as your name here. The article written by Mr Taheri is a well-written piece and points out the certain downfalls of Baloch society in Iran. I believe Baloch nation needs a new mindset that can propell them into future and bring peace and development in the society and remove the grievances they hold at the moment. Any such attempt by goverment in Iran or pakistan must be appreciated.
As for religious persecution is concerned, Sunnis complain that they’re not allowed to retain full control of their mosques and the call of prayer aired from the minarets is still the Shia version despite no Shia presence in the area. I cannot verify this claim personally but many dissident groups can be heard making these claims. People also complain their their religious literature is often banned and confiscated.
You’ve given a good example of regional difference in development patterns. Rome must have poured in billions of liras (now euros) into the southern economy, however, the growth rate of North outpaces the South due to better life style and advancement of infrastructure. Catch up game is indeed hell of a task and it can take at least a century in some cases.
Mr Taheri’s article also underlines the fact that despite being the largest province of Iran, Balochistan stays the least developed. Back to square one – there is urgent need for change and development – else face rebellion!
Thank you for your pieces on this part of the world, hardly ever touched by anyone with a degree of competence or that has actually seen what he is writing about.
And also for being an intelligent and open minded debater, also a rarity.
Best regards
You can tell this so-called writer invented a story.
I dare you to publish a photo of you and your Baluch med student friend… none exists because this ride and story never happened.
This alleged author is a PROPAGANDA PUSHER for Indian agencies.
@This story is a lie
I’ve got the photo with my friend but I’m not supposed to publish it due to privacy concerns. I’m not sure if you’ll understand this…
I’ll really appreciate if you can challenge me on the facts mentioned here. Prove me wrong on a single thing or give me the name of the Indian agencies that pay journalists to write the truth.
What I don’t understand is that if someone in India writes something about Kashmir, North-east India or Assam and uncovers the human rights abuses committed by Indian army, he is an ISI-sponsored journalist. If a journalist writes something about the military operations and subsequent atrocities in Balochistan or FATA he’s automatically a RAW propaganda machine.
Does truth and journalistic impartiality really exists in this black and white world of yours???
Assam is not part of India. Assam is part of Bengal and should cede from India.
Assam should merge with Bangladesh.
I’m no politician or pro-establishment writer. I truly believe that people should be given a right to self-determination and their right to exist as a nation should be respected by all the constitutions of the world.
The way you’ve raised voice for Assam and advocated its merger with Bangladesh, Balochs have been raising a voice for independence as well. My job as a journalist is only to analyse the situation based on historic facts and observation. The rest is for people to decide.
Great comments, Moign.
Many many thanx Jeremy.
Intresting and well researched article I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you
“you ‘seems’ to be RAW sponsored group”: Nice one! Maybe Moign should send an invoice to RAW. I hope they do paypal payments….
Most Punjabis use their a$$ to read “this kind of stuff” instead of their eyes. That’s why it hurts real bad. They really need to open up their mind and show a tendency to digest the truth. Bet they won’t need “astroglide” anymore.
Very nice and bold write Moign. Truth always hurts and I am sure that there were still more things that you have not included in your article, as people will not accept the truth. Keep it up. I really appreciate your courage and hope you will not stop yourself from writing such brave articles.
Dear Moign Khawaja
I believed completely to Malcom X when he told that wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it and I am sure every person isn’t blind to understand the difference between equality and exploitation so if there are people who refuse the fact in this great human society that there are many people with different culture, religion and beliefs so we should be sure that they told themselves lie to reach their goals. They ignore the facts so they cause unfairly and war and …
I always have appreciated your style of writing in all your features and as an Iranian person who saw and meet and lived with Balooch people I want to leave a comment and what I write here is my experience of facing and seeing people who you have written in your article.
In my country people of sitan and baloochestan are very hospitable, generous and kindly, I have friends and have found all these characteristics in them and for a time I lived in that province. So I am sure about what I write here. The majority of people of my country are Shia and minorities are sonni that most of them are lived in that province. Here i never have sensed any difference between my balooch friends and I and we lived together freely and never religion and other things affect on our behaviors together. But sometimes there were and there are some people with thoughts that think difference can be a limit that they can’t achieve what they wanted to reach, so others misused the opportunity that is caused.
So two years ago the terrorist group explode a bomb in one of the shia’s mosque of sistan and baloochestan, never changed our opinion about sonni balooch people because we all knew what the purpose of the terrorist group was and they didn’t related to the balooch people.
If I want o say about the culture of people of that our province ,they are rich in culture and their rich culture shows how people they are. i am sure that you accept what I said because you have seen Zahedan. For example Zahedan as a big city and center of that province has best universities of country, a city which has many students and best teachers in its universities. It is not just concerned to this special city, all the cities of this province are best and have had always best effect on the culture of all of country. The international university in chabahar is one of the best university that has best fields and has many students from all countries. I told this that add how much safety there is in this province that people can study in this province with comfort because they are all same and is no difference. After a time that the chief of jonodollah group arrested all people felt comfort because he and his group disturb the safety of that province and even the provinces of around the sistano baloochestan like kerman. As you know he killed many poor people (sonni and shia) who live like other people and he and his group wanted to disturb the name of Islam. So now there is safety more and people in the boundary of Iran and Pakistan can easily business.
When I read your conversation with balooch people especially with Azizollah I thought that I had been at trip too and I understood more about a people who I know about them little and your information was really good like always.
Thanks for your brilliant article
Dear Shima,
Thank you so much for a comprehensive comment in which you explained in detail the situation in Iran especially in Sistan va Balochistan province.
First of all, Malcolm X’s quote can serve as the foundation of solving every conflict in this world. We can be very just and fair by accepting wrong things as wrong no matter who does it. This is perhaps the foundation of all the religions and faiths as well.
I’m really happy that you personally took time and contributed your personal experience to this debate instead of labelling something and killing the purpose of writing this article. The reason behind all the hours of research and writing is not to provoke the sentiments of people but to make them think and ponder.
All the facts that you’ve mentioned above are commendable and should be appreciated. There must be efforts to remove the sense of deprivation of minorities in any country so that there is complete harmony and prosperity in the society.
I hope Balochs on Iranian side get their share of resources and emerge as a strong and prosperous group in the society. People like you have the key to the future and your attitude guarantees that given a chance, you’ll do your best to promote fairness and merit. Thanks again for the detailed comment.
I love how the writer forgets about the pashtuns in Balochistan. What about the pashtuns in Balochistran? We make up 50% of the province. Quetta is a pashtun city. Do you think that the Pashtuns will let Balochistan seperate frome Pakistan
@pashtun
Thank you very much for raising an important issue here. I was sure that someone will point out this fact. Let me give you my stance on this matter.
There is no doubt that Pashtuns comprise an important part of the province’s population with some surveys suggesting as much as 50%. I’m not sure about the percentage though as census in Pakistan have always remained disputed. However, the resolution of Balochistan issue needs the inclusion of its important Pashtun population. Without it there will be more violence and divisions.
Historically, Quetta is a Baloch city however the demographics have changed. It is the same like Karachi. Forty odd years ago there was hardly any Pashtun presence in the Sindhi metropolis. Now, estimates suggest Pashtuns comprise of at least 20-30% of the city’s population. It is also the biggest Pashtun presence outside Khyber-Pakhtunkhwah.
It is a hard situation for any political scientist when demographics change within a geographic region. Despite the fact that a city is part of a state/province, it cannot be made part of another state/province just because the city’s demographics have changed. Historic examples show us that such situations lead to constant civil strife or full-scale civil war if all the ethnic groups living in the city start claiming the city to themselves. I hope you understand what I’m trying to say here.
i lovely wayes
I am a Baloch
And I am proud to be Baluch
And I know
Baluchistan, which will win
Dirty governments of Iran and Pakistan will be defeated
And we will be free
Long live Baluchistan
Death to Iran and Pakistan
Baloch people should form a new government
And war with Iran and Pakistan
War War War
The only way to win
And in the end I Excuse
For that I did not know the English language
I am baloch as well. But I can see we will hugely suffer if aprt from Pakistan and Iran. This will never sustain longer. Those who are supporting us in our movement have their huge interests in this region. They will never let us purely free and will make us servants. Let we struggle to improve what we have right now and be unite with other ethenics under the umbrella of Islam.
First of all, I am one hundred percent certain that you are NOT a Baloch; you are an agent of Pakistani military establishment and you are being paid to write this comment. Therefore you do not have the right or the privilege to decide what we want and what is in our best interest. Evidently you are the one with self-interests. There are people (mothers, sisters, brothers and fathers) who are giving their lives for Baloch nation as we speak and you are desecrating their names. All I can say is if you are a Baloch, that I am sure you are NOT, then you are nothing but a disgrace.
Mr. Reza your ignorant tweet is historically inaccurate and false I am a baloch from your region, and no pakistans baloch were not part of iran at all, they were Kalat Khans. Irans region chieftans were my ancectors and yet we who were part of iran never considered iran part of us Baloch and when Khomaini came to rise unlike Shah he did not give my ancectors permession to rule and took over by miitary force and now that iran has its hands of our lands it has done nothing but sink us more to poverty. and you show the audacity to consider you goverment a salvation of some sort. there will be a time where Baloch kids will have schools have their recorces for themselves and remmber and that day it will all be spoken in Balochi language.