In 2010, when the incidents of ‘kill and dump’ of abducted persons in Balochistan started to reach their peak, the BBC Urdu carried out a survey in Lahore in which they asked people questions about the province. The absolute ignorance became a national joke for a few days.
Since 2010, amidst the backdrop of a separatist insurgency and a not-so clandestine military operation, Balochistan has seen much: more kill-and-dump, the Awaran earthquake, Hazara killings, missing persons, Mirani dam flood affectees hunger strike in Lahore, the 2013 elections under the military, a ‘nationalist’ government, infighting between separatists, Gwadar port given to China, more kill-and-dump, Ziarat Residency attack, killings of non-Baloch labourers, and the longest long march in history led by Mama Qadeer and Farzana Majeed. Did all of this change anything about the awareness in Punjab about Balochistan?
In 2015, as a lecturer in a private university in Lahore, I have asked all my students, “Who is Mama Qadeer?” Not one of them had a clue. The only answer I got was, “The activist jailed in Gilgit-Baltistan.” [That activist, by the way, is Baba Jan] Yes, they knew about the missing persons, but not much. The separatists were all foreign paid, which meant that the only way to deal with them is to crush them.
Punjab, remained aloof to Mama Qadeer-led long march that ended in early 2014. The march continued for over four months. The 20 or so participants walked over 2,000 kilometres on foot. Once they entered the province, they were severely harassed by you know who. When they entered Lahore, they were joined by mere dozens of activists.
The one critical element was that despite so much going on in Balochistan, the establishment had managed to keep the media from discussing it on mainstream media. With a blanket ban on Baloch nationalist websites and media outlets, the only source remaining for information about what was going on in Balochistan became the social media. The one journalist who discussed Mama Qadeer’s long march, Hamid Mir, ended up being shot by ‘unknown assailants.’ Somehow, the ‘best intelligence agency in the world’ has yet to have thrown up a single suspect in the case. The important thing is that as long we all bash Geo, no one seems to care about who shot Mir and why no other TV anchor called Mama Qadeer to talk.
In this context that we must ask the question: what then did our intelligence agencies fear from Mama Qadeer and Farzana Majeed giving a talk at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)? In common parlance: “what were they thinking?” Whatever they thought, they severely miscalculated. The decision to cancel the talk at LUMS has backfired. The talk that never happened is the one that everyone is talking about. Right-wing news anchors, internet trolls, civil society activists, the Pakistani diaspora – and more importantly, the students of Punjab: the one audience that our country’s security agencies do not want talking about Balochistan.
Amongst many ‘international’ comparisons that the critics of the decision to invite Mama Qadeer made, the two that were most relevant were not made: Kashmir and East Pakistan. The fact that Pakistan offers support to Kashmiri separatists and that their leaders are accommodated at the top tiers of government is incontestable. If our government and intelligence agencies feel that the demands of Kashmiri separatists are legitimate and deserve international attention, then why are the demands of Baloch separatists not legitimate and deserving of similar attention? Regarding East Pakistan’s choosing independence, the important point to note is that we have never had a public reckoning over why half of Pakistan decided to leave it within three decades of its creation? The popular answer remains: it was India. As long as this remains the answer, there will be no possibility of bringing separatists to the negotiating table and making real concessions. In a country where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has killed over 50,000 civilians, was considered a legitimate negotiating partner till only last year.
In the days following the talk cancellation, Balochistan finally made it to national news when the Baloch Liberation Front claimed the killing of 20 non-Baloch labourers in Turbat. There is no question that it is reprehensible to kill workers on a construction site. Such acts weaken the position of Baloch separatists. However, is also a need to understand why the projects these labourers were working on: either a bridge in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or the Mirani Dam in Turbat are so unpopular in Balochistan.
Moreover, we have not been given a good answer to: why did the eight levies guards assigned to the construction site not resist this ‘brazen’ attack? Were they involved or were they too scared? Either way, it does not speak highly of the morale or commitment of paramilitary forces in Balochistan.
This is exactly why the Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik Baloch’s claim that “(Indian intelligence service) RAW is sponsoring the insurgency” in Balochistan is so counter-productive. The claim that foreign intelligence agencies are funding various militant groups in Balochistan leads us nowhere. More recently, the name of UAE has been added to the usual list of Israel, India and the US amongst possible financiers of militant groups in the province. Dr Malik is well-aware of the legitimate grievances of the Baloch people. To call them “foreign sponsored” is to trivialize them and open himself to charges of completely giving up the mandate to “mend fences” that the National Party government claimed to have when it came into government after a fairly farcical election in Balochistan. It may be remembered that barely 10 percent of the Baloch electorate showed up at polling stations despite polls being held under the military.
The fact is in large parts of Balochistan, the Pakistani state is considered an illegitimate actor. Much like the Indian state is in Kashmir. The only way out of this situation is through open public debate. But then why does our deep state fear a public discussion on Balochistan?
More specifically, why can Punjab not discuss Balochistan? Because when Punjab begins to discuss Balochistan, the hegemony that the military and civil establishment have created will start dissipating. Following the decision to stop the talk, this has already started happening.
May it continue. May Punjab finally learn to talk about Balochistan.
Since 2010, amidst the backdrop of a separatist insurgency and a not-so clandestine military operation, Balochistan has seen much: more kill-and-dump, the Awaran earthquake, Hazara killings, missing persons, Mirani dam flood affectees hunger strike in Lahore, the 2013 elections under the military, a ‘nationalist’ government, infighting between separatists, Gwadar port given to China, more kill-and-dump, Ziarat Residency attack, killings of non-Baloch labourers, and the longest long march in history led by Mama Qadeer and Farzana Majeed. Did all of this change anything about the awareness in Punjab about Balochistan?
In 2015, as a lecturer in a private university in Lahore, I have asked all my students, “Who is Mama Qadeer?” Not one of them had a clue. The only answer I got was, “The activist jailed in Gilgit-Baltistan.” [That activist, by the way, is Baba Jan] Yes, they knew about the missing persons, but not much. The separatists were all foreign paid, which meant that the only way to deal with them is to crush them.
Punjab, remained aloof to Mama Qadeer-led long march that ended in early 2014. The march continued for over four months. The 20 or so participants walked over 2,000 kilometres on foot. Once they entered the province, they were severely harassed by you know who. When they entered Lahore, they were joined by mere dozens of activists.
The one critical element was that despite so much going on in Balochistan, the establishment had managed to keep the media from discussing it on mainstream media. With a blanket ban on Baloch nationalist websites and media outlets, the only source remaining for information about what was going on in Balochistan became the social media. The one journalist who discussed Mama Qadeer’s long march, Hamid Mir, ended up being shot by ‘unknown assailants.’ Somehow, the ‘best intelligence agency in the world’ has yet to have thrown up a single suspect in the case. The important thing is that as long we all bash Geo, no one seems to care about who shot Mir and why no other TV anchor called Mama Qadeer to talk.
The decision to cancel the talk at LUMS has backfired
In this context that we must ask the question: what then did our intelligence agencies fear from Mama Qadeer and Farzana Majeed giving a talk at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS)? In common parlance: “what were they thinking?” Whatever they thought, they severely miscalculated. The decision to cancel the talk at LUMS has backfired. The talk that never happened is the one that everyone is talking about. Right-wing news anchors, internet trolls, civil society activists, the Pakistani diaspora – and more importantly, the students of Punjab: the one audience that our country’s security agencies do not want talking about Balochistan.
Amongst many ‘international’ comparisons that the critics of the decision to invite Mama Qadeer made, the two that were most relevant were not made: Kashmir and East Pakistan. The fact that Pakistan offers support to Kashmiri separatists and that their leaders are accommodated at the top tiers of government is incontestable. If our government and intelligence agencies feel that the demands of Kashmiri separatists are legitimate and deserve international attention, then why are the demands of Baloch separatists not legitimate and deserving of similar attention? Regarding East Pakistan’s choosing independence, the important point to note is that we have never had a public reckoning over why half of Pakistan decided to leave it within three decades of its creation? The popular answer remains: it was India. As long as this remains the answer, there will be no possibility of bringing separatists to the negotiating table and making real concessions. In a country where the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), which has killed over 50,000 civilians, was considered a legitimate negotiating partner till only last year.
In the days following the talk cancellation, Balochistan finally made it to national news when the Baloch Liberation Front claimed the killing of 20 non-Baloch labourers in Turbat. There is no question that it is reprehensible to kill workers on a construction site. Such acts weaken the position of Baloch separatists. However, is also a need to understand why the projects these labourers were working on: either a bridge in the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) or the Mirani Dam in Turbat are so unpopular in Balochistan.
Moreover, we have not been given a good answer to: why did the eight levies guards assigned to the construction site not resist this ‘brazen’ attack? Were they involved or were they too scared? Either way, it does not speak highly of the morale or commitment of paramilitary forces in Balochistan.
This is exactly why the Balochistan chief minister Abdul Malik Baloch’s claim that “(Indian intelligence service) RAW is sponsoring the insurgency” in Balochistan is so counter-productive. The claim that foreign intelligence agencies are funding various militant groups in Balochistan leads us nowhere. More recently, the name of UAE has been added to the usual list of Israel, India and the US amongst possible financiers of militant groups in the province. Dr Malik is well-aware of the legitimate grievances of the Baloch people. To call them “foreign sponsored” is to trivialize them and open himself to charges of completely giving up the mandate to “mend fences” that the National Party government claimed to have when it came into government after a fairly farcical election in Balochistan. It may be remembered that barely 10 percent of the Baloch electorate showed up at polling stations despite polls being held under the military.
The fact is in large parts of Balochistan, the Pakistani state is considered an illegitimate actor. Much like the Indian state is in Kashmir. The only way out of this situation is through open public debate. But then why does our deep state fear a public discussion on Balochistan?
More specifically, why can Punjab not discuss Balochistan? Because when Punjab begins to discuss Balochistan, the hegemony that the military and civil establishment have created will start dissipating. Following the decision to stop the talk, this has already started happening.
May it continue. May Punjab finally learn to talk about Balochistan.