India feasts on volatile situation in Balochistan

Khalid Khokhar

While the US media has frequently reported on alleged Pakistani ties to Jehadi elements launching attacks in Afghanistan, it has less often mentioned that India supports insurgent forces attacking Pakistan. RAND scholar Christine Fair, a leading American expert on South Asia disclosed in a discussion carried by ‘American journal Foreign Affairs’ that Pakistan has legitimate concerns about India’s involvement in fanning unrest in Balochistan. She further contended that “Having visited the Indian mission in Zahedan, Iran, I can assure you they are not issuing visas as the main activity. Moreover, India has run operations from its mission in Mazar (through which it supported the Northern Alliance) and is likely doing so from the other consulates it has reopened in Jalalabad and Kandahar along the border”. 

Pakistan is facing turmoil in Balochistan because of the Indian meddling in Pakistan’s affairs leading to the dismemberment of Pakistan. There is a credible evidence about the complicity of few angry tribal chieftains with India and Afghanistan in fomenting trouble in Balochistan. The statement of Brahamdagh Bugti, grandson of late Akbar Bugti, was very alarming when he revealed that he would accept any “moral help and material support” from India to defend Balochistan from Islamabad’s designs of capturing the riches of Balochistan. There is strong evidence of Indian support in planning, commissioning and preparing acts of terrorism in Balochistan through setting up of 26 centres of terrorism (consulates) along the western border in Afghanistan. Reliable sources have revealed that explosives were brought in by Indian Border Roads Organisation (BRO) under the garb of “reconstruction and rehabilitation efforts” in Afghanistan through Iran to be used for sabotage acts against Balochistan.

The massive growth of development in Balochistan has become sore in the eyes of Indian strategists who want to extent their zone of influence vis-à-vis enormous natural wealth in the CARs. Amongst others, India is fanning unrest on the following reasons: (1) Operationalization of Gwadar port has empowered Pakistan to control strategically important energy sea-lane on the Persian Gulf. (2) Gwadar deep Seaport has enabled Pakistan to have a strategic depth southwest from its naval base in Karachi that has long been vulnerable to blockade by the Indian Navy. (3) Increased Chinese presence in the region. In order to thwart Pakistan from becoming hub of the economic activity, India is doing psychological operations by creating dissidence and disaffection within the ranks of Baloch people by:

(1) Widening the gulf between Punjabis and Balochis on the Gwadar Port by making it believe that the developmental projects are aimed at turning the Balochs into a minority (2) Cultivating in the minds of the Baloch nationalists that China intends to occupy their natural resources. (3) Widely publicizing incidents of Human rights violation in Balochistan by highlighting the so-called miseries of Balochis, like disappearances, political victimization, displacement due to clean-up operations, etc. (4) Generating suspicions in ethnic Balochis that Islamabad wants to possess the riches of Balochistan.

Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik disclosed that some 200 Baloch youths who were allegedly disappeared in Balochistan, have been traced. Most of these persons had crossed border and were being trained by the India RAW operatives in Afghanistan. Therefore, analysts and experts are unable to rule out the possibility of Indian involvement in the killing of three Baloch nationalist leaders that triggered widespread on-going riots in Balochistan. This could serve multiple anti-Pakistan objectives. (1) Accusing state’s security apparatus behind the killings and proving guilty in the eyes of Baloch people with an aim to destabilize Pakistan. (2) Creating insurgency-like situation in the whole province. (3) Paving ideal grounds for a possible drone attack inside Balochistan. (4) Thwarting the possibility of reconciliation efforts between the PPP-led Government and the angry nationalist leaders, by killing the nationalist (Ghulam Muhammad Baloch) that won the credit of playing a major role in the release of John Solecki, chief of the UN Human Rights Commission in Balochistan. The Federal Government needs to provide solid evidence to prove their innocence in the triple murder. For this to happen, the killers will have to be produced. The reconciliation efforts should not be high-jacked by any particular incident. The constitution of a high-powered investigation committee to probe the killing of three Baloch leaders coupled with the announcement of Rs. 2.5 million for any information leading to the arrest of the culprits by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior, Rehman Malik, is a step in the right direction. 

It is true that past governments were responsible for the present situation in Balochistan and India is just exploiting the bad situation. The greatest sin of our rulers has been that they have never tried to better the economic and political conditions in Balochistan despite repeated promises from them since the creation of Pakistan. Balochistan remains the most neglected province and 88 per cent of its population lives in subhuman conditions. It is important to remove the mistrust between the Baloch and the Federation by adopting Confidence Building Measures coupled with cessation of all violent activities from both sides. After creating a positive environment, the negotiation on actual demands for Baloch rights should begin. However, there is a need to identify the Baloch representatives who can influence the outcome of any negotiation. Equally important is the identification of Indian designs of targeting development activities in Balochistan.