Ex-Balochistan Militants Recount Path to War With Pakistan

[Sipahi]

They are exploiting our vulnerabilities and they became good at it

 

[SQ8]

Then why stop now?
If they were so righteous in their aims, maybe they shouldn't have killed random workers in their province or bombed state infrastructure.

Imagine black people bombing pylons and highways in America, every time Police killed one of theirs.

That might actually happen in case some idiots have their way, but as such these people are cannon fodder for people like Brahmdagh and Hayrbyarararar(or whatever his name is).

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

The crux ? Poverty,neglect,shame and lack of basic facilities .... has driven our people to pick up arms!

I raised the same issue many times but idiots of this forum said that Balochistan has been developed. My father worked in Balochistan and he said it was the was backward area in whole of Pakistan. The regional roads are dirt roads and need asphalt since without roads and highways you cannot develop more infrastructure like schools, hospitals, factories, etc. I hope the government starts work on these projects.

Baloch follow their Tribal Chieftains religiously

They have not seen the alternatives. They are stuck in their areas since there are no roads, no schools, no clinics nor interaction with other Pakistanis. Why don't the government at least build network of good roads so that there is transport for people to travel and discover rest of the world outside their region.

The 2005 Karachi-Gwadar Highway runs along the coast with few towns. While the old highway connected many towns and now it is totally neglected.

How Balochistan’s Coastal Highway Cut Awaran Off From the Rest of the World · Global Voices

How Balochistan's Coastal Highway Cut Awaran Off From the Rest of the World
Posted 18 June 2015 17:29 GMT

A deserted Turbat road. Pictures courtesy: Aziz Ahmad Jamali

This post is based on original reporting in Urdu by Shabbir Rakshani and is translated by Adnan Aamir for Balochistan Point. It is published on Global Voices as a part of a content-sharing agreement.

Turbat Road was once a cacophony of honking, noise and bustling businesses.

The road connected Pakistan's largest city Karachi with the southern Balochistan city Turbat, which has an international airport.

The popular road went through Awaran, the poorest district in Pakistan's poorest province Balochistan, and many towns in between. The road helped connect the impoverished district to the outside world.

The 278 kilometre (173 mile) road transported passengers and goods to Karachi and had become a lifeline for people living in settlements along the road, especially in Awaran home to more than 125,000 people.

Today, Awaran is a completely different place from it was 12 years ago. According to people who live there now, the unpaved and unmaintained Turbat Road is a quiet stretch, used by barely 10-15 vehicles at a time. Mir Abdul Rasheed, who lives in Awaran, says a coastal highway built more than 300 kilometres away in 2003 destroyed his district's economy.

Awaran is sprawling, incredibly under-developed and mostly cut-off from the world. According to a government profile from 2011, the 25,000 kilometre square district has few paved roads, no gas connection, and electricity is unavailable in most parts of Awaran. This district has no industry and relies basically on farming.

Along the Turbat Road, there used to be a host of small tea shops, restaurants, and repair shops. If you weren't a farmer in Arawan you worked or owned one of these places on Turbat Road.

Another scene of Turbat Road. Picture by Aziz Ahmad Jamali for Balochistan Point. Used with permission.

That changed in 2003. The coastal highway built during President Pervez Musharraf's administration, runs through the scantly populated Makran coastal belt and connects Karachi with the upcoming well-financed port city Gwadar in southern Balochistan. The highway does not go through Turbat or Awaran.

When the coastal road was completed, traffic on Turbat Road dried up, as traders shifted to the new well-maintained highway that connects them to Karachi.

Rasheed, the resident from Awaran, claims the 635-kilometer-long coastal highway only benefits settlements in two small towns in Gwadar district – Pasni and Ormara – where the combined population is about 50,000. He says Turbat Road went through many more populated areas and benefitted hundreds of thousands of people. “If Turbat Road had been upgraded during Musharraf’s regime, then Awaran's fate today would be totally different,” Rasheed told The Balochistan Point. Besides Awaran, the road also went through Lasbella district, home to 300,000 people.

With a newer, more modern road now available, truck drivers abandoned Turbat Road, saying its lack of asphalt and generally poor condition made it unsafe. As the traffic disappeared, the businesses along the road have also closed, taking with them jobs that kept whole towns afloat. As the years have passed, the commercial centers along Turbat Road have also become ghost towns, and the entire region's economic landscape has changed.

Moula Baksh, a resident of Gishkor in Awaran district used to run a restaurant in Turbat. He recounts that his restaurant did very well from 1985 to 2003. “I used to earn rupees 25,000-30,000 (USD 250-300) a day and I employed 15 people,” Mr. Baksh told The Balochistan Point. After the construction of the coastal highway, Moula Baksh had to close down his restaurant and let go of his employees.

People living along Turbat Road relied on it to access various daily necessities, including Iranian oil, which changed the fortunes of local traders. Abdul Samad, a farmer also based in Gishkor, told The Balochistan Point, “When Turbat Road was functional, farmers of Awaran could get oil at cheap prices and transport their agricultural goods with ease. The coastal highway has ruined agriculture in Awaran and now oil is available at four times higher rates.”

Local sources told The Balochistan Point that this atmosphere of abandonment has encouraged some men to pick up weapons and join the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. Awaran district is believed to be on the frontline of the armed Baloch independence movement.

On September 23, 2013, a devastating earthquake flattened Awaran and killed about 500 people, rendering homeless another 200,000, further exacerbating Awaran's economic plight. People in Awaran told The Balochistan Point that they demand that the government rebuild Turbat Road, which would ideally reconnect them to the outside world.

 

[Donatello]

That might actually happen in case some idiots have their way, but as such these people are cannon fodder for people like Brahmdagh and Hayrbyarararar(or whatever his name is).

then, of course, this independence non-sense is nothing more than a personal vendetta to usurp power, like it always has been.
This independence movement has no Gandhi or Jinnah, Nehru or Iqbal.

 

[ArsalanKhan21]

this.... movement has no .... Jinnah or ....Iqbal.

This movement has deep sense of deprivation against the authorities that have neglected the region and only exploit its resources like Sui gas and now Gwadar. The Sui gas royalties were never given to the province. Its is time build a better infrastructure in Balochistan.

 

[war&peace]

Ex-Balochistan Militants Recount Path to War With Pakistan - NBC News

Just 15000 pkr/month...oh my goodness what is going on....Hey corrupt leaders....your greed is harming the country...But would they listen and budge...no way...these deep entrenched zombies need to be surgically removed.

 

[SQ8]

then, of course, this independence non-sense is nothing more than a personal vendetta to usurp power, like it always has been.
This independence movement has no Gandhi or Jinnah, Nehru or Iqbal.

One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland -- and no other.
Émile Cioran

 

[Samandri]

I'm from the same background .. But il be honest... Things change .. Your Panjab had the Chaudhry or Rana system... The Pashtuns had Khan system.. The Sindhis had Wadera system ... These things didn't change over night... Development and education did!


Also not every Chief is against development most want development... You mention that it was insurgency that halted the development ... Well insurgency only started after 2004-5... What was the govt doing before? .. Leave that... Although Baloch belt us poorer... What development has the govt done in the peaceful Pashtun belt of Balochistan? Even the FUKIN trees and orchards are dying due to shortage of water in the areas which were famous for grapes and apples?

The reality is that the govt neglect us... We were alienated by the govt!

We Pashtuns do not have "Khan System", we have tribal councils at village level headed by a Malik and there are hundreds of such Maliks in each tribe. The qaumi issues, salisi etc is done by a jirga, the power doesnt reside with a Malik. In circular jirga, each one calling himself Pashtun, has same weight as others. Malik is respectable but lacks the authority of ruling over other families. In Pashtun society , a vegetable-seller would challenge a big-mustache Malik or Khan, if his honuour is put in question or tarnished. In my locality, a family of drivers, destroyed the Malik family of his village in the years long feud. The quarrel was over the land.

The "Khans" you are talking about, are the "Khan Bahadur" titles of British times and they only exist in some parts of KPK. They are wealthy landlords who acquired such jagirs by rendering military services to British. They again , are not like sardars of Balochs. They can not impose any thing on the population among which they reside. Some of them are holding Nawab titles e.g Nawabs of Tank, Jogezai nawabs etc

 

[Donatello]

One does not inhabit a country; one inhabits a language. That is our country, our fatherland -- and no other.
Émile Cioran

Yes, from the man who as at time impressed by Nazi politics and fascism.

 

[Post Colonnial]

one has to wonder, what kind of honour and pride these guys are talking about when they bought and sold for motor bikes, perfumes and cigarettes.

"We Baloch are a proud people, and for decades the state spat on our pride with its behavior," he said to explain his eagerness to fight.

"After being seduced by violent separatist groups fighting for independence, over the last three months some 500 fellow fighters have been beguiled by the government with gifts of cigarettes, perfume and the official promise of amnesty."

I guess ISI is getting paid back in its own currency.

 

[dravidianhero]

Is Baluchistan somewhat like our northeastern states which are located on high hills or some unfriendly terrain which makes it's difficult for the govt to lay roads and build industries,schools and hospitals.If so we can't really blame pakistani govt completely...if not it's better for baloch to break up with Pakistan.

 

[Sunan]

Alll these policies are made by army which paying off

Nonsense!! Big step was taken by PM nawaz sharif when he gave a right to balouch nationalists to govern balouchistan despite the Majority.

 

[dravidianhero]

Just read now that balochistan is very rich in natural gas ...Pakistan should give their due share and work at a fast pace to develop that area..nicely sucking their resources by ignoring their plight..a hall mark of a feudal society.

 

[SQ8]

Yes, from the man who as at time impressed by Nazi politics and fascism.

But his observations were not without merit either. As Europe has been through similar linguistic and ethnic divides as we are undergoing.

 

[Donatello]

But his observations were not without merit either. As Europe has been through similar linguistic and ethnic divides as we are undergoing.

We're not undergoing linguistic divides......we always had them and will have them until our HDI starts to near that of Norway. For that to happen, you'll need to either miraculously industrialize in a short span so that people actually have real work to do or keep dividing the nation further and further until each one of them is stable.
Similar to how Europe got organized and reorganized repeatedly over the past 400 years. From one empire/kingdom to another.....but it wasn't bloodless.....from industrialization to war to World Wars and then oppression and fascism....then communism.

The same is the case in India or Africa. Because it has just been over half a century since you got rid of the occupying superior white race, naturally, the more abundant ethnicity will impose it's presence on the lesser one.

For Pakistan, that is the obviously Punjabi dominated nation over the minority Baloch.

Remember, India just spun off Telangana from Andhra Pradesh......and this is in a nation that claims to be the world's largest democracy, one of the most stable and prides itself on being secular. So why keep diving further?

The real issue with Balochistan, is then, not if it should gain independence from Pakistan, but rather what is it going to do once it does? Will Kalat move away from Makran? Gwader away from Las Bela?

No one seems to answer what the Baloch plan on doing after the independence. Do you really want an uncertain state next to you? I don't think so.