Sindh-Balochistan relations
By Abdul Kahlique Junejo

Sindhi people in general and Sindhi nationalists in particular have always supported the struggle of the Baloch people for their national rights.

“Obscured truths and established lies” (Daily Times, March 17, 2013) is one of his many insightful and inciting articles. Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur has been writing about the national rights and different aspects of the nationalist movement of Balochistan. The article is related to the all-important and so-sensitive issue of missing persons, the contents of which can hardly be denied or disputed. However, it contains some comments that touch another important issue, that of the relationship between the nationalist movements of Sindh and Balochistan.

Talpur’s name is very respected in both Sindh and Balochistan, thanks to his own struggle and his family background. When a person like him raises an issue like the Sindh-Balochistan relationship, it needs serious and sincere consideration. Sindh and Balochistan occupy not only geographically adjacent areas but culturally and historically also they share a lot. In history, sometimes they have fought wars also (as can be the case with any two neighbours), but most of the time, they have had cordial and cooperative relations, particularly in the recent past. During the Pakistani state’s 65 years, both have remained at the receiving end, and hence comrades-in-arms in the struggle for their respective national rights. Sometimes, their mode of struggle has differed but the goal has always been the same.

Culturally, Sindhis and the Baloch are very close to each other. They share many values and have impacted each other’s way of life. A very popular cap, which is said to have originated from Balochistan, has acquired the name of Sindh topi. Ethnically, both are very much intermingled. A very large portion of Sindh’s population consists of ethnic Baloch tribes, but which, over the years, have become an integral part of the Sindhi nation, and many of whom are a source of pride for this hospitable land, like the family of Mr Talpur. Similarly, there are ethnic Sindhis in large numbers living in Balochistan, but politically, they are a part of the Baloch nation, Jams of Lasbela being only one example. Very popular nationalist Baloch leaders like Sardar Attaullah Mengal (and his sons), Nawab Mohammad Akbar Bugti and Dr Abdul Hayee Baloch spoke Sindhi as fluently as any ethnic Sindhi, and are as popular in Sindh as any native. No need to divulge the details of the very popular folk story of Sassi and Punnu.

Mr Talpur, while mentioning a few of the so many horrendous instances of kidnapping and murder of Baloch nationalists, regrets the silence of society, quoting the Swiss philosopher, Henri Fredric Amiel as having said: “Truth is not only violated by falsehood, it may be equally outraged by silence.” Mr Talpur writes, “Neither the political parties, nor the Sindhi nationalists or civil society said a word in protest at their killings.”

I accept and acknowledge that we the Sindhi nationalists may not have done much and spoken loudly for our Baloch brothers as the severity of the situation might have demanded. But, sorry to say, it is not correct that we “did not say a word in protest at their killings.” Almost all the nationalist parties of Sindh have condemned the brutal and gruesome acts of state agencies and expressed their solidarity with the victims at different times through different platforms, such as political rallies, seminars and conferences, etc. Sindhi writers have written, and continue to write, extensively on the issue of missing persons. I myself have gone to the camps for missing persons more than once, participated in many demonstrations and rallies, spoken in seminars and conferences organised to highlight the kidnapping and murders and demanded an end to the military operation in Balochistan. All the Baloch friends working on the issue of missing persons in Karachi are witness to that. In almost every political programme, rally, public meeting and seminar of our party, a resolution is passed demanding an immediate end to the military operation and the rehabilitation of affected people.

Not only on the issue of missing persons but Sindhi people in general and Sindhi nationalists in particular have always supported the struggle of the Baloch people for their national rights. When Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto dismissed the government of Balochistan and started a military operation in 1973, it was Jeay Sindh Students Federation (I was one of its members) under the guidance of Sain G M Syed that had observed a week of protest throughout Sindh and sent telegrams of support to the then leader of the Awami National Party Balochistan, Mir Ahmed Nawaz Bugti.

When Nawab Akbar Bugti was murdered by the military regime of General Pervez Musharraf, Sindhi people treated this as an attack on their own, and the whole of Sindh rose in protest. Same was the situation when the BNP General Secretary Habib Jalib Baloch was assassinated.

Not only this but on the intellectual front also we have carried the cause of the Baloch national movement along with that of our own. A few years ago, one of the best known leftist intellectuals of Pakistan, Mr Abul Fazl wrote an article, “Why nationalists support biafrisation” in a leading newspaper. The article discussed the Baloch nationalist movement and its theme was that it was a movement of Sardars, and since the Sardars are opposed to development, they are fighting for their small fiefdoms as the larger (Pakistani) state is a source of development. I defended the Baloch movement thorough my article “Why ‘democrats’ support dictatorship.” Mr Fazl replied with another write up in the same newspaper supporting army rule as the source of change. I responded under the title “People, not the army, are the pioneers of progress.”

Again when the military dictator General Musharraf started the operation against the Baloch nationalists, and at the same time tried to cover it under the show of development, I pleaded the case of Baloch brothers through my article “Balochistan: on the path of progress or poverty.”

Now let us have a look at the other side of the story. No doubt, Balochistan is treated very badly by the Pakistani state. But the treatment received by Sindh has not been much better either. Yet the response of our Baloch comrades has been of total ‘silence’. We never hear any voice from any corner of Balochistan in support of the struggle of Sindhi people for their national rights or in protest against the atrocities of the state institutions. On the contrary we continue hearing claims over national sovereignty and geographical unity of Sindh. It is said that the people of the Baloch origin living in Sindh for centuries are not Sindhis, but Baloch, though the people themselves inseparably identify with the Sindhi nation. Sometimes, a claim is made over Karachi, and sometimes Jacobabad is declared to be a part of Balochistan. Some friends even go to the extent of claiming that the ‘River Indus is the border between Sindh and Balochistan’.

Despite all such provocative professions and divisive declarations we have never gone public as we think that we, Sindhis and Baloch, are sailing in the same boat. We need cooperation, not confrontation. As said earlier, being neighbours for thousands of years, we may have some differences or even disputes but then no two neighbours are immune from such controversies. We can address them in a friendlier atmosphere when we both are masters of our own destinies. Currently, we should concentrate more on commonalities and try to find more ways to support each other in our struggle for emancipation. And none other but Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, owing to his background, is best suited to play his role in bridging the gaps.

The writer is Chairman Jeay Sindh Mahaz and can be reached at khaliquej@hotmail.com

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