Observers are drawing comparisons to 1971, when General Yahya Khan dismissed East Pakistan’s demands as externally backed rebellion. All these were right before Bangladesh was born out of that very denial.
This is how the Army fools the public. When Bangladesh was breaking away, Yahya Khan was saying the same things that the current Pakistan Army is saying about Balochistan.
Shahaan Baluch (@Shahaanbaloch95) April 16, 2025 on X.
As incumbent Pakistan army chief Asif Munir echoes a familiar script -- tone and content of his message mirror the language used by General Yahya Khan before the fall of Dhaka -- a rigid insistence on unity, denial of dissent, and threats of military force.
As Balochistan reels from decades of conflict, Munir’s defiance is prompting questions: Is Pakistan revisiting a dangerous historical pattern under a different name?
More than five decades after the fall of Dhaka, history appears to be knocking again -- this time in Balochistan.
In a divisive speech delivered in Islamabad, Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir issued a stark warning to Baloch insurgents and separatist groups, invoking national unity and the two-nation theory.
But his remarks have sparked unease, not just for their ideological content, but for the troubling historical parallels they evoke.
“Our religion is different, our customs are different, our traditions are different, our thoughts are different, our ambitions are different -- that’s where the foundation of the two-nation theory was laid. We are two nations, we are not one nation,” Munir said.
Another comment on X said:
"Pakistan Army Chief General Asim Munir spews hate against #Hindus and propagates the #TwoNationTheory, which failed in 1971 when Bangladesh got independence from Pakistan. He asserts that children must be taught such "falsehoods" since it's easier to brainwash youth. Shameful!
Taha Siddiqui (@TahaSSiddiqui) April 16, 2025
The 1971 war began when the Pakistani military junta based in West Pakistan—under the orders of Yahya Khan—launched Operation Searchlight against East Pakistanis on the night of 25 March 1971, initiating the Bangladesh genocide.
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| Surrender by Pak army |
"Pakistan is now a fait accompli, and it can never be undone," said the Islamic republic's founding father Muhammad Ali Jinnah. He couldn't have been farther from the truth.
In two decades, Pakistan was to see the landmark National Assembly elections of 1970, which split the country into two.
It was 1970, and Pakistan was going to hold its first 'real' election, based on universal suffrage and direct voting. They also had a new National Assembly building ready to convene business after it became an Islamic Republic in 1956, nine years after its Independence in 1947.
The Awami League secured an absolute majority, winning 160 of the 162 seats, sweeping East Pakistan, while the Pakistan Peoples Party won 81 seats in Punjab and Sindh, out of the 138 seats.
Those elected Prime Ministers who thought that the army should follow their lead on security and critical foreign policy issues, such as ties with India, paid a heavy price and were compelled to give up their seats.
Hence, instead of the Parliamentary Committee’s statement, the real Pakistani approach towards India after the Jaffar express attack will be determined by the Pakistani army.
In 2025 soon after the BLA attack that claimed 23 lives of Pak army personnel, the Pakistani army said that, with it, the ‘rules of the game had changed’.
This suggested the BLA and [terrorist groups] would be dealt with the way they ‘deserve’ and the same would apply to their facilitators and abettors whether inside or outside Pakistan.
The Pakistani army follows the tradition of ‘badal’ (badal in Pashto means revenge) for perceived grievances. It has done so against India even though in the process it has beggared the country.
It knows no way other than that of confrontation.
As such, it is possible that the Pakistan army will attempt to sponsor a terrorist event in India within the foreseeable future, says former Indian diplomat Vivek Katju.
On Aug 15th, 2016,
Vintage Modi lobs "Balochistan" time bomb !
It was vintage Narendra Modi -- virtually calling spade a spade and throwing a real-time bomb teaser to Pakistan. Balochistan is in news. Looking at the nervous response of sickular army on Twitter and Facebook, one could say Namo has hit the jackpot.
"The world is watching. People of Balochistan, Gilgit, Baltistan and occupied Kashmir have thanked me a lot in the past few days. I am grateful to them," Modi said in his customary address to the nation on the occasion of 70th Independence Day.
Now the table is turned. Modi has actually taken the Balochistan battle back to Pakistan.
However, all said and done; initial Congress reaction is both predictable and revolves around a line -- "this is not our party line".
Congress leader and former External Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid, who succeeded S M Krishna, slammed Prime Minister Modi for referring to Balochistan in his Independence Day speech.
"Balochistan is a different thing from PoK (Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). We have every right to speak about PoK because it is our matter. Balochistan is not," Khurshid told TimesNow.
The former external affairs minister said Balochistan was an internal matter of Pakistan. "When the question is about a sovereign nation, we should maintain a sense of restraint.
"Do we allow Americans to speak about atrocities in our country? Do we express concern over the atrocities in Africa and Europe?"
What will Congress officially say - now remains to be seen! But Salman has perhaps overdone a bit -- something he could have avoided. But from his calculation, Salman is right as his comments have "secular merits".
Nevertheless - jingoists on both sides - India-Pakistan as well as "sickular India-and Modi Bhakts" will be playing up their respective cards and rhetoric.
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