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THE GULF OF KOHLU INCIDENT

by Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur

On August 4th 1964 two US destroyers in the Vietnamese waters in the Gulf of Tonkin claimed that
they had been attacked by the North Vietnamese gunboats. This alleged attack had never taken place
but a furore was created over this and used as an excuse to begin the bombing of North Vietnam. This
was the time when slowly US forces were starting to sink in the morass of their own aggression against
the Vietnamese people whom they accused of being Communists. The people of Vietnam only wanted their
rightful sovereignty which the US was bent upon denying them. What eventually happened to the
aggressor is history.

Incidents like these have been staged and at times State managed all through history to use as excuses
for aggression and violation of human rights .In the last analysis the aggressor doesn’t really need this
fig leaf for its brazen aggression. The aggressor always uses the logic of the wolf of the famous fable
about the lamb and wolf ,in which the wolf alleges misdemeanours but is rebutted every time eventually
comes out with the stark intent of eating the lamb come what may.

The President’s visit to Kohlu and the firing of rockets there and the subsequent injuries to the I.G.
and DIG of the FC are being used as an excuse for launching this brutal and repressive campaign
against the Marri people. This may come to be known as the Gulf of Kohlu Incident in this regions’ history
of conflicts. Kohlu may not geographically be a Gulf but these actions will widen the already existing gulf
between the State and Baloch people. The planning and he intent to repress the people of Balochistan
werealready there and I in my article in The Post of 22nd November had pin pointed it and regretted and
condemned the hostile and aggressive mind set towards the Baloch people.

The situation today is reminiscent of 1973 when the longest and most brutal aggression against the
Baloch people was launched. Before the operations were launched there were political as well as military
provocations against the people of Balochistan. Selected areas had been blockaded and aggressive
patrolling launched followed by the dismissal of duly elected provincial government. This had resulted in
the famous Tandoori incident of May 18th 1973.Within three days full scale military operations were
launched which had shown the state of readiness for the contemplated action. Then too it was claimed that
the operation would be over within 72 hours and innocents would be spared. Ironically it lasted more
than four years .Here too the operation has been launched within three days of the Kohlu incident. This
too by the government that had pleaded not guilty when accused of delay in providing relief to quake victims
by providing the excuse that deployment takes time.

The plight of the people of the area affected by the operation simply cannot be understood .Having had
the first hand experience of these targeted and so called limited operations in 1973 I can imagine the
problems faced by the people there. If the operations so far have been limited to helicopter gun ships and
according to some reports to jet fighters then there will huge casualties as already being reported in
media because there is no way to ascertain from the air that the people targeted are in fact those sought.
The casualties in 1973 too were very high due to indiscriminate use of Iranian gun ships and PAF jets
as in Chamaling and other areas. It is interesting to note that the government had used shortage of
helicopters in delay of providing relief goods to quake victims; here it seems they have enough. If the
operations are being carried out by ground forces the people will suffer immeasurably due to arrests and
harassment as there is no way to distinguish between a common Marri and a fighter. All households have
small arms and presence of arms would make them culpable in eyes of those involved in these operations.
The Baloch will suffer either way and this does not bode well the integrity of the State.

A glimpse at the history of Marris would help us have a better understanding of the people there. The
Marri tribe is of fiercely independent spirit and it strongly defended its freedom against the British .In
May 1840 an escort of troops with a convoy was led by a British officer named Clarke was returning from
Kahan, the capital of Marri area and at present underattack, was attacked by the Marris at place called
Sartaf (cold water) and only thirty of the 160 men contingent escaped. Clarke in his arrogance had sent a
message to Doda Khan the Marri Sardar that if he wished to encounter him he was welcome. In August of
the same year a large British force led by Major Clibborn went to Kahan to relieve the beleaguered
garrison there. This force was attacked at a place called Nafusk near Kahan and very few escaped the
wrath of Marris.

During the WW 1 the British had asked the Marris to provide recruits as cannon fodder for the war but
were refused and this resulted in two battles one at Harab and the other at Gumbaz. The Marris suffered
heavy casualties but did not accede to British demand. Sardar Khair Baksh Khan the present day Sardar’s
grandfather and namesake at a Durbar after the battles was told by the Viceroy that “Marris would think twice
before engaging the British” to which he with Baloch dignity had replied that “The British too would think
twice before asking us for recruits” The Marris are a fiercely independent tribe who will not submit easily
to a show of force and brutal repression. The Marri area is full of cairns marking their fallen heroes.
This operation will only lead to hardening of the indomitable spirits.

This operation is unjust and uncalled for and has been undertaken with the sole purpose of suppressing
the voices of discontent in Balochistan over the exploitation of its natural resources and the attempts
to make the Balochs a minority in its own land by making Gwader the wedge for opening up the hinterlands
of Baluchistan.This repression will have detrimental consequences for the entire province by inflaming the
sentiments of Balochs all over the country. I daresay scratch a Baloch deep enough anywhere in the world
regardless of his political views and you will find a sympathizer for Baloch rights and their struggle for
autonomy.

This country has had the misfortune of recently being hit by an earthquake of 7.6 on Richter scale in
the Northern areas resulting in immeasurable suffering for millions there. It is nobody’s fault that we live
in a seismically active zone of the earth but unfortunately we also happen to live in a zone more
blighted by man made disasters .We live in a bewilderingly active zone of irrationality, skulduggery and
obtuseness as practised by our rulers. If follies could be measured on a scale we would be
leading the world for earth shaking events. Though the intensity of follies is immeasurable , its
consequences here show that we have so very often been hit by follies of great magnitude and it is little
wonder that all institutions, conventions, norms and values have all been reduced to rubble here. Rights
and freedoms of the people of this country have the foremost victims of the quakes of human follies here.
There is urgent need of building institutions that are folly quake proof. Unless this is done the people will
keep being crushed under the rubble of follies of our ruling elite.

It is a duty of all democratic forces within the country to unequivocally condemn the use of force
against the people of Balochistan. This repression is not going to stay limited to Marri area alone and it
is bound to spill over to other areas .The people all over Balochistan will resist this latest round of
violence unleashed by the present rulers.Meekly accepting this latest injustice against the Baloch
people will only embolden the undemocratic forces all over the country to blatantly deprive the people of
their right to dissent and differ.