Author: Fatima Baloch
A conscious man with a definitive purpose can go through every limit to accomplish his goal. And historically, the uniqueness of that person partly comes from his actions related to his ideology; he finds his own strength and defines his capabilities. The man who left himself, his family, his career, and his luxurious life just for his ideology and was willing to sacrifice his life but still didn’t get satisfied, even though it was a minor thing for him to take his life for the cause by his own hands, is the man who really makes history.
These peculiar people on Baloch land also have a strong foothold in the ideology of Baloch nationalism. At the same time, they defined themselves in history on the basis of their level of commitment to the Baloch national movement. They are the people who really kept the history of the Baloch nation alive.
Balochistan is that strategic region; the world wanted to capture it through violence, but Baloch sons responded to colonial violence with action in every era and have always renewed Baloch history.
This is why the history of Baloch martyrdom does not begin and end with Mir Mehrab Khan’s sacrifices; Baloch history makes it standard at all times, such as in the case of those Baloch who defended the Khan of Kalat. According to history, the Baloch gave their lives but never their motherland.
Instead of surrendering to invaders in 1939, Kalat state ruler Mir Mehrab Khan fought British troops. Mir Mehrab Khan knew his army was weaker in the face of the British force, but he wanted to establish a resistance legacy for the Baloch nation, and today the Baloch nation is continuing the resistance started by Mir Mehrab Khan, as well as Mir Mehrab Khan’s actions, which never let the Baloch step back and have made Balochistan the land of resistance, where the Baloch have been struggling for their self-determination.
On March 27, 1948, the Pakistani state attacked and forcefully annexed the sovereign Baloch state at gunpoint. Since the occupation of Baluchistan at the hand of Pakistan, the Baloch nation has been following the example of Mir Mehrab Khan and resisting with new policies and strategies and setting different criteria for this resistance for the protection of Baloch land. Thousands of Baloch sons embraced martyrdom for the sake of independence. Babu Noroz Khan lost his sons in the way of resistance, and Chamalang became the bloodiest area where thousands of Baloch were forced to leave their land but never accepted slavery.
However, the new ongoing insurgency in Balochistan, which was started two decades ago, is said to be the most powerful. Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti, an 80-year-old Bugti tribe chieftain, went to the mountains for national freedom and devoted his life, along with many others. Martyr Balach Marri (son of Nawab KhairBakshh Marri) embraced martyrdom during resistance; Chairman Ghulam Mohammad, the leader of mass mobilisation (who was also the chairman of BNM at the time), was abducted and detained; his body was discovered on April 9, 2009. Despite threats and previous detentions, he fulfilled the needs of the Baloch national struggle and continued to mobilise the masses till his last breath. After his abduction, the process of enforced disappearances has become a tradition for Pakistani forces, and ground politics have become tough, but Baloch continues his struggle on the ground against Pakistan.
Commander Ustad Aslam Baloch changed the Baloch movement’s strategy by naming his son the self-sacrificing Fidae and launching a series of massive attacks. Since 2018, many attacks have been carried out by the Majeed Brigade wing of the BLA. These different attacks have highlighted the Baloch insurgency and the institutional strength of the Baloch national movement. It’s important to mention Banuk Karima (former chairperson of BSO Azad), Sajid Hussain (a Balochistan journalist), and Saqib Karim (a Baloch political activist) who left Balochistan to continue their politics but were martyred even in foreign countries.
Fidae Shaari Baloch conducted a suicide attack on the director of the Chinese Confucius Institute at Karachi University, which took the Baloch movement to another level.
Indiscriminate bombing, tactics of “divide and rule,” exploitation, deprivations, enforced disappearances, and fake encounters couldn’t weaken the Baloch movement. Baloch have never accepted Pakistani slavery but have instead rewritten history by shedding their blood in protest of the occupation. Mir Mehrab Khan and other Baloch martyrs will remain alive in the golden pages of Baloch history for their bravery and commitment to their motherland.
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.