Hours ahead of Pakistan’s independence day, the country faced the
consequences of its cheap bargain with Balochistan. One of the direct
consequence is Chinese engineers’ convoy attack in Gwadar that killed at least
13.
The attack was engineered by Balochistan Liberation Army’s (BLA) Majeed
Brigade members Naveed Baloch and Maqbool Baloch. They could not bear
the torment of the Chinese who revoked Baloch access to their own land and
resources. More hurtful to them has been Pakistan’s involvement in this.
Pakistan has on its hands the blood of both the suicide bombers and the list of
Chinese engineers as well as university staff that have been attacked by the
Baloch locals. The mistreatment of Baloch since decades is not unknown but is
highly overlooked by the Pakistani government.
For decades the war-torn Balochistan is only remembered when Pakistan has
wanted to make some quick cash. Since the 1970s when copper and gold
deposits were discovered near Saidak, Pakistan joined hands with
Metallurgical Corporation of China Ltd, to extract metals from this mine. The
Pak government kept 48 percent of the revenues, gave 50 percent to China,
and the remaining 2 percent to Balochistan provincial government. In that
remaining 2 percent, after distribution among the upper echelons the common
man has only hoped for a share in the last 50 years.
Through CPEC, China and Pakistan have taken over all the major economic
regions including the Gwadar Port, making breadwinning impossible for the
Baloch. According to statistics, financially Balochis form the bottom 1 percent
in the whole world! But even this has not stopped Pakistan from running them
dry.
Besides looting them in all possible ways, keeping a watch over them like a
hawk through secret agencies, and carrying out extrajudicial killings, Pakistan
has introduced a new venom of religious extremism in Balochistan.
To both contain and counter the Baloch Freedom Movement and dilute the
secular thread of the Baloch society, jihadist elements linked to the Kashmir
jihad are being organized and settled in the province. Through the infiltration of
religious extremists, apparent regressive thinking has entered society.
Extremists are targeting progressive institutes and personalities. Principal and
writer Ustad Abdul Rauf Baloch and a college graduate from Kech were
gunned down in August 2023 due to mere accusations of blasphemy. The
attackers were members of the state-supported militia. A girls’ school too was
burnt down in Panjgur.
These incidents are evidence of the Pakistan Army’s broader agenda –
breaking the public by instigating internal conflicts driving the people’s attention
from the freedom movement. Pakistan has tried killing, looting, enforced
disappearances, starvation, underdevelopment, and everything in its power to
disintegrate Baloch nationalism. The religion card was their final play.
But the Baloch have been quick to identify this cheap trick. The Baloch society
upholds tolerance, freedom, and unity in diversity, over religion. Their pride lies
in respect for nature and their tribal traditions which have little to do with
religion.
Perhaps that is why in a potpourri of emotions after the tragic killing of Abdul
Rauf, the Majeed Brigade conducted a suicide attack where it would hurt
Pakistan the most, in Gwadar aimed at their all-weather friend, the Chinese.
The BLA killed at least 13 people which included 4 Chinese nationals and 9
Pakistani military men. Explosions and gunfire continued for two more hours so
the exact number of Chinese casualties hasn’t been declared.
Frightened by the audacity, the Chinese Consulates in Pakistan have issued
an advisory to its citizens in Balochistan and Sindh to remain indoors until
further orders.
Pakistan claim they are coming from a good place by making grand gestures
such as the recent inauguration of the airbase structure of the New Gwadar
International Airport. They promised that it will create flourishing economic
activity, increase employment opportunities, and all the lies Balochistan was
told before initiating the billion-dollar CPEC project.
The truth is that the airport is an extension of the CPEC, a vile romanticism of
foreign invasion of Balochistan conspired by Pakistan. The avalanche of
promises made to local Baloch will evaporate when just like CPEC, China will
bring in their citizens as employees on Baloch land.
In the end, it is only Baloch who have remained empty-handed in such
transactions. Being at the shorter end of the stick, their freedom movement is
desperately gaining momentum despite the religious terrorism afflictions. Their
urgent situation is forcing them to take strict measures against Pakistani
designs.
In a recently issued statement, BLA has given a 90 days ultimatum to China to
vacate their land. The organization has asked the Chinese authorities to
withdraw from Balochistan or face intensified attacks against their “key
interests” in the province. For Balochistan, it is a matter of ‘kill’ or ‘get killed’.
And the air reeks of vengeance