Criminal gangs dealing in drugs, guns, kidnapping and land scams with some of them even enjoying patronage from assorted political outfits and groups are a common sight in the narrow, crooked and overpopulated streets of Lyari.

But all this was not a sudden phenomenon emerging in the last decade or so. Nor is this all what Lyari is about.

Lyari also has a rich political and cultural history; a history that, rather ironically, has to be understood for anyone trying to make head or tails of the constant social and political turmoil and strife this large, awkward locality has been experiencing almost on a daily basis now.

First in line

Lyari is by far the oldest locality of Karachi having begun life centuries ago as a small fishing village.

The locality always had a large Afro-Indian/Pakistani population (Sheedis).

The Sheedis are believed to be the descendants of slaves, sailors, servants and merchants from East Africa who arrived between 1200 and 1900 AD.

In what is today Pakistan, these slaves largely settled along the Markran Coast in Balochistan (they are also called Makranis) and in lower Sindh.

Linguistically, they speak variations of Balochi and Sindhi and (in Karachi) they are also known to have created a distinct dialect of Urdu referred to as ‘Makrani’ in which Urdu words are mixed with Balochi and Sindhi expressions and even popular English terms, manly picked up from British and US films and TV series, are also regularly used, mostly in a tongue-in-cheek way.

Most Sheedis in Karachi were and still are associated with the fishing business (as fishermen, sailors and small boat operators). They also constitute the largest labour force employed at the Karachi port and harbour.

Over the years, especially after the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Lyari also began to witness the influx of Pushtuns, Sindhis and Mohajirs (including Memons) and (in the last 30 years), many working-class Afghans, Bengalis and Burmese migrants have also settled here.

The area is a working-class reflection of the stunning ethnic, religious and sectarian diversity that is the hallmark of Karachi’s bulging cosmopolitanism and indigenous secularism.

But Lyari is also the area that hardly benefited from the industrial growth and economic progress that Karachi enjoyed between the 1950s and early 1980s.

In fact by the late 1960s Lyari was well on its way to becoming a modern, urban slum.

The right stuff

A young Lyari girl in a traditional ‘Makrani dress’ at a wedding. –Photo courtesy South Asia News.

But all this did not just produce a locality riddled with only crime, violence and economic desperation. The equation of poverty, overpopulation, diversity, crime, radical politics and the presence of a majority having a proud African lineage also gave birth to a working-class polity, spirituality and aesthetics that have generated a unique cultural scenario.

It is this mix that has correctly painted a perception of Makranis as being open-minded, large-hearted, hard-working people who speak a distinct slang-riddled version of street-Urdu and are passionate about football, boxing and the movies.

Some of the best international level boxers in Pakistan have almost all emerged from Lyari and same is the case with football. It is also perhaps the only area in Pakistan where these two sports actually overshadow cricket!

A majority of Makranis belong to the so-called Sunni ‘Barelvi’ school of faith – an indigenous sub-continental variation of ‘folk Islam’ that emerged in the 18th century as a reaction against the rise of puritanical Islamic movements.

Barelvi Islam is not a concrete doctrine. In essence it is highly decentralised and anti-dogma. It connotes the practice in which sub-continental folk mores are fused with the ritualism of Sufi Islam and the pluralistic and ‘poor-friendly’ culture of devotional music, charity and festivity found around shrines of Sufi saints across Pakistan and India.

Most Makranis of Lyari are the devotees of the legendary 12th century Sufi saint, Pir Mangho, whose shrine in the Mangopir area of Karachi is believed to be one of the oldest in the city.

The shrine also has hot sulphur springs and a large pond where the shrine’s keepers have harvested crocodiles for hundreds of years. Feeding these reptiles is considered to be a celestially ordained and beneficial ritual.

The Makranis come here in their hundreds, especially during the birth celebrations of the saint. Here they re-enact the dancing, musical and devotional rituals of their African ancestors.

Between the late 1970s and 1990s Lyari also produced its own music scene, popularly known as ‘Lyari disco’.

Music has always played a major role in the lives of the people of Lyari, both in the spheres of faith and entertainment – especially music driven by pounding and rhythmic drumbeats.

One of the first areas outside the privileged populace of Karachi to embrace the invasion of classical American and European disco music of the late 1970s was Lyari.

Two Lyari football fans in Brazilian soccer jerseys. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

Throughout the 1980s dimly-lit small recording studios sprang up in Lyari where talented young Makrani men and women would record bouncy Balochi tunes that fused basic disco beats with traditional Balochi and African musical dynamics.

First the resultant albums were almost entirely bought and sold in Lyari but a massive ‘Lyari disco’ hit by one Shazia Khushk (a Sindhi) helped the genre to break out and turn Khushk into a national sensation.

The song was ‘Bija Teer Bija’ – recorded (at a Lyari studio) and released in 1988, it was a funky, driven tribute to the charismatic chairperson of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto.

The song was first used by the PPP during its electoral campaign for the November 1988 general election.

People’s power

Recently, Lyari has been treated by the media as an area whose politics is rather complex. This is mainly due to the growing influx of working-class people belonging to various ethnicities settling here. With them have arrived attempts by different political parties close to these ethnicities to carve out a vote bank for themselves in Lyari.

Also related to this is the way street crime, land scams and politics have mixed in Karachi in the last two decades in which street thugs and gangs have been used by political parties to generate funds and garner votes.

The complexities in this respect are further heightened when some gangs and criminals ‘become too big for their boots’ and become an embarrassment for the parties, especially when gang warfare conducted purely on criminal grounds become politicised due to the gangsters’ past or present association with political parties.

In the last few years, Lyari has become a hotbed of this particular phenomenon in Karachi. Otherwise, its politics has remained rather uncomplicated.

Ever since the 1970 general election, Lyari has been an unbending vote bank of the PPP. The party has won every national and provincial election that it has contested from Lyari from 1970 right up till the 2008 election.

The credit for this goes to PPP chairman, Z A. Bhutto and his party’s original socialist manifesto that resonated successfully with the people of Lyari.

The populism and socialist policies of the first PPP government (1972-77) were hugely popular with the voters of Lyari, but the PPP and the Bhuttos became enshrined as perpetual heroes here after Bhutto was toppled by a reactionary military coup orchestrated by General Ziaul Haq and then hanged to death through a sham trial in 1979.

Lyari witnessed a number of violent protests against the Zia regime throughout the 1980s, many of these turned into armed conflicts between the police and youth belonging to the PPP’s student and youth wings.

Shrine keepers feed one of the many crocodiles at the shrine of Pir Mangho. -Photo courtesy AP

Lyari also became the breeding ground of radical left-wing politics and activity during the dictatorship. A number of young residents of Lyari were jailed and some were even hanged for their supposed involvement with Murtaza Bhutto’s Al-Zulfikar Organisation (AZO) and other supposedly clandestine ‘communist outfits.’

On her return from exile in 1986, the first large rally that Benazir Bhutto held in Karachi was in Lyari. Her marriage to Asif Ali Zardari also took place in Lyari (1987).

To date, though parties like the MQM, ANP, Sunni Tehreek and some militant Baloch and Sindhi nationalist parties have opened offices here, the PPP support base and vote bank remains steadfast and secure in Lyari.

Attempts have also been made by puritanical Islamic evangelist groups like the Tableeghi Jamat to recruit young poverty-stricken Lyari residents, but the Jamat’s attempts have failed to bag much interest.

Gangland

Lyari is also known for gang-related violence. Though wild and often deadly, many Lyari gangsters have ultimately been portrayed by most Lyari residents as victims of their circumstances; some have even been casted as Robin Hood like characters in Lyari’s many urban folklores.

The first well known gangster here went by the name of Kala Naag (Black Serpent). He was active in Lyari in the 1960s, peddling hashish and running a network of pickpockets.

Kala Naag who emerged from poverty to become a toughie ‘trained’ two angry young men from the area, Sheru and Dadal. Both men were huge American movie fans, loved to drink whisky, smoked hashish and made a living by selling black tickets outside cinemas.

Donkey cart racing is a highly popular sport in Lyari. Bets are placed on races that begin in Lyari and end on the beaches of Karachi’s Clifton area. -Photo courtesy Akhtar Soomro.

They began to encroach upon Naag’s business and became rivals. Gang fights between their individual groups became common but in which only fists and knives were used. Then in 1967, Kala Nag was killed while fleeing the cops.

Sheru and Dadal battled it out between themselves until the arrival of Kala Nag’s son, Allah Baksh, also called ‘Kala Nag 2 (sic).’

Till the early 1980s, Lyari gangsters were largely involved in the trafficking of hashish, in bootlegging and street crimes. However, with the arrival of large quantities of sophisticated weapons and heroin, brought into the city by the large number of Afghan refugees pouring into Pakistan at the wake of the so-called anti-Soviet jihad in Afghanistan, changed that.

Changing rules of the game and growing poverty and population in Lyari meant the emergence of deadlier criminals. Kala Nag 2 joined hands with one Iqbal Babu and brushed aside Sheru and Dadal.

Nag 2 and Babu’s new opponent was Haji Lalu. All of them were now arming their gangs with sophisticated weaponry and had begun to peddle heroin as well.

Lyari was distributed between Babu and Lalu, both of whose groups are also said to have had provided safety to anti-Zia radicals on the run from the police.

A video grab showing members of a radical Baloch outfit replacing the Pakistan flag with a Bloch nationalist flag at a college in Lyari.

Lalu’s gang and the gang operated by Babu and Kala Nag 2 were constantly battling in the streets of Lyari. Extortion had become big business. Babu hired Hanif Bajola, a contract killer to kill Lalu. Simultaneously, Lalu was training his friend Dadal’s orphan son to make a hit on Babu.

Meanwhile, Dadal’s teenaged son, Rehman (Rehman Dakait), entered the fry to take revenge for his father’s downfall engineered by Babu and Kala Nag 2.

Lalu’s son, Arshad Pappu also arrived on the scene. Yet another generation of Lyari gangsters was in the making.

Rehman’s anger was used by Lalu against Kala Nag 2 and Babu. Nag was arrested by police (in 1991), whereas Rehman and his men mowed down a large number of Babu’s thugs, including four of Babu’s sons.

In 1996 Babu was arrested and put behind bars. So was Rehman, but in 1997 he managed to break out and escape. He was now at loggerheads with his mentor Lalu who was put behind bars in the early 2000s, leaving his son Arshad Papu to run his gang.

Rehman Dakait now replaced with uzair Baloch

For almost a decade after this, Rehman and Papu’s gangs battled to enforce their authority over Lyari’s deteriorating crime scene. This was also the first time when Rehman and Papu were said to have developed links with the PPP and MQM men in the area.

Rehman engineered the formation of the Peoples Aman Committee, a charity organisation that distributed money and food to the people of Lyari and was also patronised by the PPP. But the committee was also manned by Rehman’s thugs in the extortion and kidnapping business.

In 2009, the PPP, now back in power, felt that Rehman was becoming too big for his boots. It looked the other way when Karachi police shot dead Rehman.

In 2011, when the Committee, now under Uzair Baloch, got embroiled in a deadly tussle with thugs patronised by the MQM, the PPP’s Sindh government banned the committee.

Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com

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Here Full text of an interview;

Q.Where is international political scenario leading to?

Dr. Allah Nazar (DAN): After collapse of soviet union, it is said that there is an unipolar world system where capitalism rules. In international system many problems have emerged, and most significant of these is aspirations of oppressed nations. In this context, we assume that this century is century of nationalism and freedom of oppressed nations. Across the world, national question is emerging in many countries and many of these are marching toward their resolutions.

Q.NATO is withdrawing from Afghanistan. Has it achieved its interests?

DAN : They have succeeded in certain aspects. USA and its allies have economic interests in the region that are interdependent with resolution of Baloch National Question. If they want to take Central Asian resources, gas and oil to western markets, the only way out is that of Baloch. Without resolution of Baloch National Question, they will never achieve their interests completely because resolutions of problems in the region depend upon freedom of Baloch and other oppressed nations.

Q.How do you see the arrest and killing of Osama ?

DAN : Osama was their own creation. For Pakistan and ISI, he was a golden bird. I can say that Pakistan equally mourned his arrest as US celebrated it because Pakistan Army lost a credit card.

Q.What will be the impact of the recent changes in Mid-East on Baloch society? Can you evaluate?

DAN :A permanent resolution of Mid-East issues inter-depends with Palestine’s freedom. Until it is not recognized as an independent state, and its borders are not protected, the peace will not prevail in the region. Whereas the popular sentiments exist in Egypt, Tunis, and Yemen, it’s not a big blast. However, wherever changes come it will leave its impact, negative and positive, upon us. We will try to adopt their positive effects.

Q.How does Iran deal with Baloch in Western Balochistan? What are your views on the arrest of Abdul Malik Rigi?

DAN :Iran deals with Baloch the same way what Pakistan deals with us here. Baloch are occupied there too. They too have aspirations that their brethren Baloch in the East and the North live free, and they freely communicate with them. They too aspire for a free country. Iran kills Baloch in cold blood. They have been killed in thousands. The only difference between killing modus operandi is that Pakistan kills Baloch and dump their bodies in desolated regions, and Iran hangs them in the streets. I mean the attitude is same. Whereas the question is about Abdul Malik Rigi and his killing, as a Baloch I mourn death of every single Baloch.

Q.What will be the impact of strategic war between US and China and that of economic interests among Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, especially over access to energy resources?

DAN : Strategic interests are different for each of them. They want to get their strategic interests from Pakistan ,and economic interests in Balochistan. To Baloch, I say, everyone who helps the enemy is an imperialist. For example China is helping Pakistan military against Baloch, Baloch consider its role as imperialistic. In nutshell, the war of interests does not auger well for Baloch.

Q.It’s said that Pakistan has been using carpet bombs and chemical weapons against Baloch. What do you think whether it can use nuclear weapons or not?

DAN : Colonizers always use such lethal weapons to annihilate its enemy. We consider that its biggest goal is genocide of Baloch people. It has speeded up the genocide. Today, we as well as the civilized world is concerned about the safety of Pakistan’s nukes. These being in irresponsible hands with a dangerously irresponsible political thought can be used anytime for destruction of humanity.

Q.Can you estimate the scale of damage that ongoing Baloch war of freedom has inflicted upon Pakistan?

DAN : Perhaps Pakistan itself is not aware of the scale of damage. This is why it has not yet withdrawn from Balochistan. However the war has benefited Baloch so far. The proof of this is that this war halted the plan of huge colonial settlements in the shape of deep sea ports and other mega projects to devour and marginalize Baloch. The colonizer’s plan failed.I would add one thing here that Baloch is very sensitive about its freedom. The Baloch nation has passed through great changes in political thoughts and political consciousness, and the end result of the great change is an independent state (Balochistan).

Q.Is there any possibility of negotiation with Pakistan?

DAN : Impossible. Except on freedom. I would add here that Baloch nation will never accept any attempt of negotiation and reconciliation with occupant Pakistan at the cost of the life of Baloch nation.

Q.How far parties fighting for freedom are organized?

DAN : Whereas matter related to the organizations fighting for freedom when you see and analyze role of each of them, one thing would be clear that Baloch nation is going through a very painful and critical phase. Till today many tactics are being used to externally and internally control those who are fighting the war of national freedom, and these elements have become active. Instead of this, the freedom fighters are consistently and vigorously fighting the war of freedom.

Q.What is the standard of nationalism to you? In present circumstances, which party can be called a nationalist party?

DAN : Perhaps everyone has its own standard of nationalism. However, my standard of nationalism is that a person who fights and takes parts in armed struggle and in politics for national liberation, and is ready to sacrifice his life for the cause is a true nationalist. Similarly those who enjoy looking at the bodies of martyrs and strive to get privileges and benefits a particular class, can’t be categorized as nationalists. For example there are Baloch parliamentary parties like Balochistan National Party (BNP), Balochistan National Party( Awami), and National Party which do politics in the name of Baloch but in fact these are working against Baloch national freedom. They are helping Pakistan counter-insurgency efforts against Baloch nation.

Q.In your point of view, in what scale Baloch National Question has been highlighted in the world?

DAN :Due to the sacrifices of Baloch martyrs and indefatigable struggles of Sarmachars [freedom fighters], Baloch national question has echoed across the world.

Q.What is the role of Baloch women in the movement?

DAN :Its very inspiring and satisfactory.

Q.Everyday mutilated bodies of Baloch people are found. What’s the reason that they become easy prey to security forces and their intelligence wings?

DAN : Political cadres always work in surface. Therefore they get as easy prey. Secondly the enemy abduct and kill political workers to spread fear among people not to join the war of freedom. But, this strategy is counter-productive and pushing them more towards failure because the enemy has no idea of Baloch’s strong and uncompromising intentions.

Q.What will be the end of pro- Pakistani Sardars and tribal chiefs? And how many of them will be murdered during the struggle?

DAN : I don’t use the term “murder” here. Albeit, Baloch nation will hold them accountable. In the current war, in my view, except one Sardar, all other have negative roles. When we look into their present roles, we find them against Baloch and Baloch movement. In my opinion, they are not of Baloch traditions and culture but few commodities ready to be sold out.

Q.Who is that one sardar?

DAN :He is Nawab Khair Bux Marri.

Q.What is your message to the Baloch who serve currently in army, FC (Frontier Constabulary), intelligence agencies, and in administration?

DAN :The Baloch who do trivial jobs should consider freedom sacred instead. In a free country everyone has his due respect and role. On the other side, in a colonial system job is only a way of getting paid.

Q.What is your view about Mafia and the people who work as spy?

DAN :The liberation organizations have warned people in the Mafia for several times and have identified them. Not only among us but everywhere colonial power always use such tactics to defame freedom movement and to malign reputation of the freedom fighters.

Q.What is the figure of disappeared Baloch?

DAN :There are about 14,000 Baloch disappeared and they have been abducted by intelligence agencies: ISI(Inter-service Intelligence) and MI ( Military Intelligence). No one count the number of martyrs in a war of liberation.

Q.By this time, how many Baloch have migrated from their motherland? Can you estimate?

DAN :Hundreds of thousands. Even it is beyond estimation.

Q.In future, in a free Balochistan, can Baloch Sarmachars (freedom fighters) come up to the standard of a regular army?

DAN :They can absolutely because a freedom fighting organization is an alternative state, and they are trained in such manner that they can take the charge of administration of the state. In my opinion Baloch guerrilla can control state affairs in a standard way after freedom.

Q.Are you satisfied with current pace of struggle? Is there any need for speeding up the struggle?

DAN :Every time and every moment there is space for improvement, and there is need for struggling more. I think we have to struggle hard this time to compel the occupant to leave our country.

Q.Have you ever regretted that a large number of people have been killed and many disappeared? What will be the end?

DAN :I have no regret. This war is a war of sacrifices. No one can reach to the destiny without sacrifices. Half a million people were killed in South Sudan. Did they regret? Baloch is also fighting the war of independence. It is possible that the enemy would speed up the oppression in coming days. But our people are brave. You will regret if you don’t have a goal. We have an explicit goal. We are fighting and being martyred for the liberation of our motherland. Therefore, Baloch is proud of it, and ready for more sacrifice.

Q.According to some groups, a scenario of provincial autonomy will diminish the cause for freedom. What is your opinion?

DAN :This is absolutely a wrong hypothesis. This is being spread by touts of the state. Provincial autonomy is a deception. It is a fraud, and a source of gathering wealth by the privileged class. It is a way to placate the members of the parliament and promote their status.

Q.What were you feeling while being arrested?

DAN :I was deeply feeling my slavery. It confirmed the belief that I am an occupied people.

Q.What did you feel after being released?

DAN :I decided to start the struggle again, and joined the war of liberation.

Q.What makes you happier?

DAN :It is human nature that one becomes happy over happening of good things, and sometime one feels pain too. If these both things do not exist in a human, one can’t be called a human.

Q.Any hobbies?

DAN :Struggle for liberation and study.

Q.What do you study?

DAN :I study on freedom movements, autobiography of warriors, history, philosophy, religion, literature and almost I am interested in study of every subject.

Q.It is said that you smoke more. Any reason?

DAN :I am addicted now. At the start, I used to smoke less. Now I smoke more. However sometime, I do try to quit it.

Q.Are you interested in hunting?

DAN :Yes, I am.

Q.How many languages can you speak and understand?

DAN :I can speak in Balochi, Brauhi, and Urdu ,and I can understand English.

Q.Who is your ideal?

DAN :Every person who fights for his independence.

Q.Do you have any interest in sport?

DAN :I had interest in playing but now I have no time. I used to enjoy playing chess, volley ball, and table tennis.

Q.Have you ever fallen in love?

DAN :Yes, with my land.

Q.When did you weep last time in life and why?

DAN :Such moments come in life but can’t say anything.

Q.What is your weakness?

DAN :No comment.

Q.When do you get outrage?

DAN :No comment.

Q.Do you fear from death?

DAN :If death is inevitable, then why to fear it!

Q.Generally, political leaders are polygamist but you have married once. Why?

DAN :The matter is that I am not a political leader. I am only a fighter in the war of liberation.

Q.Which animal do you like?

DAN :I like ox and chakoor.

Q.What are your favorite colours?

DAN :Yellow, white, light blue and red.

Q.Which weapon do you like?

DAN :The weapon that is in the hand.

Q.Any message for Baloch nation?

DAN :They should understand the notorious strategies and trickeries of the enemy ,and should join the war of liberation because the enemy is in the trouble. It is in strain and very weak. The enemy is using new tools such as abduction against war of liberation. It is duty of every Baloch to understand trickery of the enemy, and be united.

Translated from Urdu by Adeenag Baloch

A wave of violence and killings has taken over the country with sporadic incidents of killings taking place in areas of Balochistan too, including Mastung, HUB and Quetta. No group has taken responsibility yet. Security agencies and the provincial government has failed in bringing order in the province.

http://afpak.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2011/08/04/body_bags_in_baluchistan

On Aug. 1, Pakistan’s military chief, Gen. Ashfaq Parvez Kayani, said the Army and its intelligence agencies are not involved in so-called “kill-and-dump” operations in the restive province of Baluchistan. Kayani was speaking in Quetta, the provincial capital, where Human Rights Watch said in a recent report that Islamabad “should immediately end widespread disappearances of suspected militants and activists by the military, intelligence agencies, and the paramilitary Frontier Corps.”The report follows similar findings by Amnesty International and the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Human rights watchdogs have repeatedly called on Islamabad to stop unlawful killings in Baluchistan, where hundreds of political activists have been killed in separatist and sectarian violence involving both homegrown and regional insurgents.

Most of the violence stems from the targeting of suspected Baluchi separatists. They are often kidnapped, only to be found dead weeks later, their decomposing corpses having been dumped by the side of the road. Baluchi nationalists accuse the Pakistani security forces of orchestrating such killings. Islamabad counters that separatist insurgents are killing ethnic Punjabi migrants and politicians loyal to Islamabad. Independence-minded Baluchis have frequently clashed with the federal government over the control of resources in the region, and now even moderate nationalists fear hard-line militants who are pushing them to completely abandon electoral politics as relations with Islamabad continue to deteriorate.

While Baluchistan makes up nearly half of Pakistan’s 800,000-square-kilometer territory, its population accounts for less than 5 percent of the country’s 180 million people. Baluchi separatist factions headed by young leaders are now perpetuating their fifth rebellion in Pakistan’s 64-year history — Islamabad crushed earlier insurgencies in 1948, 1958, 1962, and 1973 to 1977.

Baluchistan borders Iran and Afghanistan and is hemmed in by the restive Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), Khyber-Puktunkhwa, Punjab, and Sindh provinces. Rich in hydrocarbon resources and minerals, including one of the world’s largest gold mines, the region also has a long shoreline on the Arabian Sea along one of the busiest shipping routes in the world, and it is home to the increasingly important strategic port at Gwadar. The region extends into Iran, where ethnic Baluchis make up around 2 percent of the country’s population of 80 million.

The region’s strategic location at the crossroads of Central Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and West Asia has reinforced regional rivalries and insurgent movements. In Pakistan, thousands of separatist Baluchis, soldiers, political leaders, and civilians have died since the onset of the current insurgency in 2004. Nearly 200,000 people have been displaced, many of whom are ethnic Punjabis who are only now beginning to return to Quetta after the military targeted insurgent cells in the city. Iran’s Baluchis, meanwhile, live under severe political and cultural oppression as a Sunni Muslim minority under the nation’s Shiite clerical regime.

Additionally, despite differences over the endgame in Afghanistan, Tehran and Islamabad appear to be on the same page in dealing with their respective Baluchi populations. Last summer, Iran and Pakistan signed a $7 billion gas-pipeline project that envisions meeting energy-hungry South Asia’s needs for decades. The Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) route even has support from the Asian Development Bank as well as key Afghan partners (and even some insurgents), but its viability will remain in question as long as Baluchi insurgents continue to blow up gas pipelines in the region, a factor influencing current harsh efforts on both sides of the border to suppress the Baluchi insurgencies.

Yet Baluchistan also remains a battleground for competing regional interests. Pakistan is suspicious of an Indian-financed road network linking southwestern Afghanistan to the southeastern Iranian port of Chabahar, a predominantly Baluchi city. Tehran invested in the Arabian Sea Port project hoping to attract business from across Central Asia. Over the last decade, China has invested a hefty $200 million in the development of Gwadar, downstream on the same shoreline. Many observers believe the project showcases Sino-Pakistani cooperation and may signal their possible cooperation in the Afghanistan endgame, cooperation that New Delhi eyes with suspicion.

Baluchistan is also a key component of the regional rivalries centered in Afghanistan. Islamabad is fighting the Baluchi insurgency with full vigor, occasionally diverting the resources it gets from the West to fight the Taliban and al Qaeda. Washington and its allies have in the past and are likely still considering ending the Baluchistan sanctuary of the Mullah Omar-led Afghan Taliban as a top priority to salvage their transition plans and force the Taliban to the negotiating table. This creates further friction in the already deteriorating relations between Islamabad and Washington. And some Baluchi activists have told me of their belief that one reason for the increased effort to crush the newest insurgency in the province is so that the Afghan Taliban’s sanctuaries could remain protected.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has publicly accused India of supporting Baluchi separatists, and some officials in Islamabad are privately skeptical about Iran, too, while Iran has accused Pakistan of sheltering members of the Iranian terrorist group Jundullah, mostly composed of Sunni Baluchis fighting against the Shiite government. Islamabad has also accused Kabul of sheltering Baluchi rebel leader Brahamdagh Khan Bugti for years. And in the 1970s, Afghanistan supported a Baluchi insurrection and later sheltered the insurgents.

While in Quetta, Kayani advised the Baluchi insurgents to talk to Pakistani political leaders to work toward a solution to the conflict. But these politicians have no real power and will look to the all-powerful security forces and intelligence agencies Kayani controls to begin substantive talks.

Unlike in the past when insurgents followed tribal leaders, Baluchi separatists are now loyal to a new breed of middle-class leaders, and satisfying them will take much more than offering cabinet slots and amnesty. Baluchistan, like Afghanistan, will need regional cooperation to see development and a permanent settlement to ongoing conflicts. And more body bags will only push a settlement further away.

Abubakar Siddique is a senior correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty covering Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Provincial government flag of Balochistan, Pakistan

The province of Balochistan (or Baluchistan) in Pakistan contains most of historical Balochistan and is named after the Baloch. Neighbouring regions are Iranian Balochistan to the west, Afghanistan and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, Pakistan to the north and Punjab and Sindh to the east. To the south is the Arabian Sea. The principal languages in the province are Baluchi, Pashto, Brahui, and Persian.

Ministries of Balochistan

• Government of Balochistan. Government of Balochistan consists of 26 Departments and some allied offices. These 26 Departments are headed by Provincial Secretaries. The Provincial Secretaries are headed by Chief Secretary. Presently there are 47 Ministers who look after 27 Departments.

• Government of Balochistan – District Database
• Finance Department
• Planning & Development Department

External links

• Government of Balochistan – Official site
• District Database – Government of Balochistan
• Finance Department
• Balochistan Development Gateway

Geography

The State of Kalat was located between 25°1′ and 30°8′N. And 61°37′ and 69°22′E., with a total area of 11,593 square miles (30,030 km²). It occupied the whole of the centre and south-west of the Province of Balochistan, with the exception of the indentation caused by the little State of Las Bela. It was bounded on the west by Iran; on the east by the Bolan Pass, the Maxi and Bugti hills, and Sindh; on the north by the Chagai and Quetta-Pishin Districts; and on the south by Las Bela and the Arabian Sea. With the exception of the plains of Kharan, Kachhi, and Dasht in Makran, the country is wholly mountainous, the ranges being intersected here and there by long narrow valleys.

The principal mountains are the Central Brahui, Kirthar, Pab, Siahan, Central Makran and Makran Coast Ranges, which descend in elevation from about 10,000 to 1,200 feet (370 m). The drainage of the country is almost all carried off to the southward by the Nari, Mula, Hab, Porali, Hingol and Dasht rivers. The only large river draining northwards is the Rakhshan. The coast-line stretches for about 160 miles (260 km), from near Kalmat to Gwadar Bay, and the chief port is Pasni. Round Gwadar the country was in the possession of the Sultan of Muscat.^[1]

History

The state of Kalat was founded in 1638. The territories controlled by the state fluctuated over the centuries but eventually were established by treaties with the British Agent Robert Sandeman in the late 19th century. Parts of the state to the north and northeast were leased or ceded to form the province of British Baluchistan which later gained the status of a Chief Commissioners province.

In 1947, the Khan of Kalat reportedly acceded to the dominion of India. But his accession papers were returned by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India.^[2][3][4]

On 28 March 1948, the Khan of Kalat acceded to Pakistan. The Baluchistan States Union was formed on 3 October 1952 with three neighbouring states. The state of Kalat ceased to exist on 14 October 1955 when the province of West Pakistan was formed.

Rulers of Kalat

The rulers of Kalat held the title of Wali originally but in 1739 also took the title (Begler Begi) Khan usually shortened to Khan. The last Khan of Kalat (Urdu: خان قلات) had the privilege of being the President of the Council of Rulers for the Baluchistan States Union.

References

General Sher Mohammad Marri-General Sherov Marri

Parrari or Parari was founded by Sher Mohammad Marri in the 1962. The Parrari resistance began in Marri tribal region and spread to other parts of Baluchistan. The Parraris had volunteers which ambuhed convoys and raided Pakistani Military camps, which in answer Pakistani Army air bombardments civilians areas. The Parraris spread over 45,000 square miles (120,000 km²) which from Mengal tribals region Jhalawan to the Marri-Bugti country. General Tikka Khan, also known as “Butcher of Balochistan”, was appointed by the Pakistan Government as commander of Baluchistan. The Parraris continued fighting until 1969, when General Yahya Khan sued Parrari commanders for a cease-fire but some members were not happy about the cease-fire demands and they established new front BPLF. The Parraris were, for the most part viewed with suspicion. There have been accounts were the Parris were accused of partaking in sodomy

Bugti, meeting with Muhammad Ali Jinnah.

The Jamhoori Wattan Party (Urdu: جمہوری وطن پارٹی) (Republican National Party) is a political party in Balochistan, Pakistan. In legislative elections, held on 20 October 2002, the party won 0.3 % of the popular vote and 1 out of 272 elected members.The party has split into two factions one headed by Talal Akbar Bugti and the other by Baramdagh Bugti called Baloch Republican Party.

History

Mir Gul Khan Nasir (Left), Ataullah Mengal (Middle) and Mir Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo (Right) in a historic group photo taken in Mach Jail

In 1972, the National Awami Party or NAP formed the first elected government in Balochistan after winning the elections and Ataullah Mengal

was sworn in as the first Chief Minister of Balochistan. But just nine months after the formation of the NAP Government, it was overthrown by Bhutto who used Nawab Akbar Bugti’s allegation that Mengal’s regime wanted to disintegrate Pakistan and liberate Balochistan as grounds for this dismissal. Ataullah Mengal, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Gul Khan Nasir^[1], Nawab Khair Bux Marri and the other NAP leaders were thrown in jail. They were released when Bhutto’s government was toppled by Zia-ul-Haq, after spending more than four years in captivity. By this time differences had arisen between the NAP leadership, so while Mengal, Bizenjo and Nasir went to the NAP headquarters, Khair Bux and Shero Marri headed home.

Later, Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo formed the Pakistan National Party or PNP after differences arose between him and Wali Khan over the Kabul Revolution (he supported the revolution while Wali Khan was against it). Gul Khan joined PNP and became the President of its Balochistan wing while Ataullah went into exile in London.

In 1996, Ataullah Mengal returned to Pakistan and formed the Balochistan National Party.^[2]

BNP Government

BNP swept the 1997 elections and was able to form a coalition government in Balochistan with Sardar Ataullah Mengal’s son, Akhtar Mengal as the Chief Minister. This government did not last long as, soon, differences began arising between the Balochistan Provincial Government and the Federal Government.

1998 – 2009

After the dismissal of their first government, BNP hasn’t taken part in any elections. In 2002, the party didn’t compete in the elections in protest of General Pervez Musharraf’s October 1999 military coup which allowed the pro-military religious alliance to win almost all the moderate and nationalist constituencies. Though a few members of the party did take part in the elections independently. One of these members got elected to the National Assembly of Pakistan, one to the Senate of Pakistan and two to the Provincial Assembly.

In 2006, Nawab Akbar Bugti was killed by the Pakistani Army. BNP had vehemently criticized the government when the operation in Balochistan had been launched^[3] and after Bugti’s death all four of its independently elected representatives resigned from their seats of the National and Provincial Assemblies.^[4]

In December 2006 Akhtar Mengal was arrested for allegedly ordering his security guards to beat up secret service personnel. Mengal maintained that these secret service officials had tried to kidnap his children as they returned from school and as a result, the security guards had beaten them. During his trail, according to Mr Iqbal Haider, secretary-general of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, “Mr Mengal was brought into the courtroom and shoved into an iron cage with bars all around that stood in a corner away from his counsel.”^[5] Mengal was released in 2008, after the Pakistan Peoples Party government came in power, after spending almost one and a half year in jail.

After Akhtar Mengal’s arrest, the rest of the BNP leadership was also imprisoned mainly in MPO cases. On December 2, Sajid Tareen was arrested from his chambers^[6], Habib Jalib Advocate and Akbar Mengal were also arrested the same day^[7]. Jahanzeb Jamaldini was also put under arrest in December. Then, on January 3, 2007 the acting Chief of BNP, Mir Noor-ud-din Mengal was also arrested along with other activists while they were on their way to meet imprisoned workers of BNP in Khuzdar^[8].

Demands

The Balochistan National Party’s main demand has been for the right of self determination of the Baloch people and for the provinces having control over their resources.

Council Session 2009

Balochistan National Party’s third council session was held between 25 to 28 June 2009. It was presided over by an ailment stricken Akhtar Mengal. In this council session the leadership and central committee members of the party were selected as follows:

Leadership

Akhtar Mengal (President)
Jahanzeb Jamaldeni (Senior Vice President)
Sajid Tareen (Vice President)
Habib Jalib Advocate (General Secretary)
Jahanzeb Baloch (Deputy General Secretary)
Akhtar Hussain Langov (Joint Secretary)
Agha Hassan Baloch (Information Secreatory & Culture Sec.)
Abdul Razaq Langov (Labour and Social Secretary)
Hammal Baloch (Finance Secretary)
Malik Naseer Shahwani (Secretary of Agriculture and Fisheries)
Jameela Baloch (Women Secretary)
^[2]

Central Committee members

Mir Mohammad Aslam Kurd
Mir Nooruddin Mengal
Sayeyd Nabeel Zaidi
Mir Abdullah Jan
Mir Haji Abid Hussain
Mir Manzoor Hussain Langove
Sana Baloch
Sardar Haq Nawaz Buzdar
Yaqoob Baloch
Abdul Ghafoor Mengal
Abdul Hameed Kehtaran
Abdul Raoof Mengal
Adv. Abdul Hameed
Attaullah Mengal
Chairman Manzoor Baloch
Dr. Abdul Ghafoor
Dr. Abdul Qudus
Dr. Abdul Samad Mirwani
Eng. Malik Mohammad Sasoli
Agha Musa Jan
Arbab Mohammad Naeem Dehwar
Ghullam Haider Kaka Buzdar
Hameed Sajna
Laal Jan Baloch
Malik Abdul Hameed kakar
Mohammad Yonus
MohammadQasim Rhonjo
Murad Jan
Nawabzada Mir Amanullah
R.G Khosa
^[2]

Ladies Central Committee

Khalida Mengal
Rashida Mengal
Sania Hassan Kashani
Yasmeen Baloch
^[2]

Overseas Central Committee

Aurangzeb Mengal
Ghulam Sarwar
Mir Akber Mengal
Mullah Abdul Sattar
^[2]

References

1. ^ http://books.google.com.pk/books?id=ZBs0HdpKuaQC&pg=PA27&lpg=PA27&dq=Gul+Khan+Nasir&source=bl&ots=uuVvnAczMh&sig=ApXz7vpz_IjdtNtLeq_oS_ZbI24&hl=en&ei=KemgSrSWN8afkQX3ovCBBA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=10#v=onepage&q=Gul%20Khan%20Nasir&f=false
2. ^ ^{a b c d e} http://balochistannationalparty.org
3. ^ http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/11/nat4.htm
4. ^ http://www.dawn.com/2006/09/04/top2.htm
5. ^ http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/14/op.htm
6. ^ http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\02\story_2-12-2006_pg7_23
7. ^ http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006\12\02\story_2-12-2006_pg7_25
8. ^ http://www.dawn.com/2007/01/05/top7.htm
9. http://www.dawn.com/2008/02/14/op.htm
10. http://www.dawn.com/weekly/dmag/archive/041128/dmag3.htm
11. http://www.dawn.com/2006/01/27/nat7.htm
12. http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/pakistan/provinces/12-akhtar-mengal-calls-for-baloch-unity–bi-12
13. http://www.dawn.com/2008/01/17/op.htm

Flag of the Balochistan Liberation Army

The Balochistan Liberation Army (also Baloch Liberation Army or Boluchistan Liberation Army) (BLA) is a militant group based in Balochistan, a mountainous region within southern Iran and Pakistan. The organization is a participant in the Balochistan conflict and strives to establish an independent state of Balochistan, free of Pakistani and Iranian rule. The Baloch Liberation Army became publicly known during the summer of 2000, after it claimed credit for a series of bombings of markets and railways lines. In 2006 the BLA was declared a proscribed group by Pakistani and the British government.

Leadership

It has been alleged that Mir Balach Marri, son of the Baloch tribal leader Nawab Khair Bakhsh Marri, was the head of the BLA. However Balach has denied this claim, stating that while he was aware of the BLA and supports them, but he is not the group’s leader. On 26 August 2006, Balach Marri survived an unsuccessful attack by Pakistani law enforcement agencies. In addition to Balach Marri, the grandsons of Akbar Khan Bugti, Brahamdagh Khan Bugti and Mir Aley also survived the attack. However, Balach Marri was killed in an attack on November 21, 2007.^[3] His death incited a wave of violence in Balochistan^[4] and lead to broad condemnation. Benazir Bhutto said the killing was “a bad omen for the integrity of the Federation”,^[5] whilst the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said “the incident was likely to increase the anger of the people of Balochistan against the Pakistan Government”.^[6][7][8] The cause and location of Balach’s death are unknown. At least three different locations have been claimed as the site of the attack, ranging from the Helmand province in Afghanistan in a mistaken NATO air strike to the Pakistani-Afghan border in the Nushki area to the Kahan area in the Kohlu district in the Marri tribal area. At the latter two possible attack locations, Balach’s death has been asserted to be the result of a Pakistani security forces attack. Balach’s death incited a wave of violence in Quetta and several people were killed.^[9][10] Although a BLA spokesman confirmed the death of the BLA commander, the spokesman was reluctant to provide any further information as to location or possible collateral damage of the attack, for fear of compromising the safety of other BLA fighters.^[11] Most of the BLA’s leadership is currently situated in Afghani provinces adjacent to the Pakistani border.

Proscribed status

On 17 July 2006, the government of the United Kingdom listed the BLA as a proscribed group and banned their members from the UK.^[12] As a result of this designation any person associated with the organization is barred from entering the United Kingdom.^[13] The group’s actions have also been described as terrorism by the United States Department of State^[14]

Allegations of support from India

Pakistan has accused India of involvement in the Balochistan conflict.^{[15][16][17][18]} Pakistan claims to have uncovered evidence indicating India as the cause of the conflict.^[19][20][21] Pakistani officials have often asserted that there is “an Indian hand behind the insurgency in Balochistan.” It has also been asserted that “India has been known to supply arms and ammunition through Afghanistan,” while Balochi leaders have turned towards India.^[22] The Dawn recently^[vague] reported that a dossier detailing evidence of “involvement in terror financing in Pakistan” has been compiled and that the BLA operatives are also being trained in camps being run by RAW and that BLA Leadership currently^[when?] operates from safe houses run by RAW.^[23] Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, however, denied that Pakistan had handed any such dossier to India.^[24] India categorically denied such allegations.^[25] United States envoy to Pakistan and Afghanistan Richard Holbrooke also stated that Pakistan had provided no evidence of Indian involvement in Balochistan and that Washington attaches no credibility to Islamabad’s charges in to that effect.^[26] However the Council on Foreign Relations states that some ‘experts’ believe there is in fact Indian involvement behind the insurgency.^[27]

Activities of the Balochistan Liberation Army

The BLA has claimed responsibility for attacks on Pakistani security forces. In an interview to private TV channel [AAJ TV's exclusive interview on 'Live with Talat'] in Pakistan on 15 April 2009 Brahamdagh Khan Bugti, a BLA leader who has since formed a splinter militant organisation called Balochistan Liberation Front, urged Baloch people to kill any non-Balochi residing in Balochistan, whether civilian or military personnel, to prove themselves as Balochi. The interview was conducted over a telephonic-link as Brahamdagh Khan Bugti was in hiding in Afghanistan. The BLA also claimed responsibility for conducting systematic ethnic genocide against unarmed Punjabi civilians and people with Punjabi blood, most of whom are fourth or fifth generation inhabitants of Balochistan. These Punjabi are claimed to be spies by the BLA. Most of the victims are educators, lecturers, barbers, and doctors. The latest in the series of victims was an aged female lecturer at the Balochistan University who had taught at the institution since its inception; she was shot due to ancestral connections to Punjab. The ethnic genocide against Punjabis has claimed almost 500 victims.^{[citation needed]}

• June 2000: A number of bombs were detonated by BLA activists in the commercial district of Quetta, the provincial capital of Pakistani Balochistan, an area often frequented by the Pakistani military personnel. The explosions resulted in the deaths of 26 soldiers and 5 civilians, and the wounding of many others.^{[citation needed]}

• July 2000: Fifteen 82-mm mortar shells of Russian-manufacture were fired from the Koh-i-Murdar mountain range near Quetta, targeting the city’s military garrison. No official casualty report was issued by the Pakistani military to the press in Balochistan.

• 03 May, 2004: Three Chinese engineers working on a hydropower project, enabling irrigation of Balochi-occupied farmerland as part of a Pakistani government initiative to develop Baloch agricultural capacity, were killed while another eleven were injured in a car bomb attack by the BLA.^[28] In June and July 2004, another five attacks followed utilizing IEDs.

• Apirl 2006: Numerous deaths of Pakistani soldiers have resulted from landmines planted by Balochistan Liberation Army.^[29]

• 17 August 2006: The Asaap media-outlet ^[30] reported on that the Pakistan Army was conducting a search operation against BLA fighters 12 km away from Karmo Wadh, near Sibi, when during the ongoing operation, the Pakistani forces came under heavy barrage of rocket fire from Baloch fighters. The attack claimed three Pakistani soldiers while wounding another seven. (Names of soldiers K.I.A are: NCO Amjad Ali, NCO Tasawer Hussen and NCO Matloob Hussen. Names of the critically wounded soldiers: Major Qaiser, Hawaldar Anser, Corporal Mudser Hussen, NCO Majid Hussen, NCO Ishfaq Ahmed, NCO Janzeb and NCO Ashraf.) All the wounded were moved to Combined Military Hospital Hospital Sibi. In another such incident, 40 km from Sangsila in the Dera Bugti area, Pakistani soldiers were caught in a BLA landmine explosion while digging trenches on Bambore-Top (Bambore is a mountain located in the east of Sibi and north of Dera Bugti). Soldiers K.I.A included: Naib Subedar Kashmir Afridi and NCO Abdul Khaliq Afridi; while five soldiers were critically wounded. The rockets, as well as heavy weaponry used by BLA fighters, have been confirmed to be of Indian/Russian-origin after equipment and ammunition was captured by Pakistan Army troops in a separate search and destroy operations.

• 25 August 2006: Four tribal militants were killed as Pakistani security forces used helicopter gunships in an operation in parts of Kohlu district. Two members of the security forces were killed while an officer was injured. Reports from Kohlu said the security forces moved in to Karmo Wadh and Tartani areas near Kahan using air support to attack militant hideouts.

To offset military reverses and failures against Pakistan Army, the BLA has sought to utilize propaganda to avert a complete public-relations disaster. Azad Baloch, a spokesman for the Balochistan Liberation Army, told reporters at the Quetta Press Club on the telephone from an unknown place that armed militants were resisting the attacks. He went on to claim that over a dozen security personnel had been killed and many others had been injured. He also claimed killing FC men in a landmine explosion in Kamo Wadh area. However, official Pakistani sources did not confirm any casualties suffered by the security forces.^[31]

• 29 May 2007: Dozens of blasts in Balochistan disabled railway links with the rest of the country were claimed by the BLA,.^[32]

Bungal Bugti, a former ally of Nawab Akbar Shahbaz Khan Bugti was reportedly killed on May 9, 2008 in a car-bomb attack. It has been reported that the militants of Balochistan Liberation Army carried out the attack.

Organizational History

Former leader, and grandfather of current BLA leader Brahamdagh Bugti, Nawab Akbar Bugti.

The Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) is fighting for an independent Balochistan.  The group claims a long line of grievances, including the lack of economic development in the province despite the relative wealth of its gas fields, the continuing failure of the Pakistan government to give royalties to the Baloch tribal administration for using the province’s resources, the employment of non-Balochis in the province as opposed to native inhabitants for large-scale projects, and the construction of military training facilities in the region which upsets tribal life and freedom of movement.

Balochi Nationalism is nothing new in Pakistan despite the recent emergence of violence in opposition to the Pakistani government. Though over a century old, the current crisis can be traced back to 1973, when an ethnic insurgency erupted in Balochistan that lasted over four years. [1] The Independent Balochistan Movement was aimed at establishing an independent state of Balochistan comprising all the Balochi areas of Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. The Balochi Nationalists were vastly outnumbered by the Pakistani military in a conflict that claimed the lives of 5,300 Balochi guerrillas and 3,300 soldiers. The conflict only came to a tentative truce after the fall of the Bhutto government in 1977; the truce eventually turned into a lasting peace for more than two decades, but many of the problems causing Balochi Nationalism to ignite in the first place, were never fixed. The military coup of 1999 stirred extreme nationalist tendencies once again. Pushed by a poor economy and increasing antagonism with neighboring countries, the Pakistani government believed that Balochistan’s vast natural resources held some hope of restoring the country’s economy. [2] These desperate moves were a catalyst for one of Pakistan’s most serious terrorist threats, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which began actively attacking police personnel and some civilians, namely journalists, in 2003. Pakistan officially declared the BLA a terrorist organization in April 2006, and they became the chief insurgent organization fighting for an independent Balochistan.  According to the Frontier Corps’ Major Gen. Saleem Nawaz, the current leader of the BLA is also controlling the insurgent group, Baloch Republican Army (BRA) from Afghanistan.