There has been another terrorist attack in Balochistan, a neighbouring country of Pakistan. So far more than 32 people have died in two separate attacks. The Balochistan Liberation Army has taken responsibility for this terrorist attack, but the question is what is it in Balochistan that most terrorist attacks take place there. After all, Pakistan itself gives shelter to terrorists, whose intelligence agency ISI is considered a terrorist by many countries of the world, which organization in the same country carries out terrorist attacks against it. Why does Pakistan always look at India with suspicion after such attacks?
In terms of area, i.e. land, Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan. It shares its borders with Iran, Afghanistan and the Arabian Sea. The border of Balochistan with the Arabian Sea is one of the biggest reasons for terrorist attacks in Balochistan. We will try to understand this, but before that, understand who are those people in Balochistan who are so against Pakistan that they do not even refrain from terrorist attacks. To understand this, we will have to understand Balochistan.
How was Balochistan created?
So Balochistan was formed by merging four different princely states. That is Kalat, Makran, Las Bela and Kharan. Balochistan is a big province formed by merging these four small states. When India and Pakistan were divided, just like there were many princely states in India, there were many princely states in Pakistan too. Those princely states also did not want to join Pakistan and remain separate, but just like all the princely states were merged in India on the initiative of Sardar Patel, Pakistan also merged the princely states.
Three princely states of Balochistan, Makran, Las Bela and Kharan, immediately agreed to merge with Pakistan, but Ahmed Yar Khan, the head of Kalat princely state, was not ready to merge. He used to call Pakistan’s Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah his father, but he also wanted Kalat to become a separate country and not join Pakistan. There was pressure from Pakistan, so after long negotiations, Ahmed Yar Khan agreed to the terms of merger with Pakistan on 27 March 1948. But Ahmed Yar Khan’s brothers Prince Abdul Karim and Prince Mohammad Rahim rebelled.
Both the rebel brothers together formed an army of about a thousand fighters and named it Dosht-e-Jhalavan. The army of these two brothers started attacking the Pakistani army. The Pakistani army retaliated and both the brothers fled to Afghanistan, but Afghanistan also did not help them. So they had to return to Kalat. As soon as they came here, the Pakistani army arrested both of them and sent them to jail. This was the first time when there was a rebellion in Balochistan and it was crushed by the Pakistani army.
The thought of independence kept growing in the minds of the Baloch people. Sometimes Nawab Nauroz Khan led the rebels and sometimes Sher Mohammad Bijrani Mari used guerilla warfare techniques to incite the Baloch people, but the rebels never succeeded. Finally in 1970, Pakistani President Yahya Khan declared Balochistan as the fourth province of West Pakistan. Due to this, the people of Balochistan became even more angry. The remaining task was completed by Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and in 1973 he dissolved the government of Balochistan and imposed martial law there.
Balochistan has never been at peace in 52 years
It has been 52 years since this happened and in these 52 years there has never been peace in Balochistan because in these 52 years different groups keep demanding independence for Balochistan. They keep taking up arms, keep attacking the Pakistani army and Pakistani people and Pakistan considers these attackers as terrorists. Even now there are at least 20 such groups including Iranian Balochistan, Afghan Balochistan and Pakistani Balochistan, which are terrorists for the governments of these countries.
For example, the responsibility for the terrorist attack that has happened in Pakistan recently has been taken by the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which is currently the largest Baloch terrorist group in Pakistan. Apart from this, there are organizations like Balochistan Liberation Front BLF, Lashkar-e-Balochistan, Balochistan Liberation, United Front, Baloch Students Organization, Baloch Nationalist Army, Baloch Republican Army and United Baloch Army, which keep fighting for the independence of Balochistan.
There are groups in Balochistan on the basis of religion
There are different groups in Balochistan on the basis of religion, which include Shia and Sunni. For example, Ansar-ul-Furqan is a Sunni Baloch militant group and a terrorist organization for Iran. Apart from this, groups like Jaish-ul-Adl, Harkat-Ansar, Hizbul-Furqan, Islamic State, ISIS-Khorasan, Tehreek-e-Taliban, Lashkar-e-Jhangvi and Sipah-e-Shahab are also notorious for terrorist attacks in Balochistan.
Is China along with Pakistan a threat to Balochistan?
Now, as far as the Arabian Sea bordering Balochistan and it being the reason for terrorist attacks in Balochistan is concerned, the story is linked to China, which is building the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in collaboration with Pakistan. This CPEC passes through Balochistan, which has the Gwadar Port and China is working on such a big project to gain access to this Gwadar Port. In such a situation, the people of Balochistan who already want independence from Pakistan, now see China as another threat to them. Therefore, whenever they get a chance, the organizations of Balochistan keep attacking China and Pakistan so that CPEC is never completed.
It is wrong to blame India for the attacks in Balochistan
So now you might have understood the reason behind the repeated terrorist attacks in Balochistan that this is the issue of freedom of the Baloch people. They have been fighting for this since the formation of Pakistan, but whenever Pakistan has to save its face, it blames India for these terrorist attacks, whereas the reality is that India has never needed to do anything in Balochistan. The organizations there, whose names were mentioned to you above, are enough to destroy Pakistan. So Pakistan is being destroyed. Pakistani terrorists are targeting the people of Pakistan and Pakistan, which is giving shelter to these terrorists, is not able to do anything.