Hairbayar says “no” to packages “yes” to independence

Hairbayar says “no” to packages “yes” to independence

By Malik Siraj Akbar

QUETTA: Leading Baloch separatist leader Nawabzada Hairbayar Marri rejected on Wednesday Pakistani government’s economic package for Balochistan by billing it as an attempt to swerve the Balochs from their struggle of national liberation.

He was making a telephonic address at a mammoth public gathering in New Kahan area of Quetta to mark the second death anniversary of his younger brother and popular Baloch resistance fighter Nawabzada Balch Marri, who was killed two years ago by the Pakistani military in mysterious circumstances.

Balach Marri, also a member of Baluchistan’s 65-member legislative assembly, never attended the sessions of the parliament by insisting that the Balochs would never attain their rights while living within the Punjabi-dominated Pakistan . He was a staunch proponent of an Independent Balochistan and a supporter of the armed struggle taking place in Balochistan. Many viewed him as the chief of the underground separatist organization, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), Hairbayar Marri, a son of the veteran Baloch nationalist leader Nawab Khair Baksh Marri, said the Pakistani government was staging a drama to deviate the Baloch attention from their ultimate goals by offering them economic packages or inviting them to join various reconciliatory committees.

“We, the Baloch people, completely reject all forms of packages as we will not suffice with anything less than complete independence of Balochistan,” he thundered amid applause and pro-independence slogans by thousands of participants in the public rally that endorsed the support for junior Marri’s demand, ” the Baloch martyrs had sacrificed their lives not for packages but for the liberation of Balochistan. We will carry the mission of all our martyrs,” he added as thousands wrapped in Balochi shawls and suited in jackets listened in freezing temperatures.

Marri , who spoke from London, said  the Baloch movement had gotten close to its ultimate destination by virtue of sacrifices offered by the Baloch martyrs and the Balochs have presented their case as a politically conscious people before the world community. Constant struggle by the Baloch leadership has now exposed the injustices of Iran and Pakistan against their respective controlled Baloch populations.

“Of course, our enemies made successful attempts to divide the Balochs. That is, however, not going to help in the long run to enchain us. Division of people has also not helped our enemies (Pakistan and Iran) to suppress the Baloch commitment to the dream of complete independence,” he said.

Spurning the government’s offer to negotiate and take a proposed economic package for the solution to the problem of Balochistan, Marri said the Baloch demand had never related to economic compensation. In fact, in his views, it was a distortion of the Baloch movement and demands by saying that the Balochs were merely fighting for economic reasons.

“We are struggling to become the masters of our own resources. The Pakistani establishment has put thousands of old and young Balochs behind bars to coax them to give up their support for an independent Balochistan but our people have stood steadfast and refused to comply with such dictations despite offering to give more and more sacrifices,” he commented.

Hairbayar, who was acquitted last year by a London court on terrorism charges leveled by the dictatorial regime of Pervez Musharraf back in Pakistan, recalled the history of Balochistan and argued that Balochistan had never been a part of Pakistan, India or Iran. Balochistan had always enjoyed a unique status of an independent state. Now Iran and Pakistan want to enslave the Balochs by pursuing the policy of the colonial rulers but the Baloch will give them a tough time given the fact that more and more Balochs are exposed to the historic truth today.

“Our message to the Punjab is very clear: we did not inherit our history and culture from Punjab nor do we have any links with that province. Therefore, the Punjabis should stop amalgamating the Balochs into Pakistan under the pretext of economic development or Islamic brotherhood,” he warned.

Lauding the role of young Baloch students and women for maintaining a distinctive political demand, Marri said the true faces of the elements involved in a sellout of the cause for some money had been exposed. The international community knows who truly represents the Baloch movement and what the Baloch demands are.

“The world community agrees that there is a need for settling the Baloch question on an international platform with the help of international guarantors. We are willing to negotiate with Pakistan provided that Islamabad recognizes our status as the independent Balochistan. Then, we agree to sit on the negotiation table with Pakistan in the presence of international observers and guarantors”.

He regretted that the people of Punjab did not speak up against their army’s alleged brutalities in Balochistan. Clarifying that he did not expect the Punjabis to stand and speak for the rights of the Baloch people, he said the Balochs only wanted the people of the Punjab, Pakistan’s largest and most dominant province, to persuade their army to get out of Balochistan in order to bring an end to more bloodshed and animosity.
“We would like to see Balochistan back to its 27 March, 1948 status and expect Chief Minister Nawab Mohammad Aslam Raisani to stop playing in the hands of his masters because the Baloch movement is here to go further till the full achievement of our democratic rights given to us in the international human rights conventions,” he said.