Target Killings of Punjabis in Baloch areas near Iran & around Gwadar. Who is behind it?

 

Target Killings of Punjabis in Baloch areas near Iran & around Gwadar. Who is behind it?

گوادر میں مزدوروں کے قتل میں ملوث کالعدم بلوچستان لبریشن آرمی (بی ایل اے) کے 2 دہشتگردوں  کو گرفتار کرلیا گیا۔

کوئٹہ میں وزیرداخلہ بلوچستان ضیاء لانگو کے ہمراہ پریس کانفرنس کرتے ہوئے ڈی آئی جی سی ٹی ڈی کا کہنا تھاکہ گرفتاردونوں دہشت گردوں کا تعلق کالعدم بی ایل اے  سے ہے اور مزدوروں کے قتل میں ملوث دونوں دہشت گرد گوادر سے گرفتار ہوئے۔

31 May 2024

Is this will resolve the issue? Rethink

Who is behind the target killings of Punjabi workers in Balochistan? Who are the beneficiaries of that policy? Keeping an eye on last 46 years narratives, especially in post cold war world, the epicenter of conflict shifted from Pak Afghan border to Baloch areas, a hub of Chinese investment (CPEC) and neighbour of Iran. The shift also change the blame game strategy from Afghan immigrants to Punjabi, Sindhi & Hazra smartly. Some over smart intellectuals tries to justify the shift by linking it with blatant murder of   Nawab Akbar Bhugti (Killed at 26 August 2006) because it serves many international as well as local power brokers well. We as progressive Punjabis always stood in our capacity against bad policies of establishment but continuous target killings of Punjabis in Balochistan compelled us to revisit the narrative and raise it too. Mir Ghose Baksh Bazenjo once said that we Balochs are numerically very less in Pakistan and that is why we need a support base of Baloch national question in Lhore & Karachi, hence Bloch national question must link with democratic struggle in Pakistan. (Quoted by B M Kutti in his book) But target killing of Punjabis (in few cases target killings of Sindhis, Hazara) has reduced the support for Baloch national question. In below, you can yourself check that many human right organizations like Human Rights Watch, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan accepted the target killings of Punjabis in their reporting, many local as well as international media groups like Dawn, Tribune, Aljazeera, DW, BBC etc too reported it but they either mentioned Bhugti Backlash or linked Punjabis with bad policies of establishment, in a way , very close to justify it. They hardly give reference of international game nor mention blame game shift in narrative from Afghan immigrants. Reports & reporting examples are given in below.  We the progressives knew very well that who was the Akbar Bhugti and what was his politics, he always stood nakedly with bad policies of establishment. No doubt that a dictator had killed him blatantly but after 26th August 2006, his killing was used for the shifting of epicentre too and it suited not only the big international players but also those who were against Afghan immigrants during cold war but in post cold war times that fugitive element (as we use to say in 1980s, 90s) consider as an assert in many ways. Here lies the foundations of unholy alliance against Punjabi settlers in Baloch areas. It is often reported in media that

''no target killings are reported in the province’s Pashtun-dominated areas, including Musakhel, Zhob, Loralai, Ziarat, Pishin, Harnai and Sibi''.

''Most target killing and terrorism incidents are reported in the districts of Quetta, Mastung, Bolan, Noshki, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kech, Gwadar, Lasbela and Panjgur. Four types of target killings are reported in Balochistan: Attacks on people who have settled in the province, assassinations of policemen and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, sectarian killings and murders of political workers'' (reference is given below)

We always supported extra judicial killings in Pakistan but it is not limited to State only, mu Baloch & Pukhtoon friends accepted the fact that as nationalists we are not very vocal against target killing of the Punjabis and that fact is, due to other reasons, present very much among various sections of civil society in general. Unlike few Punjabi nationalists I will not blame all common Balochs or other communities for this intellectual hooliganism at all  but as progressive and human right activist we must have courage to call a spade a spade. 

Pakistan is multinational, multilinguistic, multi faith federation where Punjabis are more than 69% but it has a bad centralized legacy. Authoritarianism is part of Statecraft as well as part of culture too. In last 76 years, thanks to politicians we have a constitution as well as 18th amendment along with NFC award but still we are struggling for electoral democracy that is not the goal but an essential stopover to move towards decentralized federation based on respect for all inhabitants (either national or immigrants) living in the territorial boundaries of Pakistan. We cannot achieve it alone, as in the political & democratic struggle we have follow the mantra, united we stand divided we fall. 

Dawn 09 May 2024

Seven barbershop workers were killed and one was injured on Thursday in Surbandar, Gwadar when unknown gunmen entered their residential quarters and opened fire on them while they were sleeping, police officials said.

Arab News 09 May 2024

In April, the proscribed Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the killings of nine Punjab residents traveling to Iran from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. In another incident last month, two Punjabi garage workers were targeted.

German media reported  in GW as

According to police official Mohsin Ali, gunmen stormed into a house some 25 kilometers (15 miles) east of the port city of Gwadar, and shot the workers while they were asleep. The coastal town of Gwadar is the site of several Beijing-backed projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor investment, which is part of the Belt and Road Initiative. 09 May 2024

Nation 12 April 2024

Noshki Deputy Commissioner says over a dozen gunmen stopped a bus on Quetta-Taftan highway, abducted nine passengers after identifying their NICs & President, PM, Punjab CM strongly condemn killing of passengers n Funeral prayers of victims offered in Quetta, bodies dispatched to native towns in Punjab.

Samma 28 April 2024

Two more Punjabi labourers gunned down in Turbat, Balochistan This is the second incident in a month of Punjabis killings in Balochistan

Nation 15 October 2023

Terrorists kill six Punjab residents in Balochistan’s Turbat

Union of Catholic Asian News 14 April 2023 

Killing of a Punjabi Christian sweeper

Baloch Liberation Army, an ethnic-nationalist militant group, said they killed 55-year-old Pervaiz Masih because he was “spying for Pakistani intelligence agencies posing as a government employee.” Masih, a father of four from Punjab province, had been working as a sweeper for the state-run Irrigation Department and Turbat Municipal Corporation.

Tribune 15 November 2017

Bullet-riddled bodies of at least 15 men were found by the Levies from Buleda area of Kech district near the Pakistan-Iran border of Gurok. The banned Baloch Liberation Front (BLF), headed by Allah Nazar Baloch, has claimed responsibility for the killings of the 15 men from Punjab, supposedly aspiring to enter Europe illegally.

Aljazeera 11 April 2015

Armed men have attacked a dam construction site in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, killing at least 20 workers and wounding three, according to a senior government official.

Newsweek 20 Oct 2014

The gunmen stormed a poultry farm in the early hours of Sunday in Hub, kidnapping 11 laborers, according to senior local administration official Fawad Soomro, who said the hostages were then questioned over their ethnicities. “They blindfolded the nine workers belonging to Punjab province and shot them while setting the two Baloch workers free,” he said. He added that the freed Baloch workers made their way to a local police station to report the crime.

DFI 07 August 2013

All those passengers were shot to death by the culprits, he said. He further told that all the murdered persons belonged to Sadiqabad, Rajanpur, Muzaffargarh, Faisalabad, Rahim Yar Khan and Bahawalpur areas of Punjab.

 

Times of India 14 August 2010

Gunmen shot dead at least 16 people of Punjabi-origin in two separate incidents of ethnic killings in the insurgency-hit Balochistan province in southwest Pakistan on Saturday.

First school in our areas near Gwadar was built by father in 1950s whose headmaster was a Punjabi teacher , he never went back and his grave is still in our pind. I studied in the same school till class7th, due to him our many generations studied, said Rahim Zafar Baloch, First Secretary General BSO in an interview with Awami Jumhori forum published 25 August 2005, I interviewed him when I visited Gwadar in 2005. His interview was eye opener as he confessed that BSO boys went to Iraq before 1971 to get armed training but later he had realized that such practices were not beneficial for Balochs largely.He also told me that those who accused or abused Punjab, intentionally or unintentionally saved bad policies of establishment. Just read another piece of his interview

سابق سینیٹر مصطفیٰ نواز کھوکھر نے کہا ہے کہ لسانی بنیادوں پر بلوچستان میں پنجابیوں کا قتل بلوچ عسکریت پسندی کا مکرو چہرہ ہے۔

اپنے ایک بیان میں مصطفیٰ نواز کھوکھر نے کہا کہ بلوچ عسکریت پسندی کی جتنی مذمت کی جائے کم ہے، بلوچ دہشتگرد تنظیموں کی ذہنی پستی کا یہ عالم ہے یہ حجام اور مزدوروں کو بھی دشمن سمجھتی ہیں۔

Minority Sikhs, Hindus Flee Pakistan’s Restive Balochistan

more than a decade of simmering violence in the region has prompted its minority Sikh and Hindu communities to flee Balochistan, and many have even left Pakistan altogether for neighboring India.

Eurasia Review 21 May 2019

Baluchistan: Out of 229 outsiders killed 178 Punjabis & 33 Sindhis means more than 90% while 18 are unidentified

Baloch insurgents have essentially targeted people from other provinces. However, out of the 229 ‘outsiders’ killed, at least 178 were Punjabis alone. Eight Punjabis were killed in 2018; 23 in 2017. There were no such fatalities among Punjabis in 2016. The number of Punjabi fatalities in the Province stood at 22 in 2015; 17 in 2014; 29 in 2013; 26 in 2012; 13 in 2011; 21 in 2010; 18 in 2009; and one in 2008. No such fatalities were recorded in 2007 and 2006. While Punjabis have been the main targets, other non-native persons also fell to the ethnic collateral damage. Out of 51 non-Punjabi ‘outsiders’, 33 were Sindhis, while the ethnic identity of the remaining 18 is unascertained.

TNS Punjabis or collaborators?

"The number would be near 1000 as there is surge in violence against settlers during the last two years," says Tahir Hussain Khan, president Balochistan chapter of HRCP. "The rebels have killed scores of fellow Baloch terming them spies." He says that during the last ten years at least 90,000 settlers majority Punjabis have migrated from Quetta.

HRCP Report 2012.... Hopes, fears and alienation in Balochistan Hopes, fears and alienation in Balochistan Hopes, fears and alienation in Balochistan

There are excesses by the insurgents against 'settlers', essentially members of all ethnic groups other than Baloch, and those considered to be pro-federation, including teachers at schools in Baloch-majority areas who are threatened and targeted if the national anthem is played in the morning assembly or the national flag is flown. The so-called settlers, ethnic Punjabis, Sindhis and Urdu-speaking, who have lived in Balochistan for generations, and some for centuries, have been hounded out of Baloch-majority areas by threats and violence by insurgents and at times also by opportunistic property mafia keen to capture land and buildings of the settlers and the more intimidated the settlers the more likely they were to accept any price for their property as they seek shelter elsewhere. The general law and order has also plummeted across the province. 

Even settlers who had married into ethnic Baloch families have been killed. There are people whose families had settled in Balochistan in the 1920s from parts of India such as Uttar Pradesh. They kept no link with their roots. We have rendered services for Balochistan. Settlers have not an iota of investment in Sindh or Punjab, nor any services there. From some schools in Quetta around 2,000 settler children have left. From interior Balochistan all settlers have left. Only those who cannot go anywhere else and say they have roots here and nowhere else have not moved away.

A JI politician opposed the idea of creating more provinces out of Punjab because it would increase Punjab's representation in the Senate and Balochistan's voice would not be heard there.

 Ethnic Punjabis, Seraikis(they ae Punjabis but due to various biases & pressures even HRCP mentioned them as separate entity) and Sindhis who had come to Turbat, Panjgur and Makran as labourers had left. Hazaras were going abroad in any manner that they could

Balochistan only had one crop season compared to three in Punjab. (Interestingly HRCP only mentioned Punjab but did not mention multiple crop seasons in Sindh & KPK, why to exclude the Punjab? is a question )

 Around 90 percent of the people smuggled through Balochistan were from Gujranwala Division in Punjab P.42...this claim needs further inquiry because reports are there of people coming from Afghanistan and central asia , The Kharotabad incident of May 2011 is an example in this regard. 

Read the report HERE

The debate

Experts say the trend in Balochistan is an interesting study to gauge how effective paramilitary forces can be in controlling crime and the general law and order situation in places like Karachi, where there is debate over whether more power and resources should be given to the Pakistan Rangers as police fails to do the job.

Hasil Bizenjo believes Balochistan’s security situation is interconnected with Fata and Afghanistan and violence is bound to continue unless things improve there. “Until it is decided that nowhere in the country will anyone be allowed to hold a gun, the state will not be able to establish its writ and target killings will continue,” he said.

Bizenjo, whose party has lost three senior leaders, says the heavily-armed rebels are against nationalists because “they say that you talk about federation when we are here up in the mountains waging a battle against the state.”

Balochistan National Party-Mengal’s (BNP-M) Dr Jehanzaib Jamaldini says the party lost one of their best leaders Habib Jalib last year in a target killing. “All evidence points to state elements being behind the murder,” he said.

13 years back record

 there were 256 incidents of targeting in Balochistan in 2009 that killed 200 people and injured 387. In 2010, 231 incidents were reported that killed 255 and injured 498. In the first three months of 2011, at least 39 incidents have occurred, which killed 38 and injured 66. Balochistan Constabulary Commandant Ghulam Shabbir Shah, speaking in Karachi recently, said that target killings are set to break all previous records in the province.

Sectarian killings have been mostly targeted against Hazara Shias

Areas of target killings may have some importance but pertinent question is who are the main beneficiaries, who bought properties of people? because many have left the province in last few decades. 

no target killings are reported in the province’s Pashtun-dominated areas, including Musakhel, Zhob, Loralai, Ziarat, Pishin, Harnai and Sibi.

Most target killing and terrorism incidents are reported in the districts of Quetta, Mastung, Bolan, Noshki, Kalat, Khuzdar, Kech, Gwadar, Lasbela and Panjgur. Four types of target killings are reported in Balochistan: Attacks on people who have settled in the province, assassinations of policemen and Frontier Corps (FC) personnel, sectarian killings and murders of political workers

link of the above is https://tribune.com.pk/story/155589/law-and-order-the-contours-of-target-killings-in-balochistan?fbclid=IwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAR05Bg0vqzHEmm0CFzfPrtawehd-ORsTGGoO3-TX1TTYKpUtG4abvubgGBY_aem_AYkT12praUpmGtVHYUax97PKDhyLqaQRzaGGJZyPRiaFi6eTox5A2rJM77VBcSqJoA6e1wWFOiEF-pi2kQsQvt5R

December 13, 2010

"Their Future is at Stake"

Attacks on Teachers and Schools in Pakistan’s Balochistan Province

Fearing for their safety, many teachers—particularly ethnic Punjabis and Shiite Muslims and other targeted minorities—have sought transfers, further burdening what is already the worst educational system in Pakistan. Since 2008, more than 200 teachers and professors have transferred from their schools to the relatively more secure capital Quetta, or have moved out of the province entirely. Nearly 200 others are in the process of making such transfers. New teachers are hard to find, and replacements often less qualified than predecessors.  Human Right Watch report 2010

Haye Baloch interview extract about Afghan migrants including Hazara tribe

Till 1990s or early 2000, Baloch & Pakhtoon progressive leaders were against Afghan migrants and in Balochistan they often said that our biggest city Quetta was annexed by Afghan migrants yet in later years they shifted the blame game from Afghan migrants to Punjabis due to various known reasons.

In the same report

Misleading perceived Punjabi military oppression

Education falls in the crosshairs of three distinct violent conflicts in Balochistan. The first is a nationalist conflict, in which militant Baloch groups such as the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and the Baloch Liberation United Front (BLUF) seeking separation or autonomy for Balochistan have targeted Punjabis and other minorities, particularly in the districts of Mastung, Kalat, Nushki, Gwadar, Khuzdar, and Quetta. While individuals from all professions have been the victims of such “targeted killings,” teachers and students constitute a significant proportion of victims because militant groups view schools and educational personnel, particularly ethnic Punjabis, as representatives of the Pakistani state and symbols of perceived Punjabi military oppression of the province.

Along with atrocities of the State, HRW accepted in its 13 July 2011 report as follows

Armed militant groups in Balochistan are responsible for killing many civilians and destroying private property. In the past several years, they have increasingly targeted non-Baloch civilians and their businesses, police stations, and major gas installations and infrastructure.

Let us read an argument by Asadullah Raisani regarding killing of Punjabis in Baluchistan

The people of Balochistan are against Punjabis It would be sheer romance to claim that Punjabis are welcomed with open arms in Balochistan. The incidents of killing Punjabis had gained a significant pace after the assassination of Nawab Akbar Bugti on 26 August 2006. However, the whole of Balochistan cannot be blamed for their killings, as Balochistan has a significant number of Punjabis living and working here. Even I recall one of my school teachers, to whom we had asked, “Why aren’t you leaving (Balochistan as many of our Punjabi teachers have left due to the ongoing killings of you people?)” and he confidently replied, “How can one abandon his mother(land)?” In short, Punjabis did face tough times in the province in the recent past, but that does not mean that the people of Balochistan hate or are against them. It also needs to be understood that the majority of the people who influence the policy-making of the country are Punjabis and it naturally creates a sense of apprehension against this majority not only in Balochistan but also in other parts of Pakistan

Akbar Bhugti was killed at 26 August 2006 and after few weeks I interviewed Mir Hasal Bazenjo for Awami Jumhori Forum and above extract of Bazenjo is a proof of his claim. Those who killed A Bhugti achieved multiple benefits. Shifting of blame game from Afghan Muhajirs to Punjabis, Hazara Shias & Sindhis is an example but it is not the only purpose. 

Read it too

In Defence of Punjabi Settlers in Balochistan In Defence of Punjabis Stop target killing of Punjabi settlers in Balochistan by Abdul Nishapuri

بیسیوں عام پنجابی ،2006کے بعد بلوچستان میں اسی طرح کی کئی کارروائیوں کے دوران انتہائی سفاکی سے ہلاک کیے گئے ہیں۔ میڈیا رپورٹس کے مطابق اگست 2006میں نواب اکبر بگٹی کے قتل کے بعد مئی2019تک محنت مزدوری کی غرض سے بلوچستان جانے والے جن 209غیر مقامی لوگوں کو قتل کیا گیا ان میں سے 178پنجابی تھے جبکہ بقایا میں سب سے زیادہ تعداد سندھیوں اور اس کے بعد کے پی کے سے آنے والے لوگوں کی تھی۔ اس دوران بلوچستان میں ہلاک کیے جانے والے غیر مقامی لوگوں میں،سی پیک پراجیکٹ پر کام کرنے والے کچھ چینی باشندے بھی شامل تھے۔بلوچستان میں پنجابیوں کے قتل کے جن واقعات کا میڈیا پر زیادہ ذکر ہوا وہ کچھ یوں ہیں ۔ نوشکی کے حالیہ واقعہ سے پہلے بلوچستان میں پنجابیوں کے قتل کا آخری واقعہ اکتوبر 2023میں ہوا جس میں 6پنجابی مزدور تربت میں ہلاک کیے گئے ۔ اسی طرح دسمبر 2022میں بھی پنجگور میں پنجابیوں کو قتل کیا گیا۔

18اپریل 2019کو اورماڑہ سے گوادر کے درمیان کوسٹل ہائی وے پر 16پنجابیوں اور سندھیوں کو بس سے اتار کر قتل کیا گیا۔4 مئی 2018کو خاران کے علاقے لاجے میں اوکاڑہ پنجاب سے محنت مزدوری کے لیے وہاں گئے ہوئے6 مزدور سوتے میں گولیاں مار کر ہلاککیے گئے ، 31اکتوبر 2018کو گوادر کے قریب ایک زیر تعمیر مکان میںسوئے ہوئے پانچ پنجابی مزدوروں کو گولیاں مار کر ہلاک کیاگیا ۔ نومبر 2017میں بلوچستان کے ضلع تربت میں 15پنجابیوں کے قتل کا اندہناک واقعہ سامنے آیا، مئی 2017 میں گوادر میں ایک سڑک کی تعمیر کے لیے مزدوری کرنے والے10سندھی محنت کش اندھا دھند فائرنگ کر کے قتل کر دیئے گئے ۔ گو کہ نوشکی میں پنجابیوں کی حالیہ ہلاکت کی ذمہ داری کسی تنظیم نے قبول نہیں کی مگر قبل ازیں بلوچستان میں پنجابیوں یا دیگر غیرمقامیوں کے قتل کے جتنے بھی واقعات رونما ہوئے ان کی ذمہ داری کوئی نہ کوئی بلوچ قوم پرست مسلح تنظیم قبول کرتی رہی۔

بلوچستان میں پنجابیوں کو قتل کرنے کے جن واقعات کا ذکر کیا گیا ہے انہیں دہشت گردی کے علاوہ کچھ اور نہیں سمجھا جاسکتا 

https://jehanpakistan.pk/164585/

Extracts from Abdul Haye Baloch interview 2004

I an against division of my land than how can I support division of the Punjab.

National Awami Party was frontrunner organization formed in 1957 and worked till 1975, it was supporter of nationality right across Pakistan including East & the West Pakistan. it had visionaries like  Mian Iftikharuddin, Syed Kaswar Gardezi, Mahmud Ali Kasuri,  G. M. Syed, Sheikh Abdul Majid Sindhi..Abdul Samad Khan Achakzai, Hashim Khan Ghilzai.  Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo, Gul Khan Nasir, Prince Karim Khan of Kalat Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan, Hakeem Mohammad Aslam Sanjari, Khan Abdul Wali Khan  Maulana Bhashani , Mirza Mehdy Ispahani, Afzal Bagesh, Mian Minatullah, etc including many from South Punjab  but till that time there was not an issue of Seriaki as a separate language. That fact is largely missing in the nationalist narratives of Sindhi, Pukhtoon & Balochs now but Haye Baloch accepted it as