The death of Muzzafar ul Din Shah and the declining power of the Qajar dynasty in Persia and furthermore the preoccupation of British Colonial army dealing with the Baloch uprisings in Eastern Balochistan gave the Baloch in the Western part prospects.

The Baloch tribal chiefs took this chance and began consolidating their hold on the Baloch territories in West Balochistan. In the beginning of the twentieth century Bahram Khan gained control of almost the entire central and southern region of Western Balochistan, ending the occupation of Baloch-lands. Ultimately in 1916 the British Empire recognized Bahram Khan as the effective ruler of Western Balochistan.



Bahram Khan?s nephew, Mir Dost Muhammed Khan Baloch succeeded his uncle. Mir Dost Muhammed consolidates his power and even then in year 1920 he proclaimed himself as ?Shah-e-Balochistan? (King of Balochistan). Sadly his attempts to further strengthen his power coincided with the rise of Reza Khan to power in Persia.

In the fatal year of 1928 the Persian forces began the annexation operation against Baloch forces, the battle continued for seven months and ended with the victory of the enemy over Baloch forces. The defeat of Baloch forces under the command of Mir Dost Muhammed Khan resulted in his capture. In year 1928 in a Tehran jail Mir Dost Muhammed Baloch was executed and Western Balochistan was finally annexed by the Persian Forces.



The defeat of Baloch forces and the execution of Mir Dost Muhammed Khan Baloch in 1928 by the Persian army symbolizes the annexation of Western Balochistan in Baloch history. Until the Shah's overthrow in 1979, the Baloch Nationalist Movement in Iran was a relatively insignificant force compared to the movement in Eastern or Pakistani Balochistan.


Due to suppression, the harsh methods that were used by Iranian security forces and persecution by SAVAC (the Iranian security secret police under the Shah), its leaders were forced to emigrate and operate underground from foreign countries. They had little ongoing contact with their widely scattered supporters inside Iran. Nevertheless, while it never amounted to much in organisational terms, the pre- 1979 nationalist movement proved to have great psychological importance.


The handful of Baloch activists who braved the Shah?s repression kept alive the spirit of resistance to Persian domination and thus directly set the stage for the resurgence of nationalist activities that took place after the overthrow of the Shah. A new political force emerged in Balochistan alongside traditional leaders comprising mostly of the educated young people. First they attempted to organise themselves but lack of political experience and ideological divisions soon disintegrated political workers into different political groupings, lessening their political importance.



Current Situation


In the Iranian controlled part of Balochistan, the Baloch are rapidly losing their identity. The previously Baloch-dominated regions of Bandar Abbas, part of Kerman, Seistan and Zabol are the most affected areas of the assimilation policy and efforts by the Persian state. Now in all these areas Balochs are a minority, even the capital city Dozzaap (Zahidan) does not look like a Baloch city. Balochs in Iran are completely excluded from the main structure of the political, social and economic establishments of the country.



The dissemination of Balochi culture and language is a declared act of treason against the state and is dealt with through brutal measures. Many army garrisons are permanently stationed in Baloch areas.

For most of the fifty years of Pahlavi rule, Tehran had to depend primarily on the use of overt military force to keep the Baloch areas under control, even when there was little co-ordinated insurgent activity. Mahmoud Khalatbary, who served as Director General of the Central Treaty Organization (CENTO), in a discussion with Selig S. Harrison (author of book ?Baloch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations?) 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.



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 $2200 national average for rural areas and less than one-fifth of the overall national average. Balochistan is still the poorest province in Iran, followed by Kurdistan. The demise of the Palavi dynasty and establishment of the Islamic Republic have not brought about any positive changes to the situation of the Baloch people, but rather have worsened the oppression.



Baloch people in Iran are treated as third class citizens, and are deprived of their cultural, social and economic rights.



Some highlights of Iranian government's chauvinistic policies are:



1) The use of the Balochi language is forbidden in public places and Baloch children are deprived of using their mother tongue as the medium of instruction at school. The Iranian government does not allow any kind of freedom of press in Balochistan.



2) Successive Iranian governments have been engaged in demographic manipulations to systematically reduce the population of Baloch people to a minority in their own homeland.

3) Government policy has been based on giving easy access and facilities to non-Baloch to purchase land at a cheap price and set up businesses.



4) The policy of keeping the Baloch backward has resulted in the lack of job opportunities and impoverishment of the entire Baloch population.



There is no Baloch representation in the central government in Tehran e.g. minister or even a Baloch deputy. The high ranking officials and decision makers in Balochistan are outsider or non-Baloch locals who have been helped to migrate from other areas.  The successive Iranian regimes have never trusted Baloch even those who are willing to voluntarily corporate with the regime?s own conditions to represent Baloch in some high post.



5) The policy of Iranian governments in dealing with different sectors of Baloch society is based on ?divide and rule?. Baloch society traditionally is tribal and feudal. The Shah based its policies on using these different rival tribes or feudal families to keep its hold over Baloch society without giving any attention to the Baloch majority?s aspiration for social, economic and political justice. The Islamic regime of the ayatollahs, in addition plays the religious card, by dividing religious leaders and using them for its own purposes.



6) Women in Iran are in general considered second class citizens and not treated equally to men in any aspect of life. Baloch women are in a worse situation than their Persian and Shiite sisters because of national and religious differences. The Baloch are mostly Sunni Muslims. Iranian law does not give Baloch women adequate protection. Protection that is provided by the tribal system and Baloch tradition is not enough to give women their due share and equal right to participate in the development of a modern society, so women are the poorest segment in the Baloch society, suffering from gender, national and class discrimination and oppression.



7) The politic of the Iranian Government in Balochistan is characterised by human rights abuses. It has distorted political, economical and cultural development of Balochistan and insulted the human dignity of Baloch people. Balochs are discontent because they have not been allowed the right to use their native Balochi language. Balochs are disenchanted, as they do not receive any benefits from the resources found in their homeland.



They are disillusioned because of their economical exploitation that in the process are kept away from the power structure of the state. Balochs are disappointed because of religion manifestation, which used as a mean to assimilate Baloch nationality into Persian national identity in Iran. These basic realities have reinforced and frustrated Baloch?s general feelings.



Literature



Selig S. Harrison, In Afghanistan?s Shadow: Baloch Nationalism and Soviet Temptations, Carnegie Endowment for Peace, New York 1981.

Shahid Fiaz, Peace Audit Report 3, The Peace Question in Balochistan, South Asia Forum for Human Rights, Katmandu 2003.

Inayatullah Baloch, 1987, the Problem of Greater Balochistan, Stener Verlag Wiesbaden GMBH Stuttgart.



Khan, Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, Inside Balochsitan, Maaref Printers Karachi, 1975.

Ahmad Ali Khan Waxir, Tarikh Kerman, p 65-66-, (In Persian).

Farhang- e Iran Zamin, Compiled and edited by: Iraj Afshar, Tehran 1990.

Dr Naseer Dashti, Baloch in Iran: What Option they have

Population: 19 - 15 million of which about 4.4 million in Iran