Why India must support Balochistan

On August 15 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shocked the nation with the mention of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Balochistan in his Independence Day address from the Red Fort. He made it clear to the world that India supports the liberation of Balochistan. His remarks faced a lot of criticism from Pakistan's opposition leader, Bilawal Bhutto, and opposition parties in India, too.

Six reasons why India must support Balochistan:-

Though the independence struggle in Balochistan has been one of the longest, it never received its due attention. But before we understand the conflict, let's get familiar with the history of Balochistan, which is very much a part of the Indian subcontinent. As the name suggests, Balochistan means 'the land of the Baloch'. Balochistan and the Indian mainland share close cultural and religious ties, and even houses a few Hindu temples. Another interesting connection is that in Balochistan, there are sections of locals who speak Brahui which is a Dravidian language. It's interesting that despite the distance between Balochistan and Southern India, the language continues to exist.

While the Prime Minister's statement has created a huge storm in Pakistan, it would be wrong to say that Balochistan's independence movement began with Modi's speech. It can, in fact, be traced back to Partition. On August 11, 1947, the state of Kalat received its independence from the British Empire, followed by Pakistan and India. Kalat, as it was previously called, being a princely state had three options—it could accede to India, or Pakistan, or it could remain an independent state. The King of Kalat (also known as the Khan) wanted to maintain Kalat as an independent state, which was not acceptable to the political elite of Pakistan. An independent Balochistan would threaten the stability and integrity of Pakistan. Thus, Pakistan began its attempts to annex Balochistan through diplomatic channels.

But every offer made by Pakistan was rejected by both the houses of parliament of Kalat. By now, Pakistan and Balochistan had agreed on a standstill agreement. Frustrated with the indecisive outcome of the talk, the Pakistani leadership agreed on taking military action on March 27, 1948, where the Pakistan Armed Force entered the state of Kalat to merge Balochistan with Pakistan by coercion. The Khan of Kalat, before this tragic incident, approached India for help, and even offered to join the Union. But this was rejected by our then government for reasons that seem illogical. The people of Balochistan strongly opposed Pakistani occupation.

After annexing Balochistan, Pakistan has followed a sustained campaign of social, economic and cultural exploitation. Balochstan has may natural resources; it has large reserves of natural gas, gold, copper and iron. But the region receives almost no royalties from the central government. Pakistan has put all its military might into suppressing this freedom movement. Thousands of civilians have been killed; in fact, independent human rights watch have confirmed the presence of mass graves.

The province of Balochistan covers roughly 48 per cent of the territory of Pakistan, but lags behind on all indicators of development. The population has no access to medical facilities. For the last 70 years they lived as the guest of death not knowing when a Pakistani soldier may decide to shoot them down. India has finally taken a bold position.

India must extend a helping hand on a humanitarian note. If we could give the Dalai Lama asylum when China occupied Tibet, what stops us from doing the same with Pakistan. We must not be warmongers but we should develop assets in this region. There is also a China dimension. China has initiated the construction of a large industrial corridor. This is known as the China-Pakistan economic corridor(CPEC).This project costs a massive $46 billion. China has already shown its apprehensions about its completion. After repeated attacks on its technicians China may even consider withdrawing.

Khalil Baloch, chairman of the Baloch National Movement, said in a statement that the "policy of indifference towards Pakistan's war crimes in occupied Balochistan that include both ethnic cleansing and genocide, adapted by the international community is worrying. The Indian Prime Minister's statement on Balochistan is a positive development."

"Baloch nation hopes that the United States and Europe will join Prime Minister Modi and hold Pakistan accountable for the crimes against humanity and the war crimes it has committed against the Baloch nation in 68 years of its occupation of Balochistan and during the five wars that the Baloch nation has fought with Pakistan to win its national freedom," added Baloch.