"We are not a part of Pakistan. We never were." The Balochis have been demanding immediate control of the natural resources and, ultimately, independence.
Going back to 1947 history itself witnesses the fact that Balochistan wanted to stay independent and not to become a part of Pakistan until it was eventually occupied, boundaries merged and a new state emerged with the name of Pak’istan’. Irony here is that although Balochistan shares the major part of not only the country’s name but also the area, it still has been treated like a step child since forever.
While asking for a divorce, Balochistan is certainly at right. Everyone keeps talking about the issues of Balochistan but never actually did anything in practical. Everyone says that we need to have a dialogue and grant Balochis their deserving ‘rights’ but every single government came and aggravated the situation. As a result uncountable unresolved issues have been piled up over all these years.
It is true that Balochis have risen in revolt several times in the past but then getting used to it and stop paying heed to the issue merely on the basis that the insurgency is not new and is foreign-led, has even worsen the situation. It might be true that Baloch leaders would have foreign friends but blindly believing that they have been supporting an insurgency for the past 65 years is disingenuous.
Distrust of Pakistan, hatred for Punjabis, and the establishment has always been there in the Balochis psyche. They are simply not going to forget the step-motherly treatment being done with them, that they were the last people to get natural gas from their own lands, that the military have done more harm than good to the province and has been killing whoever raises his voice against the operations and throwing the dead bodies on the streets, that barely 25% of their population is literate, around 30% are unemployed and that just 7% have access to tap water. The rule of the FC (Frontier Corps),