Militant organisations using women in Balochistan
In their latest campaigning against the state and its institutions, the sub-nationalist militant organizations in the province are in the process of recruiting women for the nefarious tasks which goes against the Baloch culture and traditions. Such a campaign is very dangerous and against the Baloch traditions and customs. Indeed, the province of Balochistan, constituting 43% of total Pakistani landmass has been a true reflection of traditional Pakistani culture and society.
The province has been bestowed with tremendous potential of natural resources with high mountain barriers and long coastal areas. All these God Gifted features of the province distinguish it from rest of the country. Traditionally, the people of the province have been hard working, tough, intelligent and loyal to their motherland. Traditionally, the Baloch men use to go out for jobs as a working class whereas the women folk use to manage the household. With change in the working environment, the Baloch women also became part of working class but yet maintained their traditional decency by remaining away from places where there are chances of exploitation and coarseness. As being reported in the media, the militant organizations like Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) and such like other militant and anti-state organizations re using the Baloch women as tool which goes against the Baloch norms and value system. Including Baloch women in the militant organizations has two connotations: a) the male folk of the province are rapidly rejecting these militant organizations mainly because of anti-state agendas of these organizations and b) women from remote areas of the province are easy to be attracted and used for nefarious activities of the militant organizations of the sub-nationalists.
In the past, Noor Jehan Baloch and Shireen Baloch were used by these militant organizations for their anti-Pakistan agendas within Pakistan and abroad. Lately BLF recruited Mahal Baloch for their militant activities against the state. This poor lady had nothing to do with militancy but forced to carry the suicide material and jackets from one place to another since there are no serious security checks for female at various heck posts in the province. After initial usage, Mahal Baloch was shown by BLA as a missing person. Later in February 2023, Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) of the Province arrested her as a woman suicide bomber from Satellite Town Ladies Park in Quetta.
CTD recovered a suicide jacket with four to five Kilograms of explosive material attached to it from her handbag. As mentioned above she know nothing about the BLF and militancy but her husband, Bebagar Baloch alias Nadeem, was part of BLF. Besides, her father-in-law Master Muhammad Hussain was related to the central committee of Baloch National Movement (BNM). As revealed during her investigations, she was forced to carry this dangerous material. She indeed, kept refusing to be used for such types of anti-state activities for quite some time.
Her husband Bebagar Baloch and his brother have been active members of BLF and very close trustee of Dr. Allah Nazar, founder of this terrorist network. As per the investigation of CTD, Bebagar and his brother Noqb were killed during an internal fight between militants over money and weapons. It is also revealed that, sister of Mahal Baloch was married to Yusuf, the nephew of Dr. Allah Nazar. She was influenced to support the military wing of the BLF.
Unfortunately, owing to governance issues, exploitative Sardari system, regional and international conspiracies, there remained phases of instability in the province for quite some time. Through hectic efforts of the defence forces of Pakistan, especially Pak Army the province was getting back to normalcy but, there is a restart of the militancy in the province. Away from common misperceptions, there is nothing wrong with the people of the province, they are brave, loyal to Pakistan but less aware of exploiters. The exploiters on the other hand were mostly foreign sponsored and acted as a tool and make use of the poor masses to further the agenda of their sponsors. This misleading campaign continued for years and years until there came a realization among the people about the conspiracies, they were plunged into in the name of sub-nationalism.
In last few years, there has been visible positive change in the outlook of the province, which can be attributed to the awareness among the people of Balochistan. The masses have started rejecting those elements and their anti-state narratives, which mislead them and kept them backward for decades. The people of the province have now started realizing that their youth bulge was wrongly diverted towards anti-state activities, which run counter to their interests and future development of their province. The people of the province are now more vigilant and futuristic about their youth and development of their respective areas. Now they support development of their area, education for their children and civic facilities for the masses. The revelations of Mahal Baloch are eye openers for the state, its institutions, Pakistani leadership and the masses of the state. Through recruitment of women folk, the militant organizations are exploiting the mothers and sisters of the province for their nefarious activities. This practice has to be stopped by the state through mobilizing the Baloch masses and providing protection to women and children of the province. “How long will the so-called freedom organizations continue to make women a part of this hideous and dangerous game of anti-nationalism?” Using women as carrier of explosive and weapons is crime and goes against the traditions proud culture of Balochistan. Let’s create economic opportunities for the masses of the province for their indigenous progress and development. Normalcy has to be returned in the province of Balochistan sooner than later. In this regards Government must take immediate measures to develop the under-developed regions of Province by providing them education, basic facilities and needed economic opportunities before it is too late.
— The writer is Professor of Politics and IR at International Islamic University, Islamabad.
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