Balochistan most ignored. Why?

Written by: Mandav Bugti

Many argue Balochistan is most ignored because the lives of people living there have no value, whatsoever, in the eyes of the so called human rights organisation. But that is of course, an emotional accusation. The real question however is; Is there any solid and practical role that the so-called Baloch freedom seekers in the Europe play to put Balochistan on the forefront of the issues discussed and solved internationally?”

I am not here to judge. I am here to put in words what I see, as an optimistic of an independent Balochistan, and go through some of the facts that put Balochistan in the category of the “most ignored” and why the Europe Baloch can be responsible for it.

Balochistan is currently seeing its fifth insurgency ever since it was merged into the Islamic state of Pakistan. Among the four of those insurgency, some went quite low in their movement & gradually silenced while the others faced failure or got suppressed.

Its a fact that the current Balochistan freedom movement is not anything like those before. This time, its not only Kalat, Kohlu or Dera Bugti, but it is the entire Balochistan that has wakened up to the fact that they are being enslaved. In Today’s Balochistan, there is not a single home that mourn for a beloved one, either killed or detained. There is not a single day that goes without more being killed or abducted. On the other hand, there is more people joining either the resistance or the political struggle of the Baloch. The credit to such a tremendous achievement and development, of course, goes to none other but Shaheed Nawab Akbar Bugti.

As the struggle grows its flowers, so grows with it more thorns. With more resistance comes more brutality. This time, We even have a greater of an aggressive Pakistan army than we had before. From operations to abductions and the kill and dump of freedom seekers, Pakistan army has left no stones unturned to wipe out the idea of an independent Balochistan. But for the time being, it has failed.

It has failed not because Baloch people are hard to fight. No, it has failed because the idea of an independent Balochistan can not be killed. As the saying goes “You can kill someone but you can not kill the idea that leads someone”. So the idea of an independent Balochistan has remained immortal even after the Baloch have lost many of the leaders who laid the foundation of that idea including Shaheed Nawab Akbar Bugti, Mir Balaach Marri and  Shaheed Ghulam Mohammad.

I am putting light to the history so that it may be clear to understand why we are the most ignored. I am not here to judge.

While we learn the current freedom movement, we should not shy away from dedicating the required, per say, compliment, to the Europe based Baloch people. They have highlighted and brought international attention to the Baloch cause than it had ever acquired before. People have finally figured out what the word Baloch or Balochistan mean, internationally.

However, the essence of the problem lays in that exact factor of “international attention.” Balochistan requires international attention now than ever before. Without the effort of the Baloch based in Europe, the international attention to Baloch issue is near to impossible. The question is, are we making the correct approach to international attention? Do we know how to use it? If we are not ignored, would that put us in one place?

If we had answered these questions a decade ago, we would have been on a new level by now. What is remained to be said is that “its better now than never.”

The main responsibility of internationally highlighting Balochistan and getting it out of the “most ignored” category lays on the shoulders of the Baloch abroad, In Europe, in particular. In the Europe are based the essence of human rights organizations. It is a place where one keeps his hopes up when he has lost all the other options.

And, its been almost a decade that Baloch people secured a good hold in the Europe. We have a fair number of Baloch activists living there. If they were to come together and put their efforts in one hand, they will get no less of international attention than any other global issue is getting. If they were not to point fingers at each other for this and that, we would not have Balochistan listed on the “most ignored” category.

If we were to move on from protests demonstrations to directly forming an exile government, our cause will gain much attention. Not only would we then be out of the “most ignored”, we would actually be on the forefront of the international attention. We would be more official. And that is possible if it is given much manly hours that we waste on arguing with each other on issues that can only be solved by official governments. For the time being, unity will play that role. Unity that we should form. Not the unity described by Qambar Bugti, a fellow writer, which everyone is “seen” working for, but not, in fact, working for it.

We have to be one and form a single entity, today or tomorrow, if we are dreaming of freedom. It does not just need to be dreamt of, it needs to be worked on. Freedom is not given, its earned. And there is nothing better than unity to earn that reward. So the first objective of the Europe based Baloch should be unity. Only then can Balochistan be pulled out of the “most ignored” category. Only then will our full and organized work will begin for an independent Balochistan.

We can not just say that Balochistan is most ignored without questioning the type and amount of work we dedicate to this journey. We simply need to do more, unitedly.

Mandav Bugti is a Freelance writer currently based in Egypt

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Balochistan Post or any of its editors.