ISLAMABAD: A terrorism and sedition case has been filed against Baloch rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch for her alleged “anti-state campaign” by a businessman from Karachi’s Landhi area. On the face of it, this is clear that the businessman is a frontal man acting at the behest of security and intelligence agencies of Pakistan. This is nothing new as these tactics have been used for decades against the Baloch who raise their voices and demand their rights peacefully in Balochistan.
Fortunately for Dr Mehrang, the Sindh High Court has come to her rescue and issued an order preventing the police from taking any coercive action against her. The court accepted her counsel’s arguments who said that his client was a human rights activist known at the national and international level. He had also argued before the court that most of the FIRs against Dr Mehrang were false and aimed at intimidating her.
This indicates that the Pakistani Establishment is absolutely stunned by some of the recent attacks launched by the Baloch rebels against whom it is a failure. The Pakistan State then vents its frustration on peaceful like Mehrang who are visible and can be easily targeted. On October 12, between 35 to 40 Baloch rebels had launched an attack on coalmines in Duki district, killing at least 20 labourers. The owner of these coal mines said that the resultant mayhem, bombing and arson had led to 10 coal mines, and machinery, getting burnt down altogether.
Barely a week earlier, on October 6, a suicide bomber of Majeed Brigade of Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) targeted Chinese engineers and killed three of them in Karachi, and injuring 13 other people. Four days after the attack, the BLA’s media wing Hakkal released a video of Shah Fahad Badini, the bomber. “When oppression becomes law, resistance becomes a duty,” Badini begins his address and then warns the Chinese of the Baloch people’s opposition to China’s illegal exploitation of Balochistan’s resources. He warns the Chinese: For years, you have turned a blind eye to the truth. By backing Pakistan’s genocide of the Baloch, you have sided with oppression. No amount of profit, nor the depth of the sea, will keep your investments safe from the rightful struggle of the Baloch nation.
Rising spiral of violence in Balochistan is not becoming, but is already a king size problem for the Pakistani government. More so because the Baloch rebels have repeatedly been targeting the Chinese, both personnel and assets. These attacks have pushed the government led by Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif into a corner. Beijing has long been pressing Islamabad for its failure to protect Chinese projects and personnel under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The most recent attack has led to a special task force from China arriving in Pakistan to assess things first hand.
In between October 12 and October 6 attacks, the Baloch rebels had carried out another major strike on October 11. In the attack by Baloch Republican Army (BRA), nine soldiers were killed and another 11 sustained injuries. The BRA had targeted a military convoy with a remote-controlled bomb, followed by an assault with rockets and automatic weapons, in the Sughari area of Dera Bugti district in Balochistan. BRA claimed responsibility for the attack, accusing the military of shelling civilian areas in Dera Bugti’s Lanju, Sughari, and Raees Tokh regions in the preceding days. The group said its attacks were in retaliation for these military operations and warned of continued resistance.
Duki District Council Chairman Khairullah Nasir, who owns the coalmines attacked on October 12, has said that the reels used “hand grenades, rocket launchers and other modern weapons”. He added that the attackers also set fire to “10 coal engines and machinery”. The BLA said it had previously issued a 90-day ultimatum to China, demanding that it terminate its “illegal alliance” with Pakistan and withdraw all investments, projects, and military presence from Balochistan.
In all, in the run-up to the SCO summit in Islamabad now underway, 55 fatalities were reported in Balochistan during the first 13 days of October, including 27 civilians, 20 security forces personnel and eight rebels.
The root cause of the simmering unrest which often leads to wanton violence by rebels is the unstated Pakistan policy of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Civilians, especially members of state-backed ‘death squads’ have also been targeted. In this lawlessness, Islamist groups have also thrived and, at times, joined the Baloch groups. The major active Baloch insurgent groups include the Baloch National Army (BNA), BLA, BLF, Balochistan Liberation Tigers (BLT) and United Baloch Army (UBA).
The growing number of attacks by the insurgent groups are in retaliation to state excesses, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of Baloch people by the security forces of Pakistan and their proxies. Victims of enforced disappearances include political workers, journalists, human rights defenders, and students. According to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) report of December 2023, more than 7,000 people have gone ‘missing’ from Balochistan since 2000.
Baloch anger against the State has been further aggravated by the systematic exploitation of Balochistan’s natural resources through China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. This has resulted in periodic attacks on Chinese nationals. This has led to strained relations between Islamabad and Beijing on the issue of security of the Chinese citizens.
It is generally believed that contrary to the government’s official data, the number of deaths and attacks is significantly higher. Blinded by Chinese money and support, instead of addressing Baloch grievances, the adamant State establishment has exclusively chosen military repression as a response to the problem.
