Balochistan at a Glance

Geography and Culture:

Balochistan is a land of contrast. It has places with lofty and rugged mountains under Chiltan, Takatu, Sulaiman, Sultan etc. and plains stretching to hundreds of miles. It has fertile land like that of Nasirabad, as well as, tracks' which are thirsty for centuries, and where even a bush could hardly be sighted like that of Pat section of Sibi District and Dasht-e-Makran in Makran Division.
Balochi is a generalized term, for the people include the Dravidian-speaking Brahui possibly the last descendants of the Indus Civilization, and the Jat or Zutt, an Indo Aryan speaking people of Indian origin. In the northwest of Balochistan, Pathans make up the majority of the population, and there is a sizeable minority of them elsewhere in the province. Most people speak Brabui, Baiochi and Pushto. Almost half the population of Balochistan lives within 80 Kms (50 miles) of the provincial capital, Quetta. The Balochistan coastline extends over 750 Km from near Karachi at Hub River to the Gwadar Bay on Pak-lran border. The whole area is rich in fish.

History:

Pakistan became one of the most strategically sensitive countries in the world during the cold war, most tragic part was Balochistan during the British and Russia great game in Afghanistan. In the 21st century Balochistan is in the eye of the storm, once more a greater game has begun, rules of the game are not clear yet, but the players are obvious, such as the Chinese and their growing need for energy.
Things used to be different in Balochistan, whose people had been among the most secular nation in the middle east that was before jihad in Afghanistan.
One of most remarkable memories Balochistan dated in 1993, when the entire staff of the ISI headquartered removed for trafficking in drugs and CIA arms, which were meant for Mujahiden.
Under the ISI instruction the mullahs and the religious parties of Balochistan flourished during the jihad years and more than seven thousand Madrasahs quickly sprang up.
Baloch are too few people in too vast a land, when Baloch protest and express them selves peacefully, they were not listened to. That is why when Baloch protest they pick up arms, go to the mountains, and fight. Balochistan has been fighting for centuries. When Baloch have not been fighting each other, they have fought the Arab, Turk, the Tatars the Persian the Hindus, and British.
they have never been fully conquered or subdued by the armies of Genghis khan, lord Curzon or Pakistani.
Four time since Pakistan’s creation, the Baloch who never wanted to be part of Pakistan, have rebelled demanding greater autonomy or even an independent state which reunite the 15 million Baloch in Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan under one flag.
Balochistan twice was a tribal confederation and then four princely states. For conquerors that passed through, it name left custom that has survived or land mark.
In ninetieth century, the British needed to control it if Afghanistan was to remain a buffer between British India and the armies of the Tzar, for one of the major route to Afghanistan lay through balochistan. The British spent more than forty years trying to subdue its people, in the end British declared a truce.
British left India 60 years ago, communist has been defeated, jihadi once darling of Pakistani establishment, now on the run and chased by ISI and Pakistani intelligence services.

Strategic Location:

Balochistan is gate of energy, from central Asia and there is huge natural resources sleeping underground waiting to be pumped out to the energy market at a relatively cheap price.
Chinese thirst for energy and it growing demand, Chinese are not good supporters of democracy and they themselves have a bad record on human right abuse; Pakistani sentiment of insecurity puts them with a good alliance with China.
One chief mother of causes in Pakistan is to free Kashmir from India, Musharraf is happy to announce that the line of control could become a permanent boundary between India and Pakistan. The two countries have started negotiation on line of control principle to become a permanent border. Pakistan willingness to give up Kashmir, that Pakistan fought three wars over it, to secure its hold on Balochistan.
Baloch are resisting the invader in Iran and Pakistan, the Baloch have too little to loose if subdued and too much to gain if there united against the intruder, who already controls their land and their movement and resources and slowly kill a nation and reduce their existence only for tourist attraction purposes. (Baloch resistance in Iran is separate from Pakistan and has no connection with each other).