Separatist movements of Pakistan

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There are or have been a number of separatist movements in Pakistan based on ethnic and regional nationalism, that have agitated for independence, and sometimes fighting the Pakistan state at various times during its history. [1] As in many other countries, tension arises from the perception of minority/less powerful ethnic groups that other ethnicities dominate the politics and economics of the country to the detriment of those with less power and money. [2] The government of Pakistan has attempted to subdue these separatist movements. [3]

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Influence and success of separatist groups has varied from total, in the case of Bangladesh, which separated from Pakistan in 1971. [4] The separatist movement in Balochistan is engaged in a low-intensity insurgency against the Government of Pakistan. As of 2023, it is the most active secessionist movement in the region. [5] [6] [7]

Separatist sentiment by opinion poll

The separatist movement in Balochistan is engaged in a low-intensity insurgency against the Government of Pakistan. [5] [6]

In 2009, the Pew Research Center conducted a Global Attitudes survey across Pakistan, in which it questioned respondents whether they viewed their primary identity as Pakistani or that of their ethnicity. The sample covered an area representing 90% of the adult population, and included all major ethnic groups. [8] According to the findings, 96% of Punjabis identified themselves first as Pakistanis, as did 92% each of Pashtuns and Muhajirs; 55% of Sindhis chose a Pakistani identification, while 28% chose Sindhi and 16% selected "both equally"; whereas 58% of Baloch respondents chose Pakistani and 32% selected their ethnicity and 10% chose both equally. [8] Collectively, 89% of the sample opted their primary identity as Pakistani. [8] Similarly in 2010, Chatham House conducted an opinion poll in the Pakistani and Indian-administered regions of Kashmir asking respondents if they favoured independence or an accession to either countries; in Azad Kashmir controlled by Pakistan, 50% of respondents voted to join Pakistan, 44% voted for independence, and only 1% voted for accession to India. [9] In the northern region of Gilgit-Baltistan, longstanding local sentiments oppose any merger of the area with Kashmir, and instead demand a constitutional integration with Pakistan. [10] [11] [12] [13]

Bangladesh

Pakistan was established in 1947, from the partition, as a state for Muslims. [14] Its formation was based on the basis of Islamic nationalism.

As part of the Partition of India in 1947, Bengal was partitioned between the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan. The Pakistani part of Bengal was known as East Bengal until 1955 and thereafter as East-Pakistan following the implementation of the One Unit program. However, rampant corruption within the ranks of the Pakistani government and bureaucracy, economic inequality between the country's two wings caused mainly by a lack of representative government and the government's indifference to the efforts of fierce ethno-nationalistic politicians, like Sheik Mujibur Rahman from East Pakistan, who fought for Bangladeshi independence, resulted in civil war in Pakistan and subsequent separation of East Pakistan as the People's Republic of Bangladesh. Bilateral relations between the two wings grew strained over the lack of official recognition for the Bengali language, democracy, regional autonomy, disparity between the two wings, ethnic discrimination, and the central government's weak and inefficient relief efforts after the 1970 Bhola cyclone, which had affected millions in East Pakistan. These grievances led to several political agitations in East Bengal and ultimately a fight for full independence, which was made possible in 1971 with the assistance of the Indian military.

Balochistan

The Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) separatist group was founded by Jumma Khan Marri in 1964 in Damascus, and played an important role in the 1968-1980 insurgency in Pakistani Balochistan and Iranian Balochistan. Mir Hazar Ramkhani, the father of Jumma Khan Marri, took over the group in the 1980s. The Balochistan Liberation Army (also Baloch Liberation Army or Baluchistan Liberation army) (BLA) is a Baloch nationalist militant secessionist organization. However, Jumma Khan Marri ended his opposition and pledged allegiance to Pakistan on 17 February 2018. [15] The stated goals of the organization include the establishment of an independent state of Balochistan separate from Pakistan and Iran. The name Baloch Liberation Army first became public in summer 2000, after the organization claimed credit for a series of bomb attacks in markets and railways lines. Following Dead of Akbar Bugti, [16] The Insurgency Escalated [17] and Government response grew much harsh resulting in large numbers of Balochs being detained for being Nationalistic or suspicious of being a Rebel With Many Mutilated Bodies found with marks of Torture, [18] [19] BLA retaliated by target killing of Primarily Punjabis as well Pashtuns and Sindhis in Balochistan as well as blowing up of gas pipelines. [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] Local Balochs have also been targeted by the separatist groups in the province. [25] Brahamdagh Khan Bugti, alleged leader of Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), also asked separatists to conduct ethnic cleansing of Non-Baloch citizens from the province [26] and Brahamdagh Khan Bugti's Sister was Murdered in 2012. [27] In 2006, the BLA was declared to be a terrorist organization by the Pakistani and British governments. [28]

However, the insurgency led by the Baloch separatists in the province has been struggling. Baloch separatists have been losing their leaders and they have been unable to fill their ranks. There is also currently ongoing infighting between the different insurgents groups. [6] [29] The last insurgent leader, Balach Marri, was able to keep the different insurgent groups united. However, after his death in Afghanistan, [30] [31] infighting broke out between various insurgent groups. The insurgents were unable to replace him. [6] [32] Moreover, attacks on pro-government leaders and politicians who are willing to take part in election has also contributed to the decline in separatist appeal. [6]

The News International reported in 2012 that a Gallup survey conducted for DFID revealed that the majority of Baloch do not support independence from Pakistan. Only 37 percent of Baloch were in favour of independence. Amongst Balochistan's Pashtun population support for independence was even lower at 12 percent. However, a majority (67 percent) of Balochistan's population did favour greater provincial autonomy. [33] Majority of Baloch also don't support separatist groups. They support political parties who use legislature to address their grievances. Experts also claim that most of the nationalists in the province had come to believe that they could fight for their political right within Pakistan. [34]

As of 2018, the Pakistani state was using Islamist militants to crush Balochi separatists. [35] Academics and journalists in the United States have allegedly been approached by Inter-Services Intelligence spies, who threatened them not to speak about the insurgency in Balochistan, as well as human rights abuses by the Pakistani Army, or else their families would be harmed. [36]

By 2020, insurgency by Baluch had been "greatly weakened" by Pakistan counterinsurgency operations including incentives for the militants to lay down their weapons, and by fatigue and rifts among the separatists. In addition, the safe haven for the separatists in Afghanistan was eliminated by the victory of the Taliban in 2021. However, in 2021 the number of terrorist attacks by separatists in Baluchistan "nearly doubled" compared to the previous year. [37]

Sindhudesh

Sindhudesh (Sindhi : سنڌو ديش, literally "Sindhi Country") is an idea of a separate Homeland for Sindhis [38] [39] proposed by Sindhi nationalist parties for the creation of a Sindhi state, which would be independent from Pakistan. [1] [40] The movement is based in the Sindh region of Pakistan and was conceived by the Sindhi political leader G. M. Syed. A Sindhi literary movement emerged in 1967 under the leadership of Syed and Pir Ali Mohammed Rashdi, in opposition to the One Unit policy, the imposition of Urdu by the central government and to the presence of a large number of Muhajir (Indian Muslim refugees) settled in the province. [41]

However, neither the separatist party nor the nationalist party have ever been able to take centre stage in Sindh. Local Sindhis strongly support Pakistan People Party (PPP). The unparalleled and unhindered success of the PPP in Sindh shows the preference of Sindhis for a constitutional political process over a separatist agenda to resolve their grievances. Similarly public opinion is also not heavily in favour of these parties either. In other words, neither the Sindhi separatists nor the nationalists have significant popular support — certainly not the kind that will make them capable of fuelling a full-scale insurgency. Almost all of the Sindhis have a strong Pakistani identity and prefer to remain part of Pakistan. [42]

In 2012, a Sindhudesh rally was organised by a nationalist party in Karachi, which had a notably low turnout. The nationalist party had claimed that they would gather around million people for their million march. Although, only 3,000 to 4,000 people attended the rally. [43]

In 2020, the Pakistani government banned multiple separatist outfits including the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz - Aresar group, Sindhudesh Liberation Army, and Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army [44]

Azad Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan

As of 2015, an independence movement exists in Gilgit-Baltistan (called "Balawaristan" by its supporters). [45] Balawaristan National Front (Hameed Group) (BNF-H) led by Abdul Hamid Khan were trying to seek independence of Gilgit-Baltistan from Pakistan. However, Abdul Hamid Khan unconditionally surrendered to Pakistan security officials on 8 February 2019 after being banned for having connections to Indian intelligence agencies. Following his surrender, 14 more members of BNF-H were arrested for their anti-Pakistani activities. [46] [47] Since then the fate of BNF-H is unknown. Another organisation by the name of Balawaristan National Front led by Nawaz Khan Naji seeks to declare Gilgit-Balistan an autonomous Region under Administration of Pakistan till Promised pelbicite. [48]

In Pakistan administered Kashmir, no political parties with that do not agree with accession with Pakistan can contest elections. [49]

Sardar Arif Shahid, was a Kashmiri nationalist leader who advocated the independence of Kashmir from both India and Pakistan's rule. He was killed on May 14, 2013, outside his house in Rawalpindi. It was the first time any pro-independence Kashmiri leader was targeted in this way in Pakistan. His supporters allege that he was killed by Pakistan security forces. [50] Within the area, "Custodial torture and intimidation of independence supporters and other activists" has occurred. [3]

In 2010, Chatham House, a London-based think tank, did a survey, [51] sponsored by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, in both Pakistani and Indian administered Kashmir. Based on a sample size of 3,774, [51] it found that Kashmiri's on both sides wanted independence. The survey states, 44% of Kashmiri's in Pakistan administered Azad Kashmir wanted independence. [52]

In October 2019, the People National Alliance organised a rally to free Kashmir from Pakistani rule. As a result of the police trying to stop the rally, 100 people were injured. [53]

Jinnahpur and Muhajir Sooba

Jinnahpur referred to an alleged plot in Pakistan to form a breakaway autonomous state to serve as a homeland for the Karachi based Urdu-speaking Muhajir community.[ citation needed ] Mohajirs are immigrants who came to Pakistan from India in the wake of the violence that followed the independence of India in 1947. The alleged name to be given to the proposed breakaway state was "Jinnahpur", named after Mohammed Ali Jinnah. In 1992, the Pakistani military claimed it had found maps of the proposed Jinnahpur state in the offices of the Mohajir Qaumi Movement (now renamed Muttahida Qaumi Movement), despite the party's strong denial of the authenticity of the maps. Despite the party's strong commitment to the Pakistani state, at that time government of Nawaz Sharif chose to use it as the basis for the military operation against the MQM, known as Operation Clean-up. [4]

The Muhajir Sooba (literally meaning 'Immigrant Province') is a political movement which seeks to represent the Muhajir people of Sindh. [54] [55] This concept floated as a political bargaining tool by the leader of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Altaf Hussain for the creation of a Muhajir province for the Muhajir-majority areas of Sindh, which would be independent from Sindh government.

Related Research Articles

Balawaristan, is a term coined by Nawaz Khan Naji, founder of the Pakistani political party Balawaristan National Front (BNF), for a proposed autonomous province or a sovereign state consisting of Gilgit-Baltistan, Chitral and Kohistan regions in Pakistan as well as Indian-controlled Ladakh. Although the name, first used in 1989, does not have any historical basis, it sounds similar to Baloristan, which has been documented in Chinese sources to describe Baltistan and Gilgit Valley from the 8th century CE.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Balochistan</span> Insurgency in Pakistan and Iran

The Insurgency in Balochistan is an insurgency or revolt by Baloch separatist insurgents and various Islamist militant groups against the governments of Pakistan and Iran in the Balochistan region, which covers the Pakistani province of Balochistan, Iranian province of Sistan and Baluchestan, and Balochistan of southern Afghanistan. Rich in natural resources, this is the largest, least populated and least developed province in Pakistan and Iran, and armed groups demand greater control of the province's natural resources and political autonomy. Baloch separatists have attacked civilians from other ethnicities throughout the province. In the 2010s, attacks against the Shia community by sectarian groups—though not always directly related to the political struggle—have risen, contributing to tensions in Balochistan. In Pakistan, the ethnic separatist insurgency is low-scale but ongoing mainly in southern Balochistan, as well as sectarian and religiously motivated militancy concentrated mainly in northern and central Balochistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1970s operation in Balochistan</span> Conflict between Pakistan forces and Baloch-Pashtun separatists

The Fourth Balochistan Conflict was a four-year military conflict in Balochistan, the largest province of Pakistan, between the Pakistan Army and Baloch separatists and tribesmen that lasted from 1973 to 1977.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balochistan Liberation Army</span> Baloch separatist militant group

The Balochistan Liberation Army is a Baloch ethnonationalist militant organization based in the Baluchistan region of Afghanistan. Operating primarily from safe havens scattered across southern Afghanistan, BLA perpetrates attacks in neighboring Pakistan's Balochistan province, which it seeks to remove from Pakistani sovereignty. It frequently targets Pakistan Armed Forces, civilians and foreign nationals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhudesh movement</span> Separatist movement based in Sindh, Pakistan

The Sindhudesh Movement is a separatist movement, based in Sindh, Pakistan, seeking to create a homeland for Sindhis by establishing an ethnic state called Sindhudesh, which would be either autonomous within Pakistan or independent from it.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balochistan</span> Region of southwestern Asia

Balochistan, also spelled as Baluchistan or Baluchestan, is a historical region in Western and South Asia, located in the Iranian plateau's far southeast and bordering the Indian Plate and the Arabian Sea coastline. This arid region of desert and mountains is primarily populated by ethnic Baloch people.

The Baloch Students Organization is a student organisation that campaigns for the students of Pakistan's Balochistan Province. It was founded as a student movement on 26 November 1967 in Karachi and remains the largest ethnic Baloch student body in the country. It was divided due to ideological differences. BSO Pajjar and BSO Mohiuddin are affiliated with the parliamentary framework of Pakistan. Dr Allah Nazar, founder of pro independence wing, in 2002 while he was studying in college, created a breakaway faction — BSO–Azad — that advocated struggle for an independent Balochistan based on pre-colonial Baloch country. The Pakistani government banned the BSO Azad on 15 March 2013, as a terrorist organisation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1973 raid on the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan</span> Armed raid by Pakistani forces on the Iraqi embassy in Islamabad

The 1973 raid on the Iraqi embassy in Pakistan was an armed infiltration carried out by Pakistan in February 1973 at the embassy of Ba'athist Iraq in Islamabad. The raid, carried out by the Punjab Rangers and the Islamabad Police, was launched after the interception of information by Pakistani intelligence that uncovered large-scale covert Iraqi involvement in the supply of weapons and funds to militants waging an insurgency against Iran and Pakistan in the Balochistan region situated between the two countries. Following the embassy raid, an abundance of funds and Soviet armaments from Iraq that were meant for Baloch insurgents were seized by Pakistani forces, and the Iraqi ambassador to Pakistan as well as the embassy's staff were immediately expelled from Pakistan and declared personae non gratae. Pakistan's findings in the embassy raid heightened tensions between Iran and Iraq, which, in 1974, escalated into armed clashes over the Shatt al-Arab, a river that was formerly subject to a territorial dispute between the two nations that later served as one of the key factors that propelled them into a full-scale and protracted war in 1980 following the Iranian Revolution. The event led to a severe deterioration in Iraq–Pakistan relations and contributed to Pakistan's heavy backing of Iran during the latter's eight-year-long war with Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Baloch nationalism</span> Ideology that claims the Baloch people are a distinct nation

Baloch nationalism is an ideology that asserts that the Baloch people, an Iranic ethnic group native to Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, form a distinct nation. The origins of modern Baloch nationalism coupled with the insurgency in Balochistan involving various militant organizations, go back to the period of the partition of British India and subsequent independence of Pakistan, when Kalat, the largest Baloch princely state, acceded to the Dominion of Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balawaristan National Front</span> Political organization in Pakistan

The Balawaristan National Front is a defunct political party which sought Independence for Gilgit-Baltistan, claimed as Balawaristan, as well as claims in certain regions of the Indian-Administered Kashmir, Kargil and Ladakh, as part of its historical territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Balach Marri</span> Baloch militant and separatist (1966–2007)

Balach Marri was a Baloch commander in the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), a Baloch nationalist organisation, listed as a terrorist group by Pakistan, China, the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sindhi nationalism</span> Ideology asserting that the Sindhs are a distinct nation

Sindhi nationalism is an ideology that claims that the Sindhis, an ethnolinguistic group native to the Pakistani province of Sindh, form a separate nation. After Bangladesh became independent in 1971, G.M. Syed gave a new direction to nationalism and founded the Jeay Sindh Mahaz in 1972 and presented the idea of Sindhudesh; a separate homeland for Sindhis. G.M. Syed is considered as the founder of modern Sindhi nationalism. However, Sindhi nationalists stand divided upon the idea of a separate country or autonomy within Pakistan, ultimately resulting in the weakening of Sindhi nationalism.Sindhu Desh ji Dharti Todhe is The Anthem of Sindhi Nationalists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Human rights abuses in Balochistan</span> Organized abuse and breaches of fundamental human rights in Balochistan, Pakistan

Human rights abuses in the province ofBalochistan refers to the human rights violations that are occurring in the ongoing insurgency in Balochistan. The situation has drawn concern from the international community. The human rights situation in Balochistan is credited to the long-running conflict between Baloch nationalists and Pakistani security forces.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz</span> Political party in Pakistan

The Jeay Sindh Muttahida Mahaz is one of several major separatist political parties in Sindh, Pakistan, that advocate for the separation of Sindhudesh from Pakistan. Founded in the year 2000, by the veteran Sindhi nationalists belonging to the Sindhudesh movement who left JSQM. The founder and the current Chairman of party Shafi Muhammad Burfat is living in exile in Germany under political asylum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Operation Lyari</span> Anti-Crime Crackdown in Lyari, Karachi (Pakistan)

Operation Lyari is a Pakistan Government crackdown against local gangs and other crime syndicates and part of the greater Karachi Operation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">United Baloch Army</span> Militant organization

United Baloch Army was a militant group, fighting for the separation of Balochistan. The group has been designated as a terrorist organisation by the Pakistani government. The government of Pakistan banned the group on 15 March 2013. The group has also been classified as a terrorist organisation by Switzerland's government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Insurgency in Sindh</span> Actions by Sindhi nationalists in Pakistan

The Insurgency in Sindh is a low-intensity insurgency waged by Sindhi Nationalists against the government of Pakistan. Sindhi nationalists want to create an independent state called Sindhudesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Third Balochistan conflict</span> Conflict between Pakistani forces and Princes of Kalat

The Third Balochistan Conflict refers to an insurgency by Baloch separatists against the Pakistani government lasting from 1963 till 1969 with the aim to force Pakistan to share revenues from gas reserves in Balochistan, freeing up of Baloch prisoners and dissolution of One Unit Scheme.

References

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