The imprisoned chief organiser of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Dr Mahrang Baloch, has said that the alleged involvement of former Afghan military personnel alongside Pakistani forces in Balochistan is a matter of serious concern and could threaten the historical relationship between the Baloch and Afghan peoples.
In a statement issued from Hudda Jail, Dr Mahrang said relations between the Baloch and Afghan nations were not merely ties between two neighbouring regions, but a “historical, civilisational and human bond” spanning centuries.
She said both peoples had shared each other’s grief and happiness, given refuge to one another and maintained relations based on mutual respect, brotherhood and shared historical experience.
“Throughout this historical journey, the Baloch and Afghan people have never chosen to stand against each other in the interests of any imperial power or external force,” she said, adding that the relationship had remained rooted in “mutual trust, respect and shared historical experiences”.
Dr Mahrang said a “troubling and regrettable” situation was now emerging in Balochistan, where reports had surfaced over the past few months that some individuals associated with Afghanistan’s former military were taking part in military operations and abuses alongside Pakistani forces.
She said such reports had created “intense resentment, grief and concern” among the Baloch people.
Dr Mahrang said local people in several areas of Balochistan had seen individuals belonging to Afghanistan’s former military operating alongside Pakistani forces during what she described as military aggression and brutality.
She said former Afghan military personnel were involved in operations in Zehri and other areas. In Mastung, she added, residents had complained that such personnel, with the backing of the Pakistani military, had occupied a school and established a camp there.
Addressing the leadership of Afghanistan’s former government, Dr Mahrang said the issue could not be ignored.
“History sometimes brings such tests in which silence also becomes a position,” she said. “If today your people are becoming involved in oppression and repression against the Baloch people in exchange for minor interests, privileges or refuge, then this is not only an act against the Baloch, but is also contrary to the historical traditions and dignity of the Afghan nation.”
Dr Mahrang said the Afghan people had themselves passed through a long history of war, oppression, displacement and bloodshed and therefore understood the pain caused when mothers are deprived of their sons, when children lose their future to violence and when fear is used to suppress the collective existence of a people.
She added that individuals being used against the Baloch people for temporary protection or material benefit should consider how their actions would be judged in the future.
Dr Mahrang urged Afghanistan’s former political leadership to investigate the allegations and prevent former military personnel from participating in what she described as the “genocide of the Baloch people”.
“The historical bond between the Baloch and Afghan nations is based on mutual respect, brotherhood and shared struggle,” she said. “This relationship should not be sacrificed to any state project, any temporary interest or any provisional political arrangement.”
“No such dark stain should be placed on this history that would become a cause of shame for future generations,” she added.
She said Afghan leaders had a moral and historical responsibility to prevent their people from being used in actions against the Baloch and to preserve the centuries-old relationship of trust between the two nations.