Even today, the writ of the government is light at best, and its inhabitants regard themselves as among the toughest and bravest people on earth. The name balochistan is generally believed to derive from the name of the baloch people. Various efforts at the bilateral and multilateral levels could not resolve this problem. South of its southern coastline, including the makran coast, are the arabian sea and the gulf of oman. Hindu community has always remained an integral part of pakistan. The history of balochistan began in 650 bce with vague allusions to the region in greek historical records. But a hindu doctor said under the condition of anonymity that there had been migration, even within his own family. May 01, 20 balochistans minority minister, mr basant lal gulshan, who is a hindu, denied the reports of hindus migrating from balochistan. In balochistan, out of all places, there is one of hinduism s holiest temples. Balochistan and afghanistan and their natives have a great history.
Baloch, group of tribes speaking the balochi language and estimated at about five million inhabitants in the province of balochistan in pakistan and also neighbouring areas of iran and afghanistan. Circumstances forced them to disperse and migrate towards south and eastern. The baloch state of kalat wanted to be free or linked to afghanistan, iran or india but never to pakistan. History of balochistan lonely planet travel information. Hindu community as like others is patriotic pakistani.
Some impatient people simply cut off ears from hindu women which had gold rings. The opening of indian consulates in jalalabad and kandhar has facilitated the raw in its activities inside balochistan. Hinglaj is the place considered the most important of the 51 shakti peeths where lord shivas body parts are burried and herein buried is his head. According to the 1998 census fifth in line, balochistan had a total population of 6,565,885 of which most 6,484,006 were muslims. Aug 16, 2016 the two decades after that was the calmest period in the history of balochistan. Jan 14, 2015 the history of baloch,racially who are kurds due to their military crest of cocks comb, which in old persian and kurdish language is called balose baloch. Marking the beginning of the muslim rule began in 712 a. Human rights in balochistan human rights organization. Balochistan consists of the south west of pakistan. The insurgency in 200405 is only different from the ones in 194852, 195860, 196269 and. The population density of balochistan is very low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of. Jul 12, 2018 will approach india for balochist ans fre edom. History balochistans unforgiving landscape and fiercely independent peoples have made it perilous to invade and until the discovery of natural gas unrewarding to rule. After the partition of subcontinent majority of hindu population migrated to india, while those who remained in pakistan adjusted with muslim population peacefully.
Our textbooks and other publications narrate a rhetoric which is far from the truth, and which has made the general public believe in a lie. Indian statement on the situation in balochistan was a blatant interference in pakistans internal affairs and was duly rebuked. In ancient times, the region was a part of the achaemenid persian empire and then various persian and indian empires and local kingdoms and was presumably inhabited by some mix of iranian and. Balochistan is now officially an arrow in indias quiver. It accounts for nearly half the land mass of pakistan and only 3. The period of eighteen century has many importances for both afghanistan and balochistan.
How balochistan became a part of pakistan a historical perspective. The province of balochistan, which borders both iran and afghanistan, is notorious for narcotics and other forms of crossborder smuggling. Jan 27, 2017 the last census of pakistan was conducted in the year 1998 making it tough to answer the question precisely. Recent research and archaeological excavations at mehrgarh have revealed 9000 years old civilization. It is likely that the baloch were known by some other name in their place of origin and that they acquired the name baloch after arriving in balochistan sometime in the 10th century. The balochistan hindus dilemma hindu press international. Everything you need to know about the pakistan province and its bumpy history balochistan and pakistan government conflict caused by reasons including a ripe ethnic nationalism along with feelings of economic and political exclusion. Hindus are treated as a second class citizen despite being the mercantile class.
History of balochistan project gutenberg selfpublishing. The people of balochistan are divided into three main ethnic groups and 27 major tribes. Balochistan has an eventful history dating back to the stone age. Why is india not helping balochistan like it helped. Minister rajenthra bhalajis hindu leanings put aiadmk in a spot. Among them one is the baloch ethnicity, based on its language, culture and territory. Hindus have been richly contributing in balochistan s economic prosperity and development since prepartition days historically, it is not clear in documents to assert how and when hindus originally settled in balochistan. In my area, the muslim leaguei leader khan habibullah khan who later became chief minister of west pakistan, organized a mob and occupied all the houses of hindus. There is a hindu temple in pakistans most middle eastern and mineralrich province.
Click here to read about balochi culture history, traditions, tribes, dress, music, languages, and festivals. The two decades after that was the calmest period in the history of balochistan. To the east and southeast is the sulaiman range, which joins the central brahui range near quetta, and to the north and. In balochistan, hindus have two historical and famous sacred places that belong to ancient times. The relation between them is centuries old and they are very near to each other. Mar 30, 20 only 20 hindu families from different parts of balochistan went to other countries in search of a better future, he says. All balochistan news updates and notification on our mobile app.
Balochistan shares borders with punjab and the khyber pakhtunkhwa to the northeast, sindh to the east and southeast, the arabian sea to the south, iran to the west and. Any queries regarding the publication or acceptance of the article can be sought at the given address. But after having sat with balochistan based baloch and hindu historians and writers, all of them agree that hindus have been living in balochistan since. Shockinga hindu temple in the middle of balochistan. In balochistan, out of all places, there is one of hinduisms holiest temples. In the west it borders with afghanistan and iran and in the south it has the arabian sea. History of blochistan balochistan has an eventful history dating back to the stone age. Hinglaj is an important hindu pilgrimage place in balochistan, pakistan and kuldevi of many kshatriya and other hindu communities of india. Though balochistan is an area of barren lands, deserts and mountains, the baloch culture is full of traditions, arts and crafts.
Balochistan balochistan, pakistan balochistan is a region in pakistan in southcentral asia and the indigeneous home to the balochi and brahui peoples. The vast tableland of balochistan contains a great variety of physical features. The name of balose was given to kurds of balochistan by sassanid empire in 667 ad later it became baloch. Ask the lord to call people who are willing to go and share christ with the baluch. About 40% of the population speaks balochi language. In farflung balochistan rests an idol that is revered by hindus and muslims. Ask god to strengthen, encourage, and protect missionaries that are trying to reach the baluch with the gospel. Again this is another what if question and answer can vary from person to person.
Well, skeptics might argue that how come india stands with baluchistan. There were also hindu and christian minorities in the province. The balochistan borders afghanistan, iran and also shares a marine boundary with oman. These three groups are baloch, brahui and pashtoons. Mukesh bariya pakistan hindu population by districts. They found the jewellery and money buried in walls and ground of the hindu houses. The present day insurgency in balochistan is a continuum of the intermittent guerrilla struggle against the pakistani state that has characterized balochistan since 1948. The population density of balochistan is very low due to the mountainous terrain and scarcity of water. In the late 1980s, an insurgency in the valley threatened not only to rip kashmir apart, but also pull the rest of the world into a dangerous war. Aug, 2016 prime minister narendra modi in his independence day speech said he was grateful to the people of balochistan, gilgit and pakistanoccupied kashmir, for thanking him for his criticism of the.
There is evidence of dry river beds overlapping with the hakra channel in pakistan and the seasonal ghaggar river in india. It is the largest province in terms of land area, forming the southwestern region of the country, but is the least populated. The region acquired a notorious reputation due to alexander the. Balochistan economy in depth and proposing a strategy for the sustainable growth and development of the province over the long term. In pakistan the baloch people are divided into two groups, the sulaimani and the makrani, separated. Kumar international advocacy director amnesty international, usa february 8, 2012 thank you mr. In the central chamber of a colourful temple is pictured a stone shivling, believed to be present during a visit by humayun. Balochistan is now officially an arrow in indias quiver against pakistan. Balochistan news find balochistan latest news and headlines today along with balochistan photos and videos at. Jan 25, 2016 plight of hindu community in balochistan is same as in other parts of pakistan. Three thousand years ago, a group of indoiranic tribes called balaschik at that time settled in the northwestern caspian region of balashagan. The turmoil in pakistan today takes me back 75 years to the time i spent in. It is located in a unique part of this region as it lies at the juncture of various civilizations, e.
However, the baloch nationalists, including the tribal chiefs, have other complaints also. The history of balochistan began in 650 bce with vague allusions to the region in greek. Balochistan, pakistan wikipedia republished wiki 2. The province is immensely rich in natural resources, including oil. Abstract kashmir is the oldest and the most serious dispute between pakistan and india. A critical appraisal article pdf available in south asia journal of south asian studies 321. An analysis of the issue and conflict with state 57 rehana saeed hashmi baloch ethnicity. Herodotus in 650 bce describes the paraitakenoi as a tribe ruled by deiokes, a persian king, in northwestern persia history i. I have a fairly different take on this issue, let me simplify it point by point.
It is situated in balochistan provi nce about 250 km north of karachi. Abstract simmering tension in balochistan is the cause of multiple factors. Education for all plan balochistan 6 executive summary balochistan is the largest province by area of pakistan, constituting approximately 44% of the total area of pakistan. Members of the taliban and alqaida are also believed to. Hakim baloch, a former chief secretary of balochistan, author and historian, who has written several books on balochistan, agrees that air did indeed broadcast menons statement the very next day, sardar patel issued a contradiction that no such request.
Human rights in balochistan before the subcommittee on oversight and investigations committee on foreign affairs united states house of representatives testimony by t. Balochistan is divided between the pakistani province of balochistan, the iranian province of sistan and baluchestan and the afghan region of balochistan. Baloch leader pakistan had criticised modi for mentioning the people of balochistan in his address, seen as indirect support to the balochistan freedom struggle. They migrated to ancient balochistan turan and makran in 855 bc when the maad kurd. The entity india has chosen to focus on is balochistan. An historical overview of the accession of princely states pdf. Pray that christian broadcasts will be made available as communication improves. Arrian describes how alexander the great encountered the pareitakai in bactria and sogdiana, and had them conquered by craterus anabasis alexandrou iv. Balochistan borders the pashtunistan region to the north, sindh and punjab to the east, and persian regions to the west. Umerkot, the birthplace of emperor akbar, becomes the symbol of a confluence of hindu god shiva and an important part of mughal history.
The true history of balochistan is never shared or talked about among the general public of pakistan. The insurgency in balochistan is a guerrilla war waged by baloch nationalists against the governments of pakistan and iran in the balochistan region, which covers balochistan province in southwestern pakistan, sistan and baluchestan province in southeastern iran, and the balochistan region of southern afghanistan. India is not an expansionist state so it will have very less to gain politically from annexation of balochistan 1. The baloch people are not mentioned in preislamic sources. The province is immensely rich in natural resources, including oil, gas, copper and gold. Their history up to the time when they were drawn into western colonial history in the 19th century is poorly known. According to the 1998 census, balochistan had a total population of 6,565,885 of which most 6,484,006 were muslims. People in baluchistan followed hinduism, buddhism, and zoroastrianism. Analysing the evidence and implications for pakistan mir sherbaz khetran abstract an indian serving naval officer, kulbhushan yadav got arrested by the law enforcement agencies of pakistan in march 2016, when he was trying to enter pakistan from the saravan region, located in balochistan, pakistan. When pakistan for formed in 1947, rulers of the princely state kalat, or present day balochistan, refused to join the new country. A conflict between india and pakistan abdul majid university of the punjab, lahore. Nobody seems to be interested in a dialogue that could end the longest civil war in pakistans history in balochistan, says guest columnist ahmed rashid.
Balochistan is one of the four provinces of pakistan. The baloch people mainly speak balochi, which is a branch of the iranian languages, and more specifically of the. Its one of the most remote regions of the country and also pakistans gasrich province. Balochistan is today controlled as a province under the islamic republic of pakistan. In the northeast a basin centred on the towns of zhob and loralai forms a trellispatterned lobe that is surrounded on all sides by mountain ranges. Human settlement pattern at mehrgarh was unparalleled and unique, inaugurating the distinct shift from a hunting gathering to a settled life for the first time in human history. Ten things you must know about the balochistan conflict now.
A historical account from the beginning to the fall of the baloch state dashti, naseer on. Balochistan, with its historically rich culture, is the largest province of pakistan. The indian strategy could be drawing the global attention towards one of the oldest internal problems of pakistan. Education for all plan balochistan 20112015 unesco. Baluch people mainly inhabit the baluchestan region and sistan va baluchestan in the southeast corner of the iranian plateau in western asia. The full story so far while the prime ministers remarks were met with angry reactions from islamabad and a section of opposition parties in india, it also received support from baloch leaders who thanked him for raising the issue. Feb 21, 2015 balochistan package the important initiative taken aghazehaqooqebalochistan package 18th amendment in the constitution pacakge has 5 dimensions withdrawal of army and abolition of cantonments inquiry of nawab akbar khan bugtis death the remaining royalities will be paid in 12 years the release of missing persons development in. Baloch culture is opposite to the general perception about it. The insurgency in 200405 is only different from the ones in 194852, 195860, 196269 and 197377 in the scale of the violence and the geographical spread of the insurgency.
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