The Baloch national movement and the options for India
The Balochis have been at loggerheads with the Pakistani rulers for several decades, demanding independence on the grounds that Balochistan was forcibly occupied by Pakistan on 27th March 1948.
By Achal Malhotra
The London-based Altaf Hussein, the founder of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) of Pakistan has very recently, on May 28th, appealed to the US Congress to table a Bill for the independence, inter-alia, of Balochistan – one of the troubled provinces of Pakistan.
Altaf Hussein is obviously encouraged by the two separate Bills tabled by the Republican Senator, Scot Perry, asking for the independence of Tibet and Hong Kong, and therefore appears hopeful that the USA would similarly also promote the cause of Balochs of Pakistan. Altaf Hussein must understand, however, that the aggressive US anti-China campaign is a part of the on-going cold-war between the two countries, which began as a trade-war and which the USA has now accelerated in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic. The US holds China responsible for the spread of the virus which has caused enormous human casualties and significant damage to the US economy. The US is therefore willingly hitting at the vulnerable spots of China.
In contrast, Pakistan from the US perspective, is an important player for America’s Afghan strategy. Recently, Pakistan was instrumental in facilitating a deal between the USA and Taliban, on February 29th, paving the way for an “honourable” exit by the US from Afghanistan. Pakistan would retain its nuisance value for the USA for its continued presence and influence in the region after it ceases its military intervention in Afghanistan. It would therefore be naïve to believe that the USA would at this stage be ready to upset Pakistan by raising a demand for the independence of Balochistan or for that matter any other troubled areas in that country. It is clear that the Balochis cannot count on the US support beyond a point, at least for the near future.
The Balochis have been at loggerheads with the Pakistani rulers for several decades, demanding independence on the grounds that Balochistan was forcibly occupied by Pakistan on 27th March 1948. As a result they are facing discrimination, violation of human rights, and atrocities inflicted by the Pakistan military and intelligence – the ISI. Voices within and outside Pakistan have been raised from time to time to highlight the persecution, extra-judicial killings, and enforced disappearances of political activists in the region.
The Balochis have reached out to India on multiple occasions for support. According to some reports, the Baloch leaders had approached the UPA-II government in early 2014 to work out the modalities of a Baloch office or maybe even a capital-in-exile in India, but the talks ended without any concrete decision on the part of the Indian GovernmentI. In 2016, India gave signals of a possible significant shift in its Balochistan policy. In his independence day speech on 15th August 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced from the ramparts of the Red Fort : “….In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude, and expressed good wishes for me.” A couple of days earlier the Prime Minister had told an All-Party Meet on the Situation in Kashmir that “The time has come when Pakistan shall have to answer to the world for the atrocities committed by it against people in Baluchistan and Pajistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).”
In September 2016, Brahumdagh Bugti, heading the movement in Balochistan, was reported to have met senior Indian officials in Geneva to discuss his asylum in India but no reliable information about India’s response is available in the public domain. Between August 2016 (when PM Modi referred to Balochistan in public) and now, India has, from time to time, highlighted the violations of human rights in Pakistan, including Balochistan, at international fora; however very often these observations have been made as a rebuttal to Pakistan’s allegation about human rights violations in Kashmir.
In November, 2019, the London-based Hammal Haider, Foreign Affairs spokesman of the Baloch National Movement (BNM) recalled the “important role India had played in liberating Bangladesh” and publically sought “India’s support for their movement to gain independence from Pakistan”. Against the above backdrop, the pertinent question is: should India come forward and take up and promote the cause of Balochistan at global forums, considering in particular that Pakistan has repeatedly declared its “political, moral and diplomatic” support for Kashmiris, and also that the Baloch have reached out more than once to India for support ?. Can India do more and go beyond retaliatory verbal onslaughts and engage itself in covert support for the independence of Balochistan?
The policy makers in South and North Blocks at Raisina Hills are the best persons to do a cost–benefit analysis in this context. Nevertheless, to begin with, India should seriously consider the option of a pro-active and aggressive campaign to mobilise global opinion against Pakistan’s suppression and oppression of its ethnic and religious minorities, while deferring its covert support for the provincial independence movements in Pakistan to some later opportune moments.
(The author is a former Indian diplomat)
