Baloch nationalism (Balochi:بلۏچی راجدۏستی,romanized: Balòci ràjdòsti) is an ideology which asserts that theBaloch people, anIranicethnic group native toIran,Pakistan, andAfghanistan, form a distinctnation.
Baloch people are anIranic ethnic group native to southeasternIran, southwesternPakistan and southernAfghanistan.
The Baloch nationalist movement's demands have ranged from greater cultural, economic and political rights, to political autonomy, to outrightsecession and the creation of an independent state of Balochistan. The movement issecular and was originally inspired byMarxist–Leninist liberation movements.[1]
The movement claims to receive considerable support from theBaloch diaspora inOman, theUAE,Sweden,Norway, and other countries. Pakistan has repeatedly made claims that the Baloch nationalists have received funding fromIndia,[2] although these have been denied byIndia.[3] Similarly, Afghanistan has acknowledged providing covert support to the Baloch nationalist militants. In the 1960s and 1970s, theRepublic of Afghanistan provided sanctuary to Baloch militants. The Republic of Afghanistan had established training camps inKandahar to train Baloch militants and also to provide arms and ammunition.[4][5]
Baloch nationalism in its modern form began in the form of theAnjuman-e-Ittehad-e-Balochan-wa-Balochistan based inMastung in 1929, led byYousaf Aziz Magsi,Abdul Aziz Kurd and others.[6] In November 1929, Yousaf Aziz Magsi published an article stating the aims of the group, namely:
Simultaneously with the formation of the Anjuman, Baloch intellectuals inKarachi formed a nationalist organisation, called the Baloch League.[7]
In February 1937, the Anjuman reorganised and became theKalat State National Party, carrying on the Anjuman's political agenda of an independent united state of Balochistan. They demanded the independence of the ancientKhanate of Kalat, which was later incorporated into Pakistan in 1955.[7] The party was dominated by more secular-minded, anti-imperialist and populist elements, such asGhaus Bakhsh Bizenjo,Mir Gul Khan Naseer and Abdul Aziz Kurd. When parliamentary elections were held in the State of Kalat, the party was the largest winner with a considerable majority.[7]
Many pioneers of Baloch nationalism were Brahui. Several Brahui and other Baloch nationalist leaders claimed that the Brahui were ethnically Baloch and equal to other Baloch, with the only difference being language. Baloch nationalists stated that the claim of the Brahui being distinct from the Baloch was initially a British divide-and-conquer policy used on the Baloch, which was later used by Pakistan as well.[8]
In 2017, the World Baloch Organisation placed advertisements on taxis inLondon to say#FreeBalochistan along with slogans such as "Stop enforced disappearances" and "Save the Baloch people". These were initially allowed but later denied permission byTransport for London. The World Baloch Organisation claimed that this was a result of pressure from the Pakistani Government after the British High Commissioner in Islamabad was summoned to appear before the Pakistani Foreign Secretary.[9]
A survey in 2009 by thePew Research Center found that 58% of respondents in Balochistan chose "Pakistani" as their primary mode of identification, 32% chose their ethnicity and 10% chose both equally.[10]
In 2012, Gallup conducted a survey for the United Kingdom'sDepartment for International Development that revealed that 37 percent of Baloch were in favour ofindependence. AmongstBalochistan'sPashtun population support for independence was lower at 12 percent. Sixty-seven percent of Balochistan's population favoured greater provincialautonomy.[11][12]
By 1976, while proxy guerilla war with Pakistan, Daoud faced rising Islamic fundamentalists movement led by exiled cleric aided openly by Pakistani prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto.
In Baluchistan, the southwestern territory with rugged terrain and sparse population, 32% say they identify themselves first by their ethnicity and 58% say they identify themselves first as Pakistanis.
According to a July 2012 survey, only 37 percent of the Baloch favor independence, and a mere 12 percent of Balochistan's Pashtuns favor that option. However, 67 percent of the total population supports greater provincial autonomy.
