On the same day that the Commander of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), General Li Qiaoming was holding meetings with the top Pakistani political and military brass, Baloch insurgents were carrying out a series of attacks on Pakistani troops and commercial activities. In an ironic twist, even as the leadership of the two all-weather friends sat down to deliberate upon regional and international tensions, Pakistan’s backyard was on fire. The arid Balochistan province, where China has multi-billion dollar commercial stakes, was rocked in a series of coordinated attacks that led to the deaths of at least 38 people, including over a dozen police officials.
Among these attacks, which were carried out on 25 August 2024, was one highly disturbing incident. Mahal Baloch became the third Baloch woman to carry out a suicide attack, also called fidayeen attack by the insurgents. A law student, she was associated with the dreaded Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) that has carried out a sustained campaign for independence.
She follows in the footsteps of Shari Baloch who had blown herself near the Confucius Institute located at Karachi University killing Chinese teachers including the director of the institute in 2022. This was followed by a similar suicide bombing by Sumaiya Qalamdrani Baloch in 2023 who had targeted the convoy of a senior Pakistani Army general.
The third suicide attack by a Baloch woman shows that the nationalist struggle in Balochistan is attracting women in large numbers. These include well-educated ones as well as the daring ones who are ready to give up their lives in these gruesome attacks against Pakistan.
The attacks killed nearly four dozen people and security personnel had followed weeks after human rights organisations had called for a protest at the coastal city of Gwadar, where China is building a multi-purpose port. Pakistani authorities came down heavily on the protests by blocking roads, arresting people, and intimidating others.
The two-day attacks that began on Monday and ended on Tuesday not only showed the vulnerability of Pakistan’s armed forces but also struck at the country’s commercial interests in Balochistan after the insurgents attacked truck drivers and set fire to the vehicles. Besides the anger against Islamabad over forced disappearances, arbitrary arrests, and extra-judicial killings, another major festering issue has been the issue of joint resource exploitation by strong allies China and Pakistan. Gwadar remains a hot spot that has continuously witnessed protests over the past many years, with the people-led Gwadar ko Haq do movement upsetting China no end a couple of years back.
What the Pakistani government and the all-powerful army have failed to realise is that the Baloch self-determination movement is not confined to organised insurgent groups but has become a mass movement. The common people as well as insurgent groups are pressing against the State might. Both entities present two facets of the movement with the same goal – gaining independence for Balochistan that was once a free country till the Pakistani army invaded it in March 1948 and unleashed a wave of suppression and alienation.
The sustained violence in the province has garnered global attention for the nationalist struggle, where despite the massive resistance, and also conflict, international powers have studiously maintained silence. Over the past three years, Pakistan has lost two military helicopters in the region despite deploying some of the most sophisticated weaponry against the Baloch people. We end this thought piece with a question to our readers whether China is playing the same role as the US did in 1971 during the Bangladesh liberation war, and if Balochistan is going to become another Bangladesh for Pakistan.
This article was first published on LinkedIn.
