In Search of Solutions — Part 2

In Search of Solutions is the autobiography of leading Baloch nationalist leader Mir Ghose Baksh Bizenjo which was compiled by his political comrade B M Kutty. The Baloch Hal brings you the book chapter wise.

Kalat-Baluchistan:

The Advent of British Colonialism

and the Birth of Nationalist Politics

The advent of the British in Kalat

What came to be known as Kalat State in contemporary times was the independent sovereign country of Baluchistan before the colonial incursions of the British. To its east was Hindustan, to the north Afghanistan, to the west Iran and to the south Arabian Sea. The relations between the governments of Kalat (Baluchistan) and Great Britain were governed by a series of treaties.

The fast-expanding British Indian Empire in the south and the deeply entrenched Russian imperial power in the north viewed each other with suspicion and were looking for ways to prevent intrusion by one into the other’s domain. It was something like a kind of cold war between the two. In the process, Kalat remained in a state of running confrontation with the British. There were frequent armed clashes between the forces of Kalat Government and tribesmen on the one hand and the British forces on the other.

In the year 1839, after Khan Mehrab Khan of Kalat was killed in one such armed conflict, the British succeeded in forcing the Baluch for the first time to acknowledge the former’s supremacy and concluded a treaty with the latter. Coated in sweet words such as ‘friendship treaty’, it was in fact aimed at cornering the Baluch into accepting the supremacy of the British. More treaties followed – major ones in 1841, 1854, 1863 and 1876 – besides a number of other minor ‘agreements’ signed from time to time. In all these treaties and agreements, the impression was maintained that the British recognized the ‘independent and sovereign’ status of Kalat (Baluchistan). For instance, even as the 1876 Treaty contained a reference to British supremacy and establishment of British military presence in Kalat state, it was described as a ‘Treaty of Friendship and Amity between the two Governments’. The Treaty also affirmed that the ‘the British Government on its part agrees to respect the independence of Kalat and to aid the Khan (Kalat) in case of need in the protection of his territory from external attack’.

The British never honoured their treaty obligations. Between 1899 and 1903, in violation of the treaties which bound them to respect and protect the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Baluchistan, they went about arbitrarily re-drawing the map of Baluchistan under various pretexts. The Baluch Governorates of Quetta, Naushki and Nasirabad were taken on ‘lease’ from Kalat. The districts of Loralai, Pishin, Chaman and Sibi, which were acquired from Afghanistan under the Treaty of Gandamak in 1879 and the Marri-Bugti tribal zone were constituted into what was called ‘British Baluchistan’. All the above-named areas were placed under the direct administrative control of the British through British Political Agents posted at Sibi and Quetta respectively. Dera Ghazi Khan was annexed to the Punjab and Jacobabad (then known as Khangarh) to Sindh. Bolan Pass was taken on lease from the Khan for a paltry

compensation. This deal resulted in Kalat-Baluchistan government being robbed of not only the freedom of trade through the Pass but also lakhs of rupees in the shape of lost rahdari (toll tax). The tribal areas of Sarawan, Jhalawan, Makran, Chaghai, Kachhi and Lasbela were also placed under the ‘supervision’ of the British Political Agent in Quetta. The control over remaining sixteen governorates/tehsils was first placed under political ‘advisors’ and later on under officers from the political department in Quetta who owed allegiance to the Prime Minister of Kalat, who in turn was handpicked by the British. An impression was created that these actions did not constitute violation of the treaties but were supposedly taken with the sole intention of facilitating ‘smooth relations’ between the Khan of Kalat and the sardars who would play the role of a link between the Khan and the British. Another pretension was that it would pave the way for introduction of reforms by the Kalat-Baluchistan government and for consolidation of its ‘friendly’ relations with the British Government.

However, there was much more to all these steps than met the eye. In reality, the British were working very cunningly to curb the power and authority of the Khan of Kalat by patronizing the sardars and nurturing them to be tools of the colonial administration. The Khan’s title of Khan-e-Baluch was changed into Khan-e-Kalat, thus virtually restricting Khan’s suzerainty to Kalat City!

The beginning of organized politics

There was hardly any organized political activity in Kalat – Baluchistan prior to 1927-28. In fact the people knew little about political parties, rallies, meetings and so on. This is not to say that activities, which were essentially political but could not be termed as informed political actions, did not occur in Baluchistan. At intervals of ten to twenty years, one or other tribe would rise in revolt and challenge the British. From 1839 (when British intervention began) till 1915, there had been a series of violent clashes between the tribesmen and the British forces. But by 1920, such uprisings had virtually come to an end. Reason: the British had managed to pacify the belligerent tribes.

Nevertheless, over the years there had developed signs of a nascent nationalist surge among the intellectuals and the government servants of the Kalat State. In 1928, a few young officers of the Kalat State Administration got together and set up a clandestine group to give vent to their political views. Politics was a strictly forbidden activity, particularly for government employees. Keeping a low profile during their early activities, they chose to wait for more favourable conditions before going into the open. That was when Mir Yusuf Ali Khan Magsi, the youthful and energetic scion of the influential Magsi tribe, appeared on the scene.

Mir Yusuf Magsi had received his education in Lahore and had been living there for quite some time, during which he had the opportunity to observe from close range the dynamics of the freedom struggle in the subcontinent. He was inspired by what he saw and heard. In an article titled: ‘Fariyad-e-Baluchistan’, published in the Lahore journal Hamdard on 17th November 1929, Magsi forcefully articulated the grievances of the Baluch. He severely criticised the British colonial rulers on the one hand and the despotic rule of Prime Minister Sir Shams Shah on the other, and called upon the Baluch to organize themelves for the unity and liberation of Baluchistan. The Kalat Administration was so enraged over Magsi’s article that when he arrived in Sibi on 17th July 1930, he was arrested, tried by a Jirga and sentenced to one year’s imprisonment in Mastung Jail and a fine of Rs. 20,000. Even after his release from jail in 1931, he was kept under surveillance for one year.

However, Mir Yusuf Magsi’s initiative had broken the ice. It had re-kindled the fire of nationalism in the young pioneers. They were now determined to organize themselves along with other like-thinking people into a cohesive and vibrant political forum. Before long emerged their first ever political organization: Anjuman-e-Ittehad-e-Baluchan. Besides Yusuf Magsi, other prominent activists of the Anjuman were: Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd, Malik Faiz Muhammad Yusufzai, Muhammad Hussain Unqa, Naseem Talvi, Abdul Karim Shorish and Mir Muhammad Azam Shehwani among others. The formation of the Anjuman as an organized political party marked the beginning of a secular, non-tribal nationalist ___ 20 ___

movement in Kalat state. Among other demands, the Anjuman pointedly called for a democratic system of governance by elected representatives of the people. Around the same time as the Anjuman was formed in Kalat, the Baluch nationalists in Karachi formed the Baluch League.

The subsequent publication of a pamphlet titled shamsgardi on 20th November 1931 caused ripples in the echelons of power in Kalat. It was yet another scathing denunciation of the harsh rule of Sir Shams Shah, the despotic and unpopular Prime Minister of Kalat. The author of the pamphlet was Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd. Naturally, the Kalat Administration was not amused. Mir Abdul Aziz Kurd was arrested, tried by the Shahi Jirga and sentenced to three years’ imprisonment. Simultaneously, Khan Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai, who was spearheading the nationalist movement in ‘British Baluchistan’, was arrested in Quetta and similarly tried and sentenced to three years in jail.

The same year, Mir Yusuf Ali Magsi became the Sardar of the Magsi tribe. The sardari not only made him wealthier but also brought him more power and influence. A deeply committed Baluch nationalist, he willingly placed his resources at the disposal of the cause for which he and his comrades had got together in such forbidding conditions. Apart from his own intellectual contribution, Magsi financed and oversaw the publication in Karachi of several documents in Urdu Language espousing the cause of Baluch nationalism.

For obvious reasons, Yusuf Magsi and his comrades had to conduct their public political activities from places outside Baluchistan. They set about the task of mobilizing the Baluch outside Baluchistan. They launched a newspaper Azad from Lahore through which they started to give vent to their political agenda, which could be called radical for those times. For instance, they called for, among other things, an elected Assembly to transact legislative work for the State of Kalat and a responsible government to govern the State, besides the re-integration of Bolan, Quetta, Naushki and Nasirabad into Kalat State. Their untiring efforts culminated in the holding of the ‘All India Baluch Conference’ in Jacobabad from 27th to 29th December 1932. It was the first ever gathering of its kind attended by Baluch representatives from every part of what constitutes today’s Pakistan. The spectacular success of the first ever such mobilization of the Baluch around the nationalist cause, paved the way for a second conference in Hyderabad a year later. Going by the composition of its participants, it can be said that this time the conference had a wider and more ‘assorted’ representation. It was not confined only to ethnic Baluch, as is evident from the title of the second conference: ‘All India Baluch and Baluchistan Conference’. In imparting a broader representative dimension to this second conference, the key role played by Khan Abdus Samad Khan Achakzai deserves special acknowledgement.