1. Why Balochistan Wants Freedom from Pakistan?: Balochistan’s Freedom Struggle: Historical Background and the Beginning of the Rebellion

Balochistan is the south-western province of Pakistan, bordering Afghanistan, Iran, Punjab, Sindh, and the Arabian Sea. While it covers 44% of Pakistan’s total land, only about 5% of the country’s population lives here — predominantly the Baloch people.

To understand the demand for independence of Balochistan in detail, we need to go back in time. When the British left South Asia on 15 August 1947, approximately 500 princely states became legally independent. The British offered these states the choice to join India, join Pakistan, or remain independent.

At that time, there were four princely states in present-day Balochistan: Kharan, Makran, Lasbela, and Kalat. While the rest joined Pakistan, the state of Kalat chose to remain independent. Initially, Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah accepted Kalat’s sovereignty. But this independence did not last long.

After the forcible annexation, Pakistan adopted every moral and immoral method to suppress the voice of the Baloch people. But those who wanted independence did not stop protesting, and within a few years, those protests transformed into full-scale rebellion.

2. Why Balochistan Wants Freedom from Pakistan? : One Unit Policy, Nawab Nauroz Khan & the Beginning of the Baloch Liberation Army

The fire of large-scale rebellion was first fueled when Pakistan introduced the One Unit policy — a plan to merge Balochistan with West Pakistan, effectively erasing its distinct identity. The Baloch people rose up in a major rebellion in 1954 in protest. Despite continuous smaller uprisings, Pakistan implemented the policy across all of West Pakistan on 30 September 1955.

Nawab Nauroz Khan: The Father of the Baloch Freedom Movement

Khan Nawab Nauroz Khan of Kalat — revered by the Baloch people as “Dada Nauroz” — believed the One Unit policy would destroy their culture and identity. In 1958, he declared Kalat independent. Pakistan responded by luring him into a fake surrender and arresting him. He was accused of treason and imprisoned. Tragically, five members of his family — sons and nephews — were hanged on charges of treason.

Birth of the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA)

After the 1958 rebellion, the Baloch separatist movement regained momentum in the 1960s. Sher Shah Mohammad Bijrani founded the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Between 1963 and 1969, he established rebel bases and led guerrilla warfare campaigns against the Pakistani state.

3. Armed Rebellion of Balochistan: Goals of 1963–1973, Inspiration of Bangladesh & the Balochistan Pupil Liberation Front

Despite years of struggle, the Baloch independence movement made little progress and the fire slowly began to die. But in 1971, everything changed. Bangladesh declared independence from Pakistan (having been called East Pakistan until then). This historic event reignited the Baloch desire for freedom many times over.

Energized by Bangladesh’s success, Baloch leaders demanded self-rule over Balochistan. Pakistan’s response was swift and brutal: in 1973, President Zulfikar Ali Bhutto dismissed the provincial governments of Balochistan and North-West Frontier Province (present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), citing treason, and imposed martial law.

Balochistan Pupil Liberation Front & Intensified Guerrilla War

In response to martial law, Khair Baksh Marri formed the Balochistan Pupil Liberation Front (BPLF). Under its leadership, tribes like the Marri and Bengal launched guerrilla warfare against the central government. Pakistan responded with heavy military force, aided by Iran, causing significant damage to the separatists. The protests declined — but the movement was far from over.

4. Balochistan’s Conflict in the 21st Century: Gwadar Port, Gas Project & the Fight for Independence

At the beginning of the 21st century, massive investments were made in two mega-projects in Balochistan: the development of Gwadar Port and a large-scale gas extraction project. Both were expected to transform the region economically. Instead, local people received no tangible benefit from either project, fueling a new wave of discontent and conflict.

Pakistan launched military operations in response to the renewed protests. What followed was a dark chapter: Baloch people began disappearing in large numbers. The number of missing Balochs is reported to be in the thousands. Further rebellions erupted in 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2018. From 2019 onwards, the insurgency took the form of a volcano — and Pakistan is still burning in its lava.

5. Four Major Causes of the Balochistan Insurgency: Culture, Exploitation, Neglect & Human Rights Violations

There are four primary drivers of the rebellion in Balochistan and the demand for separation from Pakistan.

Cause 1: Protecting Culture & Identity

Human settlements in Balochistan date back to 7000 BC — predating even the Indus Valley Civilization. The Baloch freedom movement is therefore not merely political; it is also a fight to preserve an ancient culture, language, music, dress, and traditional lifestyle.

The Baloch people allege that the Balochi language has been excluded from school curricula and local history has been removed from textbooks. The “One Nation, One Identity” ideology imposed by Pakistan, they argue, is systematically destroying their heritage. This fight for cultural identity is fueling deep anger and a profound sense of alienation among the Baloch people.

Cause 2: Economic Exploitation & Resource Plunder

Balochistan sits on enormous natural wealth. Despite covering 44% of Pakistan’s land, the province is rich in natural gas, gold, iron, coal, and other minerals — effectively powering Pakistan’s national economy. Yet Balochistan itself remains desperately poor, lacking decent roads, hospitals, and schools.

The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and Gwadar Port development are cited as prime examples of external actors profiting from Balochistan’s strategic geography while local communities are sidelined and dispossessed.

Cause 3: Political Neglect & Exclusion from Power

Baloch leaders and ordinary citizens consistently complain that they have no real say in the governance of their own region. Decisions affecting Balochistan are imposed from Islamabad without local consultation. Opposition leaders are labeled traitors, jailed, or forced into exile.

The Balochistan Assembly has been reduced to a nominal body with no real authority. Actual power rests with the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies, creating a deep and widening gulf between Baloch leaders, common people, and the Pakistani state.

Cause 4: Human Rights Violations & Militarization

The most critical and alarming cause is the systematic violation of human rights. The Baloch people allege that the Pakistani army and police are engaged in forced disappearances — people are taken away without legal process, never to return. Many are reportedly killed in fake encounters without any court proceedings. Those who raise their voices are silenced under the banner of “counter-terrorism.”

6. Enforced Disappearances & the Rise of Militancy in Balochistan: Terrorists or Freedom Fighters?

As the scale of injustice grew, armed organizations emerged. Several militant groups are now active in Balochistan, each with a single stated objective: independence. The three most prominent are:

• Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) — The most active armed organization
• Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF)
• Baloch Republican Army (BRA)

Pakistan designates these organizations as terrorist groups. Baloch supporters call their members freedom fighters. The question of which label is more accurate remains deeply contested — and the answer often depends on whose narrative one accepts.

7. Operation Hero 2.0 & Balochistan Independence Declaration (May 2025)

The events of May 2025 marked a dramatic escalation in Balochistan’s freedom struggle.

On 2 May 2025, the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) launched Operation Hero 2.0 — a large-scale, coordinated attack against Pakistani military installations and intelligence agencies across Balochistan. The operation was described as the “final turn” in a freedom struggle that has been ongoing since 1947.

Then, on 9 May 2025, prominent Baloch nationalist leader and human rights activist Mir Yar Baloch formally declared Balochistan’s independence from Pakistan. Following this declaration, all major militant organizations in the region became active simultaneously, marking one of the most significant escalations in the region’s modern history.

India’s National Security Advisor Ajit Doval had once warned: “You can do one Mumbai and you may lose Balochistan.” Whether this prediction is coming true is a question that analysts, governments, and the people of the region are now urgently asking.

8. Conclusion: Is Pakistan Responsible for Its Own Fragmentation?

The story of why Balochistan wants freedom from Pakistan is not a simple tale of terrorism or separatism. It is a complex, decades-long narrative rooted in forced annexation, cultural suppression, economic exploitation, political exclusion, and documented human rights abuses.

From the forced merger of Kalat in 1948, to the hanging of Nawab Nauroz Khan’s family, to thousands of enforced disappearances, to the launching of Operation Hero 2.0 in 2025 — each chapter of this story reveals how the Pakistani state’s own actions have fueled the very rebellion it seeks to suppress.

Whether the Baloch militants are terrorists or freedom fighters, one conclusion seems increasingly difficult to dispute: no one else but Pakistan itself is responsible for what is unfolding in Balochistan today.