Pakistan | Baloch rebellion not over yet

This is a long-standing conflict, which shows no sign of abating. On the contrary. The events of the last few weeks tend to show that it is intensifying. Why is Balochistan (still) in crisis?

It is a remote province in the southwest of Pakistan. An arid region that is rarely talked about, except when it is the scene of separatist violence. However, this violence experienced a resurgence on August 25 and 26, when 70 people – including 23 civilians – were killed in a series of attacks on vehicles and infrastructure.

These raids, carried out by dozens of attackers, were claimed by the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a militia created in the early 2000s.

For the Pakistani government, the ALB is a terrorist organization, a status that would tend to be confirmed by the extreme violence of its actions. For its part, the ALB presents itself as a militant nationalist group, demanding more autonomy, even complete independence for Baluchistan, one of the four provinces of Pakistan. A long-standing struggle, accentuated by the feeling of inequality, the economic slump and the muscular repression of the central government.

What the Baloch Liberation Army is demanding

Bordered by Afghanistan and Iran, Balochistan is Pakistan’s largest province. It is also its poorest, although it is rich in oil, natural gas, copper and gold, natural resources on which the central government depends and which power the country.

The separatist rebels in Balochistan are demanding more control over these gas and mineral resources. In recent years, they have stepped up attacks on the central government and foreign companies, which they accuse of exploiting their territory (mines, port facilities or the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor currently under construction) without equitable redistribution of wealth. A deep resentment, which has led to the execution by the BLA of several foreign workers (notably Chinese) or Pakistanis from other provinces.

Economically marginalised, the Baloch say they are also politically marginalised, being under-represented and therefore not heard in the central parliament in Islamabad.

In early September, Baloch nationalist MP Sardar Akhtar Mengal resigned from office amid the current crisis, denouncing the democratic “blackout” suffered by Balochistan.

“This assembly does not listen to us. What is the point of sitting here? Our province has always been marginalised and ignored by this assembly… The lack of genuine representation of the people of Balochistan has prevented voices like mine from bringing about meaningful change,” he wrote in his resignation letter.

A changing movement

The Baloch nationalist movement is far from recent. Born in the wake of the partition of British India and the creation of Pakistan in 1947, resistance has been expressed chronically since then, without concrete results.

The ALB is now the most radical faction of this rebellion. But it is a “non-homogeneous” movement, insists Mahvish Ahmad, professor of politics and human rights at the London School of Economics, referring to the different factions that make it up, from the most moderate to the most extremist.

M^me Ahmad adds that the Baloch insurgency, originally led by tribal chiefs, has now spread to other strata of society, particularly in urban centres and the educated middle class, as well as to women, who are taking up the mantle of militancy.

Also noteworthy is the emergence of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which is becoming increasingly vocal in the public arena. This peaceful protest movement aims to raise awareness of the extrajudicial killings and “forced disappearances” of the Baloch ethnic group, which some activists have described as “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”

An army that leads large

It should be noted that the Pakistani army is carrying out a muscular repression in Baluchistan, conducted under the cover of the “war on terrorism”, launched after the attacks of September 11, 2001, in New York.

Although these operations were initially aimed at the Taliban and jihadists who had come from Afghanistan to take refuge in Quetta, the largest city in Baluchistan, they have since spread to Baluch independence fighters, who are paying the price for their convictions.

Although the numbers are difficult to validate, it is estimated that some 5,000 Baloch have died or disappeared since 2000. Among them is activist Karima Baloch, who fled Pakistan in 2016 to Canada. On December 22, 2020, her body was found in the waters of Lake Ontario in Toronto. Former Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Chris Alexander tweeted at the time that Karima Baloch’s death was “deeply suspicious” and that “every stone would have to be turned over” to find the truth. The case remains unsolved.

The failure of federalism

Pakistani authorities claim to have quelled the insurgency, but the Baloch “problem” appears far from resolved. It may even get worse, based on frictions in January between Iran and Pakistan, each accusing the other of hosting separatist bases.

“There will need to be a political solution,” said Mahvish Ahmad of the London School of Economics. “As a start, I think the Pakistani government could demilitarize, release individuals who have disappeared, and begin a process of truth and reconciliation. There is a need for real conversations and negotiations.”

With Agence France-Presse