Baloshistan has been Pakistan's Achilles heel. Post Operation Sindoor, it will not be erroneous to say that the biggest threat to Pakistan is posed by the Baloch movement.
For its part, Pakistan has always simplistically and often even sarcastically attributed the violence in Balochistan to the rejection of national parties by the local voters since 2002. But things are much old, complex and tough.
The writ of the Pakistani state has been challenged and it is not for the first time. In the past, the Baloch rebels have demanded reunion of six million Balochs spread over Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. A former military commander in Indian army says:
"Pakistan cannot take it lightly that the most serious threat to Pakistan actually comes from regional aspiration of various ethnic groups".
Pakistan has hegemony of Punjabis who consider themselves as elites and all other ethnic groups in effect suffer from a persecution complex.
Analysts say while the Baloch region in Pakistan is believed to have large underground reserves of petroleum; the Pakistan political netas and even the powerful army often tend to project Balochistan as wastelands and an economic liability of deserts and mountains.
In 1973 when Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto was in power; the political aspiration of Baloch people was smashed and the local government was dismissed.
Ironically, Bhutto's was firstly 'popularly elected' federal government and that brought down the provincial regime. Another paradoxical element was that the Baloch natioalists had supported Bhutto and his 1973 new constitution.
Now let us move to 2002 when large scale influx of refugees and pro-Taliban elements gave rise to fundamentalism in the region. There emerged a new political thinking that generally revolved around anti-Americanism and pro-Taliban.
Needless to add that while the government under Pervez Musharraf was perceived to be taking dictation from the US and this led to strong resentment against Islamabad polity.
Since then a temperament has worked. Baloch started believing that all successive regimes in Islamabad (irrespective of leadership) and those even under army control; have either confronted the native political forces or simply tried to marginalise them.
Operation Sindor:
On May 6th, 2025 – hours before Pakistan faced the most avoidable hour in the new century --- Balochistan National Party leader Sardar Akhtar Mengal had reminded Pakistani generals --- “The Pakistani Army should never forget the shameful defeat of 1971 and the surrender of 90,000 soldiers. Not only their weapons, even their trousers are still hanging there”.
May be the game had begun much before.
In 2016, August 15th – Independence Day speech Narendra Modi had said - "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 had also said that it was time for Islamabad to explain to the world its "atrocities on people in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir and Balochistan"
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Before the advent of the Modi government, the general refrain from the Ministry of External Affairs in Delhi used to be -- unless we have the appropriate capacity in all the three areas namely political, economic and military it is “more prudent” for India to remain low profile on vexed matter like Balochistan.
Modi had contested this. True -- Vision, Ambition and Necessity are the three basic elements those shape international policies of any country.
Modi is certainly the hardliner boy. Will he go a step further vis-a-vis Balochistan? That’s a very delicate spot for Islamabad.
Come to think of it - Balochistan will remain a major problem area for Pakistan.
There are two things which drive Balochistan movement – one, the historical facts and the other – the exploitation of the region and the people by Pakistan which has a Punjabi domination
One senior analyst in Varanasi, Tushar Bhadra said – “Real integration of Pakistan actually never happened and is not possible in near future. The biggest demerit of Pakistan as a country is the gross and blatant Punjab centric approach.
Moreover, there is political and military corruption and this adds to further exploitation of the Baloch society.”
Pakistan’s military said on May 6th that members of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) armed group targeted the vehicle carrying the soldiers in the province bordering Iran and Afghanistan.
For their part, the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) has claimed responsibility for two separate attacks that resulted in the deaths of 14 Pakistani Army personnel on May 6th.
Chances are that there will be more such attacks.
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