It is a revolt in Balochistan not an insurgency

After the first period of insurgency, the Baloch launched a rebellion against the state three times in 1958, 1963-69, and 1973-77 respectively.

Today Balochistan is bleeding. It is Pakistan, whose lamp was meant to illuminate Balochistan but eventually set the region on fire.

Since Balochistan's annexation with Pakistan on Mar 27, 1948, by force, the province entered into the fifth curvature of insurgency from 1948 till date. In political parlance,the ongoing Baloch movement for fundamental rights is called a revolution but Pakistan termed the Baloch struggle as an insurgent group in a civilized society.

There are many factors that led Baloch to revolt against Pakistan for socio-economic problems, the weak financial position, education, infrastructure, medical facilities, and so on, created an inferiority complex among the youth of Balochistan.

In Balochistan, each cycle of violence, is different in range and scale, since its eruption in 1948. After the first period of insurgency, the Baloch launched a rebellion against the state three times in 1958, 1963-69, and 1973-77 respectively.

The fifth phase of the struggle against the Pakistan state began in 2003, with small guerrilla attacks by autonomy-seeking Baloch groups who over the years have become separatists in ideology. This wave of the fight is mainly focused on the Chinese megaprojects China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) that runs from Xinjiang province in China to Gwadar port in Balochistan. The region understands that foreign investments as a threat to their economy, environment, demography, and importantly their ethnic identity. Baloch separatists have staged violent attacks in recent times, which created a precarious security situation for developing large infrastructure projects of China in the region. Balochistan has witnessed many hollow promises in the past and that continues. The CPEC project was considered a 'game changer' for the province but has failed to give an economic boost in the region.. According to Pakistan National Human Development Report (2020), the per capita income in Balochistan has decreased by 7 percent in the last two decades.

Enriched with natural resources Balochistan area wise is one of the largest provinces of Pakistan. The region produces over 40% of Pakistan's total gas production,besides being gifted with copper gold, and petroleum reserves. Balochistan Chief Minister Mir Abdul Qudoos Bizenjo has said that Rs 40 billion was outstanding against the federal government on account of gas royalty and that had not been paid to the provincial government so far. "We prepared our Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) expecting to receive Rs 45 billion from the federal government, but we were not given even 10 percent of our share in the National Financial Commission (NFC) Award," the chief minister said.

With the massive destruction caused by rains and floods recently in the province, the provincial government provided Rs 8 billion for relief and rehabilitation of affected people from its own resources while it had received no assistance from the federal government under this head so far

In a report released by the United Nations Satellite Centre an estimated eight million people are still potentially exposed to flood waters or living close to flooded areas in 11 districts of Sindh and two districts of Balochistan. According to WHO, Pakistan is among the top 10 countries in the world with a large pool of unvaccinated or under-vaccinated children and is home to more than 600,000 children who have not received a single vaccine dose. The food security situation of an estimated additional 1.1 million people is deteriorating and is forecast to fall into the emergency food security phase between January and March 2023.

The rebellion movement in Balochistan started immediately after the princely state of Kalat, part of today's Baloch wanted to remain independent, but to Pakistan forced Ahmed Yar Khan, of Kalat to sign the instrument of accession. Later his brother Abdul Karim Baloch refused to surrender and revolted until his arrest in 1950. Balochistan was put under Governor General Control and no elective body was formed in Balochistan until 1973.

Since Balochistan province was incorporated into Pakistan, the Army had a heavy presence there. Besides a large number of military outposts, the Pakistani used its force to suppress regional resistance groups, resulting in extensive violence, human rights violations, mass internal displacement, and the deaths of hundreds of civilians and armed personnel.

MAIN BALOCH SEPARATIST GROUPS

BALOCH LIBERATION ARMY (BLA)

The BLA is a Baloch separatist group currently led by Hyrbyair Marri /.The BLA was founded in 2000, and targets security forces and civilians, demanding the separation of Balochistan from Pakistan

UNITED BALOCH ARMY (UBA)

UBA is a Baloch separatist group currently led by Mehran Marri, the brother of Hyrbyair Marri who leads BLA. The group was created as a result of a dispute between the brothers, leading to Mehran's separation from BLA

BALOCH LIBERATION FRONT (BLF)

The BLF is a Baloch separatist group currently led by Allah Nazar Baloch. BLF was founded in Syria in 1964, and has historically been involved in Baloch insurgencies in Iran and Pakistan. BLF is currently battling the government of Pakistan for an independent Balochistan state

BALOCH REPUBLICAN ARMY (BRA)

The BRA is a Baloch separatist group founded in 2006 and currently led by Brahumdagh Bugti. The BRA is predominantly composed of members of the Bugti tribe, and targets security forces and civilians. They are opposed to central government control of provincial resources, and are against foreign investment in the region
Baloch Raaji Ajoi Sangar (BRAS) The BRAS is an alliance between BRA, BLF, and BLA formed in 2018

Since the elite of the region control most of our resources, they aren't interested in economic growth. Their preoccupation is with maintaining their lion's share of the pie. The main culprits are the lords (Sardar) who never ever took interest in the development of Balochistan despite taking control of the governments. In various eras, Bugti, Mengal, Murree, and other prominent Baloch lords ruled the province but no progress has been noticed toward the improvement of the life of the common man. So-called Baloch lords only used to make money in the name of various development projects. In this regard, the federal and provincial governments in present or in the past were also responsible because they never checked whether the lords had expended the allotted funds on the development projects or not. Late Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto abolished the Lord System in Balochistan. But the termination of the lord system was against the wishes of the Baloch lords, thus they started an arms struggle in the province. Anyhow, the same rebellion movement was suppressed forcefully by the government.

The irony of the region is that the mainstream Baloch politicians strive for greater autonomy and control over resources. At the same time, armed separatist groups demand full independence for the province. Various separatist groups have been battling Pakistani security forces since 1948 in the longest-running insurgency in the country. The rise in events has been preceded by greater unity among Baloch separatist groups, the formation of trans-province alliances between Baloch separatist groups and other separatist groups, and increased exploitation and repression of Baloch civilians by Pakistan's military during security operations in Balochistan.

(R C Ganjoo is a senior journalist and columnist having more than 30 years experience of covering issues concerning national security, particularly Kashmir. He has worked with several prominent media groups and his articles have been published in many national and international publications.)

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