The Baloch Che Guevara, RIP

The Balochs all over the world and their friends and well-wishers in Indiaand the rest of the world are mourning the reported death of  Nawabzada MirBalach Khan Marri,  the legendary Che Guevara  of the Baloch freedomstruggle. His father Nawab Khair Bux Marri has reportedly not yet been acceptingcondolence messages from friends, relatives and the people of Balochistan tillhe has seen the dead body of this proud son of Balochistan and one of thelegendary fighters for the cause of an independent Balochistan. However, hiselder brother Mir Gazeen Marri has reportedly confirmed his death and indicatedthat efforts were being made to bring his dead body along with those of hisbody-guards and four others, who were also reportedly killed, to their ancestralland for burial.

The Pakistani military and intelligence authorities, who have been trying tohave the Baloch independence struggle discredited by alleging that thefreedom-fighters were operating from sanctuaries in Afghan territory with thealleged collusion of external forces (meaning thereby India), have beendisseminating reports that Balach Marri, his bodyguards and associates werekilled in Afghan territory in an American air strike. However, Beebrag Baloch, aspokesman of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), has stated that they were killedin the Marri area in Balochistan.

Other sources also say that they died in an air strike by a helicoptergunship of the Pakistan Army and that it has removed their dead bodies beforethe freedom-fighters could reach them and take the dead bodies to theirancestral land. The Pakistan Army, which has been using for months thehelicopters, communication interception sets and other equipment given by the USfor use against Al Qaeda in the Federally-Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) forits operations against the Baloch freedom-fighters, managed to establish throughthe interception of their telephone conversations the exact location of theirhide-out and kill them. US given helicopters and other equipment for operationsagainst Al Qaeda and for locating Osama bin Laden were similarly used by theArmy in August last year to determine the hide-out of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti andkill him through an air strike. The loss of a second legendary freedom-fighterdue to careless use of telephones, highlights the weak communication security ofthe freedom-fighters, which has been exploited by the Pakistan Army and theInter-Services Intelligence (ISI)/

The hopes of President General Pervez Musharraf and his Army that the deathof Nawab Bugti would end the freedom struggle were belied and the freedomstruggle continued with increased vigour. Their hopes that the death of theBaloch Che Guevara would cause a serious set-back to the freedom struggle wouldalso be belied.

The news of Balach's death has led to an outpouring of anger all overBalochistan. There were a number of violent incidents in Quetta and other townsand four Punjabi policemen have been killed by protesting demonstrators. Therehave been attacks on business establiashments and offices run by Punjabisettlers. The Army has rushed reinforcements to Balochistan  to bring thesituation under control.

On November22, 2007, the Baloch Liberation Army carried  out a number ofattacks on power supply lines causing widespread disruption in the supply ofelectricity. The Dawn of Karachi reported as follows on November 23,2007:

"Over 100 industrial units were closed in Hub as power to the entireLasbela district was suspended after a pylon of high-power transmission linesupplying electricity from Karachi was blown up on Thursday. “The entireLasbela district was plunged into darkness after the huge tower of the 132,000kVtransmission line was blown up on the Sindh-Balochistan border,” a policeofficer told Dawn. “Production stopped in all industrial units in the LasbelaIndustrial Estate and ship breaking work was suspended in Gadani. KarachiElectric Supply Company sources said restoration of power supply afterreplacement of the destroyed pylon would take at least a week. Another explosiontook place in Hub close to the wall of a post office in Allahbad Colony. Quettawas rocked in the night by two powerful explosions in Killi Bunglezai and inSmungli Road area."

The Che Guevara of the Baloch freedom struggle may be dead, but there arethousands of Che Guevaras keeping up their fight for independence. They say thatthe death of their leader has only re-doubled their determination to keep uptheir independence struggle. It is incumbent on the people and the Government ofIndia to share the grief of the Baloch people  and re-affirm theirsolidarity with them. The death of the Baloch Che Guevara coincided with thebirth anniversary of Indira Gandhi. Had she been alive today, she would not bekeeping quiet over this tragedy. Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and hiscolleagues from the Congress (I), who project themselves as the true inheritorsof the legacy of Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, should not hesitate to do whatshe would have done had she been alive.

The hearts of the people of India bleed for Khair Bux Marri and his familyand for the people of Balochistan and their freedom-fighters in their hour oftragedy. They pray to God that He gives them added strength to continue marchingto their independence. Independence is their birth right. Neither Musharraf northe Pakistani Army nor the ISI can deny it to them.

B. Raman is Additional Secretary (retd), Cabinet Secretariat, Govt. ofIndia, New Delhi, and, presently, Director, Institute For Topical Studies,Chennai.