Balochistan: Bruised, Battered and Bloodied

by Francesca Marino

A time will come when children can play in the streets without the fear of being abducted, women in their homes can be sure that their husbands and sons will return, and young women will no longer feel afraid to go to their university or workplace. I hope that dawn will break one day on a free and peaceful land. Balochistan is an account of the trials and tragedies suffered by this region, which has been forcefully annexed to Pakistan against the will of its people. The area is of fundamental strategic and geopolitical importance not only to Islamabad and to the Chinese CPEC project, but also to the numerous players that act as avatars of the powers in the long-running 'Great Game'. What is woefully ignored is that the lives of the locals are under stake. The Baloch people have long been trying to draw international attention to what is happening to them and their homeland. However, the world has turned a blind eye to the ethnic and cultural genocide carried out so far. Starting from the history of Balochistan and the wrongs done to its people, along with detailed interviews with the lead actors in this struggle, acclaimed journalist Francesca Marino attempts to lend a voice to the Baloch people and speak for themselves about one of the most reprehensible and inexplicable silences of our times.

Genres: Pakistan

237 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 28, 2020

Reviews

[Ajay Ramaseshan]

An insightful view of a region largely neglected from public consciousness. The current geopolitical players trying to extract this region's resources and keeping an iron fist on the wishes and aspirations of the of the local population, the human rights abuses and suppression against the public and how the public have formed guerilla organizations to take up arms against the ruling establishement, the CPEC - all has been described in great detail. However, what I found lacking was a pre history of the area, how did the Baloch settle here? Who are their ancestors ? Are they descendants of Indus Valley Civilization ? How did Islam come to the region ? Had this been described in one chapter, then the book would have felt a complete read. Another point to note - the book was printed in 2020 and hence it carries current affairs upto the start of the COVID-19 lockdown. It has been 4 years since then, so certain information is a little outdated and major changes have happened in the region. for eg. the Taliban took over in Aug 2021 and the pandemic ended. The US president also changed. These things have to be noted while reading the book. Overall, a great engrossing read about a lesser known conflict in the world.

[hassam]

back in college, a roommate of mine was from dera bugti and i would argue with him all the time, calling him a traitor and just nagging him constantly. Now i realize how fucking stupid that was and i feel so bad about it. the horrors his people went through is so immense, i was just a kid back then but still,


I'm writing this as protests are erupting in GB in the wake of the unjust killing of 10+ shia teenagers in skardu, they've implemented curfews and jammed signals there. it aches my heart what has become of my motherland, all of this is happening while state is preparing to join the current war between Iran and Israel/USA, we all know whose side they would be on.

Pakistan in many ways feels and act like the Israel of South Asia if you really deep it, with oppression everywhere. and when you point out who the perpetuators are you're immediately labelled a punjabi hating cunt. its like that thing with jews where the slightest criticism would be labelled as antisemitism.

[Simple]

A must read to understand whats happening in pakistan occupied balochistan. How balochistan people are continuously monitored, murdered, torutred, killed ,raped and with the basic facility of healthecare, jobs, education is kept aloof from majority of the population. China interest in Balochistan and how pakistan is being forced in a debt trap. The story of sabeen mahmud is an inspiring one and a perfect example of how the sane and rational voices are treated in pakistan .
How new dompas are being created in balochistan , how the Pakistani fake narratives are being created in every sphere of there working. The power and brutality of the deep state is perfectly displayed by the author.

The only thing missing was more concrete history of its early time with the then administration and culutre.