Who are Baloch people and why they are angry with Pakistan

Ten districts of the Balochistan province of Pakistan came under terrorist attacks on the night of August 25-26, according to the local counter-terrorism department. More than 70 people were killed in terror attacks. The Pakistan government vowed retaliatory actions, which have seen the killing of multiple suspected Baloch militants.

Baloch is an ethnic group in Pakistan which has been fighting for its independence for decades through various outfits — political and armed. As an ethnic group, Baloch are not limited to Pakistan only. They have a contiguous habitation in the adjoining areas of Iran and Afghanistan.

While some 15 million live in Pakistan, the correct estimation of their number is not available for Iran and Afghanistan, where they are said to be somewhere between 2 million to 5 million.

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Who are the Baloch people?

Their history and source of origin are up for historical debate. Some experts trace their origin to Persia, others to Syria’s Aleppo and some others identify them as inhabitants of the same locality for over 3,000 years.

Sources tracing them to Syria also link them to the family of Prophet Muhammad, identifying them as descendants of Hazrat Ameer Hamza, uncle of the founder of Islam who had settled in Halab (present day Aleppo). The stock later migrated to the Sistan region of Iran and spread over neighbouring modern-day Pakistan and Afghanistan.

However, a paper published by the Balochistan Study Centre, University of Balochistan, Quetta (the capital of Balochistan), says, “Baloch is an ancient nation who have been living in middle-east India and Iran since the attacks by Aryans, by different names and forms they lived in small tribes, almost always attacked by foreigners and ruined because of no united power.”

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The researcher clearly identifies Baloch as locals since the days when historians theorise the arrival of Aryans — around 1500 BC — in India.

The paper says that the Baloch people have “fought bravely against Cyrus of Persia, Alexander of Macedonia, Genghis Khan of Mongolia” and that “no foreign ruler ever reigned in Balochistan” for long.

After the advent of Islam in the early seventh century, Iran and then western parts of India-Afghanistan faced Arab invasions. The Baloch people converted to Islam through invasions and social-trade contacts over the next few centuries.

Despite differences over the origins and migrations of the Baloch people, all sources agree that they have been living north of the Arabian Sea over an area that is now divided between Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan for the past five to seven centuries.

The Baloch way of life

The Baloch people are mostly followers of the Sunni sect of Islam. However, a small percentage of those living in Pakistan are Shia Muslims. The culture that they so strongly strive to protect against what they see as invasion by the Pakistani government and armed forces follows a traditional code of conduct, called Baluchmayar, literally meaning “the Baluchi way”.

Baluchmayar serves as the guiding principle of proper conduct for the Baloch people. It has prescription for almost every aspect of social life and is loosely based on five ethical values of the Baloch society — Laj (modesty), Ghairat (self-honour), Izzat (social respect or reputation), and Nang o Namoos (prestige or honour).

The conventional way of life has been nomadic and semi-nomadic that banks on oral tradition for imparting knowledge from one generation to another. Formal education is still low among Baloch people, with school drop-out rates very high.

According to the Provincial Census Report Balochistan, 2017, only 43 of 100 people could read and write in Balochistan — lagging over 15 percentage points below Pakistan’s national average. Less than a third of Baloch women can read and write.

Their clothing is quite colourful and varies little from Pakistan to Iran and Afghanistan due to stricter dressing code enforced by Iran’s Khameini rule and Afghan Taliban diktat. The Baloch men traditionally wear loose pants (pyjama) with long shirts and turbans or sometimes hats.

Baloch women wear loose pants (salwar) and shirts that have colourful needlework, often varying to symbolise their class. They cover their hair with a scarf, locally called sarig. In Iran, Baloch women also cover their faces with a thick red burqa.

They speak Balochi, which is a language of the Indo-Iranian family, with some connection with the Kurdish of the Turkish region. Interestingly, until the 19th century, the Balochi language had no written form and the rulers used Persian as the official language of communication.

The Baloch politics

Traditionally, the Baloch followed a tribal polity, with tribal heads formed an assembly to choose their leader. Of the many tribes, Bugti, Marri and Mingal are the dominant three in Pakistan’s Balochistan province.

The earlier tribal structure of Sardarkel (hereditary tribal chief) gave to bigger lords in due course. By the 17th century, a tribal chief Mir Hasan established himself as the first “Khan of the Baloch”. He was followed by Mir Ahmad Khan Qambarani, who established the Balochi Khanate of Kalat, laying the foundation of the Ahmadzai dynasty.

The Kalat rule continued till 1947 through the two centuries of British rule. The Khan of Kalat had signed an agreement with the British in the 1830s, securing autonomy in exchange for peace and other concessions.

Kalat, which represented Balochistan became an independent country a few days before India was granted Independence and partitioned to carve out Pakistan in August 1947. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, the founder of Pakistan, was Kalat’s counsel presenting its case for independence before the British.

However, once Pakistan came into being, Jinnah pressured the Khan of Kalat to accede to his country. With some help from the British, Pakistan acquired Balochistan, whose legislature had emphatically rejected the proposal to merge with Jinnah’s nation.

Why Baloch are angry with Pakistan

Depending on how a Pakistani official calculates its territorial expanse, Balochistan makes up 44 per cent to 48 per cent of its geographical area. It is the most resource rich province and the most coveted land for China in Pakistan. Sadly, the land and its people have remained underdeveloped for decades, and have faced several rounds of repression from the Pakistani government and armed forces.

On their part, the Baloch people have kept organising themselves and revolting against Pakistan since its merger itself in 1948. They rebelled in the 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s. Each time, the Pakistani military came harder on them.

The current phase of armed insurgency began in the early 2000s. Several groups — the Balochistan Liberation Army and the Balochistan Liberation Front being the most prominent — have taken up arms and target Pakistani establishment or non-Baloch ethnic groups in the province. They also target Chinese nationals who are working on the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects and mines of gold, copper and oil that China has acquired.

The Baloch people are poor in a rich land and lack basic civic amenities in a geographical set up that Pakistan showcases as its development achievements. They blame the Pakistani government and military establishment for their poor plight, corrupt leadership, bad governance, incompetent authorities, and unfair distribution of opportunities and resources.

There is a deep feeling among the Baloch that they have been kept backward intentionally by the Pakistani government and the military establishment — dominated by Punjabis. They also resent a disregard for their code of conduct Balochmayar.

The assassination of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti in 2006 started a violent struggle that continues till date in Balochistan. A civil movement is also going on and has intensified in the past one month with activists such as Sadia Baloch seeking answers from the Pakistani government and its powerful military about the hundreds of Baloch people who have “vanished” during counter-offensive operations in Balochistan.