The insurgency in Balochistan
Since 1948 Pakistan has been the victim of many uprisings and demand for provincial autonomy and outright separation for the foundation of an independent republic of Balochistan.
Baloch militants recently have had increased access to a wider range of armaments and have escalated their tactics. Three incidents in 2022 point to this trend. The most recent occurred on Christmas Day, when the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) coordinated five bomb attacks in the cities of Turbat, Kahan, Gwadar and Quetta, killing at least six Pakistani security personnel. On 1 Aug, a Pakistani military helicopter crashed in southwestern Balochistan, killing six senior officers, including a major general and lieutenant general. The Pakistani military attributed the crash to adverse weather conditions; however, the next day, the Baloch Raaji Aajoi Sangar (Baloch National Freedom Front, or BRAS), posted a statement that claimed they used anti-aircraft weaponry to down the helicopter, which the Pakistani government denies. A similar, unprecedented escalation involving Baloch separatists took place on April 26, 2022. Shari Baloch went to the Confucius Institute at the University of Karachi and killed three Chinese teachers and a Pakistani driver in a suicide bombing. Shari Baloch was the first female Baloch suicide bomber, affiliated with the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). This suggests a serious increase in the capabilities of Baloch militants, which has led to greater crackdown on the part of Pakistan. The Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) separatist group was founded by Jumma Khan Marri in 1964 in Damascus and played an important role in the 1968-1980 insurgency in Pakistani Balochistan and Iranian Balochistan. Mir Hazar Ramkhani, the father of Jumma Khan Marri, took over the group in the 1980s.
The latest development in the tragic saga of Balochistan is the arrest of the BNA leader Gulzar Imam Shambay. who is the militant firebrand leader of the Baluch insurgency and was sometimes back an activist of the Balochistan Students Organization or BSO who then came under the spell of anti-Pakistani forces and became the leader of an insurgent group of hundreds of young Baluchi boys and started a reign of terror in Balochistan by attacking security forces and declaring war against the Pakistan Army. The capture of Shambay is definitely a feather in the cap of our security agencies that managed to penetrate the terror network and grab the head honcho of this group operating all over the province. This spectacular arrest will certainly unearth a great deal of important information and intelligence about the network of Baluch insurgents their sources of finance, arms and training. Right now what needs to be done is to find and eliminate the root causes of the cancer of insurgency rather than arresting the leaders of the gang because this will only result in some other militant stepping forward to fill the boots of the arrested leader. The arrest of Shambay will not be of any benefit to the state if a more violent and rabid militant just takes his position as the new head of the BLA, the only sensible approach is to chase the root causes of this militant insurgency.
The BLA was established when Bramdagh Bugti’s Balochistan Republic Army split up and out emerged Baloch Raji Aajoi (BRAS) and formed a coalition of Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF), Balochistan Republican Army (BRA), Balochistan Liberation Guard (BLG) and Lashkar-i-Balochistan in 2018. All these anti-national groups have a common objective based on ethnicity and Baluch nationalism. The BLA which was established by Balaach Marri is now led by Harbiyar Marri after the death of its leader. This group operates all over Balochistan and even has a presence in Karachi. This group has two factions one led by Harbiyar and the Majeed Brigade led by Bashir Zeb. The BRA is led by Bramdagh Bugti who left his uncle’s Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP) in 2008 and is directing this group from Austria. The leader of the BLF is Dr. Allah Nazar and operates mainly in Turbat and Makran coastal areas. Lashkar-i-Balochistan is headed by Javed Mengal. The insurgents managed to launch 51 attacks in 2019 and 81 in 2022.
The province of Balochistan is backward, neglected and poorly managed. The urban youth are now becoming increasingly politically charged and totally unhappy because of the lack of development and the massive unemployment. The younger generation is not only angry but also frustrated due to economic injustice and bad governance. The socio-economic conditions in the province are now very fertile grounds for hostile forces to operate and lure the frustrated youth for their own nefarious agenda to damage and destabilize Pakistan. The security agencies need to identify and eliminate the sources of foreign funding of the militants with the same vigour and efficiency as they have shown in arresting the head of the BLA. Local sources of funds such as smuggling, drugs and kidnappings should also be closed for good. The government must ensure that all the development benefits should trickle down to the common people and the elite should not syphon off everything. Balochistan is in desperate need of a huge injection of funds and development schemes only then we can hope of ending the bloody insurgency in that province.
—The writer is Professor of History, based in Islamabad.
Email: tariq.aqil@headstart.edu.pk
