The Balochistan Cause

A suicide bomber attack in Karachi on Tuesday claimed the lives of four, including three Chinese nationals. BLA (Baluchistan Liberation Army) has claimed the responsibility for the attack.

This is the first such occasion of the type, which involved a woman. The woman according to reports was a student studying M.Phil. and a mother of two. The BLA in a statement said that the attack marks a new chapter in the History of Baluchistan resistance.

Reasons for Balochistan Resistance 

The independent state of Balochistan came into being in 1947, with its own flag and constitution. The state was invaded in 1948 and its then ruler was forced to sign a merger document with Pakistan in 1948. Since then, the state has seen five insurgent movements, the latest one starting in 2005.

The insurgencies have been led by ethnic Baluchistans who claim marginalization and exploitation at the hand of the Pakistan government.  Baluchistan is the most energy-rich state of Pakistan in gas, coal and electricity. Metals like Uranium, Coal, Platinum, Gold, silver, copper, and aluminium are also found in large quantities. 

However, the state is deprived of its own resources - for instance, 78% of houses are yet to be electrified in Balochistan. Balochistan consumes only 17% of its resources with the remaining 83% being sent to the rest of the country.

Besides exploitation of resources, the ethnic population of Baluchistan is grossly under-represented in Defense, Bureaucracy, Political representation and in Educational Institutions. In the first three decades post-independence, there have been only three ministers from Balochistan in the cabinet out of 179.  Further, In the Pakistan army, the famous Baloch regiment does not have any Baloch, and the Pakistan Navy too doesn’t have a Baloch. The Balochistan University has fewer than five hundred Balochistan students.

The ethnic Balochs reserve dislike for China. The recent attacks from BLA have targeted the Chinese nationals. The attack of BLA in 2021, had claimed the lives of nine Chinese nationals. Moreover, the projects of China, namely the Gwadar port development and CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Project) have not been received well in Balochistan.

The Gwadar port has seen the displacement of fishermen of Balochistan without any compensation. Further, China plans to settle nearly 500,000 Chinese as part of CPEC and Gwadar port. This has raised the fears of demographic changes among ethnic Balochistan.