By Zehan Bolani
In the ongoing war in Balochistan, I find myself standing or perhaps sitting among the spectators. At the same time, I am also a victim. As a spectator, I constantly observe the war unfolding in Balochistan. As a victim, I experience a state of deep despair. Occasionally, I imagine myself as a warrior transcending the roles of both spectator and victim. In truth, I am merely a sleepwalker, unaware of what is truly happening around me.
Ah, I nearly forgot to mention: Balochistan is at war. This is a war between the Baloch and the Punjabis. The Punjabi establishment is attempting to consolidate its dominance over the region, particularly in Balochistan. The Punjabi wields shadowy power through the apparatus of the state: a state called Pakistan. In essence, Punjab has renamed its power structure as Pakistan. Within this structure, Punjab is the ultimate decision-maker, and state resources lie firmly in Punjabi hands. Pakistan is, in essence, a political façade behind which Punjab sits atop the hierarchy of power.
Let me frame this in colonial terms: Pakistan functions as a colonial power; Punjab is the colonizer; and the Punjabi, the colonialist. The Punjabi has colonized the Baloch, the Sindhi, and the Pashtun. The Baloch are waging a war of liberation against their colonizer. The colonizer is Punjab, for it holds the reins of colonial power.
In Balochistan, the Punjabi is neither a mere government official nor a laborer; he is a colonizer. According to every definition of colonialism, especially settler colonialism, the Punjabi fits the role of a settler, endeavoring to implant Punjab into Baloch land, and to alienate the Baloch from their own territory. Every colonial power relies on three foundational pillars to entrench itself on foreign soil. Likewise, Punjab is asserting its colonial dominance in Balochistan through these same three elements: Subjugation (Slavery), Exploitation, and Genocide. These elements are intrinsic to settler colonialism. Punjab is not inventing a new system, but replicating the age-old strategies of colonial conquest.
Punjab is subjugating Balochistan, here, subjugation refers to the use of force to make Balochistan a subordinate entity. Punjab was not welcomed into Balochistan; it occupied it. No people willingly surrender their land to outsiders. The Baloch did not hand over their land to Punjab; rather, the Punjabi came with guns, tanks, and violence, like invaders occupying Balochistan.
The second element is exploitation. It is well known that Punjab exploits the natural resources of Balochistan—its land and its sea. Who benefits from Balochistan’s gas? Punjab does. Who signed agreements with the Chinese to extract gold from Saindak, and with Canadian firms to mine rare earth minerals from Reko Diq? Punjab did. Who permits Chinese and other regional powers to operate along Balochistan’s coast? The Punjabi colonizer grants these permissions. The resources lie within Baloch land and sea, yet the Baloch are alienated from them by the Punjabi colonialist.
Genocide is the third element of Punjabi settler colonialism. Punjab is actively attempting to erase the Baloch presence from the region. Every Baloch knows that Punjab has unleashed its militant colonial machinery, comprising the Army, FC, CTD, ISI, MI, Special Branch, and others, to abduct, torture, disappear, murder, and dump the bodies of Baloch. The Baloch genocide is an integral part of Punjab’s colonial agenda. Almost every Punjabi feels pride and pleasure from the disappearance, torture, and killing of Baloch people, carried out by their militant colonial forces. Recently, Baloch have been subjected to staged encounters with the enforcedly disappeared Baloch. To Baloch, there is no logic and law under Punjabi colonialism; law and logic only work for a Punjabi, not for a Baloch. Punjab designed a colonial machinery for the destruction of the Baloch.
Education is a tool of colonialism, which is used to normalize settler colonialism (Subjugation, Exploitation, and Genocide) in the minds of the colonized. But education for what? For whom? What purpose does it serve? Education, in this context, functions as a means to mold the colonized to fit within colonial institutions, to become part of the settler colonial administration. For example, an “educated” Baloch may join the colonial administration as an officer. He might proudly claim to be the best among the colonized (Baloch), but in reality, he is the worst; he becomes a facilitator of the colonial system, obedient only to his colonial master, Punjab.
Interestingly, Parliament resembles a circus, dancing to the rhythm of a drum beaten by Punjab. The Punjabi establishment skillfully constructs narratives and spread them through every instrument of the colonial apparatus inherited from the British Raj. Through control of media, bureaucracy, and military power, Punjab projects the illusion that there is no political problem within the framework of what may be termed Punjabi colonialism, embodied in the state of Pakistan.
Historically, the Punjabi ruling elite has propagated the claim that the unrest in Balochistan stems solely from three tribal chiefs (Sardars) Bugti, Mengal, and Marri; it is alleged that they are creating disturbance in merely two districts. These Sardars, according to the Punjabi narrative, are supported by foreign powers, namely the United States, Iran, and India, intent on destabilizing Pakistan. Punjab has repeatedly asserted that it is committed to creating space for development in Balochistan. They promise progress and prosperity for the Baloch people. However, they simultaneously accuse the same Sardars of obstructing this development, framing them as internal enemies, agents of foreign agendas, and as tribal remnants resisting modernization. The Sardars are vilified as regressive forces—tribal chieftains who, according to Punjabi discourse, Nawabs and Sardars deliberately keep the Baloch masses backwards and oppose the Pakistani interest. This narrative reduces legitimate political grievances to the machinations of a few tribal figures, thus dismissing the broader Baloch struggle as illegitimate.
Ironically, when one hears Punjabis speak of Balochistan, they often present themselves as benevolent elder brothers, claiming to safeguard the future of the Baloch people. Recently, however, the narrative has shifted toward portraying the Baloch resistance not as a legitimate movement for liberation, but as a proxy war, allegedly orchestrated by the enemies of Pakistan, and more specifically, of Punjabi hegemony. These narratives are nothing more than colonial rhetoric, deployed to obscure the realities of Punjabi domination and maintain the colonial project in Balochistan. Such discourses aim to legitimize the political and economic control of Punjab over the Baloch land.
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.