Happy independence Day - Pakistan

Balochistan absolutely existed before Pakistan, as a Chief Commissioner's Province under the British, alongside the four princely states of Kalat, Kharan, Makran and Las Bela.....

NWFP had been a full province since 1901 with its own legislative assembly......

These are basic historical facts, not matters of interpretation......... You reject the fundamentals and then have the audacity to lecture others on what they should or shouldn't be saying....

And the argument that "Pakistan made Balochistan" is precisely the problem in one sentence. It wasn't created....... it was absorbed, and the legitimacy of that absorption is exactly what has been contested ever since....

It didn't, so called CC province was actually pashtun majority region.

1786728028773.png

It was not even proper province like SIndh/Punjab. Pakistan made Balochistan a province, gave them identity and a capital which was not theirs. A parliament.

Lasbela a sindhi speaking region could easily have been merged with Sindh but no, the idea was to appease the baloch at the cost of others. There is no question of legitimacy as Pakistan/India wouldn't have allowed little independent countries all around them. So not sure why you want referendum now.
 
Fair enough to suggest that we assume that we have established the above as the start point.

How do you suggest we now proceed? If we are taking excruciating technical details, then please do factor in tribal mindset in your proposed solution.


If tribalism is being framed as the obstacle to reform and integration, then we should know that the province isn't uniform on it.......

Makran, meaning Kech, Panjgur and Gwadar, never had a sardari system at all, and it's the most urban and literate part of Balochistan with its own universities.... The center of gravity of anti-Pakistan militant insurgency has already shifted there...... The fighters and protesters today are largely students, graduates and urban professionals organizing horizontally....

So "factor in the tribal mindset" is partly fighting the last war..... The more urgent question is what you do with an educated, politically conscious population that believes that they have exhausted every available legal avenue and watched the state respond with disappearances and military courts....

As for the tribal belt, the sardari system survived this long because the state kept it alive..... Sandeman's sardar-sarkar arrangement wasn't Baloch tradition, it was colonial administrative policy, and Pakistan inherited it wholesale because governing through 20 chiefs is cheaper and far more convenient than building institutions for millions.... And tbh, you can't outsource governance to tribal intermediaries for a century and then cite tribalism as the excuse for why schools, courts and revenue systems never arrived......

Coming back to the solution part, the tribal system collapses when the state actually shows up,.... Functioning courts so disputes don't need a jirga... fiscal transfers direct to local government so patronage doesn't run through the chief... Makran proves it on its own.


The starting point is simple, even if the execution isn't....... You cannot negotiate legitimacy retroactively, but you can build it going forward.....

Just 3 things you need, running together......

1) Real fiscal devolution and autonomy at provincial level

2) Political normalisation, meaning elected civilian government without establishment management
and

3) The missing persons file opened and closed honestly.... And an actual accounting of state conduct since 1948, not a managed narrative...

------------

Edit: To be clear, as for the BLA and other terrorists who take up arms against the state, no mercy for those who refuse to surrender....... A militant with a gun is a legitimate target, full stop........ But that's containment, not a cure....... The real solution is denying them legitimacy and support among the locals...... Kill a hundred fighters and a resentful population produces 2 hundred more.... Address the grievance and the recruitment pool dries up on its own ultimately.....
 
Last edited:
Whatever may be going on politically in Pakistan, no matter which political party you align with, or none for that matter, one thing we can say that the fact Pakistan became independent in the first place was a blessing in of itself. Despite multiple attempts by hostile nations to reverse the creation of Pakistan as a modern state, it still remains, much to their dismay.

Happy Independence Day and Pakistan Zindabad
 
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Like 23 March, this day has been designated a military day.
 
The man who created Pakistan envisioned a country based on justice, impartiality and constitutional government, and repeatedly made clear that the Army should stay out of politics......
The fear of injustice (under Hindu domination) led to the separation of the subcontinent and E. Pak. It happened before and it can happen again.
 
Balochistan got neither...... What it got was a vote from a hand-picked jirga, which the Muslim League's own provincial president at the time said was in no way representative of the people......... Not an opponent saying that..... The League itself acknowleding...
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
There is humor that you cannot decide to laugh or cry about
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.
 
To view this content we will need your consent to set third party cookies.
For more detailed information, see our cookies page.

Bajwa is missing.
It seems Raheel is so free from commanding coalition forces. There is a cold war there, and he is in Pak.
 
Nothing against your post but I was just thinking that the indians do not shy away from showing all Gilgit-Baltistan to their occupied Kashmir therefore claiming Pakistan lands. I hardly anyone in Pakistan doing the same to their occupied lands. They are Buzdil nation, cowardly when confronted but we are not even confronting their aggressive has embolden to openly claim Azad Kashmir and G-B.
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Country Watch Latest

Back
Top