Balochistan: Province or Colony?

In the wake of recent violence in Pakistan's largest, most mineral-rich, but least populous province, BJ Sadiq examines the reasons behind the history of simmering resentment among the Baloch people.

Balochistan. Photo: Massala/Alamy

It is tragic that a land like Balochistan has not received the kind of global press attention that it richly deserves. Wedged between the Eastern Iranian plateau and the Indus river, it is the largest province of Pakistan, and shares a long porous border with both Iran and Afghanistan. Not many people, even within Pakistan, have seen it.

To most, it is remote, lonely, wild, and therefore has acquired a mystical quality. I visited Balochistan some years ago, with a UN Mission, and wondered whether, if by some chance of misfortune, I were to be left alone there sans food or water, I might ever find my way back into settled civilisation. It bears that kind of fatal presence.