Baloch are a group of people grouped together without much effort through historical experience.
“Nation is a soul, a spiritual principle. Only two things, actually, constitute this soul, this spiritual principle. One is in the past; the other is in the present. One is the possession in common of a rich legacy of remembrance; the other is the actual consent, the desire to live together, the well to continue to value the heritage which all hold in common. The nation, even the individual, is the end product of long period of work, sacrifice and devotion”. (Ernest Renan)
“A nation is a historically constituted, stable community of people, formed on the basis of a common language, territory, economic life, and psychological makeup manifested in common culture”.( Joseph Stalin)
Max Webber define nation; “a nation is a community of sentiment which would adequately manifest itself in a state of its own; hence, a nation is a community which normally tends to produce a state of it own”.
Nineteenth century world geopolitics has been against Baloch, first the rise of the Russia Tsars, after that followed communist Russia, Balochistan has been a flash point for the last 200 years, a result of that confrontation is that balochistan gradually divided and eroded to the point, where a once prosperous and powerful nation, today is denied the right to be itself, to realize its place in the democratic world and contribute to the civilization of human kind for the better.
Baloch community is included in three states, Iran, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. It has been separated by the British to create a ‘buffalo zone’ in order to contain Russia from gaining access to the Arabic sea threatening the British empires interest in British India. Since then these borders have divided the single community into three. Each and every one of these states that contain part of balochistan has tried to come up with various definitions to confuse common men.
The state nation, is a European creation, it seems to me the Iranians never understood how to distinguish between nation state and conqueror. The empires of Nader Shah Afshaar could not be called a nation although it has come to be constituted historically, and was formed out of the different tribes and races. It was not a nation but a casual and loosely connected group, which fell apart or joined together according to the victories or defeats of that, conquers. For example as seen in the Persian Empire after Nader Shah had been killed.
Main belonging of Baloch community;
1- Collective name; the name baloch didn’t spring out of the blue, it has more than a thousands years history behind it. It is beyond definition and justification as some people try to name it, it is a name given to a group of people, the definition is a group of people who speak a language called balochi, this group of people call themselves a nation.
2- Myth of common ancestry: most baloch are trying to justify that they are from a single gene.
3- They share historic memory; historical evidence prove that Balochistan has been a state of its own with feudal, and tribal system of government. the British, has gave north Balochistan to Afghanistan west Balochistan to Iran, third part remain Balochistan until the Pakistan army invaded in 1948.
4- All Baloch share a common culture, sing the same heroic songs of glory, of the past and aspirations for the future, from Dera Ismail Khan to Jashk and Rudbar.
5-An association with their specific homeland, most baloch connect themselves to balochistan even these who have never seen Balochistan in their life (Lashari ,Magasi , Dehhani, Doroshk).
Carl Marx predicted that nationalism would soon disappear. However, nationalism has played a key role in the modern age, nationalism in a multination state like India granted democracy.
By giving the right sense of nation to the Baloch, that sense opens up the possibility for individuals to play a more active part in the political life of their community through participation in autonomous institutions. Human groups conscious of forming a community, sharing a common culture, attached by clearly demarcated territory, having common past and project for the future and claming the right to rule itself. By nationalism, the feeling of belonging to a community whose member’s identity with a set of symbols, beliefs and way of life, and have the well to decide upon their common political destiny.
Iran (Persia), impose their culture and language on other Iranian nations, (Persians) in practice treat Baloch as slaves nation, that has no right to protect their heritage, no right to practice their religion in their own language, for instance Friday Khotba is no longer allowed to be spoken in balochi but it must be read in Persian.
Baloch never regarded themselves as loyal Iranians. At the time of the Iran Iraq war most Baloch who could avoid the war did, they did not feel called to defend Iran, to him Iran is an alien land and his loyalty is not with Iran but Balochistan, a weak Iran is in the interest of Balochistan, Baloch regard Persia as an occupier of their land, and the Iranian themselves act like one who administers a colony.
The nineteenth century assumed that only what was considered as culturally and economically viable nation could enjoy self-determination.
President Wilson; ‘real great nation should survive small and back word one were doomed to disappear and with them their specific cultures and language.’
At the end of the twentieth century, the national state is confronted with the unpredicted revitalization, of nationalism. Presently, relatively small units make sense in a world in which economic and culture is no longer the monopoly of the state.
Thus; Iran is not constituted by a single nation. Iran after a long process of consolidation, which has involved the construction of a symbolic image of the community to provide a power, a particular language, and culture and creation of symbols and ritual destined to emphasize it unique character and fixing of territorial borders, is being force to respond to challenges from within.
While Persian will define them as Iranian, others are happy to referred to nation as Baloch, Kurd Azari, Arab, and Turk Oman.
Nation a natural, god-given way of classifying men, nations are unique, government by alien societies can only do violence to the unique national spirit. History can only understood in terms of the achievements and frustration of the nation. Demand for statehood is rooted in the national spirit; even articulated and repressed the nationalist simply speaks for that spirit. Nation independence can be portrayed as the citizen’s freedom to rule itself.
The nationalism of Baloch in Iran is emerging as a socio-political movement that defends the right of its people to decide their own political future. The movement would like to develop their specific culture and language, where ever it exists, and the desire to feel represented by the institution deciding upon their future.
Iran has failed to confine socially within its boundaries, territory
And categorically, monopolizes the attention of those, who live in its territory.
M.S