Balochistan Conflict

The landscape of Baluchistan is comprised of an area over half a million square

kilometers in the southeastern part of the Iran plateau, south of the central deserts and the
Helmand river. The Baluchs are the main ethnic group in the province, followed by Pashtuns.
The majority of the inhabitants are Sunni Muslims. A small number of Shias and Hindus
also reside in the province. The province is divided between three countries: Afghanistan,
Pakistan and Iran. The largest part of Baluchistan belongs to Pakistan. In spite of the natural
resources in the Baluchistan province including chromites, fluorite, marble, gold, gas, iron and
petroleum which are of prominent importance , it has remained one of the poorest provinces
in Pakistan. The conflict in the Baluchistan province is an ongoing conflict between the
inhabitants of the Baluchistan province and the government of Pakistan.
The Baluch people have never had their required representation in politics, including
the military. Sometimes they were not able to complete their tenure in the provincial council
of Baluchistan due to political exclusion tendency of the central government. This
exacerbated the ethnic conflict in the province with the goal of autonomy or possibly
independence. The Military coup in 1999 increased the sense of general alienation among
the Baluchs. The lack of representation of the Baluch people in the army and the heavy
dominance of the Punjabis, the main ethnic group in Pakistan, has led to further rifts.
Unequal distribution of resource revenues remains one of the major sources of the problem.
The resources in Baluchistan province consist of gas, which is used to produce energy for
Pakistan. Though the government of Pakistan claims credit for the economic progress in the
province, Baluchs deem the policies by the Pakistan government.
A number of extremist groups such as Al Qaeda, Quetta Shura e Taliban and Tahreek
Taliban are active in Baluchistan province. The operations of these groups have complicated
the conflict situation.
The conflict in Baluchistan is protracted and extremely complex. Basically, the root
causes of the conflict are both historical and political. Besides the historical and political
reasons, the social factors such as ethnicity and religion has also played a vital role in the
continuance of the conflict. Lack of representation at the decision-making level and low
quotas for political representation are the prominent factors that have added more misery to
the ongoing problems, thus spiraling this conflict out of control.

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