Separatist movements of Pakistan
There are various separatist movements of Pakistan. Several parties based on ethnic lines exist though only a few including Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM), Jeay Sindh Mutahda Mahaz (JSMM) and Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF) are of much significance.
History
Pakistan was established in 1947 as a state for Muslims. The driving force behind the movement for Pakistan was the educated Muslim in the Muslim minority states of United Province and Bombay Presidency and the Muslim Majority areas. Its formation was based on the basis of Islamic nationalism. However, rampant corruption within the ranks of the government and bureaucracy, economic inequality between the country's two wings caused mainly by a lack of representative government and the government's indifference to the efforts of fierce ethno-nationalistic politicians like Mujeeb-ur-Rehman from East Pakistan, resulted in civil war in Pakistan and subsequent separation of East Pakistan as the new state of the People's Republic of Bangladesh..
Sindhudesh
Influenced by the separation of the province of East Pakistan, the Sindhi separatist movement began in 1972. Jeay Sindh Mahaz was the umbrella organization of several Sindhi separatist groups. Ghulam Murtaza Syed (G. M. Syed), a Sindhi separatist leader, wanted Sindh to become an independent Sindhudesh like the then newly formed Bangladesh. However, support for separatism amongst common Sindhi folk is lukewarm as shown by their voting preferences; of eight pro-separation parties, no party has been voted into power in Sindh to this day. Most of these parties do not believe in parliamentary politics and do not participate in elections. The Jeay Sindh movement had abated by the mid-1970s but revives from time to time.
Balochistan
The Baloch Liberation Front (BLF) separatist group was founded by Jumma Khan Marri in 1964 in Damascus, and played an important role in the 1968-1980 insurgency in Pakistani Balochistan and Iranian Balochistan.Mir Hazar Ramkhani, the father of Jumma Khan Marri, took over the group in the 1980s. The Balochistan Liberation Army (also Baloch Liberation Army or Baluchistan Liberation army) (BLA) is a Baloch nationalist militant secessionist organization. The stated goals of the organization include the establishment of an independent state of Balochistan separate from Pakistan and Iran. The name Baloch Liberation Army first became public in summer 2000, after the organization claimed credit for a series of bomb attacks in markets and railways lines. The BLA has also claimed responsibility for the systematic ethnic genocide of Punjabis in Balochistan (about 500 as of July 2010) as well as blowing up of gas pipelines. In 2006, the BLA was declared to be a terrorist organization by the Pakistani government..
See also
- Separatist movements of India
- Durand Line
- Compact Revolutionary Zone
- Indus Valley Civilization
- Pashtunistan
- Taliban
- War on Terror