The Baloch are facing a unique enemy. It is unique because, in the history of national liberation struggles, Pakistan emerged out of the blue. It is the only country or state that was supposed to be liberated from a mighty colonial power, the British Empire, but the ideology of Pakistan was created in the white heart of London, not from the lands that now constitute the Pakistani state. It is unique because the national language of this state is not the language of any person or national entity in Pakistan; this national language was brought from North India.
It is the only country or state in the history of the world that Pakistani intellectuals and the school curriculum claim was gifted by Allah. There are no other states claimed to be gifted by Allah, neither in this world nor perhaps in the coming world. Moreover, this is the only country that was liberated, as claimed by the Pakistani school curriculum.
That is, there is no movement of national liberation struggle in Punjab, Sindh, the Frontier Province, or Balochistan, which are now the constituent parts of Pakistan. So, there are many unique characteristics of this God-given, Allah-given, British-created state. I will quote a small story.
When the Mongol army, led by Genghis Khan in the 12th century, surrounded the city of Bukhara in Central Asia, their modus operandi was to surround cities, occupy them, and kill every single person. Some able-bodied individuals were made slaves and sold, but the majority were killed by the Mongol armies.
When Bukhara was surrounded by Genghis Khan, the people surrendered. The Mongol army entered the city, which at that time was a large metropolitan city, very wealthy, like today’s London, New York, or any other big city in the world. Genghis Khan ordered his army to kill these people because, when they withdrew, the residents would make their advance difficult.
As the Mongol army began killing the residents of Bukhara, the religious leaders, mullahs, approached Genghis Khan, holding the Quran in their hands or on their heads. Genghis Khan was sitting on a horse in the great mosque of Bukhara. The mullahs begged him to stop the killings.
Genghis Khan asked, “Why? What happens if I kill the citizens?” They replied, “Look, they are Muslims. If you kill Muslims, Allah will be angry with you.” Genghis Khan then asked, “What will happen if Allah is angry with me?” They said, “He will bring miseries upon you.”
Genghis Khan responded, “Okay, I will continue killing because, at this moment, I am the will of Allah, and I will kill you.” So, by all accounts, this Allah-gifted, British-created state is a scourge for the Baloch, Pashtuns, Sindhis, and for the entire South Asian region. It has brought countless miseries, not only to us, the Baloch, but to every single person in the region.
That was just for illustration, but there are more serious issues. What is happening in Balochistan has very dangerous consequences for our people in the coming months and years.
The immediate issue is the labeling of activists who are peacefully mobilizing the people against resource exploitation and disappearances in Balochistan. The state is very fearful of mass mobilization, which is characteristic of every military establishment. Thus, the state is now placing all non-political activists on the fourth schedule.
This fourth schedule is a very dangerous phenomenon because being placed on it means you are considered a terrorist—an undeclared, unconvicted terrorist. Under the fourth schedule, the state can monitor your movements, and if they wish, you may be required to report to the nearest police station every week or month, depending on their discretion. This means they are restricting the movement of our youth and branding them as terrorists.
Whenever there is a confrontation between the armed resistance and the Pakistani army, they can take some of our youth, kill them, and then claim to have eliminated a certain number of terrorists in intelligence-based operations. This will happen to our people.
The second issue is the fencing of Gwadar. With Chinese funding, the Pakistani state has decided to fence the entire Gwadar town, including the Gwadar International Airport, up to Surbandar. This is a nearly 15-kilometer-wide and 10-kilometer-long strip of land. This fencing marks the beginning of a Chinese enclave in Balochistan.
There have been colonial enclaves in the past, but this enclave will be the first socialist enclave in our part of the world. In other words, this area will be separated from Balochistan and placed under the direct control of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army.
These two issues are of paramount importance, and I urge our political organizations, both in Diaspora and Balochistan, as well as political activists, to take strong cognizance of these events. They are not simple events; they have far-reaching social, political, physical, and economic repercussions for our people.
