We the citizens of Pakistan must express solidarity with the people of Balochistan

Dear friends,

Please read below some facts about Balochistan that highlight the reasons
underlying the intense resentment among the common people of Balochistan.

Economic Deprivation of Baloch People

• 18 out of the 20 most infrastructure-deprived districts in Pakistan
  are in Balochistan.

• The percentage of districts that are classified as high deprivation
  stands as follows: 29 per cent in Punjab, 50 per cent in Sindh, 62 per cent
  in the NWFP, and 92 per cent in Balochistan. If Quetta and Ziarat are
  excluded, all of Balochistan falls into the high deprivation category.
  And Quetta’s ranking would fall if the cantonment is excluded from the analysis.

• The percentage of population living in a high degree of deprivation
  stands at 25 per cent in Punjab, 23 per cent in urban Sindh, 49 per cent in
  rural Sindh, 51 per cent in the NWFP, and 88 per cent in Balochistan†.

• Province’s 48 percent of the total population lives below poverty
  line whereas 26 percent in Punjab, NWFP 29 percent, and 38 percent urban and 27 percent rural population in Sindh.

• The national literacy rate in Pakistan is 50 percent, the province
  has 23 percent literacy rate with only 7 percent female literacy rate.

• Only 4 out of total 30 districts have gas supply while the province
  has been a major producer of gas for the total domestic, commercial and
  industrial needs of the country from early 50s. The capital of the province,
  Quetta, was provided gas in 1986.

• 78 percent population has no electricity.

• 79 percent has no gas facility while the province has a very low
  gas consumption of the country especially as compared to 64 percent of
  Punjab.

Mega development projects

• The local population remains largely deprived of the benefits of mega
  development projects such as Gwadar port, Mirani dam, Kachhi canal, coastal highway, cantonments, and Pasni oil refinery plant etc.

• Mostly outsiders benefit from such development schemes. The province
  has witnessed an influx of more than 5 million people to Gwadar port and
  other development areas.

• Non-Baloch technicians and workers are hired while Balochs are only
  hired as unskilled workers.

• Out of 1200 employees at Saindak copper-gold project, only 50 belong to Balochistan. Similarly, 130 engineers from Balochistan were trained at
  Karachi to be employed at Gwadar Port but they were denied jobs.

• Land developers and investors from outside Balochistan are allowed
  purchase of Balochistan land.

Conflict-generating history

• The current military operation in Balochistan is the fifth in the
  series. The first one was in 1948, the second in 1958, the third in 1962,
  the fourth in 1973. All the operations were to curb resistance to
  interference from the Central Government.

• Historically, Balochistan or Kalat has never been a part of Indian
  state.

• After the British conquered a part of the State of Kalat in 1839, the
  British pledged to respect the independence of Kalat and also gave it
  subsidies to maintain local loyalty for protecting British interests.

• Mir Ahmed Yar Khan and the people of Balochistan supported the movement for the creation of Pakistan but at the same time they envisioned Kalat as a separate, independent and sovereign state after the departure of British from India.

• Quaid-I-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah himself was the champion of
  independence and sovereignty of Kalat. In 1946, Mr. Jinnah pleaded before
  the Cabinet Mission for complete independence and sovereignty for Kalat as it existed before the agreements and treaties of 1841, 1854 and 1876 with the British. The Marri and Bugti Tumandars also joined the plea demanding their regions to be included with the Kalat federation. Quaid-i-Azam won the case.

• Thus Kalat and Pakistan signed a standstill agreement on 4th August
  1947 in which Pakistan recognized Kalat as an independent sovereign
  state, while future relations between Kalat and Pakistan regarding
  defense, external affairs and communications were to be negotiated later.

• While Pakistan announced its independence on 14 of August 1947, Kalat
  announced its independence on the very next day, 15 August 1947.

• But soon after independence, Kalat was pressurized to merge itself with
  Pakistan in the ‘interests of both’.

• The Khan of Kalat refused to agree and tabled this desire of Pakistan in
  the Kalat State Houses of Parliament, Dar-ul-Umra and Dar-ul-Awam, which unanimously refused to merge Kalat with Pakistan. However they partially agreed to have an agreement with Pakistan for having a joint currency, defense and external affairs while keeping Kalat an independent and sovereign state.

• The members, however, pledged to strongly resist any coercive action
  from Pakistan even with force.

• Pakistan illegally annexed Kalat’s sub-states Makran, Kharan and
  Lasbella.

• Pakistan ordered its garrison commander to invade Kalat and keep the
  Khan under house arrest until he signs the document of annexation.

• Khan eventually went to Karachi and signed a controversial but
  conditional merger document with Pakistan on 27th March 1948 in his
  personal capacity despite strong opposition of both Kalat legislators.

• This forced annexation gave birth to this conflict erupting in a
  low-scale resistance in Kalat led by the younger brother of Khan, Agha Abdul Karim, who was governor of Makran that had been part of Kalat for 300 years. However, the rebellion was overcome by military as the resistant leaders were arrested over a deceptive agreement on Holy Quran but were imprisoned as well as fined. Agha Karim spent seven years in prison.

• In a personal meeting in 1958, President Iskandar Mirza asked the Khan of Kalat to mobilize sardars for the restoration of the Khanate of Kalat., and then on the pretext of this activity, sent in Pakistan Army under the command of Tikka Khan. The army arrested the Khan and sent him to an internment in Lahore. As soon as Ayub Khan took charge, he sentenced Prince Karim to another 14 years of jail term. In May 1959, Nawab Nauroz Khan Zehri came down from mountains on assurance of amnesty on Quran. He was immediately arrested together with his sons and grandsons and sent to Hyderabad jail, where they were tried for treason. Seven of his associates, including his sons were sentenced to death and hanged in Hyderabad. The ninety years old Nawab Zehri died in captivity in Hyderabad.

• In 1962, Ayub Khan sacked Ataullah Mengal, Nawab Khair Bukhsh Marri, and Nawab Akbar Bugti from their hereditary positions as sardars of their tribes. This led to resistance, which was again quelled with an army action, arrests, long incarcerations, etc.

• From this resistance emerged a movement (1962 to 1968) which resisted the one unit regime imposed by Ayub Khan in West Pakistan to provide population parity between the two wings of the country. One unit was finally disbanded in 1969 and Balochistan gained the status of a province in 1970.

• Another resistance started in 1973 when the federal government of Z. A. Bhutto sacked the elected government of Balochistan on the flimsy charge of conspiracy against the state. The Army again went in to crush the resistance, but this time with the help of the Shah of Iran, and using most sophisticated equipment including helicopter gunships. It was the bloodiest conflict. The resistance ended when General Zia ul Haq’s military
  dictatorship announced a general amnesty in 1978.

• The current resistance and military action started during the military
  dictatorship of General Musharraf in response to the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti.

Statement on Balochistan

(in PDF)