By Justice Katju
A train, the Jaffar Express, travelling from Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, to Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in Pakistan, was hijacked on 11th March 2025, along with 400 passengers, near the Bolan pass, leaving 6 security personnel dead. The Balochistan Liberation army has claimed responsibility
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Jaffar_Express_hijacking%23:~:text%3DOn%252011%2520March%25202025%252C%2520the%2520Balochistan%2520Liberation%2520Army%2520hijacked%2520the,the%2520vicinity%2520of%2520Sibi%252C%2520Balochistan.&ved=2ahUKEwjG7-HDrIOMAxVQGzQIHcyDEwwQFnoECCYQBQ&usg=AOvVaw3Io1-f-Z0eR0aY0LJmqec5
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/11/deadly-pakistan-train-hijack-what-happened-and-whats-next&ved=2ahUKEwju0e69-oKMAxVROTQIHXEYLwAQFnoECD8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw1mh_RDoqJDKkGKi5pFlbGW
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/track-blown-up-shots-fired-how-balochistan-rebels-hijacked-train-in-pakistan-7902908&ved=2ahUKEwjLrZeQ_4KMAxWvIDQIHQ_5C7oQFnoECD4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw31i4GLO3q61kF4K3mijIgT
Some people have called this incident an act of terrorism, but to correctly understand it one has to see the historical background, just as to correctly understand the Hamas attack on Israel one must see the historical background.
The truth is that Balochistan became an independent nation on 15th August 1947, the day India too became independent. But on 26th March 1948, i.e. after 227 days of independence, the Pakistan army forcibly occupied Balochistan, the Balochs having been betrayed by the crafty British government and the ambitious Jinnah ( who had earlier given assurances that Balochistan would be independent), and Balochistan was forcibly annexed by Pakistan
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://fpa.org/explaining-the-balochistan-imbroglio/&ved=2ahUKEwiaqfWOhoOMAxUdDjQIHYyCBYY4ChAWegQIDRAB&usg=AOvVaw0YuXmTP6DIlYyOgGBa4KPF
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/balochistan-kalat-pakistan-muhammad-ali-jinnah-khan-mir-ahmed-yar-2422804-2023-08-18&ved=2ahUKEwjrz9Ghg4OMAxXMODQIHac6IEoQFnoECC4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3jOnvBlEdBWAo6lNcuw3Bt
After it’s forcible incorporation into Pakistan, Balochistan was always treated as a colony, instead of as an equal to Punjab, which became dominant among the 4 provinces constituting Pakistan.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.iar-gwu.org/print-archive/8er0x982v5pj129srhre98ex6u8v8n&ved=2ahUKEwjz3ob5lIOMAxUZGDQIHZFlOjYQFnoECCwQAQ&usg=AOvVaw30x24cFT1HpME2C0VGCkYf
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://tribune.com.pk/story/1591997/balochistan-reduced-colony-says-mengal&ved=2ahUKEwiL8uCenYOMAxVwBzQIHbZuC1cQFnoECB4QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3GIPgezTicIW_khScBDec3
The Pakistan army, comprising mainly of Punjabis, committed continuous heinous and terrible atrocities and violation of human rights against the Baloch people
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.petertatchellfoundation.org/pakistans-neo-colonial-rule-in-balochistan/&ved=2ahUKEwiTx4m2mIOMAxUqAjQIHTcREgIQFnoECDMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw27i0J4L35Ge3SZBIgz3Yyb
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://carnegieendowment.org/2013/04/11/balochistan-state-versus-nation-pub-51488&ved=2ahUKEwjcvfT_noOMAxX_CjQIHVUYLQQ4ChAWegQIEBAB&usg=AOvVaw0tgIEke2_BEi6DdIJQd0uO
Balochistan has huge natural resources, e.g. coal, oil, natural gas, and minerals such as copper, gold, silver, chromite, marble and limestone. These, instead of being used to benefit the Baloch people, were taken away by Punjabi businessmen, and now are being taken away by the Chinese, while the vast majority of Balochs remain in abject poverty.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Balochistan,_Pakistan&ved=2ahUKEwiPxqv9qYOMAxW5LzQIHYdbMYcQFnoECDoQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0m4IIOnvgjW5LGS1LXnQM7
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.aninews.in/news/world/asia/china-steals-rich-natural-resources-of-balochistan-while-locals-remain-impoverished20230121075021/&ved=2ahUKEwjg-c3Mn4OMAxXsMTQIHX0eB8UQFnoECBMQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0kC8xd-sfajBtVqrlOF9X0
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://japan-forward.com/cpec-how-china-is-exploiting-balochistan/&ved=2ahUKEwjg-c3Mn4OMAxXsMTQIHX0eB8UQFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2HYysPas1ZYBVOuDemTc-L
All this oppression and exploitation has created intense hostility against Pakistan among the Baloch people, who have taken up arms against the Pakistan Army, created the Balochistan Liberation Army, and started an insurgency
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan_Liberation_Army&ved=2ahUKEwiRobXZoIOMAxWNAzQIHUDcDBkQFnoECD0QAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Ch7tvrxMy_Fac4sK2XYlu
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://www.airuniversity.af.edu/JIPA/Display/Article/2331243/repression-and-revolt-in-balochistan-the-uncertainty-and-survival-of-a-peoples/&ved=2ahUKEwi-vqfzmYOMAxVcETQIHT6OIecQFnoECB8QAQ&usg=AOvVaw3oYYM3yw_mFL_EpH2wSYtP
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Insurgency_in_Balochistan&ved=2ahUKEwiu1e7WnIOMAxUsIDQIHbS0NdUQFnoECCEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3qZN5l90_t3wk-ma7YypLZ
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/pakistan/what-is-baloch-liberation-army-that-has-claimed-pakistan-train-hijack-explained-in-5-charts/amp_articleshow/118896081.cms&ved=2ahUKEwiCwuupoYOMAxXaGDQIHcwmAeYQr_oDKAB6BAgaEAE&usg=AOvVaw1TmYpI7yS11jXEDxq0kw6B
The truth is that ever since Pakistan was created, Punjabis have dominated Pakistan, and the people of the other 3 provinces in the country have been oppressed, treated as inferiors and exploited.
This reminds us of the erstwhile Soviet Union which broke up in 1991 because the Russians, the largest of the republics constituting the Soviet Union, began dominating, oppressing, and exploiting the other republics
One wonders whether Pakistan is headed for the same fate
