31/08/2024
By Archen Baloch
You are telling the Baloch to “go along with Pakistan. Why are you wasting your energy on a futile activity?” You’re also asking, “Isn’t India a foreign entity from whom the Baloch are seeking help?” Now, you say, “Yes, there are indeed atrocities, but they are committed by institutions, not by the Punjabi people.” The world knows that your terrorist army has turned every household in Balochistan into a place of mourning.
So listen! From the beginning until now, this unfortunate country (Pakistan) has been run by your Punjabi military. Then why do you refuse to admit that Punjabis, not institutions, are committing these atrocities? These institutions are also run by your Punjabis, not by some divine angel or devil.
When we merely asked for our rights, you labelled us traitors and accused us of being foreign agents, imprisoning our leaders and sentencing them to death. How can we forget Asad Jan Mengal, whom you disappeared in his youth? Now, when our nation has decided not to pursue the futile struggle for rights, we see it as better to reclaim our lost sovereignty through armed struggle. After all, in both cases, the charge is treason, and the penalty is death. This time, you’re accusing us of being agents of India and the USA, and asking, “Isn’t India a foreign entity from whom the Baloch are seeking help?” Well, yes, you are foreigners, and India is too, but India didn’t invade our country.
If you weren’t foreigners, instead of using force, you would have proposed creating a union between Pakistan and Balochistan based on mutual consent and equality. But you forcibly occupied our land, Balochistan, with military power granted by the British in exchange for loyalty. Despite this, our elders resigned themselves to the idea of working under a parliamentary system based on equality. But what did we get in return? Containment, corruption, hunger, disease, unemployment, looting of national resources, injustice, terrorism, bullying by the Punjabi army, dishonouring of our women, drug addiction, smuggling, and lately, you’ve turned our land into a battlefield for the interests of global powers.
Didn’t your army imprison those genuine Baloch representatives who wanted to represent their people within the framework of the Pakistani state?
Has your army, dominated by Punjabis, ever stopped micromanaging our Balochistan with its hegemonic hands? Now that our people are fully convinced that you are terrorists, criminals, and murderers of democracy, how can we leave our national sovereignty in the hands of someone like you? For the past 76 years, we’ve seen how your Punjab has been preying on Balochistan like a vulture. Islam says that a Muslim’s wealth is forbidden to another Muslim, and by this golden principle, you are thieves. If you weren’t foreigners, you would have acknowledged our control over our resources, considered us equals, not pushed us toward poverty, and would have allowed us to live freely. You wouldn’t have tightened the noose around the Baloch, forcing us into an unending struggle, imprisoned our leaders, or decapitated our nation of its genuine leadership.
You, the Punjabi colonial rulers—the British leftovers—have never hesitated to decapitate the Baloch national movement of its leadership, using immoral policies of violence and repression aimed at eliminating Baloch leaders and breaking their spirit. However, generation after generation, the Baloch have never let off their resistance against foreign aggression. The historical continuity of the Baloch struggle suggests it is resilient. The readiness of the next generation of leadership suggests that this struggle is not only persistent but is being inherited and renewed with each new generation.
If you, the Punjabi Muslims, weren’t foreigners, you would have trusted us and not imposed yourselves on Balochistan. We would have defended our own borders. If you weren’t foreigners, you wouldn’t have imposed corrupt and savage tribal leaders—the ones who were corrupted by the British—upon us for years through your bridled army and ISI.
Now that the Baloch people, tired of chasing the mirage of democracy—your version—and peaceful struggles, have started an armed defensive struggle for their freedom and salvation, your army has turned Balochistan into a slaughterhouse. You are playing a bloody game, trying every dirty and unjust trick to subdue us. From gunship helicopters and fighter jets to using city thugs, you’ve resorted to everything.
Have you ever heard of the ethics of war? We are certain that you don’t believe in civilized values; instead, you believe in using brutal methods to crush our struggle. You burn our poor people’s huts, attack defenceless people, and dishonour our women with military power. This is your so-called Islamic and savage civilization! May your ill intentions and filthy thoughts, which haven’t left the Baloch in peace for 76 years, be cursed!
Our people long for a drop of water, while they cannot even imagine tall buildings like those in Dubai, which gained independence in 1971. If there were tall buildings here today, they would resemble the scenes of destruction in Beirut, Baghdad, Kabul, and Syria.
Since the Baloch people started resisting your oppression and brutality, instead of negotiating, you began handing us mutilated bodies. Thousands of our youth have disappeared without any legal reason by your uncouth army. So far, more than 20,000 people have gone missing.
You say, “Yes, there are indeed atrocities, but they are committed by institutions, not by the Punjabi people.” In your view, all these things may be just excesses, but according to the standards of justice in civilized societies, they are unforgivable war crimes against humanity—just like the Serbian crimes in the former Yugoslavia, which are still being prosecuted at The Hague today. Similarly, your country’s crimes in Balochistan will also be presented there.
The Baloch freedom movement is an unending war, and now your state is not capable of ending it. Your army couldn’t end it even in better times when the world was supporting you with weapons and dollars. This war, ongoing for the past 17 years, has become very strong.
Externally, all your Punjabi Pakistan’s defensive lines are falling one after the other:
The Gulf countries will turn away from you.
The USA is pulling back.
China appears uncertain about the future of CPEC.
The Kashmir front isn’t proving effective.
Your generals’ dreams of swallowing Afghanistan have been shattered.
The Taliban have distanced themselves from you and are busy negotiating with civilized nations, making this front nearly useless for Punjabi Pakistan, and the adverse effects are becoming visible within your country.
Your efforts to strengthen ties with Russia seem futile.
Europe, like the British Prime Minister, keeps you waiting for hours and then allows only 5 minutes for conversation. It’s impossible to gain sympathy for a country like Pakistan there.
Your country’s meagre foreign exchange reserves have depleted. Your country owes trillions of rupees in debt—85.3 percent of GDP. CPEC is becoming a white elephant, and the IMF recently warned that with investments come repayments, which Pakistan’s economy cannot handle.
Internally, you are also isolated. All the nations under your military grip—Mohajirs, Sindhis, and Pashtuns—hate you. While the privileged Pashtun elite from the British era and religious extremist clerics may be your allies militarily, they will never bargain over the Western route for trade and economic interests. On the other hand, from a security perspective, the Western route is unacceptable to China.
Final Word: The Baloch national movement for freedom represents a resolute resistance against what is perceived as the relentless efforts of a Punjabi-controlled Pakistan to subjugate and suppress the Baloch people. The military leaders of the Pakistani army are hell-bent on crushing the Baloch liberation movement by any means necessary.
The Rubicon has now been crossed, marking the point of no return—a decisive moment in which the Baloch have reached a critical juncture where the conflict has become existential—a matter of do or die. For the Baloch leadership, this signifies that compromise or retreat is no longer an option, and the Baloch are prepared for an all-out struggle, regardless of the consequences. The current armed struggle underscores the perceived severity of the situation and the unwavering resolve to continue the fight.
Like the Serbs, you should read the writing on the wall. There’s only one path left for you: to pack up and leave Balochistan because you can’t break the Baloch resistance. The Baloch may be alone today, but it’s a winnable game and the tables will turn in favour of Balochistan.
Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of BalochWarna News and its team.
By Archen Baloch You are telling the Baloch to “go along with Pakistan. Why are you wasting your energy on a futile activity?” You’re also asking, “Isn’t India a foreign entity from whom the Baloch are seeking help?” Now, you say, “Yes, there are indeed atrocities, but they are committ...
