DND Report
Islamabad, Pakistan: Balochistan is bleeding again. There is no doubt that Western-funded and Indian-led campaigns have been accelerated to destabilize Balochistan after the announcement of CPEC 2.0 because of the economic rise of China that is linked with One Belt—One Road (OBOR) and the CPEC is the Flagship of this amazing project.
Without any disbelief, it is confirmed that Balochistan has been the target of several anti-Pakistan-anti-China and anti-Iran forces because it is the largest province in size, bordering Iran, richest in minerals, the least populated, and poorest in living standards but exceptionally important for China to have a safe passage to Indo-Pacific and for Irani exports as well as for domestic security.
Balochistan is a mixed formation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for Pakistan as it is situated at the crossroad of Central Asia and geographically linked with Sistan and the Baluchestan Province of Iran
Turbulence in Balochistan does not hamper only Pakistan’s interests but also China as well as of Iran. However, Iran in the past did not behave well and almost became a part of Indian operations against Pakistan. After signing a strategic partnership of 400$ billion with China, Tehran is behaving not so badly.
Balochistan is a mixed formation of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats for Pakistan as it is situated at the crossroad of Central Asia and geographically linked with Sistan and the Baluchestan Province of Iran therefore Balochistan is a multifaceted issue for Pakistan; having multiple dimensions—international—national—regional and local. The strong factors for anti-Pakistan forces in Balochistan had been poverty, illiteracy, unemployment, a sense of deprivation, and hegemony of tribal culture.
The victim card is no longer usable after the 18th Amendment. Since then the responsibility of providing Health, Education, Transportation, Security, and Water Schemes has been the foremost responsibility of the provincial government of Balochistan
One can easily blame for underdevelopment in Balochistan in the past on Sardars (tribal chiefs) without finding out the root causes of why Balochistan failed to get educational and health care systems at par with other provinces of Pakistan. There is a popular narrative that tribal chiefs wanted to see their people uncultured, uneducated, and poor; therefore, they did not allow development in their province. This narrative is not illogical but it is certainly over-sold and over-emphasized. One should not forget that One-Unit was not announced by tribal chiefs and this was the root cause for a sense of deprivation in Balochistan that was not included in the map of the first industrial revolution that took place in Pakistan during Ayub’s era.
Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif together with former COAS General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani gave special attention to the development of Balochistan
One should not forget that tribal chiefs did not stop anybody from providing natural gas to Quetta and the rest of Balochistan for over a quarter of a century although gas had been distributed to other parts of the country except gas provider—-Balochistan. There is no doubt that politicians and tribal chiefs lacked interest in developing their areas. They did not need to develop their province because they had been enjoying cash prizes from the Federation and spending half of their lives in European countries with state-injected money. The question is simple—why did the Federation not play its constitutional role to provide basic facilities to citizens of Balochistan and why the population of Balochistan was left at the mercy of tribal chiefs in the past?
In the last 14 years, investment came from the federation in the shape of Army Public Schools, Cadet Colleges, Vocational Institutions, and the useful project ‘Khushal Balochistan Programme’
However, things drastically improved in the last decade and this victim card is no longer usable it expired after the 18th Amendment in 2010 and since then the responsibility of providing Health, Education, Transportation, Security, and Water Schemes has been the foremost responsibility of the provincial government of Balochistan. Moreover, the National Finance Commission (NFC) Award has been providing justice to Balochistan and politicians cannot say now that the distribution of resources through the Divisible Pool was unjustified and there should no sense of “Leaving alone” be there in Balochistan.
The federation did not leave citizens of Balochistan at the mercy of their provincial government in the last 14 years and heavy investment came from the federation in the shape of Army Public Schools, Cadet Colleges, Vocational Institutions, and the useful project ‘Khushal Balochistan Programme’. Former prime minister Mian Nawaz Sharif together with former COAS General (retd) Ashfaq Parvez Kayani gave special attention to the development of Balochistan and decided to post a tested soldier as Commander of Southern Command (XII Corps in Quetta)—Lt. General Nasser Khan Janjua, who as a Major General had earlier participated in several operations against terrorists in Swat and overseen Operation Rah-e-Haq in 2007. Lt. Gen Nasser Khan Janjua was posted in Balochistan in August 2013 when Balochistan was burning. He teamed up with former Chief Minister Balochistan Dr. Abdul Malik Baloch and both used all possible channels successfully to cool down the situation in Balochistan. They offered a policy of general amnesty for those who took arms against the state of Pakistan.
The issue of ‘missing persons’ is highlighted again because this subject is deep and complex which has been a challenge for Balochistan
They were successful and separatists started losing their support among the masses and majority of separatists fled to Afghanistan and India, and decided to operate from abroad. This phase was followed by COAS General Qamar Bajwa who also gave top priority to Balochistan and over 25,000 Baloch students were receiving quality education at various Army and FC-run schools and cadet colleges all over Pakistan. The resilient, patriotic, promising youth of Balochistan showed their capabilities and they are serving in every important field in Pakistan but watching Baloch youth performing its best in the mainstream was not in favor of elements who had larger plans against Pakistan, particularly against Balochistan therefore the issue of ‘missing persons’ highlighted again because this subject is deep and complex which has been a challenge for Balochistan.
The issue of missing persons has been turned into a political issue by elements hostile to Pakistan and international funded NGOs and human rights watchdogs took the lead to fan the fire. Several reasons contribute to the increase in the problem of missing persons in Pakistan. Human rights organizations often focus only on the security forces but conveniently ignore the actual factors/ground realities. Voluntary disappearances are often referred to as enforced disappearances, with many cases where individuals have gone into hiding voluntarily or without informing their families to avoid law enforcement agencies. Another major problem is the difficulty in identifying the remains. According to Edhi and Chhipa’s careful statistics, since 2005, more than 45,000 abandoned bodies have been buried across the country by these two NGOs alone. In addition, many other factors complicate the problem of missing persons:
- Terrorists killed in action, those who went abroad to fight
- (Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq) Afghanistan or other countries Emigration
- Prisoners in neighboring countries
- Human Smuggling (a large number of people cross the Pakistan-Iran border to move to Europe)
- Voluntary disappearances (persons involved in criminal activities/fugitives/family disputes/domestic problems) personal enmity
- The problem of unidentified dead bodies is the tribal clashes in former FATA, PATA, and Balochistan.
If compared with other countries, the fact is clear that missing persons are a major problem that affects countries globally, including developed countries like the US, UK, and Europe. Based on reliable sources from different countries, a comparison of missing persons reports highlights this problem. In the US, the National Crime Information Center (NCIC) reported 521,705 cases in its 2021 report published on the FBI website. The UK’s Missing Persons Unit (MPU) 2020/21 data report recorded 241,064 cases. In 2018, the number of cases in India reached 347,524.
According to a report by the Asian Federation against Involuntary Disappearances (AFAD), there were 8,000 cases registered in Indian Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IOJ&K) from 1989 to 2012. 10,418 cases were reported in Nepal in the year 2020/21. The United Nations has data for 100 countries, including Sri Lanka, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, Syria, Iran and Iraq, including Pakistan. According to a 2021 report, 521,705 Americans and 241,046 British people are missing.
No official document has ever been produced covering Indian and Afghan involvement in Balochistan except political statements and some dossiers shared by the Foreign Office. Whenever a researcher needs data, he or she has to find data in pieces through press briefings, statements, counter-statements, etc
Considering the complexity of the problem of missing persons in Pakistan, the government of Pakistan formed a commission in 2011. According to the report of this commission (CoIED), a total of 10311 cases of missing persons were registered till August 2024, out of which 8042 cases were solved. Despite knowing the fact that most of them are in camps with terrorists in Afghanistan and Iran, some so-called human rights organizations vilify them.
Not long ago, the names of the terrorists who were killed in a missile attack by Pakistan in Iran were also included in the list of missing persons, which was acknowledged by Mahrang Baloch, the head of the Baloch Solidarity Committee. In addition, Karim Jan son of Fazal Baloch, a terrorist of the banned organization Baloch Students Organization, who was killed in the attack, was a resident of Turbat and has been missing since May 25, 2022.
Apart from this, the terrorist Imtiaz Ahmad son of Raza Muhammad was included in the list of missing persons who died in the action of the security forces. Similarly, the terrorist organization BLA filed an FIR declaring Tayyab Baloch alias Ilyas Lala as missing. Tayyab Baloch has been identified in the suicide attack on the FC camp in Bela, which was the residence of Nushki.
Certain elements are using the complex issue of missing persons and spreading unrest and chaos by using foreign investment as well as money from smuggling mafia operating at Pakistan-Iran-Afghanistan borders for destabilizing Balochistan. India is again leading the project but this history is yet to be officially documented by institutions responsible for the security of the country. No official document has ever been produced covering Indian involvement in Balochistan except political statements and some dossiers shared by the Foreign Office with foreign countries. Whenever a researcher needs data, he or she has to find data in pieces through press briefings, statements, counter-statements, etc. Whenever a researcher collects data on Balochistan, he or she cannot ignore that Kabul was the citadel for launching psychological, perceptual, financial, social, and terrorist attacks inside Balochistan. The passage of weaponry support, equipment support, terrorist training, and terrorist activities leads to Baluchistan from Kabul.
Historically, Baloch is known for not “forgiving and forgetting” his enemy till his last breath. State through proper documentation of Indian and Afghan involvement should help Baloch youth to know who is the real enemy.
Meanwhile, forces operating in Balochistan should not forget that there is a saying in Balochistan that ‘a Baloch can survive without Water but not without respect’ therefore any action must not hurt the tribal traditions of Balochistan.
