Is militancy the only way?
Nohan Zainudini
The Balochistan Post
As helicopters buzz over Balochistan and soldiers march in unity throughout Eastern Balochistan, leaving behind them a trail of burning fields, dead livestock and executed civilians, it is easily assumed that as a Baloch, it is ones duty to dedicate one’s life to destroying this Islamic Republic, which has caused us so much grief.
Surely, as the CPEC line is being built across our ancient homeland, guaranteeing a future in which Balochistan will be, on purpose, colonized by millions of settlers, it is easy for us to despair. And as Pakistan leaves Baloch undernourished, and plagued by the early death of our children, the feeling, that we Baloch must do everything in our power to destroy the Pakistani state, looms closely to our every thought.
But is this the way we must take? I would never dare to deny, that those Baloch whose villages are attacked by Pakistani forces, have the right to pick up the guns of their ancestors and protect their families. But is general militancy, and I mean militancy amongst us activists in Europe and influential Baloch Politicians – is that the only way we can take, in order to ensure that our ethnic diaspora is not killed off, and thrown out into the Arabian Sea?
I would dare argue, that as Pakistan has put its roots into our homelands, whether we like it or not, this means that our fate is inexorably intertwined with the fate of this nation to which we have dedicated so much grief in our music, poetry and paintings. In other words, not only do we have, as an oppressed people of Pakistan, an enormous potential influence in international arenas as to how the country’s future will be made, but further, our lives are interconnected with those of the rest of the Pakistani population.
For certainly, if the militant part of the Baloch mind, urging us to destroy this country, actually manages to manifest itself in the real world, and we do manage to bring about the Pakistani civil war necessary for us to gain our independence through wars – if this does happen, will not catastrophic consequences come our way?
Certainly it did, when Bangladesh finally found itself in the militant chaos necessary for India to finance their independence struggle – millions dead, and endless thousands of women raped, are a testament to this. And even then, the Bengali population numbered at the tens of millions, equal to the rest of Pakistan, which ensured that, despite the severe atrocities they had to suffer, their ethnicity could remain intact. I highly doubt that the same could be said for us Baloch, whom number not more than 30 million, out of which only ~12-15 million still speak our native tongue.
Not even to mention whether or not us politically involved Baloch have the right to instigate a civil war in which millions of Baloch, far distant from many of us, will die, but is it guaranteed that our people can survive such a catastrophe? My elders have argued that it is enough for just a few Baloch to survive in an independent Balochistan, that it will be enough for our people to reach back to our previous strength, and to then make our place in the world. That may very well be so. But what will such an attitude, and the actual occurrence of such an event, do to the mentality of our people?
Do we truly want a future, independent Balochistan, where the students of our nation, studying the roots of our history, and in this process forming their national mentality – do we want them, to read back and be inspired by a Balochistan which was unwilling to forego any peaceful option and which instead threw millions of their own into the meat grinders of middle-eastern warfare? Will this have any effect, but to ensure that Balochistan becomes only one more addition to the plethora of ignorant, bloodthirsty nations whom already litter the Middle-Eastern region?
Or do we want our descendants to read, and feel a rise in their spirits, when reading about how their ancestors, though they defended themselves when directly attacked by the Pakistani military, and destroyed those outposts from which genocide was carried, chose the way of peace and development to the greatest degree that they could? Surely, this would create for a Balochistan which would fill the idealistic criteria for which we Baloch all hope attain; an independent, strong, yet fair, and diplomatic Balochistan, a buffer zone between the largest, and most politically important countries in the world – China, India, Iran and Afghanistan -, which similar to Switzerland or Sweden, stands as a beacon of friendship, education and trade?
I can’t read into the minds of other Baloch, but I can tell the reader that this is the Balochistan for which I fight, as it would be, and will be, the nation which helps bring the Middle East out of its dark age, and into its own period of Enlightenment. And necessarily, as we can surmise out of this logic, that militancy, only being justified in self-defense, is not the way for Baloch-politicians, activists and idealists as whole, but instead, that an embrace of the peaceful ideals espoused by some of the most influential persons in our history, such as the Prophet Mohammed, is the way in which we will create a Balochistan which is worth fighting, and even dying, for – as we reach this conclusion, I believe it follows, that it is our duty to adopt a wider, and higher, sense of spirit, when engaging in Baloch politics.
For as we are inexorably intertwined with Pakistan, whether we like it or not, does this not mean that, in the foreseeable future, the well-being and development of Pakistan, is the well-being and development of Balochistan? For surely, we Baloch are not the only population consisting of an endless sea of enlightened people, striving for secularism and democracy, in the nation of Pakistan? I would rather expect that we have thousands of allies in freedom throughout the Sindhi, Pashtun, yes, even Punjab, populations throughout the Islamic Republic.
It could indeed be argued that a majority, be it vast or bare, of Pakistanis wish for a liberation from the bloody talons of the Pakistani military, under which we have all suffered, though be it to varying degrees. Does it not then follow, that we Baloch would gain from, not only allying ourselves with the other populations of Pakistan in a militant, self-defensive sense, but also as comrades in democracy? Surely, we could together, more effectively than alone, turn Pakistan into the democratic nation necessary for our ethnicities to be freed from malnourishment, early death, and military oppression.
This means, then, that as Baloch, who are interested in ensuring the prosperity of our people, we have a duty to unite ourselves with the rest of the people in Pakistan who have an interest in freedom and secularism, and to create the foundation upon which we can all strive to reach the ideals for which so many Baloch Sarmachars have fallen.
I believe, that this does not contradict the Baloch will for independence, for many signs indicate that the vast majority of Baloch wish for it, but only that, rather than throwing our lives away in an apocalyptic Pakistani civil war, we may instead strive to, while still defending our people from the military, build a democratic Pakistan, in which we will be able to gain our independence by democratic means, similar to how European countries allow for such referendums. Because is not the goal of us Baloch to ensure the survival of our infinitely beautiful culture, and by association, the people of our ethnicity themselves?
If the answer is yes, which I, as a proud Baloch believe, then it necessarily means that we must choose the way forward in which we will ensure the survival of the maximum amount of our brethren. It may be difficult, and I may be overly idealistic, but I truly believe, that this way is in its clearest, most divine form, in the path of co-operation with the rest of the democratic peoples of Pakistan.
Only when we have helped democratize Pakistan, by urging the US to, rather than bombing its citizens, influence it towards freedom, and by encouraging the nations of the world to have patience with this volatile nation, and to befriend it through trade-agreements, which will help strengthen the economy and create the prosperity upon which democracy can grow – only through this way, do I believe that we can create the properly moral foundation, upon which a modern, humane and progressive Balochistan can be born.
This does not mean that the contemporary Baloch should accept domination by the Pakistani military, for that would be utterly unacceptable, but that, alongside a resistance against the genocidal intents of Pakistani generals, we, who have the resources, must also espouse the path towards alliance with the rest of Pakistan, and towards the development of the Pakistani nation as whole, as the best way towards gaining the independence of our people in a civilized, and respectable manner.
Rather than gaining independence by destroying Pakistan, and in the process killing millions of Baloch, Sindhi, Punjab and Pashtuns, and through this initiating another cycle of ethnic hate, we must instead help Pakistan become the democratic nation in which we Baloch will be able to openly have a referendum on our independence, and have this referendum be respected by the remaining Pakistani population, who will be influenced by thoughts of democracy and freedom, rather than extremism, fueled by ethnic tension and starvation.
I believe that the way of peace, combined with self-defense, is how we will create the best possible form of Balochistan.
The Author is a Blogger at The Times of Israel and founder of the Organization of Baloch Youth in Europe. He is a student at Stockholm University, Sweden.
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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.