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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
In the international news, we often hear about a terrorist group called the Baloch Liberation Army, which seems to be regularly attacking mainland reinforcement teams in Gwadar port. If you dig deeper, you will find that the Baloch people in Iran and Pakistan seem to have always had strong separatist tendencies.
Why do these Balochs, who have been called "terrorists" by the international community, risk the world's condemnation?
(The main gathering place of the Baloch people)
1. Three points Carat
The Baluchis officially entered the countries of present-day Iran and Pakistan in the 12th century AD, and later the Baluchis also established their own state there, which is roughly the border of today's Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, and these places are basically the main concentration areas of the Baluchis.
You can think of it this way, the Baloch Khanate of Karath is located right in the middle of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran. The British colonists' interest in the Khanate of Kalat was very limited in itself, but because the Russian Empire was expanding so fast in Central Asia, the Russian Empire had even begun to covet the lands of northern Afghanistan.
Britain was extremely worried about this, but Britain's choice was not to help Afghanistan, but not to allow Russia to take possession of all of Afghanistan, and the Anglo-Afghan war broke out. In the Great Game between Britain and Russia, Afghanistan is undoubtedly a victim of it, but the victims are far more than Afghanistan, the country of the Baluchis, has also become a fish in the pond.
(The Earliest Khanate of Karath)
At that time, the British wanted to send troops to Afghanistan through the Kalat Khanate, so they forcibly entered the Khanate and demanded that the Khanate open the road to provide military rations. Although the Kalat Khanate was very dissatisfied with the British approach, it was too weak because its power was too weak, so it could only hold its nose and endure it.
But what I didn't expect was that not only did the Anglo-Afghan war not win, but also lost both Anglo-Afghan wars. If Britain can succeed in establishing a protectorate in Afghanistan, then the Kalat Khanate will not be in much of a crisis. But as soon as Britain did not win the war in Afghanistan, then the problems of the Khanate of Karath were big.
The purpose of Britain's invasion of Afghanistan is to counterbalance Russia, and although Britain has withdrawn from Afghanistan, the Russian threat has not really disappeared, and British India still needs a buffer zone. This buffer zone could only be the Khanate of Karath, which was decided to be dismembered by the British in order to appease Persia and Afghanistan in order to prevent them from turning to Russia.
The western part of the Khanate was ceded to Persia, and the northwestern part of the Khanate was ceded to Afghanistan in exchange for Afghanistan's cession of the eastern region. All in all, it is a division that satisfies anyone, except the Balochs.
(Distribution of the Baloch people in the tripartite)
Under the tremendous pressure of the extinction of the country and the species, the Baloch people began to form their own nationalism, and in fact such a strong nationalism is the only reason why the Baloch people have been fighting for independence today.
To some extent, the Baloch themselves are independent states, and the reason why they were able to appear in Iran and Pakistan is itself a mechanical division of the colonizers.
The Baloch joined the Baloch in the wave of rebellion against the British in India, but unlike other Muslims, the Baloch wanted to establish an independent state with the Baloch at its core after the British left. Britain was vague about this, but Pakistan's founding father, Jinnah, strongly opposed it, and this set the stage for the armed conflict that followed......
From Pakistan's independence until 2009, the Baloch launched five armed uprisings, each of which was suppressed by the Pakistani authorities. Today's Baloch independence faction has turned into a terrorist underground and has become more extreme.
(Baloch militants)
2. Religious differences
If there is tension between the Baloch people and the authorities in Pakistan, it is the Baloch people's own choice. The isolation of the Baluchis, then, began at the beginning of their annexation to Iran, where they have always been a vulnerable group. During the reign of Reza Khan of the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran, Persian language education was forcibly introduced throughout the country.
Ethnic groups such as the Balochs, who have their own culture and language, have also been forced to be taught in Persian, and the authorities have banned them from continuing to use the traditional Baluchi.
The main faith of the Baloch people is Sunni Islam, which can be said to be incompatible with the Shia sect that dominates the local Iranian population.
But during the Pahlavi dynasty, the question of faith was not a big issue at the policy level. Because the Pahlavi royal family itself is Sunni, the Pahlavi government also advocates secularization and has limited interest in dividing religious sects. But after the Islamic Revolution in Iran, the situation of the Baloch became even worse.
(Reza Khan)
The Islamic Theocracy inherited the previous government's policy of assimilation of the Balochs, still forcing education in the Persian language, and abolishing the Baloch minority status while distinguishing the Balochs by their religion. In the areas where the Baloch live, the number of Baloch civil servants is quite small.
In any government interview, the government will always give priority to the Persians, with ethnicity first and ability second. However, this has led to a very common nepotism within the government, many people are simply not able to do their jobs, and the provinces where the Baloch people live are administratively inefficient.
As a result, the Baluchis became strongly resistant and began to use force against Iranian rule, and the Iranian Baluchis could easily find outside supporters.
(Baloch settlements in Iran and Pakistan)
In the aftermath of Iran's Islamic Revolution, the Sunni countries of the Gulf region were extremely wary of the nascent Shiite regime, especially as the Shiite regime continued to export revolutions.
Therefore, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries are also the biggest supporters of Iran's Baloch armed forces, and the other supporter is the United States, which has always been very dissatisfied with Iran. And the Iranian government is really sorry for these Baloch people, and Iranian TV programs never show Sunni programs.
But the 24-hour non-stop encouragement of Sunnis to convert to Shiism is, in the eyes of Sunni Baloch, a complete stain on their faith. Moreover, Sistan-Baluchistan has a large amount of copper resources, which should have provided a very good life for the local Baloch people, but in fact the local people did not enjoy the benefits of copper mining at all.
Iran's oppression of Baloch is all-encompassing, from religious to political, from economics to employment. Today, the Iranian Baloch armed forces and the Pakistani Baloch terrorist groups have merged. Because the Balochistan region of Pakistan was actually the main part of the Kalat Khanate, the Baloch resistance in Pakistan was relatively fierce.
(Shiites in Iran make up the majority)
The Iranian Baluchis armed forces are mainly divided into two, one is the "Allah Brigade" and the other is called the "Justice Army". These two armed forces, in fact, have been operating across borders between Iran and Pakistan.
3. The future of Balochistan
At this time, some people may be curious, what about the Baloch people, and how are the Baloch people in Afghanistan? In fact, the situation of the Baloch people in Afghanistan is slightly better than that of Iran and Pakistan, and this slight improvement is not reflected in their daily life, but also in their armed activities.
Afghanistan has been in constant chaos since the seventies of the last century. This chaos has given the Baloch a chance to fish in troubled waters, and in fact the Baloch terrorist groups in Iran and Pakistan are so powerful today because of the chaos in Afghanistan.
(Baloch)
Although the modern Baloch state has been forcibly divided into three parts, the nomadic habits of the Baloch have not changed, and the Baloch have been constantly moving within Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan for hundreds of years.
Baloch militants in Pakistan and Iran will flee to Afghanistan as soon as they are hit hard by the authorities.
But the security forces of Iran and Pakistan have not been able to track down the Baloch militants in Afghanistan, so to speak, and Afghanistan has become a "stable rear" for the Baloch militants.
The attitude of the previous Afghan interim government and the current Afghan Taliban towards the Baloch militants has always been relatively ambiguous, and the Baloch militants have never directly attacked the Afghan government.
As a result, Pakistan has repeatedly accused Afghanistan and India of colluding and harboring Baloch terrorist groups in the country. Now that the Taliban's victory in Afghanistan has brought about a "herd effect", Baloch militants are also trying to build a "united front" following the Taliban's example. Today, Baloch militants in the three countries have formed a loose alliance called the Baloch National Freedom Front.
(Baloch militants)
This loose alliance did not only absorb Baloch forces, but also non-Baloch organizations such as the Sindh Revolutionary Army. On the other hand, although Atta did not explicitly state his position, Bata clearly supported the Baloch "liberation struggle", and in fact some Baloch armed groups had already joined Bata.
Because of these changes, the path of activity of the Baloch people today has changed greatly. In the past, the Baloch were only active in the traditional mountains and villages, but now the Baloch have targeted the main cities and densely populated areas of Pakistan. In this way, the Baloch armed groups try to increase their influence.
But what can you do in the city? With the strength of the Baloch armed groups, it is nothing more than carrying out some terrorist activities. It can also be said that the Baloch armed groups have now inevitably slipped into the abyss of terrorism......
Resources
[1] Yu Kaiming, Yan Wei. The evolution path and future trend of the current Baloch separatist movement in Pakistan[J].South Asian Studies Quarterly,2023,(01):1-18+156.)
[2] Lin Yiming. On the formation of British Indian rule over Baluchistan[J].South and Southeast Asian Studies,2022,(05):119-135+157-158.
[3] Emperor Zeng. Analysis of Baloch issue in Pakistan[D].Xinjiang University,2020.
[4] Ren Xiaoyu. A brief analysis of the Baloch separatist movement in Iran[J].Journal of Chifeng University(Chinese Philosophy and Social Science),2018,39(07):35-40.)
[5] Yu Tianying. World Knowledge,2009,(23):46-47.