One year ago, on this day, the Iranian forces indiscriminately opened fire at peaceful protesters in Zahedan – the capital of Iranian-Occupied Balochistan – and killed more than a hundred people in the space of a few minutes. For us Baloch it was another reminder that if and when the Baloch try to raise their voice for justice, freedom and democracy, they will be massacred and silenced. What the Baloch enemies (Iran and Pakistan) keep forgetting is that nations cannot and will not be subdued by the sheer use of military might. Their guns and bombs may kill us, but they cannot silence our voices forever. The Zahedan Massacre, also known as The Bloody Friday, reawakened the Baloch and there have been continuous protests and anger since.
The Baloch youth under Iran’s occupation are realising the fact that Iran will never accept Baloch as equals to Persians. The Baloch are also realising that those who are trying to mix the Baloch national question with demands of federalism or regime change are playing into the hands of the enemy. That is why the main slogan of Baloch people currently has become “Neither Shah nor Sheik are our well-wishers.”
Pakistan and Iran have been hand in glove since the 1970s, working against the Baloch Independence movement. In the 70’s the Shah regime provided financial aid , military advisers and Airforce to Pakistan to suppress the Baloch freedom movement. Now the Iranians have provided Kamikaze drones to Pakistan, with the blessing of China, which has invested in both parts of occupied Balochistan. However, the Baloch drive for independence is stronger than ever, and no amount of cooperation between the occupiers will deter the Baloch people. The Chinese cooperation won’t change anything.
Historically, no occupier has ever been able to conquer the Baloch. The Mongols, the Portuguese and the British all tried but failed. We strongly believe that the current occupiers and mass murderers will also fail and the Baloch will be victorious.
For the Baloch, it’s a zero-sum game. Either they take and conquer our land totally, or we get rid of the occupiers. There is no way the Baloch are going to stop struggling. The international community has never aided or helped the Baloch people, they have only sided with the occupiers of our land.
The international community including the UN have witnessed the Zahedan Massacre and the other brutalities of Iran and Pakistan in Balochistan, but they remain criminally silent on the atrocities of these states against the Baloch nation. They have their own priorities and interests. This is why they try to cover and conceal each other’s crimes; as it benefits them.
The UN is more like a club of states than a representing body of Nations because only States can represent themselves in the UN assembly. Nations – more specifically – occupied nations cannot represent themselves. It is obvious the occupying states that are involved in crimes against humanity in occupied lands, will not go and testify against themselves at the United Nation’s ICJ or ICC. That is the reason that the genocide of oppressed nations like the Kurds, Arabs of Al-Ahwaz, and Turks of South Azerbaijan under Iran’s occupation, and the Baloch, Pashtun and Sindhis under Pakistan’s occupation go unnoticed and ignored.
The occupiers of Balochistan say the Baloch people cannot live without them if we become independent. But actually, they are the parasites, living off Balochistan’s wealth, resources and land. It’s like a parasite telling its host “if we get separated, you won’t survive.” The truth is, the parasite wouldn’t survive, not the host.
Pakistan is a country of 230 million people that are thriving on the resources and riches of Balochistan. The Pakistanis are stealing gold, copper, petroleum and more from Baluchistan, allowing Punjab to thrive. Starting with Reko-diq and Saindak, which are two of the world’s largest gold deposits, worth trillions of dollars, and are being plundered by Pakistanis. Likewise, Balochistan’s natural gas not only enables every household in Punjab to cook their food, it is also essential for running tens of thousands of the industries which rely on it. Similarly, over ten thousand coal mines in Balochistan, such as those in Bolan and Chamalang, are running Pakistani industries. Pakistan as well as China are forcibly constructing Gwadar port, to push forward CPEC – as part their belt and road initiative. They have also displaced and destroyed dozens of Baloch villages in order to push forward their agenda. Meanwhile, the Baloch people fall victim to Pakistan and Iran’s theft. This wealth is being taken out of their land, yet they don’t even have the purchasing power of one meal a day. How is it possible that a country which is sustaining 230 million Pakistanis and millions of Persians, is pushed into a position where its own people are struggling to survive?
I believe it is time for the occupied nations to strive for unity within themselves to strengthen their resistance and effort for freedom, and to build broader unity between the oppressed and subjugated nations. Without our Unity, the oppressive states and their B teams like the parliamentarians and the federalists will continue to misguide our people, divide and weaken our struggle for our national sovereignty and independence.
Although there is a long list of atrocities committed against the Baloch people, including but not limited to the Chamalang massacre, multiple mass graves, countless disappeared people, thousands murdered under the ‘Kill and dump’ policy, and the recent Zahedan massacre. We should brace ourselves for more of such atrocities if we stay divided along the line of ideologies. Our occupiers don’t see us based on our religious, democratic, socialist or communist groups- they see us as Baloch. So, my message to my people is that we have to stay strong and keep going, and accept and respect each others ways and values, in order to achieve our common Baloch goal. We have suffered enough. We have been deceived enough. Now is the time to unite. We should stop using terms such as “Iranian Baloch” and “Pakistani Baloch” — we are one.
The Baloch were on this land well before these nations even existed.