By Nasser Boladai
25-11-2006

This paper was presented at Bad Bull, Stuttgart, Germany in a three days conference on 25 November 2006, which was organised jointly by Evangelic Academy and Kurdish Human Right Organisation-Germany the conference was held between 24 to 26 November 2006.
 
Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the Baloch nation, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks and profound gratitude to the Evangelic Academy and Kurdish Human Right Organization – German for organizing this conference.  We sincerely value the opportunity given to us to present to you and the world the solution which in our view would resolve the plight of our oppressed Baloch people and other nations in Iran.

For many decades the general perception in the world has been that Iran is a nation state with a common language, history, religion, and race, this was the view that Iranian state and most of the Iranian none governmental organisations, Persian political organisations and intellectuals been portraying to the world. To enable this perception the Iranian state is engaged in a policy of forced assimilation to make a homogenous identity based on Persian national features. Persian speakers in Iran are less than half of the population, rest; the majority of Iranian population is Ahwazi Arab, Azerbaijani Turk, Baloch, Kurd and Turkmen.

Balochistans status as best could be described as a colony of the Iranian state, rather than as part of the country. The Iranian state has institutionalised discrimination by undermining the equality of the citizens by restricting the rights of none dominant nationalities based on religious and linguistic differences with the Persian nation. It treats Baloch as third class citizens, discriminating them in all level of social cultural and economic spheres.

The current Iranian political structure, its performance is not acceptable to nationalities in Iran, the oppressed nations are struggling not only to change the regime but also the political structure in Iran, in way that it can accommodate countries social, cultural and national diversities.

Social and Economic discrimination

Mahmud Khalatbary, who served as Director General of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), in a discussion with Selig S. Harrison recalled that: “In CENTO, we always assumed that the Baloch would attempt to create their own independent state some day, with Soviet support, so it was desirable to keep them as politically weak, disunited, and backward as possible.”[[1]]

This policy was implemented in practice so that in the last years of the Shah’s regime Balochistan was the poorest province “with an estimated annual per capita income of $975, less than half of the national average of $2,200 for rural areas and less than one-fifth of the overall national average”[[2]]. Balochistan is still the poorest province in Iran, according to Governor General of the Provincial  Social Department in Balochistan in June 2005 “ Sistan- Balochistan province despite of its richness and geographical advantages is the least developed area of the country”[[3]].   

The Baloch face particular discrimination in the job market. For instance, during the Shahs regime only two Baloch were serving in the provincial administration in Zahedan, holding the lowest paid jobs. All others were non-locals. The situation has not changed during the current theocratic regime. During a tour by former President Khatami to Balochistan he had an audience with the provincial authorities. Of those present only one was Baloch: the representative for Zahedan in the National Assembly. Members of the National Assembly are elected in controlled and undemocratic elections in Iran.

Linguistic Discrimination 

The use of the Balochi language is forbidden in formal and public places, and Baloch children are deprived of using their mother tongue as the medium of instruction at schools. The Iranian government does not allow any kind of press freedom in Balochistan. The Baloch in Iran are completely excluded from the structures of political, social and economic powers of the country. According to Director General of Planing, Coordination and International Affairs of the Literacy Movement “ at present, Sistan-Balochistan, East Azarbaijan and Hormozgan provinces have the lowest rate of illiteracy, while Isfahan and Tehran have the highest”[[4]] Sistan-Balochistan and Hormozgan are Baloch dominated provinces while Tehran and Isfahan are Persian dominated provinces.

Baloch cultural activists have applied to publish a journal on the Balochi language many times. Each time these requests have been rejected or have been granted, conditional on most pages being published in Persian, with only one or two pages in Balochi. Some Baloch cultural activists accepted these conditions, and published journals or newspapers such as “Rooz Dra” and Marz e Pourgohar. Both have since been banned and even their editors have been intimidated and harassed.

Demographic manipulations and assimilation policies

Successive Iranian governments have been engaged in demographic manipulations to systematically reduce the Baloch people to a minority in their own homeland. Furthermore, among the many repressive policies is the destruction of the homes of poor Baloch people in Balochistan and their displacement. This is done in order to provide non Baloch workers, especially the security forces, brought into the province with the best land, Government policy has been based on facilitating access for Shi’a and non-Baloch people to purchase land cheaply and set up businesses.

In many parts of Western Balochistan, the Baloch are rapidly losing their identity. The previously Baloch dominated regions of Bandar Abbas, parts of Kerman and Sistan are the areas most affected by the assimilation efforts of the Persian-dominated Iranian state. The Baloch are now a minority in all these areas, including the capital city of Zahedan.

Physical Violence against the Baloch People

Many of Iran’s army garrisons are permanently stationed in Baloch areas, which give the impression that Balochistan is an army zone. The militarisation of Baloch areas have been combined with increased human right violations, collective punishment of Baloch civilians. These in turn have led to the intensification of the armed resistance against the Iranian regime’s military forces, especially in the last 12 months.

The armed resistance movement in Western Balochistan is a native phenomenon with a history of over 70 years of struggle against successive Iranian governments. The Iranian regime, due to its oppressive character, is accusing the Baloch people of cooperation with the United States and Great Britain, instead of undertaking negotiation and other peaceful means to end the resistance.

On 15 May 2006, the regime used this accusation to launch a military operation in a large area of the northern and southern parts of Zahedan, Balochistan’s provincial capital. During these operations no encounters between Baloch resistance forces and Iranian army have taken place.

The regime’s forces have bombed civilian areas using Helicopter gunship, which resulted in the deaths of innocent Baloch people in both villages and the mountains. More than 20 civilians were killed with many more injured, and the people have also suffered enormous damage to their property. In the cities, many young men have been arrested, accused of supporting the Baloch resistance forces.

In addition to many security forces and intelligent agencies, a paramilitary group, “Mersad” meaning ambush, which operates under direct order of Iran’s supreme leader Khamanei, is also active in Baloch areas. What differentiates this group from others is its licence to kill. They choose their victims randomly, creating a sense of insecurity in Balochistan, especially among young men. For this group the whole of Balochistan has become a hunting ground, in the recent months it has been responsible for many shootings and beatings in Balochistan.

Examples of the Mersad group’s most despicable crimes are the following incidents. Two young Baloch men who were working as gasoline sellers on the road between Zahedan and Bam were involved in a car accident. A Mersad patrol was the first to arrive at the scene. An identity check of the injured revealed they were ethnically Baloch and Sunni, so instead of receiving assistance, they were shot on the spot.

On 23 August 2006, members of the Mersad group attacked a village near the Balochistan capital Zahedan and killed two young men in front of women and children, who were forced out of their homes to search for the members of resistance movement and weapons.

Whilst the international community and the world media focuses on the regime’s uncompromising stance on the nuclear weapons issue, the Islamic regime takes advantage of the crisis to suppress the Baloch people, a nation that has collectively rejected the theocratic regime of Iran and is against its chauvinistic policies.

Resolving the Baloch National Question

Latest events in Balochistan have shown the Baloch people’s strong resolve to change the current political structure to a system that accommodates its aspiration for self rule and shared sovereignty, in federal system based on parity of constituent parts, in Iran.

Given the circumstances of recent decades, the ability of the Baloch national sentiments in Iran to survive extraordinary state repression is unprecedented. For decades, the Baloch nation, with its discrete society and culture has had to confront the entire "host” centralizing and ethnically-based nationalist regime in Iran that has little or no tolerance for expressions of national autonomy. 

The Baloch national question cannot be addressed in bits and pieces. The Baloch nation must be recognised within its boundaries as a people distinct from others, equal in collective rights and duties. In the new millennium a new scenario of national governance should prevail. The attributes of the new system of governance should be harmonious partnership in a republican liberal democratic system with a federal structure and national autonomous provincial governing mechanisms. This will appropriately address the problem and offer the prospect of a pleasant new partnership of trust and coexistence. A mechanism based on the acceptance of genuine demands of the constituent nations should generate participation, shared responsibilities, and offer opportunities to all nations and provide a foundation for stronger, civilised, prosperous and proud peoples in a multinational state with a new vision and a civilised image.

The most important factor which may lead to the creation of a better Iran is the national unity among the various nationalities living in the country. What is required is the involvement of various political and national groups in that process of building the state and the economy so that Iran's image as a normal and responsible country is created.