It was April 2022, when Shari Baloch, a 30-year-old mother of two, changed the discourse of Pakistan’s Baloch insurgency. She blew herself up by targeting Karachi University’s Confucius Center, killing four people, including three Chinese instructors. It sent shockwaves across Pakistan and marked the new era of Baloch insurgents – an apparent shift in their ways and recruitment patterns. It gave birth to the phenomenon of “remorseless radicalization.”
The banned terrorist organization has a long history of deadly attacks and suicide bombings in Pakistan, but the drastic shift in attacking patterns and inculcation of educated female suicide bombers are raising the alarm bells for law enforcement agencies. The story didn’t end here; a year later, another attack was carried out by another female, Sumaiya Qalandrani Baloch, who targeted a convoy of Pakistani military.
The story of the active female participation of Fidayeen comes under the chain of multiple attacks named ‘Operation Herof’ that consumed the lives of dozens of army personnel. The recent attack at Chinese national near Karachi Airport was also facilitated by a woman named Gul Nisa. The shocking fact about these females is that all were educated and belonged to the upper middle strata of society.
These attacks prompted the law enforcement agencies to look more deeply into women’s evolving participation in the active combat. The classical doctrine of insurgency was challenged by new commanders when in 2018, Majid brigade was found, and the spokesperson of the banned organization announced, ‘It’s the era of women’s participation for our mutual cause.’ The out-banned organization is following the tactics and patterns of IS-K. While the precursor to ISIS, al-Qaeda in Iraq, found a more proactive role for women, stressing upon women’s participation to enhance influence and working bodies.
Nevertheless, the role of external factors can’t be ignored. The BLA got sophisticated weapons from Afghanistan and financial support from India. As per the officials, millions of rupees were transferred into banking channels between May and August. Moreover, Afghanistan has remained the training hub for BLA recruiters by Indian operatives, and the support of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) cannot be ruled out.
Presently, given fragile economic conditions, Pakistan needs a huge foreign direct investment, including Chinese investment in Gwadar to develop port and remaining of CPEC Phase 2. This restlessness and chaos in the province aired the message of insecurity to any country thinking of making investment. These attacks also showed the security lapses of our security divisions.
The question here is: What choices does Pakistan have? And what the Pakistani government should do to improve the security landscape. The first and foremost thing is to open the door of dialogue. It’s been years; Pakistan is using hard power and spending billions of rupees. The dialogue should be inclusive, taking all the stakeholders on board. The stakeholders should include local communities, tribal leaders, political figures, and government officials, establishing trust among them.
Secondly, the BLA has become the voice of missing persons and is using this issue against the state. The banned outfit is exploiting the youth, especially the females, because women carry a sentimental approach towards family. So it has become imperative for the government to address the root cause of this issue. The first and foremost is to make a commission and take immediate action to address and prevent the more disappearing. Second, to give them psychological and social help to women who have been coerced into joining insurgents and help them integrate into society.
The BLA and other insurgent groups manipulate people on the basis of Balochistan development. The human development index is comparatively low, and the province lacks in providing basic facilities to its people. The government must develop infrastructure to enhance connectivity through the construction of roads, bridges, and highways to enhance trade across the region. Beside this, the focus should be on the developing educational sector; by providing scholarships and financial assistance and establishing new colleges and universities along with increasing enrollment numbers.
Controlling the external environment is a complex challenge and one of the main root causes of Baluchistan insurgency. The government should strengthen border security to prevent illegal crossings and smuggling. The government should negotiate with neighboring countries to develop consensus on border control and crossings. Last but not the least; it is high time for Pakistan to work on these issues to curb this menace of terrorism and to make Baluchistan a peaceful place for living for its people.
