Balochistan: Voices of the underdog
The killing of 11 Hazara coalminers in Balochistan in early January provided a snapshot of the tensions and contradictions that seethe within that province as equally as a bird’s eye view of the uneasy histories that tie Balochistan and Pakistan together. This latest killing was not the first of its kind and targeted attacks on the Shia Hazaras have regularly punctuated Balochistan’s chronology. Because they are Shia and are immediately identifiable because of their Mongol descent, the Hazaras provide obvious targets for the numerous sectarian outfits that populate Balochistan’s landscape.
This terrorist attack ended with a public outrage not directly related to the sectarian divide that is a part of the abysmal human rights situation in Balochistan today. The families and relatives of those killed demanded the presence of Prime Minister Imran Khan otherwise they would not bury the dead. In 2013, following a similar attack on the Hazaras, Imran Khan, then in the opposition, had gone to Balochistan to express sympathy and criticise the then government and the rest of the political class for its failures. This time around he referred to the demand for his presence as “blackmail”. He finally did go after the burials but the insensitive comment only emphasised the problematic status of Balochistan in Pakistan today.
Francesca Marino, the author of the book under review, explains that her interest in Balochistan arises from her “weakness for lost causes”: “The underdog fighting an unequal battle for the freedom of the people”. This book is, therefore, not for those who prefer a clinical evidence-driven analysis. In any event, Ms Marino’s efforts to balance her narrative were stonewalled and as she writes: “To tell the truth, in an attempt to seek objectivity, I did also try to approach Pakistan Government sources for their official version of events but first was met only with vague promises and then a deafening silence”. Her attempt was, therefore, to “let the Baluchs speak for themselves” and thus “to give a voice to those who lack one”.
The book provides a bird’s eye view of the situation in Balochistan — beginning with a rapid run through its recent history beginning with the circumstances of how it became part of
Pakistan when the Khan of Kalat was forced to accede to the newly constituted country and how this forced accession, in turn, sparked off protests that ended up as an insurgency. The latter has continued, although its intensity and form has changed from decade to decade. In this century, and especially during the military dictatorship of General Pervez Musharraf, the insurgency has grown stronger and Baloch alienation from Pakistan increased even as the geopolitics surrounding Afghanistan has become more complex and the repressive measures of the Pakistani authorities has become increasingly more heavyhanded.
The killing of the Nawab of Bugti in 2006, the growing Chinese presence on account of the port complex at Gwadar, the targeted and sometimes not so targeted operations of Pakistani intelligence agencies, which has led to large numbers of “missing persons” catalysing in turn human rights concerns both within and outside the country, are all part of the contemporary Balochistan story. The equally complicated regional situations surrounding Iranpakistan relations and Afghanistanpakistan relations also impact what happens within Balochistan and to an extent how the Pakistani state responds. The “India factor”, inevitable in any book about Pakistan, also obviously figures. Ms Marino emphasises that “the foreign hand theory did not stop and in the past year has gained even more strength. It has been used, in fact, against any Pakistani citizen protesting for his rights”.
Each of these factors — and there are others too — are woven into Ms Marino’s narrative. The thrust of the book remains on Baloch voices and their perceptions and analysis of the difficult choices that confront them in their very conflict-ridden interface with the Pakistani state. In these voices we encounter sentiments of outrage at the impunity and arrogance with which even reasonable demands are treated. Some of the issues that, therefore, arise are, in fact, encountered elsewhere in Pakistan too, but the added intensity with which these are present in Balochistan is unmistakable. This book’s effort is to provide a flavour of this to the outside world.