The Baloch National Resistance (1948)
The ruler of the Khanate of
Balochistan, Mir Ahmad Yar Than, was forced to sign the document of
accession. The Khan was not an absolute monarch; he was required to act
under the provisions of the Rawaj (the Baloch constitution) and had no
authority to sign the merger document without the consent of the parliament.
The Khan in his autobiography has admitted that he violated his mandate by
signing the merger document.
The forced incorporation of the Khanate resulted anti-Pakistan
rallies and meetings throughout the Khanate. To subdue the popular sentiments,
the Pakistan army was ordered to be on alert. The Government of Pakistan
decided to take over the complete control of the administration of the
Balochistan (Khanate) on 15 April 1948. The A.G.G. in Balochistan conveyed the
orders of Jinnah that the status of the Khanate “would revert back to what it
was during the preceding British rule. A political agent was appointed to control the
administration of the Khanate. The Khan accepted the new development
unwillingly and he commented on the decision of Jinnah, the Governor General of
Pakistan:
“Thus my legal authority as the Khan-e-Azam came to an end
on 15 April 1948 and my connection with the affairs of Kalat were cut off and
within 20 hours of the orders being issued to me, several ministers of the
Kalat Government were exiled or arrested.
“All the socio-economic and
administrative reforms which I had introduced were suddenly reversed. ...The
Baloch representative parliament and Baloch confederation were broken by one
stroke of the pen.
Besides the policy of the central government of Pakistan
towards the Khanate, Jinnah also refused to give
Autonomy to Balochistan, rather, he accepted the demands of
tribal chiefs for maintaining the notorious
Sandeman system.
In an interview he regarded Balochistan as the burden of the
Governor General. He announced that instead of democratic institutions,
Balochistan needed socio-economic development programmes under his guidance. In
April 1948, several political leaders from Balochistan such as Mohammad Amin
Khosa and Abdul Samad Achakzai were arrested. The Anjuman-i-Watan Party
(pro-congress), headed by Samad Achakzai, was declared unlawful.
Prince Abdul Karim Khan Leader of Baloch National Resistance 1948:
The refusal to grant autonomy, the continued existence of the
Sandeman system, and the unconstitutional and undemocratic merger of
Balochistan into Pakistan resulted in unrest. Thus, on the night of 16 May
1948, Prince Abdul Karim, the younger brother of the Khan, decided to lead a
national liberation movement.
He invited the leading members of nationalist political parties,
(the Kalat State National Party, the Baloch League, and the Baloch National
Workers Party) to join him in the struggle for the creation of an independent
Greater Balochistan. Apart from his political motives, the Prince was a member
of the royal family and the former governor of the Makuran province. The forced
accession of the Khanate and recognition of Sardar Bay Khan Gichki as a ruler
of Makuran by Pakistan upset him.
He decided to migrate to Afghanistan in order to get help and to
organize the liberation movement. Prince Karim wrote to the Khan on 28 June
1948 explaining the causes of his migration. In his lengthy letter he pointed
out the unconstitutional accession of Kharran and Las Bela, the unfair
annexation of the Makuran province, and the forced merger of Kalat into
Pakistan, which caused him to migrate to Afghanistan:
“...The real cause of this unrest is the
high-handedness and unlawful actions of the Pakistan people. Both the Upper and
lower Houses gave their unanimous verdict against accession, and were prepared
to fight to the last for maintaining complete freedom. Your Highness has also
expressed similar sentiments at numerous occasions through oral as well as
written statements. Am I the cause of all this? If the people of Pakistan are
taking away the freedom of Kalat state, they are doing so under a set
programme, not due to my migration. Since I have come here, I am quite silent,
but they are continuing their efforts to destroy our freedom and nationality.
The appointment of a political agent for the Baloch states at Mastung, the
posting of a Nazim at Sarawan, and an assistant prime minister in the center,
the showering of favor upon the traitors and repression of the faithful of the
state- what do all these things show? Are the people blind to these happenings?
Your Highness and the Baloch nation under your instructions, in spite of
incurring the displeasure of their British masters, gave all moral and material
help in securing Pakistan, but the result is before all of us. Your
Highness is still under the delusion that the founder of Pakistan is a friend
of your Highness, and wishes to see the Baloch nation happy and flourishing in
the world. The world has seen that in spite of accession against the
wishes of the nation the treatment meted out to your Highness was most
inconsistent with moral, religious or social laws. The province of Makuran has
been torn away from Kalat without any reasons; an act, which even the pagan British
people had not endeavored to do, in spite of the fact that instead of serving
them we have been fighting armed battles against them, not once or twice but
throughout the period commencing from the reign of Khan Mehrab Khan to the end
of the last great war. It means that the Pakistan people are not only more
aggressive than the British, but they are also in the habit of biting off their
own friends. What their nature is and what type of men they are, can be judged
from
his fact alone.
“It is true that the present plight of
Muslims is due to disunity, but do the people of Pakistan, who are managing the
state affairs, and whose customs and practices are based on non-fraternity,
inequity, injustice and repression, also realize this? I, therefore, request that
there is no use in keeping false hopes, which will only mean trying a person,
who has already been tried and failed. From whatever angle we look at the
present Government of Pakistan, we will Bee nothing but Punjabi Fascism. The
people have no say in it. It is the army and arms that rule. There is no
morality or justice. Selfishness and repression prevail without exaggeration;
it is an immoral, military government, tar worse than British democracy. There
is no place for any other community in this government, be it the Baloch, the
Sindhis, the Afghans or the Bengalis, unless they make themselves equally
powerful. In view of these facts, there is hardly any justification to think
so, or to give credence to such opinion that Pakistan is the fifth largest state
of the world and the biggest Muslim state on earth, and owing to its vast
resources, it is likely to become the center of Muslim unity and fraternity,
as its foundations are not based on Islamic principles. Not to speak of Islamic
ways they have not the slightest regard for its name. The brothels and wine
shops thrive as usual, and total Punjabi fascism rules supreme everywhere.
These are the reasons that for its existence and progress it is compelled to
remain a stronghold of the imperialistic powers, and dancing at their tunes,
suppress the natural aspirations of other communities by force, It is a path
of repression, and it is a verdict of human experience, as well as the Holy
Koran, that repression will never survive, regardless of which material
resources it may command. This belief is my only support, and has dragged me
out to this place. I most humbly request you not to add to my worries by
sending f or am unnecessarily. There is nothing in your Highness’s hand. Which
could prompt me to give up migration.
Have the forced accession of Makuran
undone, and the province returned to Kalat to make me see a gleam of hope in
this darkness. It not, have they given any proof of Islamic brotherhood by
restoring all rights of Kalat in Compensation for the wound inflicted in the
shape of accession of Makuran, so that one might reflect how far Punjabi
Fascism can bend? It is neither this, nor that. If there is anything, it is an
increase in the display of military night, tightening of the blockade, shooting
and arrests of peaceful passersby and banning of my name in the whole of the
state. I am sorry I am unable to live in such a painful and repressive
atmosphere. I submit to your Highness that I will be able to return, only when
the causes of my migration are removed or God gives me enough strength to
remove them myself.
Before his
departure the wife of the Khan had given him silver and gold as financial aid,
an indication of the Khan’s approval of his action, as the Khan Saw in the
struggle of Karim, a hope for ‘regaining some of his princely prerogatives.
Mr. Fell, however
denied any sort of connection between the Khan and the prince, who was joined
by some of the military personnel and officials of the Khanate. Some of the
prominent political leaders who joined him were Mohamed Hussain Anka (the
secretary of the Baloch League and the editor of Weekly Bolan Mastung) • Malik
Saeed Dehwar (the secretary of the Kalat State National Party) • Qadir Bakhsh
Nizamami, a member of the Baloch League and prominent members of the Communist
Party, Sind-Balochistan branch, and Maulwi Mohd Afzal, a member of Jamiat-Ulma-e-
Balochistan.
The Baloch Mujahideen, (Holy Warriors)as
they called themselves, entered Afghanistan and en- camped at Sarlath in the
Province of Kandahar. During their stay, the Baloch freedom fighters adopted
the following measures to achieve their goal:
(ii the sending of messages to the Baloch
chiefs of Eastern and Western Balochistan asking them to join in the struggle;
(ii) The running of a propaganda campaign in
Balochistan, aimed at the creation of unrest, disturbances ,and revolt as well
as the enlistment of a national liberation force;
(iii) The search for international support,
particularly from Afghanistan and the Soviet Union.
Messages were sent to Mir Ghulam Faruq of the Rudini tribe, Sardar
Mehrab Khan, Sardar Mir Jumma, Mir Wazir Khan Sanjrani of Chagai, and several
other chiefs. The propaganda campaign was to be carried out on two fronts:
(A) The National Cultural Front. (B) The Religious Front.
On the national cultural front, the party distributed a series of
pamphlets all over Balochistan, aiming to cause an uprising against the
oppressive rule of Pakistan:
“Mohammed Ali Jinnah and his grand
colleagues, in whose hands the English have given the Government, wish to
enslave us, and to have our dear homeland (Balochistan), every inch of which was secured by our
forefathers at the cost of blood, inhabited by foreigners. We are not prepared
to be unworthy sons of our ancestors, we are resolved to fight for every inch
of our homeland to maintain its freedom.
Mohammed Ali Jinnah and other colleagues
of this shameless person intend to liquidate our Baloch culture, so that we
may not be able to call us as Baloch in future, shall not be able to speak our
mother tongue and neglecting our old modest customs, shall follow their
shameful ways. We are determined that we will save our culture and will not
give up our mother tongue while living and will defend our honor to the last.
On the religions front Maulwi Mohammed
Afzal, a prominent religious leader, issued the Fatwa (religious order)
, addressed to the government servants and military personnel of Pakistan. The
order demanded that the Muslims of Pakistan and particularly the soldiers,
should engage in Jihad (Muslim holy war) against the non- Islamic
Government of Pakistan. The Fatwa declared that Jinnah “the ruler of
Pakistan, is a Khoja by religion, and of his ministers, that Liaqat Ali Khan is
Rafzi (heretic), Abdul Rub Nishtar an atheist and Zafar Ullah a Qadiani pagan.
They cart never be well-wishers of Islam In the Fatwa, an appeal was
made to the Pakistan army to join the Baloch liberation Army with “a truly
Islamic spirit”, for the purpose of waging a holy war against a non-Islamic
Government. The Fatwa warned the Muslim soldiers that those “who fight
against us in this Islamic Jihad, in general terms are called pigs and
will be the worst offenders of God and his holy prophet.
Besides the cultural and religious campaign, the Prince also
organized a liberation force called the Baloch Mujahedeen’, consisting of the
ex-soldiers and officers Of the Khanate’s army. The Prince was chosen as
the supreme commander.
The Prince issued an appeal to personages to help with the
recruitment. A person recruiting 100 men was offered the rank of a major and a
person recruiting 50 men was entitled to the rank of captain. The Baloch
liberation army had a secret agency called ‘Jannisar’ (devotee) , whose duty
was to provide information, destroy the communication system, and watch the
activities of traitors. In addition to this, there was a secret unit ‘Janbaz’
(darer), to kill all traitors. The ‘Janbaz’ were subordinate to the Jannisar.
The headquarters of the agency was known as ‘Bab-i-Aali’ (secret
war-office) and headed by prince Karim. The total strength of Jannisar was
recorded to be 30, while nothing is known about the strength of Janbaz. The
first order issued by the ‘Bat-i-Aali’ provides information about the role of Jannisar
including Janbaz:
‘Bab-i-Aali’ agrees to the constant
reports and suggestions of the ‘Jannisars’ that the traitors of the Baloch
Nation and of Kalat be put to death; therefore Bab-I-Ali issues definite orders
to the ‘Janbaz’ that from 1 June 1948, this order should be carried out very cautiously,
and even if it costs them their lives, when a Jannisar reports the name of a
traitor to any Janbaz after showing the special sign of ‘Bab-i-Aali’,
then it is the Janbaz’s duty to put an end to the traitor’s life and
give a report to this effect through that particular Jannisar.
However, the Prince did not start a war of liberation because of
Afghanistan’s refusal and the silence of Stalinist Russia concerning
assistance. During his stay in Sar Lath, Prince Karim appointed Malik
Saeed and Qadir Bakhsh Nizamani his emissaries to contact the Afghan
Government and to approach other embassies in Kabul in order to get moral and
material support. According to Nizamami, the Afghan authorities refused to
provide any sort of help and told them either to reside as political refugees
at Kandahar or to return. The Afghan authorities also refused to permit the
rebel group to operate from Afghan soil. Nizamami informed the Iranian Embassy
of the Baloch demands as well. Iranian diplomats showed their concern but did
not offer any assistance, though they indicated their desire to provide, asylum
to the rebel group in Iran. The last hope of the Prince’s representative was
the Soviet Embassy. The Soviet diplomats listened to Nizamami carefully. Though
they did not give any assurances, they did promise to inform Moscow.
Afghanistan’s Policy Towards Baloch National Freedom:
The question arises why the Afghan
Government, which was an opponent of Pakistan, failed to help the Baloch
national movement; and why Stalinist Russia did not support the right of
self-determination of the Baloch in accordance with the principles of
Marxism-Leninism, whereas Lenin in the twenties (1920) had instructed the
Soviet representative in Afghanistan to establish contact with the Baloch revolutionaries
and to support them; and why the Iranians showed interest in the Balo000ch
problem contrary to the Iranian policy, which has been to subdue the national
movements of the Baloch, Kurds, and Azri Turk,etc. These questions need an
historical analysis.
The Afghans, since the rise of Ahmad
Shah, had treated Balochistan as a vassal state until the Baloch-Afghan war in
1758, when an agreement of ‘non-interference’ was signed between the parties.
In the 19th century, Afghan rulers like Shuja and Amir Abdur-Rehman desired to
occupy Balochistan. Amir Abdur-Rehman showed his expansionist policy in his
would to his successors:
“If Afghanistan had access
to the ocean, there is no doubt that the country would soon grow rich and
prosperous ... If no favorable opportunity occurs in my life-time to bring
about this purpose my sons and successors must always keep their eyes on this
corner” of Balochistan.
In 1947, the Afghan
Government demanded the creation of Pashtunistan. Stretching from chitral and
Gilgit to the Baloch coast in the Arabian Sea.
The Afghan Government called Balochistan ‘South
Pashtunistan’ in statements and publications. The Afghan expansionist
policy reflected the economic considerations of a landlocked
state. At the same time, it was impossible for the Afghan
Government to neglect its own national interests and to
support the movement of an independent Greater Balochistan,
which claimed the Baloch region in Afghanistan. The
Stalinist junta did not pursue Lenin’s policy in the East and the
Stalinists in India even supported the cause of Pakistan, a
state based on religion. Moreover, the Stalin regime in Moscow was
not ready to annoy the Afghans or the British, opponents of
an independent Balochistan.
Iran’s Policy Towards Baloch Freedom;
Concerning Iranian policy, it is speculated that the Iranians
wanted to deceive the Baloch leaders with their invitation to Iran and then to
hand them over to the Pakistan authorities. (We must remember, it was the Shah
of Iran, who first recognized Pakistan as an independent sovereign state)
Meanwhile the Prince and his party were
regarded as a rebel group by a Farman (royal order) issued by the Khan
on 24 May 1948, stating that no connection of any sort with the Prince and his
party should be maintained nor should they be helped with rations, and that if
any member of the rebel group committed an offence, he would be punished.
The Government of Pakistan moved the army to the military posts of Punjabi.
Chaman chashme,and Rastri near the Afghan borders aiming to control the rebels’
rations, which were being sent by the pro-liberation elements, as well as to
control their activities or any attempt to invade. The Pakistan authorities
confirmed two clashes between the army and the liberation forces.
To avoid popular unrest in Balochistan,
the Khan sent his maternal uncles Hajji Ibrahim Khan and Hajji Taj Mohammed at
Sarlath to bring Prince Karim back to Kalat. Khan made his return conditional
in his letter to the Khan, 18 May 1948
(1) The Baloch are a separate nation like
Afghans, having their own culture and language, a fact, which is supported by
history and geography. They shall have the right to live as a free and
independent nation.
(2) Kalat is the
ancient center of the Baloch; if those territories , which have been demarcated
from the Khanate of Kalat and are now under Pakistan rule, wish to rejoin it,
Pakistan must not object to it.
(3) Kalat must
maintain its sovereignty when it enters into a treaty relationship with
Pakistan.
The Prince and the liberation movement failed to achieve internal
and external support. Moreover, the Baloch nationalists were divided into two
groups. Anqa and Malik Saeed favored armed struggle in the form of guerilla
war, while Mir Ghous Bakhsh Bizenjo and other prominent leaders “were cool to
the idea of a military showdown With Pakistan’ because of the lack of
preparation and internal and external Support.
The Prince was forced, due to the
above-mentioned realities, to return to the Khanate and negotiate for his
demands peacefully. On 8 July 1948, when the news of the Prince’s arrival
reached Kalat, the Prime Minister, D y
Fell, accompanied by a Kalat State Force, went to meet the Prince at
Earboi to deliver the Khan’s message.
During their meeting the Prime Minister
agreed to same of the Prince’s demands and assured him that if he disarmed his
Lashkar,(Army) he would be pardoned. The Prince acted accordingly. According to
another version, Pakistani high officials “signed a safe conduct agreement”
with the Prince’s party at Harboi and swore am oath on ‘Koran’ the Muslim holy
book, the Koran, to uphold it. However, the agreement was dishonored when the
army of Pakistan ambushed the Prince and his party of 142 members.
According to the official version of Pakistan,
Abdul Karim entered Balochistan with Afghan help and organized a rebellion
against Pakistan in the area of Jallawan with the aid of Mir
Gohar Khan Zahrri, an influential tribal leader of the Zarkzai clan.
Further, it is stated that Major General Akbar Khan, who was in charge of the
Seventh Regiment, was ordered to attack the insurgents and forced them to
surrender. Prince Karim with his 142 followers were arrested and imprisoned in
the Mach and Quetta jails. A detailed and interesting statement
comes from General Akbar Khan, in his article published in the daily ‘Dawn’ •
dated 14 August 1960, under the title: “Early reminiscences of a soldier’.
General Akbar confirms here that there was a plan to invade the Khanate and
describes the clash between the Pakistan army and the liberation force headed
by Prince Karim. Akbar says that Jinnah had issued instructions that this news
should not be published in the press.
Major General Akbar Khan wrote:’ Mr.
Jinnah called me for discussions. I placed before him my plan (of invasion). I
told him that we should not invade the State in such a way that the world might
get an opportunity to start propaganda against Pakistan. According to his plan,
Mr. Jinnah declared Balochistan and its States as disturbed areas. I was
appointed Commander of the 8th Army. This happened during the Ramzan month.
I ordered the 7th Baloch Battalion to march upon the State. Acting upon my
instructions, Colonel Gulzar Ahmed collected a few camels. We loaded war
material on them and decided to enter the State in such a way that nobody could
suspect us. In this way our soldiers entered the State in the guise of traders.
In the meantime, the State Forces had entered Jalu Valley after we had passed
through the main Kalat Road. The Khan of Kalat had deliberately left his palace
there so that Prince Abdul Karim might occupy it and declare the independence
of the State.
Akbar Khan writes further: “In order to
befool the Khan, I participated in a dinner which the Khan had arranged in
honor of the Pakistan Army. The State authorities had arranged folk dances and
music. During the celebrations, I left the function at the insistence of Major
Bukhari. I motored straight to the royal Guest House and then left the place
through a back door. I left that place on a military jeep. The State Army had
received the reports of invasion during that evening. Its soldiers were in position
at the height of a hill. They were observing Ramzan (fast). All of a
sudden the Pakistan Army attacked the State Forces. Fighting went on for four
hours. In the meantime col. Gulzar’s battalion started advancing. When Mr.
Douglas Fell came to know of my plan, he issued orders for my liquidation. When
I joined my forces at midnight, I found that the Pakistani Brigadier had not
achieved any significant success because he was consulting his English
political officer at every step. He (the Englishman) was not doing justice to
his role. I dismissed him and appointed Mohammed Zaman Khan in his place.
Thus the attempt of independence by
Prince Karim and his liberation force came to an end.
Un-Fair Trial:
After the arrest of the Prince and his
party, the A.G.G. gave an order for an inquiry, to be conducted by Khan Sahib
Abdullah Khan, the Additional District Magistrate Quetta. He submitted his
report on 12 September 1948. His report was based on the activities of the
Prince and upon the letters and documents published by the liberation force.
After the inquiry, R.K.Saker the District Magistrate at Quetta, appointed a
special Jirga (official council of elders) consisting of the following
persons:
1) Khan Bahador Sahibzada,
M.Ayub Khan Isakhel, Pakhtoon from Pishin;
2) K.B. Baz Mohd Khan.
Jogezai, Pakhtoon from Loralai;
3) Abdul Ghaffar
Khan Achakzai, Pakhtoon from Pishin;
4) S.B. Wadera Noor Muhammad
Khan, a Baloch Chief from Kalat;
5) Syed Aurang Shah from
Kalat;
6) Sheikh Baz Gul Khan.
Pakhtoon from Zhob;
7) Wahab Khan Panezai,
Pakhtoon from Sibi;
8) Sardar Doda Khan Marri,
Baloch from Sibi.
The ,Jirga was instructed to study the circumstances and
events which led to the revolt and was asked to give its recommendations to the
District Magistrate. On 10 November 1948, the Jirga heard the testimony
of the accused and gave its recommendations to the D.M. on 17 November
1948, suggesting the delivery of the Prince in Loralai at the pleasure of the
Government of Pakistan and various other penalties. The D .M., in his order
dated 27 November, differed with the opinion of the Jirga and sentenced
the Prince to ten years of rigorous imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5000/-; other
members of his party were given various sentences and fines. Thus the Pakistan
Government crushed the first national struggle for independence.