Pakistan military invaded and occupied Balochistan: Altaf Hussain

Muttahidda Qaumi Movement's (MQM) founder and leader Altaf Hussain, while giving a special lecture to his worldwide audience and viewers, especially Baloch students and youth through social media on 'The Issue of Balochistan and its historical perspective', said, "The people of Balochistan are at war with the military establishment demanding freedom from the clutches of slavery imposed onto them. The military establishment has used all demonic actions against them so as to suppress their voice of freedom."

Hussain stated that Balochistan was never a part of Pakistan. The province was captured by the military of Pakistan at gun point in March 1948 and was compelled to accept to merge with Pakistan.

All honest military officers and non-commissioned officers have to decide whether they would allow Pakistan to be under the control of corrupt Generals or would they choose to protect the country from them.

Hussain shared the detail of Balochistan's' demographic as well as its history in his lecture.

At the time when the sub-continent India's division into different independent states had come, Balochistan was still not part of the sub-continent India and its status as an independent state was intact. In 1893, the British Empire drew Durand Line from Chitral to Afghanistan and thus this particular area was divided, he added.

He said that three months prior to the inception of Pakistan, a meeting of British Empire representative Khan of Kalat and Mir Yar Muhammad Khan was held with the founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah in which detailed discussion about Balochistan was done. After that meeting, a presser was released on August 11, 1947, which entailed the details of Balochistan's status as an independent state.

Hussain said that Pakistan came into being on August 14, 1947, and Khan of Kalat had on the following day announced the free status of Kalat in a public assembly followed by an election in Kalat. National Party swept the elections and Nawabzada Aslam sworn in as Prime Minister of Kalat.

"M. A. Jinnah had recognised Kalat as an independent state on August 11, 1947, but on the pressure from the then establishment and military, he had also stepped back from his decision he had made in October 1947," he stated.

Hussain said that the Balochistan's assembly was always in opposition of its merger with Pakistan so much so that they passed a resolution that they will be no merger of Kalat with Pakistan, but the later should establish friendly relations with the earlier as is the basis of bilateral relations and rejected Pakistan's request for the merger.

Following the passing of the resolution, the Prime Minister of Kalat M. Aslam was handed a letter from the founder of Pakistan M. A. Jinnah. That letter carried direct instructions to him that he should immediately announce the merger of Kalat to Pakistan. In the meantime, the military establishment of Pakistan used pressure tactic and forced other states of Kharan, Makran and Lasbella to accept the merger with Pakistan.

Jinnah wrote to Khan of Kalat, in which he stated that he was unable to have a dialogue with him in his personal capacity and that the Government of Pakistan would see the matter onward, added Hussain.

He said that Jinnah was not only the founder of Pakistan, but also the Governor General, the apex position in the newly founded state of Pakistan but the military establishment had forced him not to have dialogue with the state of Kalat and appointed a Colonel S. B. Shah to have dialogue instead.

On March 27, 1948, the military of Pakistan invaded Kalat and at gunpoint forced Khan of Kalat to sign a document that pertained to the merger of Kalat. Thus Kalat was added to Pakistan at gunpoint by the military of Pakistan and it was officially announced in Karachi that Khan of Kalat had merged the state of Kalat to Pakistan.

Hussain asserted that as per history Baluchistan was neither part of Pakistan before the conception of it, nor a part of it after it was founded, but Pakistan invaded Balochistan and occupied it. Pakistan's military and its different agencies are levying atrocities on to the people of Balochistan only to keep it as part of Pakistan and the voices for freedom are being silenced. This is the real issue of Balochistan.