The Enemy at the Gates: The Baloch Perspective

 

22nd August 2020

Photo credit: Arnica Kala / The Quint

By Archen Baloch

It suddenly emerged that China would pour a whopping amount of $ 400 billion into Iran for a 25 years’ strategic security and economic deal! This huge amount of money in the neighborhood is not only mouthwatering for the cash stripped Pakistan, but also it has raised security alarm for peaceful Gulf States, India, Israel America and the Baloch nation as well. The cash stripped Pakistan is now eyeing for a jackal’s share in this China-Iran-Nexus deal, despite the fact that it had already got its lion share from Belt and Road initiative of China in the form of China Pakistan Economic Corridor at the cost of Baloch blood.

 However, to win Iran’s confidence for the jackal’s share, Pakistan has now started to distance itself from Saudi Arabia by blaming it that it is not supporting Kashmir’s cause. In fact, for quite a time, Riyadh has been trying to keep Pakistan away from the Iranian sphere of influence by offering financial aids, which includes the recent $3.2 billion package to bail out Pakistan from the default which is still keeping Islamabad floating. However, China’s $400 billion’s deal with Iran hedged a new hope for Pakistan to turn a rebellious head towards Riyadh and its FM threatened to form another Muslim Ummah block out of OIC with Turkey, Malaysia and Iran if it failed to support its Kashmir cause.

Nonetheless, the tentacles of communist Chinese dragons have also reached fanatic Iran after Pakistan for a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership which is for sure is going against American strategic presence in the Arabian Gulf waters. It has now made the American presence in the Gulf all the more important than ever before, given the fact that Chinese aggressive posture and rapid advancement towards strategic locations of Balochistan’s waters and land (To Baloch, Balochistan is a single entity and Baloch nation don’t recognize the arbitrary border between Iran and Pakistan drawn by the occupying foreign forces).

In Baloch political circles, It is widely believed that China’s entrance into Balochistan entails a catastrophic demographical change for the Baloch nation on both sides of Eastern and Western Balochistan occupied by Pakistan and Iran respectively. The $400 billion are far more than enough to build a China-led security block consisting of Pakistan Iran, Turkey, and Russia, the harbinger of a gigantic shift of power imbalance in the Middle East for the peaceful Gulf States, Israel and India as well.

In this new scenario of West Asia’s geopolitical equation, Pakistan is the most distrusted mate, without Pakistan’ssupport, encouragement and nudge for wide a range of geopolitical considerations; China won’t have made it to dislodge India from Iran and didn’t breach the sanctions imposed by America. Many observers believe that this huge investment will surely reinvigorate Iran’s military mussels to wreak more havoc in the sphere of influence of Saudi Arabia.

What is next? National and regional security threats require permanent defensive fortification. The China Iran Nexus has emerged as a new permanent security threat to the peaceful Gulf States in the Middle East. Iran, under the current geographical order, whether ruled by fanatic Persian Mullah or Persian nationalist democrats or Persian King is either way, a permanent security threat to Gulf States’ stability. The history of the geopolitics of this abnormal country shows that hegemonic Persian nationalism never coexisted peacefully with its neighboring nations, Arabs, Kurds, and Baloch and other religious minorities.

The 14/9 Aramco oil attacks had badly wounded the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s pride as a prominent state of the Arab world, all it needed was to exact a befitting retaliation that could have settled the old and new scores with Iran which was believed to be behind the attacks on Aramco oil installations in Abqaiq. It was a rare opportunity that had just landed on the lap of Saudi and American leadership to put the genie of Iranian extremists in rest.

However, in terms of retaliation, nothing happened except some arguments, Kingdom’s possible war ally America had other strategic security priorities back then, on July 11, 2019, U.S. Army Gen. Mark Milley, to the Senate, rules out the probability of a war with Iran, saying that “the military is focused on a strategy of great-power competition with Russia and China”. “You mentioned war with Iran,” Milley said. “I don’t know that that would happen but if it did happen it would have a significant impact on the distribution of the force relative to those other priorities”.

The first shock that Trump’s announcement gave to the Middle East was that it would pull its troops from Syria’s north-south of the Kurdish region creating security Vacuum in the Middle East which gave Turkey a clean chit to cull the secular Kurds in the region. America failed the Kurds at a time when Iran was daring a challenge to the international community in international waters way of the Arabian Gulf. We cannot rule out the fact that American backtracking on Iranian blatant aggression on Aramco encouraged Turkey to attack the Kurds when it pulled its troops from northwestern Syria.

It means America had issued a clean chit at the time to Iran to wreak havoc in the Middle East with blanket impunity. The frustration was echoed by Dr. Ali Qureshi, an ex-Saudi army officer who tweeted that America was engaged in dialogue with Iran behind the scene, there is no possibility of America to take on Iran by offensive measures. 

Nevertheless, for all his bluster and backtrackings, President Trump is still obliged to listen to Saudi leadership for a military commitment to take on Iranian aggression for attacking Saudi Arabia. On a discounted moral ground, one needs to admit that when American sanctions provoke Iran into taking daring actions against vulnerable GCC states and their international assets, so what are then the American assurances and measures for safety and security to its allies, especially when one of its second strategic security competitors China has already arrived at the Gate of Gulf – Balochistan?

Balochistan, located at the tri-juncture of three major regions, serves as a bulwark against extremist groups and Iranian influence in the region. An independent Balochistan can play a super rule by becoming a key conduit in linking the Eurasian hinterland’s trade to Gulf ports; however, nothing can be done without the restoration of Balochistan’s independence back to 1928 and 1848 status. Baloch and Kurds are living on their lands but they’re being ruled by despotic Muslim aliens at gunpoint. Here comes the concept of power, whoever poses it would determine the fates, and power is what Baloch and Kurds lack.

Both Iran and Pakistan eulogize all good attributions of Muslim Umma and brotherhood to the world but wreak havoc across the globe to establish Caliphate in Muslim countries. Similarly, when the iron lid of their despotic dominancy over Balochistan and Kurdistanis removed, you will find nothing except the pestering wounds of Baloch and Kurds. If we closely study the attitude and their history of behavior with Baloch and Kurds – how they’ve been ruling Baloch and Kurds – we’ll find that these dominant nations are extremely ultra-nationalists, albeit they’ve succeeded in hiding their ultra-nationalism in the garb of Islam and pseudo federalism from the eyes of the international community with Iron-curtained media blackout. The illegal colonial rulers have forced Baloch and Kurds to suffer from political, cultural and economic hardship for no reason other than to dominate and exploit their natural resources!

A normalization process of relations between Israel and the Gulf States is underway in the Middle East which is largely believed to counter Iranian and Chinese expansionism in the region, it involves defensive fortification in the Gulf States, but the Iranian expansionist whim continues to remain permanent as usual in Middle Eastern Arab countries, for, almost all of these countries don’t have the required lever over Iran to control its destabilizing behavior in the region internally, except the Baloch, Kurds and Arab Al-Ahwaz cards, who’re persecuted on daily basis by the Persian mullah regime. But they’re left lurching alone.

We know that no neighboring Arab nation is happy with Iran and Pakistan for their war crimes against humanity in Balochistan because of the historical brotherly relationship between Baloch and the nations of the Gulf States. However, so far they’ve fastened their lips for some unreasonable reasons in the face of naked Iranian and Pakistani aggression against Baloch nation. Nonetheless, the Baloch nation is hoping that as a strong geopolitical leader of Arab countries, Saudi Arabia can see the light at the end of the tunnel extend its support to the Baloch nation for their liberation movement against illegal Iranian colonial rule over Balochistan.

As it is clearly stated in the US state’s foreign policy statement that “The PRC’s predatory world view has no place in the 21st century” however, the same predator is also looting and plundering Baloch natural resources without the consent of Baloch nation and Baloch are defenseless. 

Selling the ideas of federalism and democracy of western countries to Iran and Pakistan might be a rosy picture but the dominant Turks, Punjabis and Persians are extremely ultra-nationalists in their relationship with oppressed nations. These dominant nations have never bothered to set a precedent – a model of democracy – that might have guaranteed the fundamental rights of Baloch and Kurds as equal federating units. Rather, they’ve treated them as subjects instead of equal stockholders

The Western nations might find it cool that Muslim Persian daughters are wearing jeans beneath their Burkas and when the Burkas fall, a secular democracy will emerge out it, but alas, it is not the case, for Baloch and Kurds, as beneath their skins the relays the Persian ultra-nationalism which has been nurtured for centuries to subjugate Arab, Baloch and Kurds and loot their national resources in the name of federal Iran and Islam.

West, after its disengagement from the expeditions of conquering new territories after Second World War, is now afraid of a new order in the Middle East that they think that it might entail harmful consequences for their decaying old industry-based economies. Here I would like to quote my leader, Hyrbyair Marri who once said that West’s current lot of leadership has no vision and decision making will-power to review the current geopolitical order of Turkey Iran and Pakistan as to why they failed to deliver in term of peace and prosperity as member states of United Nations.

Finally, I would like to argue that given the current convulsions of the geopolitics of West, Asia and the constant new alignments of the forces in the region, Baloch and Kurds are finding it a window of hope that America and its allies including Europe, Gulf State, Israel, India and the Quad’s members will be convinced that the current geopolitical order of Pakistan, Turkey, Iran, Syria and Iraq have failed to deliver peace, stability and prosperity in the region and they’ve rather given rise to religious fundamentalism and extremism in the region. The secular Free Balochistan offers a lasting solution to the region’s security problems and plays a key role in bridging West Asia and South Asia to Central Asia for trade and commerce – as an alternative corridor to Belt and Road Initiative of China model.

https://balochwarna.com/2020/08/22/the-enemy-at-the-gate-the-baloch-perspective/

The Slogan of – Pakistan Quit Balochistan

By Archen Baloch

On 27th March 1948 Pakistan army invaded the sovereign state of Balochistan and forced the legitimate ruler, Khan of Kalat, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan to sign the merger agreement with Pakistan against the will of the Baloch nation. Baloch, under the leadership of Khan’s younger brother, Agha Abdul Kareem resisted this aggression but they were weak and the International community, especially the neighbouring countries, Afghanistan, Oman and India didn’t support them. The British Raj left Baloch at the mercy of religious Pakistan and in fact, British were instrumental in nudging and forcing Pakistan to occupy Balochistan.

Our weakness was that the British, under the divide and rule policy, had antagonized the heads of almost all tribes against the Khan of Kalat. This antagonism among Baloch tribes always rendered the federal character of Kalat extremely weak. The British Raj also never allowed Balochistan to have its own formal defence force, except a light levy force for collecting tax and serving as a police force for maintaining law and order. The control of British armed forces that were deployed in Balochistan was given to Pakistan instead of Balochistan at the time when the Raj departed theoretically from the region.

According to late Major Hayatan Shahmeer Mandesh’s historical accounts; “My elder brother, Hassan Shahmeer was working as a sepoy of levies force of Khan Kalat. He died at his earlier age and the levy force recruited me in place of him.

“I was underage at that time. After 18 days of my recruitment, the armed forces of British Raj from Soro Camp of Kalat, under the command of an English officer, came at our levy police station and told us that Balochistan had joined Pakistan, they burnt candlelight and lowered Balochistan’s Bairak (flag) of Khan Kalat and hoisted Pakistani flag. At that time we didn’t know what was going on, but later we learned that it was the invasion of Balochistan and the arrest of Khan Kalat. As we were of Khan of Kalat force, so the British forces were instructed to shoot to kill if the levy forces revolted against this order. Their fear was that we might revolt the capture of Kalat, so they were highly alert even to the level of shooting us dead.”

When Khan of Kalat was asked by M A Jinnah to Join Pakistan, he said he would ask the consent of bicameral parliament of Kalat federation, the overwhelming majority refused the idea of joining Pakistan just because of being Muslim state nation. At the joint session of the bicameral parliament, Mir Gaus Bakhsh Bezanjo, the leader of House of Common read out the resolution: “We are Muslim but it didn’t mean, necessarily, to lose our independent and merge in another nation just because of our Muslim faith. If our accession into Pakistan is necessary, being Muslim, then Muslim states of Afghanistan and Iran should also merge with Pakistan.”

The current national movement for the liberation of Balochistan is the succession of the past movements for independence, and it was launched in 1996 by patriotic Baloch national leader Hyrbyair Marri, the head of Free Balochistan Movement. The principle slogan of FBM party is to force Pakistan to quit Balochistan; it is to represent the popular demand of the sacrifices that Baloch nation offered and still offering over the years for the liberation movement of our motherland, Balochistan.

The overriding ideology for liberty from Pakistani and Iranian colonial rule is based on nationalistic patriotism believing in democratic values and universalism, However, the dynamics surrounding Baloch patriotism – that Pakistani military establishment feels could be the reasons of Pakistan’s disintegration – is the potential prospect of Indian and Afghan’s support to Balochistan’s liberation movement straddling across Durand line and Gold Smith line. Punjab’s national interests are at the heart of entire bloodbath in Afghanistan, Balochistan and Indian Kashmir.

So, as long as Balochistan is under Pakistani colonial rule, it continues to use religion as an ideological organ to dilute/blunt Baloch national patriotism, and of course, we must understand that Jihadi concept of Islam is at the core of their strategy to overshadow the force of Baloch national identity. Baloch nationalism is the antidote of the poisons of religious hatred and extremism.

Substantive problem on the agenda of major world powers now is to rid the world of Islamic religious terrorism. It is not the religious terrorism; the fact it is the existential fear of unnatural states like Pakistan Iran and Turkey who use the religion of Islam in order to save their colonial rules from the just struggle of oppressed nationalities.

At the confluence of two common interests -Baloch want to restore their lost sovereignty and western powers want to get rid of religious extremism- so they need to discuss the overriding need for a common strategy how to defeat the negative forces and put a new order with the strategic restoration of Baloch sovereignty in order to ward off future religious extremism in the region of South Asia.

http://balochwarna.com/2020/03/27/the-slogan-of-pakistan-quit-balochistan/ 

The Brief Story of 13th November, the Baloch National Martyrs’ Day.

By Archen Baloch

In 2010, almost all pro independent political parties agreed to commemorate the 13th November as the remembrance day of all Baloch Martyrs who sacrificed their lives for defending the motherland from foreign invasions. Since then Baloch nation mourns and commemorates this dark day of their national history every year across the world except in occupied Balochistan forced to live under the draconian colonial rules of both Pakistan and Iran.

 Like many other nations in the neighborhood, The Baloch too couldn’t defend their homeland from advancing expeditionary forces of British, called Army of Indus, towards Central Asia. The 13th November is the day when Baloch lost their sovereignty to British’s military aggression against the sovereign independent state of Balochistan in 1839. First martyrs were those who laid their lives while defending Meri Fort in capital Kalat of Balochistan federation. In that war our legitimate ruler Khan Mehrab Khan embraced martyrdom along with his Hindu cabinet minister, Dewan Bucha Mull Baloch.

In order to fulfill their colonial ambitions, Russia and England played the “The Great Game” in Central Asia in eighteenth century, and this game cost the weak nations like Baloch and Pashtun their sovereignty in the wake of their advancement to control the geostrategic countries like Balochistan and Afghanistan. The Russians wanted to have access to warm waters of Balochistan. According Baloch historian Dr Naseer Dashti, “The Russians, after having occupied the Central Asian steppes, had started sending diplomatic missions to Iran, Afghanistan, Sindh, and Punjab. This caused much alarm among the strategist of the British colonial administrators in India. The British perceived the Russian advances in Central Asia as a threat to their Indian possession—the backbone of the British financial prosperity and the base of their colonial power in Asia”.

So, in order to ward off Russian Advancement towards warm waters of Baloch Gulf, the British raj of East India Company devised its “Forward Policy” to move towards Afghanistan and raised a large military force called The Army of Indus, the route was Balochistan. They extracted a treaty with Khan of Kalat of Balochistan which allowed them a passage to Afghanistan.

Reluctantly, Mir Mehrab Khan, the legitimate ruler of Balochistan, entered into a treaty agreement with Britain on 28th March 1839 which allowed safe passage and supply line to the British expedition forces of Army of Indus through Balochistan on way to Kandahar through the strategic passages of Shekarpur, Jacobabad, Dhadar, Bolan, Quetta and Khojack pass. They conquered Afghanistan but couldn’t sustain their colonial rule over Kabul and Kandhar because of the tough resistance they faced from Afghan tribes of dethroned Amir Dost Mohammed Khan.

The frustrated British forces under the command of Gen Wilshire in Kandahar, seeing that their forward policy towards Central Asia to ward off the expected Russian move towards warm waters of Balochistan’s coast, turned into a debacle, decided to return and conquer Balochistan and turn it into a buffer zone under an afterthought policy - if we cannot move forwards, but we can stop them here - as result of their utter failure at the hands of Afghanistan.

The angry Gen Wilshare of British Army, while returning from Kandhar after being defeated at the hands of Afghan tribes, unexpectedly attacked the capital of Balochistan, Kalat, on a clumsy allegation that his armed forces and its supply lines were being attacked by Baloch tribes while passing through Bolan Pass. While the Khan of Kalat, Mir Mehrab Khan, scrambled to defend his country from foreign invasion was caught unarmed and embraced martyrdom alone with members of Shahi Jirga on 13th November 1839. The Baloch ruler was thinking that British would not attack his national sovereignty as he had treaty agreement with Britain.

According to historians the alleged attacks on British forces and supply lines were instigated by Akhund Mohammed Hassan, the son of an ousted minister of Shahi Court in Kalat. In order to avenge his father’s removal from Shahi Court, he secretly joined British’s forces in order to create mistrust. Later it was emerged that Akhund Mohammad Hasan was, in fact, a protégé of the British Raj.

According to Dr Dashti’s accounts, “Before reaching Kalat, the British demanded the surrender of the Khan in a humiliating letter, which was rejected by the Khan immediately (Dehwar, 2007; Naseer, 1979). The Khan tried to mobilize, but as the tribal chiefs were already antagonized, he could not assemble sufficient troops to defend the city. Instead, some of the tribal chiefs in Sarawan welcomed the invading army and supplied the British forces with provisions. Some of the tribes from Jhalawan and Kharan indeed mobilized in support of the Khan, but it was too late. On November 5, 1839, the British Army assaulted the Miri Fort in capital Kalat after intensive bombardment. Mir Mehrab Khan II and his limited force offered stubborn resistance against the invaders. The Khan embraced death with typical “Balochi Way” by walking in full view toward the enemy firing lines. Every member of his besieged force perished under heavy shelling and hand-to-hand fight with the British forces (Masson, 1974) defending his country and sacrificing his life in a heroic way and not surrendering to the enemy when death was inevitable, Mir Mehrab Khan II became one of the revered personalities in the Baloch history. The Baloch forgot all his mistakes and rallied around his son to revenge his death. However, with the martyrdom of Mir Mehrab Khan II and occupation of Kalat by the British, drastic changes occurred not only in the Baloch politics but the long colonial rule changed the fabrics of a tribal society beyond recognition”.

Ref. The Baloch and Balochistan by Dr Naseer Dashti