1.    Balochistan is the largest province in terms of the geographical area of Pakistan, constituting nearly 43% of its total area. The province is divided between three countries i.e. Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran. In spite of the natural resources in the Baluchistan province including chromites, fluorite, marble, gold, gas, iron and petroleum which are of prominent importance, it has remained one of the poorest and most sparsely populated provinces in Pakistan. The majority of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. A small number of Shia’s and Hindus also reside in the province. The Baloch and Pashtun people constitute the two major ethnic groups; a mixed ethnic stock, mainly of Sindhi origin, forms the third major group.The main languages in the province are Balochi, Brahui, Pashto, and Sindhi.

2.   Prior to independence from the British rule, the province of Balochistan comprised of four princely states viz alat, Lasbela, Kharan and Makran. Three months prior to the Partition, Mohammad Ali Jinnah mooted an idea of an independent State of Kalat comprising all the four princely states. Accordingly, a communique was released on August 11, 1947, which gave an independent sovereign status to Kalat.However, in October1947 Jinnahchangedhismind anddemanded that Kalat formally joins the state of Pakistan. The Khan of Kalat refused which resulted in a stalemate until the Pakistan Army moved into Balochistan in March 1948 and captured Kalat.

3.    The people of Balochistan are against the nation and its machinery. The movement has its objective to protect the interest of Baloch people including their cultural identity, customs and tradition of late economic interest and social emancipation of its deprived population. Since 27 March, 1948 when state was captured by Pakistani security forces, Balochistan has faced five waves of insurgency. The phases of insurgency were started in 1948, 1958, 1962, 1973, and 2004 respectively. But the current and the most prolonged phase starting in 2004, thousands and thousands of people were killed and abducted by Pakistani security forces from 1948 to till now.The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has accused the army of Baluchistan of engaging in violent incidents.

4.   The present dayconflict in the Baluchistan province is an ongoing conflict between the inhabitants of the Baluchistan province and the government of Pakistan. Let us address the unstable politics, ethnicity, resource and development issues, human rights, Islamic extremism and terrorist groups, foreign support, and education which will give us an idea of the main root causes of the conflict. The Reasons for conflicts in Baluchistan can be categorized as hereunder:-

a.     Oppression of Rights. The Baluch people have never been given their required representation in politics, including the military. At times they have notevenbeen able to complete their tenure in the provincial council of Baluchistan due to political exclusion tendency of the central government. This escalated the ethnic conflict in the province with the goal of autonomy or possibly independence. The Military coup in 1999 that brought Parvez Musharraf into power increased the sense of general alienation among the Baluchs. The lack of representation of the Baluch people in the army and the heavy dominance of the Punjabis, the main ethnic group in Pakistan, has led to further rifts. Although the transition of the military government of Musharraf to the civilian government of Zardari decreased the intensity of the situation to some extent, the attacks in 2009 and 2010 exacerbated the violence. The Pakistani government is often blamed for the Baluchistan problem. The grievances of the masses relating to political, economic and cultural rights, that have given rise to nationalist movement; absence of problem resolution mechanisms, even in the democratic set ups; continued negligence of the well-being of the masses that has been the hall mark, though out Pakistan since its creation.

b.     Foreign Influence.  The conflict has had an unintended catalyst in the form of the present global geo-political conflict that ragesacross the border in Afghanistan. Taking advantage, certain well-known external players have continued to provide aid, in the form of money, shelter, ammunitions and weaponry to the separatist elements.The government of Pakistan has accused the Indian government and occasionally the United States for supporting the Baluch movement to destabilize Pakistan. The role of Iraq and Iran are also important in the case of Baluchistan because of their support to the Shia Muslims.

c.     Resource Exploitation and Development Issues. Baloch nationalist’s main issue relates to Pakistan’s domestic natural gas industry. They complain that the gas industry’s well-paid managers and technicians were almost invariably drawn from outside Balochistan; localBaloch, inevitably viewed with some suspicion, were mainly employed in low-end jobs as day laborers. Unequal distribution of resource revenues remains one of the major sources of the problem. The resources in Baluchistan province consist of gas, which is used to produce energy for Pakistan. Though the government of Pakistan claims credit for the economic progress in the province, Baluchs deem the policies by the Pakistan government, including the Economic Package called ‘Aghaz e hoqooq e Baluchistan,’ as being inefficient and having not accrued any benefits to the residents of this province. The current developmental issues are the construction of Gwadar Port as a major transportation hub with Dubai. This project was announced in 2001 and is being implemented by the Chinese. The Baluchs have been totally excluded from the construction of the project. The Baluchistan area is also the hub for the Iran- Pakistan- India gas pipeline and has been targeted several times by the Baluch’s militia to show their disagreement with the government in its exploitation of the province.The basic facilities of life including health, education, communication sources and infrastructure are in poor condition in Balochistan . It has the lowest literacy rate among both males and females, the lowest ranking in the Gender Parity Index (GPI) and the smallest presence of private educational institutes in the country, according to the recently issued National Economic Survey (NES).

d.     Ethnic Difference   When Pakistan was formed, skewed power relations among the different Muslim ethnicities were visible. The Punjabi landlords had an almost unchallenged hold over Pakistan’s bureaucracy. The people of Balochistan also felt a sense of separate identity on account of a shared history, language and other cultural aspects. This shared culture among the Balochs led to the ripening of a strong sense of nationalism that propounded for a larger political autonomy and a separate state for Balochistan.

e.     Religious Extremism.  The state of deprivation has made the people of the province vulnerable to the aggravation and militant tendency promoting religious extremism in Balochistan. Lack of education and awareness, sense of deprivation and acute poverty gave space toterrorist activities by both external and internal enemies.A number of extremist groups such as Al Qaeda, Quetta Shura e Taliban and Tahreek Taliban are active in Baluchistan province. The operations of these groups have complicated the conflict situation. The strategic location of Baluchistan and the lack of a functioning economy in this province have deeply helped these groups to carry out their organized crimes with a religious label. Hazara Shia’s who are immigrants from Afghanistan have been victims of the sectarian violence. Most of the Hazaras - around 8 to 10 million - live in Afghanistan, and a number of Hazaras immigrated to Pakistan for safety. They have been the victims of several attacks in Baluchistan. According to the report from Zahid Gishkori (2012), more than 450 Shia and Hazaras were injured in over 110 sectarian attacks between 2008-2011, and more than 400 Shias and Hazaraz lost their lives as a result of such aggression.

f.     Education.   Education is also one of the main factors in the Baluchistan conflict. The Baluchis allege that their right to education is neglected. Although the Pakistani government is seen to have taken steps by doubling scholarship numbers in 2010 onwards.

Conclusion.

5.  The conflict in Baluchistan is protracted and extremely complex. Basically, the root causes of the conflict are both historical and political. Besides the historical and political reasons, the social factors such as ethnicity and religion have also played a vital role in the continuance of the conflict. Lack of representation at the decision-making level and low quotas for political representation are the prominent factors that have added more misery to the ongoing problems, thus spiralling this conflict out of control.