Yesterday morning, at around 3 a.m., Surbandar, a small town in Gwadar, witnessed the gruesome assassination of seven defenceless labourers while they were asleep. This incident sent shock waves throughout the country as the morning bulletin of every news channel in the country was covering it, while politicians, journalists and analysts issued condemnations.
As stated by government officials, these individuals have been working at a local barber shop in Surbandar and originally belonged to Khanewal, Punjab. These details ring bells in one’s mind and remind us of another incident on the Quetta-Taftan highway, where a militant organisation stopped a bus carrying Punjabi labourers, who were en route to Iran, and killed them.
Here, it is imperative to ask one very important and crucial question: why do the Baloch terrorist organisations target Punjabi settlers or workers in the first place? A simple explanation would be that for decades, the Baloch sub-nationalists have carefully crafted a narrative that demonizes the Punjabis and holds them accountable for all the socio-political and economic disputes and complications of the province, including oppression.
The problem with such narratives is that they paint the entire nation with a single brush stroke, thus blaming a few individuals’ choices upon the entire nation. Consequently, the majority of the people, especially the ultra-nationalists, start viewing the other nation as an embodiment of oppression. This has been the case for Balochistan as well, where the nationalists and sub-nationalists view the Punjabis as villains or oppressors whom the state uses to inflict harm upon the Baloch people.
In other words, the anti-Punjab sentiment is skillfully built upon fear as the paramount emotion because fear sells. When narratives are interwoven around the dichotomy of us vs. them, then the only tool that helps bind these narratives together is fear of the other. These narratives consciously depict the other party as evil, indifferent, and threatening to the community’s existence, fostering an environment where violence against them is deemed justified by those indoctrinated with this ideology. In such cases, fear of others becomes a permanent part of the community.
Here it is important to address an extremely pertinent question: who crafts such narratives and what do they gain out of them? The answer is simple: leaders, activists, and even the media do this to gain the popular support of the people for their interests. Hence, when this phenomenon is applied to the anti-Punjab sentiment, one understands how some people in Balochistan, especially those with nationalistic inclinations, are easily indoctrinated by terrorist organisations, perpetuating a cycle of animosity and violence against Punjabis.
Thus, these indoctrinated individuals are driven by a deeply ingrained belief in the narrative of oppression and exploitation, ultimately serving the agenda of those who seek to manipulate public sentiment for their own gain.Manipulating public sentiment through fear-mongering tactics is not a new phenomenon. As Hermann Göring, a Nazi leader, once observed, “The people don’t want war, but they can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
This is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for their lack of patriotism and for exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country.”In conclusion, the incidents of violence against innocent Punjabi settlers or workers are not an overnight development; rather, they are the result of deep-seated tensions and divisive narratives fueled by fear and manipulation.
Therefore, it is essential that all local leaders, university students, activists, and media authorities consciously address this issue by promoting unity, empathy, and understanding between different communities instead of perpetuating harmful prejudices and stereotypes. In short, we can expect to turn the wheels only through a genuine desire to address the root causes of the conflict and inclusive dialogues.
