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Separatist movements of Pakistan

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There are various separatist movements of Pakistan. Several parties based on ethnic lines exist though only two, the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are of much significance.[citation needed]

History

Map of Pakistan, claimed.

Pakistan was established in 1947 as a state for Muslims . The driving force behind the movement for Pakistan was the educated Muslim in the Muslim minority states of United Province and Bombay Presidency and the Muslim Majority areas. Its formation was based on the basis of Islamic nationalism. However, rampant corruption within the ranks of the 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 Mujeeb-ur-Rehman from East Pakistan, resulted in civil war in Pakistan and subsequent separation of East Pakistan as the new state of the People's Republic of Bangladesh.[citation needed].

Balawaristan

Flag of Balawaristan National Front.

The name Balawaristan is used mainly by nationalists of the Gilgit, such as the Balawaristan National Front, who are seeking to define a separate identity for Gilgit, Baltistan and Ladakh regions from that of the Kashmir Valley and Jammu; Not recognised by either the Government of India, Pakistan and China.The strength of the group varies between 50 - 100 people.

Waziristan

Main article: Islamic Emirate of Waziristan

Waziristan comprises the area west and southwest of Peshawar between the Tochi River to the north and the Gomal River to the south. The North-West Frontier Province lies immediately to the east. The region was an independent tribal territory until 1893, remaining outside British-ruled empire. Tribal raiding into British-ruled territory was a constant problem for the British,[1] eliciting frequent punitive expeditions between 1860 and 1945. The region became part of Pakistan in 1947.

In the rugged and remote region of Waziristan on British India's northwest border with Afghanistan, mountain tribes of Muslim fighters gave the British Army a difficult time for decades. The Northwest Frontier is now part of Pakistan, which is fighting its own war against Waziri tribesmen in the early 21st century. The Waziristan Revolt of 1919–1920 was sparked by the Afghan invasion of British India in 1919. Though the British quickly defeated the Afghans, the Waziri tribesmen gave the colonial forces a very difficult fight. Many of the Waziri men were veterans of the British-led and controlled Indian Army (India and Pakistan were combined at this time as part of the British Empire), and used modern military tactics and modern Lee-Enfield rifles against the British and Indian forces sent into Waziristan. One aspect of this conflict is the effective use of air power against the Waziri fighters. This is similar to Royal Air Force tactics in suppressing the Arab Revolt in Iraq in 1920 and 1921.

On June 4, 2007, the National Security Council of Pakistan met to decide the fate of Waziristan and take up a number of political and administrative issues in order to control the "Talibanization" of the area. The meeting was chaired by President Pervez Musharraf and attended by the Chief Ministers and Governors of all 4 provinces. They discussed the deteriorating law and order situation and the threat posed to state security.

The government decided to take a number of actions to stop the "Talibanization" and to crush the armed militancy in the Tribal regions and the North-West Frontier Province.

Sindhu Desh

Main article: Sindhudesh

Influenced by the separation of the province of East Pakistan, the Sindhi separatist movement began in 1972. Jeay Sindh Mahaz was the umbrella organization of several Sindhi separatist groups. Ghulam Murtaza Syed (G. M. Syed), a Sindhi separatist leader, wanted Sindh to become an independent Sindhudesh like the then newly formed Bangladesh. However, support for separatism amongst common Sindhi folk is lukewarm as shown by their voting preferences; of eight pro-separation parties, not a single one has been voted into power in Sindh to this day. The Jeay Sindh movement had abated by the mid-1970s but revives from time to time.

Sindhudesh flag

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. 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. The BLA has also claimed responsibility for the systematic ethnic genocide of Punjabis in Balochistan (about 500 as of July 2010) as well as blowing up of gas pipelines. In 2006, the BLA was declared to be a terrorist organization by the Pakistani government.

Pashtun separatists

Greater Afghanistan

Another movement based amongst Afghan Pashtuns is abolishing the Durand Line, which proponents of this idea believe to be illegal, and returning what is now Pakhtunkhwa to Afghanistan which would mean creating a "Greater Afghanistan" resembling Afghanistan before the Durand agreement.[2] Afghanistan still has not recognized the Durand line which remains a very controversial issue between the two countries.[3]

Pashtunistan

Pashtunistan is a proposed state for ethnic Pashtuns seeking to separate Pashtuns from Pakistan and incorporate them into Afghanistan and having non-Pashtun Afghan citizens seperate from Afghanistan.[4]

Other parties, tribes and states

See also

References

  1. ^ Lawson, Alastair (2008-04-21). "Why Britons walked warily in Waziristan". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 2008-04-21.
  2. ^ http://www.afghanland.com/history/durrand.html
  3. ^ http://www.carnegieendowment.org/files/cp72_grare_final.pdf
  4. ^ Tiedemann, Katherine (2013). Peter Bergen (ed.). Talibanistan: Negotiating the Borders Between Terror, Politics and Religion. Oxford University Press. p. 426. ISBN 978-0199893096.
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