The Baloch Hal A Baloch Perspective
Editor-In-Chief : Malik Siraj Akbar
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Editorial: Bloodshed in Karachi
Karachi is once again in the grip of severe communal strife. The Baloch population has come under extremely shocking attacks allegedly by the members of a dominant ethnic group. Barely had we forgotten the callous murder of Nisar Baloch, an anti-encroachment activist in Karachi, on November 7, 2009, one now hears about the tragic news of his successor, Nadir Baloch, meeting a similar terrifying fate. He was also killed allegedly by the same elements who killed Nisar Baloch for his active role in campaigning against the land mafia on the lands of Gutter Bagecha in Karachi.
Two days of violence in Karachi’s Baloch-dominated areas led to the targeted killing of at least 19 people. Violence erupted after the recovery of a dead body of a political worker, Mohammad Amir, at Lyari. There are divergent speculations about the causes of his murder but oft-repeated accounts suggest that the slain activist was kidnapped and subsequently killed because of some ‘honor-related matters’. Soon after the recovery of the dead body of the murdered worker, violence erupted in Baloch areas of the city and random attacks took place on the Baloch population allegedly by the supporters of the ethnic party to which Amir belonged.
Around eight Balochs, including, a Baloch woman, a politician and a football player, were killed in what the locals describe as cases of target killing of the Baloch population in Dhubi Ghat, Nawalane, Old Golimar,Baloch Para, Baloch Methag and several other localities. Irked Balochs came on the roads and chanted slogans against the government and its coalition partners. Protestors also marched in front of the Chief Minister House along with the bodies of the slain civilians.
It is very unfortunate that the Baloch population in Karachi is being subjected to target killing by a dominant ethnic group that soley believes in the use of violence as a tool to repress its political opponents. It is not the first time that the Baloch people are facing such organized crimes against them. Many Balochs complain that they are being forced to leave Karachi, whose original citizen they happen to be as compared to the ethnic minority that came to the port and commercial city after the Partition of India in 1947.
Unlike Balochistan, the Balochs in Karachi have not associated themselves with the nationalist parties. Baloch areas of Karachi have always been a very strong hub of support for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Likewise, the Balochs have proven their commitment to the PPP for several decades. When the convoy of late Benazir Bhutto was attacked on October 17, 2007 on the eve of her arrival, more than a dozen of her Baloch bodyguards were killed in that uncalled for terrorist act.
Currently, the Balochs are rapidly getting estranged from the PPP. There is a growing sense of insecurity in the ruling party’s Baloch ranks and file. If the PPP fails to protect its own diehard supporters in spite of being in power, it is very likely to lose the hold in Lyari.
More and more people, mainly the younger generation, is subscribing to the view that the PPP is falling short to meet the demands of a people who are being subjected to various forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity.
It is a tragedy that the Baloch nationalist parties have failed to consolidate their political hold in Karachi. The onus lies on these parties, not the people of Lyari, the Baloch-dominated area of Karachi. Many of these nationalist parties have entirely confined their politics to Balochistan and they do not assert support for the Balochs living in the country’s largest city. Except for the Baloch National Movement (BNM) and the Baloch Republican Party (BRP), the other parties have not taken notice of the targeted killing of Balochs, including women and children.
Balochs are not the only people to be targeted in Karachi. In the recent past, the Pashtun population has also faced the heat of ethnic politics. The majority ethnic group that rules the city with gun views the Baloch and Pashtun as a threat and it, therefore, does not hesitate from applying all violent means. Violence begets violence. A commercial city like Karachi can hardly afford to host long-term strife. This will not benefit anyone but the forces that wish to ruin the peace of Karachi.
Target killing of Balochs and the meaningful silence of the PPP government may have very serious consequences on the future. As insecurity grows among the Balochs in the commercial city, more youth would now begin view armed resistance is an antidote to their problems. For example, the Balochs living in Balochistan began to feel more secure after some armed groups came to their rescue from the brutalities of the state institutions. Many Balochs believe that had the armed groups not initiated their reactionary activities, the issue of Balochistan would continue to remain in the cold storage. Similarly, what has been billed as a gang war in Lyari may one day transform into a violent nationalistic movement if the Balochs realize that they are not being treated fairly.
A judicial inquiry should be made in the targeted killing of Balochs, especially the women and children. Elements responsible for instigating violence should be brought to justice.
Karachi is once again in the grip of severe communal strife. The Baloch population has come under extremely shocking attacks allegedly by the members of a dominant ethnic group. Barely had we forgotten the callous murder of Nisar Baloch, an anti-encroachment activist in Karachi, on November 7, 2009, one now hears about the tragic news of his successor, Nadir Baloch, meeting a similar terrifying fate. He was also killed allegedly by the same elements who killed Nisar Baloch for his active role in campaigning against the land mafia on the lands of Gutter Bagecha in Karachi.
Two days of violence in Karachi‘s Baloch-dominated areas led to the targeted killing of at least 19 people. Violence erupted after the recovery of a dead body of a political worker, Mohammad Amir, at Lyari. There are divergent speculations about the causes of his murder but oft-repeated accounts suggest that the slain activist was kidnapped and subsequently killed because of some ‘honor-related matters’. Soon after the recovery of the dead body of the murdered worker, violence erupted in Baloch areas of the city and random attacks took place on the Baloch population allegedly by the supporters of the ethnic party to which Amir belonged.
Around eight Balochs, including, a Baloch woman, a politician and a football player, were killed in what the locals describe as cases of target killing of the Baloch population in Dhubi Ghat, Nawalane, Old Golimar,Baloch Para, Baloch Methag and several other localities. Irked Balochs came on the roads and chanted slogans against the government and its coalition partners. Protestors also marched in front of the Chief Minister House along with the bodies of the slain civilians.
It is very unfortunate that the Baloch population in Karachi is being subjected to target killing by a dominant ethnic group that soley believes in the use of violence as a tool to repress its political opponents. It is not the first time that the Baloch people are facing such organized crimes against them. Many Balochs complain that they are being forced to leave Karachi, whose original citizen they happen to be as compared to the ethnic minority that came to the port and commercial city after the Partition of India in 1947.
Unlike Balochistan, the Balochs in Karachi have not associated themselves with the nationalist parties. Baloch areas of Karachi have always been a very strong hub of support for the ruling Pakistan People’s Party (PPP). Likewise, the Balochs have proven their commitment to the PPP for several decades. When the convoy of late Benazir Bhutto was attacked on October 17, 2007 on the eve of her arrival, more than a dozen of her Baloch bodyguards were killed in that uncalled for terrorist act.
Currently, the Balochs are rapidly getting estranged from the PPP. There is a growing sense of insecurity in the ruling party’s Baloch ranks and file. If the PPP fails to protect its own diehard supporters in spite of being in power, it is very likely to lose the hold in Lyari.
More and more people, mainly the younger generation, is subscribing to the view that the PPP is falling short to meet the demands of a people who are being subjected to various forms of discrimination on the basis of ethnicity.
It is a tragedy that the Baloch nationalist parties have failed to consolidate their political hold in Karachi. The onus lies on these parties, not the people of Lyari, the Baloch-dominated area of Karachi. Many of these nationalist parties have entirely confined their politics to Balochistan and they do not assert support for the Balochs living in the country’s largest city. Except for the Baloch National Movement (BNM) and the Baloch Republican Party (BRP), the other parties have not taken notice of the targeted killing of Balochs, including women and children.
Balochs are not the only people to be targeted in Karachi. In the recent past, the Pashtun population has also faced the heat of ethnic politics. The majority ethnic group that rules the city with gun views the Baloch and Pashtun as a threat and it, therefore, does not hesitate from applying all violent means. Violence begets violence. A commercial city like Karachi can hardly afford to host long-term strife. This will not benefit anyone but the forces that wish to ruin the peace of Karachi.
Target killing of Balochs and the meaningful silence of the PPP government may have very serious consequences on the future. As insecurity grows among the Balochs in the commercial city, more youth would now begin view armed resistance is an antidote to their problems. For example, the Balochs living in Balochistan began to feel more secure after some armed groups came to their rescue from the brutalities of the state institutions. Many Balochs believe that had the armed groups not initiated their reactionary activities, the issue of Balochistan would continue to remain in the cold storage. Similarly, what has been billed as a gang war in Lyari may one day transform into a violent nationalistic movement if the Balochs realize that they are not being treated fairly.
A judicial inquiry should be made in the targeted killing of Balochs, especially the women and children. Elements responsible for instigating violence should be brought to justice.
zaghmjun
January 9, 2010 at 8:08 am
The party is the MQM,and it has the blessing of the state of pakistan. There is no solution to this country’s inflictions other than it’s disintegration, it’s a tumor and tumors need to be removed.
maj(r) Nasrat Baloch
January 9, 2010 at 8:14 am
Yes you very rightly pointed out that the same ethnic group is involved in the killing of innocent balochs. They are so power full in the media that they paint theirselves innocent and also victim. These thugs and bhatta grabbing terrorists are no more an hidden secret. Where are our heroic Baloch Nationalists? Why they dont come out with a single voice to warn these terrorists to stop this heinous act or face dire consequence.
Maqbool Baloch
January 9, 2010 at 11:14 am
Yes,ofcourse,it is evident like daylight that a dominant Ethnic group is solely responsible for Baloch genocide in their ancestral city of MAI KOLACHI.But irony is that the baloch community of Karachi has so far been unable to release themselves from clutches of PPP.It is a matter of great concern that the Baloch blood is flowing in vain.when Paa=khtuns are killed,they are represented by ANP,but unfortunately Baloch have no Indigenous political identity,and PPP cashes their blood.it is high time that because no much water has flown below the bridges, Balochs of karachi and Nationalist forces of Balochistan should read the handwriting on the wall and plug loopholes in their thinking,strategy and way of acting.Baloch Medai,specially Baloch hall and Daily Tawar have a crucial role to paly in this regard.
Kamran
January 9, 2010 at 5:14 pm
While the recent spate of violence in Karachi is thoroughly condemnable, the failure of both electronic and print media to highlight the plights of oppressed communities in the metropolis is equally deplorable. The corporate media’s role has been evident to all and sundry. Nevertheless, the level of impartiality one wants to see in Pakistan is woefully lacking. If the famous outlets of media did not perform their duty, you did not either demonstrate neutrality. Understandable that it is a strictly Baloch outfit, does it then mean you throttle the objectivity which is already scarce in this country? Agreed that the Baloch are bearing the brunt of terrifying violence of powerful ethnic group, their failure to assert themselves politically on the local basis is their mistake. They are certainly not a negligible minority there. The deeply unfortunate fact lies in the lack of concern or interest of even our independent thinkers to detach themselves from their ethnicities. For how long will this continue? The longer it persists, the more disastrous its outcome.
The organization being run by some sensible individuals like you should bear in mind that authenticity and objectivity count the most when you are out to become a vanguard of truth. If you fail to do that, the end result will be further confusion, and subsequent chaos.
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Hmmal Baloch
January 9, 2010 at 9:21 pm
Many nations are associated with Pakistan. Among them a very few are extremely successful to protect and promote their interests by every means, whether negatively or positively. They try to keep their hold in the form of ruling by terror or any other means and do such activities. And, unfortunately, they are thriving their objectives because of their unique strategies. Where as, nations like Baloch, with unclear vision, are far behind, even to survive peacefully on their own lands. Balochs are not only divided geographically on international level ( Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan) but also with in the state itself ( Sindh and Punjab). Naturally, it makes sense to understand that why Baloch nation is unsuccessful to achieve its role in the state, be weaker or stronger. Though, they are divided geographically but they are one nation, “THE BALOCH”. They need to understand that unity is the common ground for them to achieve their objectives that are to survive proudly among other nations of the Pakistan and promote Baloch nationalism. Without clearly understanding your circumstances in a community it becomes much difficult for a single family to inaudibly survive then how can it would be possible for Balochs to live peacefully in Pakistan with out unity among themselves. We Baloch from Karachi to Hilmand and from Zabul to Kohlu live alike but we still fail to reach a consensus that what we in point of fact want. Think about it-no body dare to kill us then.