The
Khan of Kalat, Ahmed Yaar Khan chose independence as this was one of the options given to all of the 535
princely states by
Clement Attlee.
[35]
Shortly after
Pakistan's independence in 1947, the
Pakistan Army began operations to subdue
Kalat-based insurgents who had rejected the King of Kalat's decision to accede to Pakistan.
These are the List of conflicts in Baluchistan.
First conflict 1948[edit]
Balochistan consisted of four
princely states under the British Raj. Three of these,
Makran,
Las Bela and
Kharan willingly joined with Pakistan in 1947 after
independence.
[34]
The
Khan of Kalat, Ahmed Yaar Khan chose independence as this was one of the options given to all of the 535
princely states by
Clement Attlee.
[35]
Shortly after
Pakistan's independence in 1947, the
Pakistan Army began operations to subdue
Kalat-based insurgents who had rejected the King of Kalat's decision to accede to Pakistan.
Second conflict 1958–59[edit]
Nawab Nowroz Khan took up arms in resistance to the
One Unit policy, which decreased government representation for tribal leaders. He and his followers started a guerrilla war against Pakistan, and were arrested, charged with treason, and imprisoned in
Hyderabad. Five of his family members (sons and nephews) were subsequently hanged under charges of treason and aiding in the murder of Pakistani troops. Nawab Nowroz Khan later died in captivity.
[36]
Third conflict 1963–69[edit]
After the second conflict, a Baloch separatist movement gained momentum in the 1960s, following the introduction of a new constitution which limited provincial autonomy and enacted the '
One Unit' concept of political organization in Pakistan. Tension continued to grow amid consistent political disorder and instability at the federal level. The federal government tasked the Pakistan Army with building several new bases in key areas of Balochistan. Sher Muhammad Bijrani Marri led like-minded militants into guerrilla warfare by creating their own insurgent bases, spread out over 45,000 miles (72,000 km) of land, from the
Mengal tribal area in the south to the
Marri and
Bugti tribal areas in the north. Their goal was to force Pakistan to share revenue generated from the
Sui gas fields with the tribal leaders. The insurgents bombed railway tracks and ambushed convoys. The Army retaliated by destroying vast areas of the Marri tribe's land. This insurgency ended in 1969, with the Baloch separatists agreeing to a ceasefire. In 1970 Pakistani President
Yahya Khan abolished the "One Unit" policy,
[37] which led to the recognition of Balochistan as the fourth province of West Pakistan (present-day Pakistan), including all the Balochistani princely states, the High Commissioners Province, and
Gwadar, an 800 km2 coastal area purchased from Oman by the Pakistani government.
Fourth conflict 1973–77[edit]
For more details on this topic, see
Baloch Insurgency and Rahimuddin's Stabilization.
The unrest continued into the 1970s, culminating in a government-ordered
military operation in the region in 1973.
In 1973, citing treason, President Bhutto dismissed the provincial governments of Balochistan and NWFP and imposed martial law in those areas,
[38] which led to armed insurgency.
Khair Bakhsh Marri formed the
Balochistan People’s Liberation Front (BPLF), which led large numbers of Marri and Mengal tribesmen into guerrilla warfare against the central government.
[39]According to some authors, the Pakistani military lost 300 to 400 soldiers during the conflict with the Balochi separatists, while between 7,300 and 9,000 Balochi militants and civilians were killed.
[14]
Assisted by Iran, Pakistani forces inflicted heavy casualties on the separatists. The insurgency fell into decline after a return to the four-province structure and the abolishment of the Sardari system.
Fifth conflict 2004–to date[edit]
See also:
Sistan and Baluchestan insurgency
In 2005, the Baluch political leaders
Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti and
Mir Balach Marri presented a 15-point agenda to the Pakistan government. Their stated demands included greater control of the province's resources and a moratorium on the construction of military bases.
[40] On 15 December 2005 the inspector general of the
Frontier Corps, Major General Shujaat Zamir Dar, and his deputy Brigadier Salim Nawaz (the current IGFC) were wounded after shots were fired at their helicopter in Balochistan Province. The provincial interior secretary later said that, after visiting
Kohlu, "both of them were wounded in the leg but both are in stable condition."
[41]
In August 2006, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, 79 years old, was killed in fighting with the Pakistan Army, in which at least 60 Pakistani soldiers and 7 officers were also killed. Pakistan's government had charged him with responsibility of a series of deadly bomb blasts and a rocket attack on President Pervez Musharraf.
[42]
In April 2009,
Baloch National Movement president
Ghulam Mohammed Baloch and two other nationalist leaders (Lala Munir and Sher Muhammad) were seized from a small legal office and were allegedly "handcuffed, blindfolded and hustled into a waiting pickup truck which is in still [sic] use of intelligence forces in front of their lawyer and neighboring shopkeepers." The gunmen were allegedly speaking in Persian (a national language of neighbouring Afghanistan and Iran). Five days later, on 8 April, their bullet-riddled bodies were found in a commercial area. The BLA claimed Pakistani forces were behind the killings, though international experts have deemed it odd that the Pakistani forces would be careless enough to allow the bodies to be found so easily and "light Balochistan on fire" (Herald) if they were truly responsible.
[43] The discovery of the bodies sparked rioting and weeks of strikes, demonstrations, and civil resistance in cities and towns around Balochistan.
[44] (See
Turbat killings).
On 12 August 2009,
Khan of Kalat Mir Suleiman Dawood declared himself ruler of Balochistan and formally announced a Council for Independent Balochistan. The council's claimed domain includes
Sistan and Baluchestan Province, as well as Pakistani Balochistan, but does not include Afghan Baloch regions. The council claimed the allegiance of "all separatist leaders including Nawabzada Bramdagh Bugti." Suleiman Dawood stated that the UK had "a moral responsibility to raise the issue of Balochistan’s illegal occupation at international level."
[45]
The Economist writes:
"[The Baloch separatists] are supported—with money, influence or sympathy—by some members of the powerful Bugti tribe and by parts of the Baloch middle class. This makes today’s insurgency stronger than previous ones, but the separatists will nevertheless struggle to prevail over Pakistan’s huge army."
[25]
—
The Economist, April 2012
U.S.-based exiled Baloch journalist and newspaper editor
Malik Siraj Akbar writes that the ongoing Baloch resistance has created "serious challenges" for the Pakistan government, "unlike the past resistance movements", because it has lasted longer than previous insurgencies, has greater breadth -- including the entire province "from rural mountainous regions to the city centers", involves Baloch women and children at "regular protest rallies", and has drawn more international attention -- including a 2012 hearing by the U.S. Congress. Islamabad has accused its neighbor India of supporting the insurgency in Balochistan.
[21] However infighting between insurgent groups as of late 2014 has weakened the movement.
[21]
Dont lie to me. you have occupied a princely state by force. we have occupied a princely state by force. Violence is going on in your Princely state till. No violence in Hyderabad.
Both of us have done the same thing.
Kashmir is different from this.
