The Baloch nation has always defended the freedom of its homeland and the survival of its nationhood against foreign occupiers, offering the sacrifice of its sons and daughters. To protect its colonial interests in South Asia, including the Indian subcontinent, and to pursue its expansionist imperial ambitions in Afghanistan and Central Asia, Britain turned towards Balochistan and Afghanistan at the end of the third decade of the nineteenth century. On 13 November 1839, in a bloody battle, Britain martyred Mir Mehrab Khan, the Khan of Kalat and ruler of Balochistan, and so succeeded in setting its colonial foot in our region. Thereafter, the great colonial power of its age steadily increased its interference in the internal affairs of Balochistan by force. By the weight of its power and influence, Britain imposed one-sided treaties on the Baloch rulers and divided Balochistan into several parts under different names. This repeated partition of Balochistan at the hands of colonialism gravely damaged Baloch national unity. Britain joined areas of Balochistan of the highest strategic and commercial importance — Sibi, Marri, Bugti and the Khetran areas in 1887, and the leased areas of Shaal and Bolan obtained on lease in 1883 — together with a few areas taken from Afghanistan, to form a new province named British Balochistan, which was formally made part of the Government of India. Taking full advantage of the weakness of the Khan of Kalat, the British obtained from Kalat the niabat of Noshki on 1 July 1899 for an annual payment of ninety-nine thousand rupees, and the niabat of Nasirabad on 7 February 1903 for an annual payment of one hundred and fifteen thousand rupees, and added these too to the province of British Balochistan. The British did not stop there: they also joined important agricultural areas such as Jacobabad to Sindh and swallowed up the Derajat.
The devastation of the First and, above all, the Second World War had gravely weakened Britain, so that it was no longer possible for it to maintain its colonial occupation and rule in South Asia and Balochistan. Yet, in the context of the growing Cold War with the Soviet Union, it also had to protect its interests. It therefore needed a client state in the region to stand guard over those interests, through which it could protect them.
After the Indian War of Independence of 1857, Britain had adopted a policy of “divide and rule”, fanning religious hatred to perpetuate its colonial rule and occupation in India; that same hatred now served this purpose as well. Easily turning this spark of religious hatred into a fire of enmity, Britain partitioned India and, on 14 August 1947, created a client state in the form of Pakistan. Before the cunning of the British colonial rulers, the patriotic Indian leadership became so weak that it made the historic mistake of consenting to the partition of India and the creation of Pakistan — a mistake for which the people of the Indian subcontinent are still paying, in four Pakistan–India wars and in a continuing proxy war, terrorism and Islamic extremism. The devastation of partition did not remain confined to the Indian subcontinent and South Asia: India’s historic neighbours adjoining South Asia, namely Balochistan and Afghanistan, were also caught in its flames. Before the collusion, conspiracies, breaches of faith and aggression of this new, unnatural client state of Pakistan and of its master and creator, Britain, independent Balochistan too lost its freedom in March 1948. This was so even though, on 4 August 1947, a round-table conference had been held under the chairmanship of the Viceroy of India, Lord Mountbatten, attended by the Khan of Kalat with his minister and legal adviser. At that conference the Muslim League leaders Muhammad Ali and Liaquat Ali Khan recognised Balochistan (the State of Kalat) as an independent country separate from India. On that occasion the representatives of Pakistan also signed a Standstill Agreement with the rulers of Balochistan.
Britain wished, by any means, to join the so-called province of British Balochistan — important in strategic, commercial and economic terms — to its proposed client state of Pakistan, so as to make the survival of independent Balochistan difficult, reduce its importance in regional and world politics, and so take away its freedom. This was so even though, under Section 7 of the Indian Independence Act, the leased and other areas that the British had geographically divided under various treaties were, by law, to return to Balochistan after Britain’s departure. But, trampling on the very laws they themselves had made, the British authorities did not hand back to Kalat the areas of Balochistan leased from the State of Kalat, nor did they agree on the McMahon Line and the Goldsmid Line.
Pakistan’s forced occupation of Balochistan began even before the creation of Pakistan, on 29 June 1947, when Sardar Muhammad Khan Jogezai, the member nominated from British Balochistan to the Legislative Assembly of India, said at an unofficial gathering, in the presence of a representative sent by the British colonial government, that he would attend the session of the Legislative Assembly of the proposed Pakistan. Acting in bad faith, the British representative made this personal statement of Sardar Jogezai the basis of a report conveying the wish, or decision, of British Balochistan to join Pakistan. Yet, under the law on the partition of India, the future of British Balochistan was to be decided by a referendum at a joint meeting of the members of the Quetta Municipality and the Shahi Jirga on 1 July 1947. Because Britain wished, by any means, to join the so-called province of British Balochistan — important in strategic, commercial and economic terms — to its proposed client state of Pakistan, so as to make the survival of independent Balochistan difficult, reduce its importance in regional and world politics, and take away its freedom, it acted otherwise. Under international law, the Baloch areas of the province of British Balochistan, joined to British India by lease or by other means, should have been returned to Balochistan, and the Pashtun areas taken from Afghanistan to Afghanistan. But the British authorities did not hand back to Kalat the areas of Balochistan leased from the State of Kalat; nor did they even hold the meeting of the members of the Shahi Jirga and the Quetta Municipality, fixed for 1 July 1947, to ascertain by referendum the opinion of the people on the future of the so-called province of British Balochistan.
With the collusion and backing of its masters, the unnatural state of Pakistan was not content with illegally seizing, in 1947, the “so-called British Balochistan” and the Baloch tribal areas against Baloch national unity and interests; it continued its expansionist course of forcibly occupying, step by step, the various regions of Balochistan. At the end of February 1948, when the Pakistani leader Muhammad Ali Jinnah came to Sibi to address the annual spring Sibi Darbar, he went to Dhadar to meet the Khan of Kalat and placed before him the instrument of accession to Pakistan. Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, the Khan of Kalat, informed Jinnah of the constitution of Balochistan in force for centuries, of his own lack of authority under that constitution in the matter of accession, and of the decisions and resolutions of both houses of the Kalat Parliament on this sensitive question. Disappointed, Jinnah returned to Karachi and decided to abandon the policy of persuading and pressing the Khan of Kalat to accede, and instead to commit aggression through the Sandeman policy (the Forward Policy) of winning over sardars and rulers of states with bribes and inducements. Under this new aggressive policy, Pakistan secretly called to Karachi the Nawab of Lasbela, Jam Ghulam Qadir Aliani, the Nawab of Kharan, Habibullah Nausherwani, and the Sardar of Kech in Makran, Bayan Gichki, and on 17 March 1948, at a ceremony held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had them sign instruments of accession to Pakistan. This act of Pakistan was an open violation of the sovereignty, freedom and territorial unity of Balochistan and of international law, and an act of aggression, against which the Khan of Kalat and his government, the Gichki sardars of Panjgur and Tump, and the Baloch people expressed strong displeasure and opposition. Ignoring their protest, the Government of Pakistan landed detachments of its army and navy at the ports of Jiwani, Pasni and Ormara on 26 March 1948 and began to advance towards Kech, while the Pakistani army in Quetta Cantonment was ordered to stand ready to attack Kalat, the centre of Balochistan. On 27 March 1948, having made Mir Ahmad Yar Khan, the Khan of Kalat and ruler of Balochistan, sign the instrument of accession at gunpoint, Pakistan forcibly occupied Balochistan. In this way the Baloch nation was deprived of its national freedom, sovereignty, identity and dignity.
Against Pakistan’s forced occupation of Balochistan, on 16 May 1948 the Baloch nation laid the foundation of the freedom movement in the form of armed resistance under the leadership of Prince Abdul Karim Baloch — a movement that, despite rises and falls at different times, continues without interruption to this day. Through its political and armed resistance, the Baloch nation has proved that it rejects Pakistan’s forced occupation of Balochistan and all colonial measures as contrary to its national and territorial unity and freedom, its distinct civilisation and identity, and its interests.
The Baloch have nourished this movement with their blood to make it strong. Since its foundation, the BNM, as a national party, has played a prominent role in the freedom movement. In the course of the struggle, about a dozen central and district leaders of the BNM have been martyred at the hands of the Pakistani army and intelligence agencies, among them the founding Chairman of the BNM, Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch; Lala Munir Baloch; Rasool Bakhsh Mengal, Central Senior Joint Secretary elected in 2008; the Central Finance Secretary, Haji Razzaq Sarbazi; Razzaq Gul; Shaheed Dr Mannan Baloch, Secretary General elected in 2014; and the members of the Central Committee Waja Naseer Kamalan, Ustad Ali Jan Bizenjo, Abdul Samad Tagrani, Naseer Rind, Nako Khair Bakhsh Imrani, Imdad Bijjar, Suleman Baloch, Master Barkatullah Baloch and Sajid Baloch (Jiwani). Hundreds of workers, including the Central Committee members Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch and Ghafoor Baloch, have for years been enduring torture in Pakistan’s secret torture cells. Owing to these sacrifices and to the day-and-night struggle of the BNM’s revolutionary workers, the BNM has built its standing and credibility in the Baloch national freedom movement and is playing its part as an active and strong national party. The caravan of the BNM is moving on, with high spirits, resolve and conscious action, towards its destination: freedom.
On 24 December 1987, former cadres of the BSO founded the Balochistan National Youth Movement (BNYM). Dr Abdul Hayee was elected the first Convener of the BNYM, and the Central Organising Committee included Shaheed Fida Ahmed Baloch, Ayub Jattak, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, Manzoor Gichki, Kahda Akram Baloch, Bahram Khan Baloch, Asadullah Baloch, Mola Bakhsh Dashti and Dr Wazir Baloch.
The first convention of the BNYM was held in 1989 at the Shaheed Nawab Nauroz Khan Stadium in Shaal, at which the name of the party was changed from the Balochistan National Youth Movement (BNYM) to the Balochistan National Movement (BNM). The BNM soon fell into disagreements and split into the BNM Hayee Group and the BNM Mengal Group. The Mengal Group soon merged with Habib Jalib Baloch’s Progressive National Movement. Then, in 1996, the BNM Mengal merged with the remnants of Ghaus Bakhsh Bizenjo’s PNP to form the BNP, while the BNM Hayee Group continued under the same name.
In October 2003, the Balochistan National Movement (Hayee) merged with the newly formed Balochistan National Democratic Party (BNDP) of Hasil Bizenjo and Sardar Sanaullah Zehri, who had split from the BNP (Awami), to form the “National Party”. The founding and programme of this new Pakistan-level party were a clear deviation from the Baloch national freedom movement. To undo and reduce the effects of this attack on the Baloch national movement and the BNM, and to defeat the aims and designs of the former deviating leadership, Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad Baloch and the other nationalist leaders, cadres and workers in the party decided without delay to maintain the Balochistan National Movement with its founding programme and purpose, and announced this decision at a press conference on Wednesday, 8 October 2003. They made clear that the Balochistan National Movement (BNM) remained in being and that they rejected the merger with the Balochistan National Democratic Party as a deviation from the Baloch national movement. They also announced a twelve-member interim Organising Committee to run and organise the party. Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad was chosen as Central Organiser of the Central Organising Committee and Lala Munir Ahmed Baloch as Deputy Central Organiser, while Fazal Bugti, Abdul Qadir Samalani, Hassan Dost Jamaldini, Haji Naseer Ahmed Rind, Asa Zafar, Haji Akbar, Naseer Saleh, Sakhi Dad Baloch, Jahangir Jamaldini Advocate (under the code name Chakar) and A. S. Ahmed were chosen as members of this organising body.
When, on 24 December 1987, political leaders who had graduated from the BSO founded the BNYM (renamed the Balochistan National Movement in 1989), it was ostensibly declared a continuation of the BSO’s long struggle, and its declared aim was to fill the vacuum of a political platform in the Baloch national freedom movement and to free Balochistan from Pakistan’s forced occupation and the Baloch nation from subjugation to, and excesses by, Punjab. To this end a strategy of uncompromising struggle had been prepared under the wise leadership of Fida Ahmed Baloch. However, after the martyrdom of Fida Ahmed Baloch on 2 May 1988, those who became the heirs of his political caravan deviated in 1988 from the aims, objectives and strategy of the new party and took part in the general Pakistani parliamentary elections. Deceiving the Baloch nation, the BSO and nationalist political workers, they justified this deviation by saying that parliamentary politics would be used as a tactic and, if it did not succeed, would be abandoned. On the contrary, this group in practice made a few seats in the assembly its very goal through parliamentary politics and, to meet the standards of the Pakistani establishment and win the favour of Punjab, began to advocate the federal parliamentary system and the Constitution of 1973, which the Baloch nation had rejected.
After the decision to maintain the BNM, the party was organised, and from 30 April to 2 May 2004 the BNM Organising Committee held the party’s Central Convention. Rejecting the argument put forward by the deviating leadership in the past to justify taking part in Pakistani parliamentary elections, and abandoning that policy, the BNM began a new journey with the position of national freedom. At this session the name of the party was also changed from the Balochistan National Movement to the Baloch National Movement. Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was elected President; Shaheed Lala Munir Ahmed Baloch, Vice President; Rahim Baloch Advocate, Secretary General; Shaheed Anwar Baloch Advocate, Deputy Secretary General; Hassan Dost Jamaldini, Labour and Peasants Secretary; Haji Naseer Rind, Finance Secretary; and Younus Gangu, Press Secretary. Comrade Mola Dad, Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, Jahangir Jamaldini Advocate, Naz Bibi, A. S. Ahmed, Imam Bakhsh, Shah Zaman Marri, Major Muhammad Ali, Rehmatullah Shohaz, Ismat Baloch, Sheikh Qadir Advocate and Qadir Samalani were elected members of the Central Committee. The Chairman of the party’s Election Committee, Waja Muhammad Hussain, administered the oath to the newly elected cabinet.
On 2 May 2004, the sixteenth anniversary of the martyrdom of Shaheed Fida Ahmed Baloch, the party’s oath-taking ceremony was held at a public rally in Shaal, addressed by the party President Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad, Vice President Lala Munir and Secretary General Rahim Advocate, together with the leaders of the Jamhoori Watan Party Humayun Marri and Amanullah Kanrani Advocate, Shafi Danish and Shakeela Baloch of the BSO, and others.
In the past, instead of openly demanding the freedom of Balochistan, the term “right of self-determination” was used in order to avoid state repression and restrictions. Within the party, however, it was understood to mean freedom, and, outwardly at least, there was no ambiguity about freedom in anyone’s mind, from the leadership to the workers and the Baloch people. The deviating leadership took advantage of this to conceal its deviation from the freedom movement. Therefore, to make the party programme clearer, the “right of secession” was added to the “right of self-determination” at the 2004 Convention. Then, at the 2008 Convention, to make the party programme entirely clear, the term “right of self-determination” was abandoned and replaced by the plain and unambiguous demand for “the freedom of Balochistan”, so that no ambiguity would remain, among the Baloch nation at large or in the minds of the world, about the aims and objectives of the BNM and the Baloch national movement.
Likewise, in the past, owing to the ideological influence of the Left on the BNM and on Baloch national politics, the party’s aims and objectives were somewhat heavily coloured by a class agenda. At its National Convention of 2004, however, the BNM brought the party programme into line with the needs of the Baloch freedom movement and declared national freedom, rather than class demands, to be the axis of its struggle.
On this subject Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad used to say: Baloch political workers should certainly study all the political thought of the world, but their field of action is Balochistan; they have to change the thinking of the Baloch nation and draw it towards national politics. Our political workers must therefore first understand the needs of the Baloch national movement, our national psychology, our problems and our history. No physician in the world can cure a patient by feeling someone else’s pulse. Our hand, too, must be on the pulse of the Baloch nation.
Under the leadership of the leader of the Baloch National Movement, Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, for the first time in the history of Balochistan, the workers of the BNM came out into the field on the political front with great courage and a clear position, and began to carry the message of freedom to every corner of Balochistan and to Baloch throughout the world.
Immediately after the party Convention of 2004, the forces of the state moved against the BNM. The BNM’s Central Finance Secretary, Haji Naseer, was abducted from his shop in Mand by the paramilitary Frontier Corps (FC) and forcibly disappeared. On 3 December 2006, the party’s Central President, Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, was arrested during a demonstration in Karachi and then forcibly disappeared. After the enforced disappearance of the Chairman, in view of the state repression and force used against the party, the Central Secretary General Rahim Baloch Advocate, the Central Senior Joint Secretary Muhammad Anwar Baloch Advocate, the Central Peasants and Labour Secretary Hassan Dost Jamaldini, and the Central Committee members Ghulam Qadir Sheikh Advocate and Jahangir Jamaldini Advocate went underground so that the struggle could continue. After being tortured for several months in secret torture cells, the party President Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was shown as arrested at the Khuzdar police station on 20 September 2007. He was then transferred, on 21 September 2007, to the Turbat City police station, from where he was released on bail on 10 October 2007. During the enforced disappearance of Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, the young cadres of the party — Dr Mannan Baloch, Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, Dr Khuda Bakhsh, Dr Naseem Baloch (Chairman) and Khalil Baloch (Chairman) — played a key role in reorganising the party.
When, several months after his first enforced disappearance, Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad Baloch was brought back into public view, many false cases were brought against him; but, paying no heed to these baseless cases, he immediately resumed his political activities. In Karachi as well as in Balochistan, he mobilised the Baloch people for the freedom movement under the programme of the BNM.
In 2008, under the leadership of Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad, the party’s Eighth National Council Session was held in Malir, Karachi, after which the party came out into the field once more with new resolve and spirit.
False cases were brought against Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad simultaneously in Turbat, Karachi and Shaal. During his short political journey, Shaheed Ghulam Muhammad Baloch spent most of his time travelling between Kech, Shaal and Karachi to appear in hearings of false cases pending in Pakistani courts. The purpose of these false cases, too, was to restrict the activities of Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad; yet his courage and his passion for freedom did not diminish in the least, which increased public trust in the BNM, and people began to join the ranks of the BNM in great numbers.
On 3 April 2009, Shaheed Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, Shaheed Lala Munir Ahmed Baloch and the BRP leader Shaheed Sher Muhammad Baloch were seized by state forces from the office of their lawyer in Turbat, in an arrest amounting to abduction, and forcibly disappeared; on 9 April 2009 the mutilated bodies of all three leaders were found at Murgap, on the outskirts of Turbat. Some time before the martyrdom of Waja Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, the party’s Senior Vice President, Dr Imdad Baloch, resigned from the BNM, after which the Junior Vice President, Asa Zafar, took over the presidency; some time later he too resigned owing to disagreements. After the martyrdom of Chairman Ghulam Muhammad Baloch, some disagreements arose within the ranks of the party, as a result of which a faction led by the veteran leader Comrade Mola Dad broke away; but the party’s cadres, workers and supporters, without falling into any confusion, soon succeeded in reorganising, activating and mobilising the BNM once again.
Initially, the motto of the BNM was “Baloch Land, Baloch Freedom and Baloch Resources”. This motto was devised to cover the programme of the BNM; but as the party moved forward, the vision of its workers and leadership became clearer. Therefore, at the 2010 Session, on the proposal of Shaheed Dr Mannan Baloch, it was changed to “Equality, Justice and Freedom”.
Shaheed Dr Mannan used to say that Balochistan is dear to us not only because of its resources and its geography; Balochistan is dear to us because it is our homeland. Whether it has resources or not, its importance to us will not diminish in the slightest. It was this thinking that led to the change of the motto.
At the 2014 Session, by setting out an ideological line, the BNM stated its vision and outline for a free Balochistan: that “the BNM seeks the freedom of Balochistan on a humanitarian basis” — that is, a complete freedom in which every form of oppression is entirely ended, and in which the Baloch people, without distinction of sex, colour, race, language, religion or class, enjoy equality, justice and freedom.
At the 2022 Session too, in keeping with the needs of the time, several notable changes were made to the party’s Constitution, and emphasis was placed on establishing regular institutions in all departments of the party.
The name of the party shall be the Baloch National Movement (BNM).
The central office of the party shall be in Shaal. It may, however, be moved anywhere at the discretion of the Central Cabinet, as time and circumstances require.
The flag of the party shall consist of the colours red, two thirds, and green, one third. The red shall be on the right and the green on the left. In the middle of the red shall be a five-pointed star. The red symbolises struggle and sacrifice, the green prosperity, and the white star scientific knowledge and thought.
The central organ of the party shall be named “Zrumbesh”, and shall be published three times a year.
(i) Every Baloch who agrees with the aims and objectives, the Constitution and the Manifesto of the party may become a member of the party after serving three months as a Dozwah (candidate member).
(ii) The minimum age for regular membership of the party is eighteen years.
(iii) A member of the party shall, in word and deed, abide by the aims and objectives, policies, discipline and decisions of the party.
(iv) No member of the party may become a member of any other political party.
(v) A party member shall pay regularly the basic membership fee and the contributions levied by the party. The basic membership fee and the party membership fee shall be fixed by the Central Cabinet, and may differ between countries, Hankeen (zones), Taks (chapters) and Banzahs (units) according to their currency and economy.
(vi) A party member shall take part in party circles.
(vii) Every member of the party shall be bound to publicise and defend its ideology, policies and decisions, and to take part regularly in the activities of the party.
(viii) No member of the party may support, directly or indirectly, or become part of, the exploitative parliamentary system of the states occupying the Baloch homeland. In such a case his or her basic membership shall be terminated.
(i) On obtaining basic membership, every member shall be entitled to vote in party elections.
(ii) A member shall be eligible to stand in party elections for any office of the party; provided that membership of the National Council is required for offices of the Central Committee and the Central Cabinet, and membership of the Hankeen Council for offices of the Hankeen.
(iii) Every member of the party may express his or her opinion freely, and may put forward proposals and recommendations, on any organisational or political activity, action, performance, problem or difficulty, in the appropriate forum of the organisation of which he or she is a member.
(iv) In all forums of the party the principles of constructive criticism and self-criticism shall be respected, and their practice shall be encouraged.
(v) Once a decision on any matter has been taken by the higher bodies of the party or in any regular forum of the party, no member shall have the right, individually, to comment publicly on it, to dissent from it in public, or to spread negative propaganda about it. He or she may, however, debate the decision in the regular forum of which he or she is a member with a view to changing it, and shall have the right to put forward proposals on it and to build opinion in their favour.
For the attainment of the aims of the party, the following organisational structure is established:
(7.1) National Council (Central Council)
(7.2) Central Committee
(7.3) Central Cabinet
(7.4) Hankeen / Chapter Council (Zonal Council)
(7.5) Hankeen / Chapter Cabinet (Zonal Cabinet)
(7.6) Banzah (Unit)
(7.7) Cell System
(i) The National Council shall be the highest and most authoritative constitution-making body of the party, and shall guide the party in the period between two National Council sessions.
(ii) The National Council shall have a total of 101 members, of whom the members of the Central Committee and the Central Cabinet shall be members of the Council by virtue of their office. The remaining members of the National Council shall be elected by regular ballot in the Hankeen / Chapter Councils, while the Central Cabinet shall be competent to decide the procedure for selecting members from the cells. Councillors from the cells shall be chosen on the basis of performance, and their selection shall be verified and confirmed by the Central Cabinet.
(iii) In ordinary circumstances, the decision to convene the National Council shall be taken by the Central Committee by majority vote.
(iv) The National Council shall meet at least once in four years.
(v) In an emergency, one quarter of the total members of the National Council may, by written notice to the Chairperson and the Secretary General, request that a session of the National Council be convened within one month.
(vi) The National Council may, by a two-thirds majority of its total members, amend, repeal or add to the Constitution, the Manifesto and the policies, except the fundamental basis of the party.
(vii) The National Council may, by a simple majority of its total members, terminate the membership of any member.
(viii) At its session the National Council shall elect the members of the Central Committee, except the four co-opted members, and the central office-bearers; and it may assign to the office-bearers of the party’s Central Cabinet, Hankeen and Banzahs special powers and duties, in addition to their powers under the Constitution, and entrust them with responsibilities.
(ix) The National Council shall have the power to approve or amend the annual report and other documents of the party, and may give decisions and directions in that regard.
(x) The National Council may, by a simple majority of its total members, pass a motion of no confidence against any office-bearer.
(i) In the period between two National Council sessions, the Central Committee shall oversee all the activities of the party and shall be the most authoritative policy-making body of the party.
(ii) The Central Committee, whose members, including the Central Cabinet, shall number 27, shall be the highest executive and policy-making body of the party, and shall oversee and guide all subsidiary bodies and social, political and literary organisations.
(iii) All members of the Central Committee, including the Central Cabinet, shall be chosen by secret ballot of the members of the National Council Session, while the four co-opted members shall be chosen by a simple majority of the Cabinet; the co-opted members need not be elected members of the Central Council.
(iv) The Central Committee shall determine, on the basis of performance, the number of members for the National Council from the various Hankeen and Chapters, excluding the cells; the selection of councillors from the cells shall be the responsibility of the Cabinet.
(v) The Central Committee shall meet at least twice a year, and at least once in every six months.
(vi) Notice of at least ten days, together with the agenda, shall be sent for every meeting of the Central Committee; provided that in an emergency the Chairperson or the Secretary General may call a meeting at 72 hours’ notice. If the quorum is not complete, the meeting shall be adjourned and another meeting shall be called. Disciplinary action may be taken against any member who is absent from three consecutive meetings of the Central Committee.
(vii) One quarter of the total members of the Central Committee may, when necessary, request the Chairperson or the Secretary General of the party, by written notice, to call a meeting. The notice shall state the purpose of the meeting.
(viii) The Central Committee shall have the power to convene the National Council and to fix and change its date, and to hold conventions, conferences, seminars or other literary and social gatherings at every level of the party. The Central Committee shall also be competent to delegate these powers to the Central Cabinet.
(ix) Within the bounds of the Manifesto, the aims and objectives of the party and the National Council, the Central Committee shall have full power to draw up programmes, to decide on political activities and to form committees.
(x) The Central Committee shall have the power to form a united front with freedom-seeking organisations and political parties, to establish relations with them, and to run joint political campaigns.
(xi) The Central Committee shall have the power to debate and clarify any disputed constitutional, organisational or political question, and such clarifications by the Central Committee shall be deemed final.
(xii) In the event of the removal, resignation or death of any member of the Central Cabinet or the Central Committee, the Central Committee may fill the vacant seat.
(xiii) The Central Committee may remove any of its members from membership of the Committee by a simple majority of its total members; and any office-bearer of the Central Cabinet may be removed from membership of the Cabinet by the signatures of a simple majority of the total councillors of the National Council or by a two-thirds majority of the Central Committee. The member so affected shall, however, have the right to obtain a vote against the disciplinary action through the signatures of a simple majority of the National Council.
(i) In administrative matters, the Cabinet shall be the most authoritative body of the party.
(ii) The Cabinet shall have the power to dissolve a Hankeen / Chapter, or, where the party organisation in a Hankeen / Chapter has ceased to exist, to organise it anew.
(iii) The Cabinet shall be competent to appoint, or to confirm, the organising body of any subsidiary body, whose term shall be three months.
(iv) The Cabinet shall be competent to form cells and nominate their organisers, to review the records and performance of cell members, and to choose central councillors for the cells on the basis of performance.
(v) The Cabinet shall choose the four co-opted members of the Central Committee.
(vi) At Cabinet meetings the performance of the party shall be reviewed in the light of the decisions of the Central Committee, and procedures for effective performance shall be decided.
(vii) The Cabinet shall be competent to criticise, make proposals on and take decisions about the performance of the various departments; but such decisions must be confirmed at the next meeting of the Central Committee, and if the Central Committee does not confirm a decision, it shall be deemed void.
(7.3.2.1) Chairperson
(7.3.2.2) Senior Vice Chairperson
(7.3.2.3) Junior Vice Chairperson
(7.3.2.4) Secretary General
(7.3.2.5) Senior Joint Secretary General
(7.3.2.6) Junior Joint Secretary General
(7.3.2.7) Finance Secretary
(7.3.2.8) Information and Cultural Secretary
(7.3.2.9) Welfare Secretary
(7.3.2.10) Human Rights Secretary
(7.3.2.11) Foreign Secretary
(i) The Chairperson shall be the head of the party.
(ii) The Chairperson may, as a disciplinary measure, suspend any member of the party or any member of the Central Committee (except the central office-bearers) for three months; such suspension must, however, be confirmed at the first meeting of the Central Committee.
(iii) The Chairperson may at any time call a meeting of any body of the party.
(iv) The Chairperson may preside over any meeting of the party.
(v) The Chairperson may take disciplinary action against any subsidiary body of the party, but such action must be confirmed by the Central Committee.
(vi) The Chairperson may nominate any member of the National Council to a vacant seat in any body of the party (other than the Central Cabinet), and the body concerned shall be competent, under the Constitution, to confirm the nomination.
(vii) The Chairperson may spend sums from the party fund for organisational matters as required; the approval of the Central Committee must, however, be obtained afterwards.
(viii) In an emergency the Chairperson may call a meeting of the Central Cabinet at 72 hours’ notice and take decisions by majority vote; such decisions must, however, afterwards be confirmed by the Central Committee.
(i) In the event of the removal, resignation, illness or death of the Chairperson, the Vice Chairperson may exercise all the powers of the Chairperson.
(ii) The Vice Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson in all the activities of the party.
(iii) The Vice Chairperson shall be the head of the party’s Circle Committee, of its syllabus-making body or of any permanent body established for that purpose, and shall supervise training matters.
(i) Where the Senior Vice Chairperson is not in office, the Junior Vice Chairperson may, in the event of the removal, resignation, illness or death of the Chairperson, exercise all the powers of the Chairperson.
(ii) The Junior Vice Chairperson shall assist the Chairperson in all the activities of the party.
(iii) The Junior Vice Chairperson shall assist the Hankeen and Chapters in the work of mobilisation.
(i) The Secretary General shall be responsible for all the office affairs of the party and for the safekeeping of its records, documents and files.
(ii) The Secretary General shall be responsible for preparing the agenda for meetings of the Central Committee and the National Council, and for preparing the minutes of those meetings and presenting them at the next meeting.
(iii) The Secretary General shall be competent, in consultation with the Chairperson, to call meetings of the National Council, the Central Committee and other bodies.
(iv) The Secretary General shall be responsible for drawing up a programme for running the party in accordance with the Constitution, and for presenting it to a meeting of the Central Committee for approval.
(v) The Secretary General shall be competent to spend sums from the party fund for organisational matters as required.
(i) In the event of the removal, resignation, illness or death of the Secretary General, the Senior Joint Secretary shall perform all the duties of the Secretary General.
(ii) The Senior Joint Secretary shall perform all the responsibilities entrusted to him or her by the Secretary General or the Central Committee.
(iii) The Senior Joint Secretary General shall supervise the work of mobilisation in the party and, in this regard, shall draw up programmes together with the Hankeen / Chapter secretaries and present them to the Central Committee for approval.
(i) Where the Senior Joint Secretary General is not in office, the Junior Joint Secretary General shall, in the event of the resignation, removal, illness or death of the Secretary General, perform all the duties of the Secretary General.
(ii) The Junior Joint Secretary General shall perform all the responsibilities entrusted to him or her by the Secretary General or the Central Committee.
(iii) The Junior Joint Secretary shall supervise the party archive and be responsible for compiling the history of the organisation and of the movement, and in this work shall act in coordination with the Central Secretary General and the Information and Cultural Secretary.
(i) The Finance Secretary shall head a three-member Finance Desk, which shall assist the Finance Secretary in the financial affairs of the party.
(ii) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for incurring expenditure in accordance with the budget on the instructions of the Chairperson or the Secretary General.
(iii) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for collecting contributions and donations in accordance with the instructions of the Chairperson, the Secretary General or the Central Committee.
(iv) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the accounts of all central funds, and for presenting the accounts of the party at the session of the National Council or as directed by the Central Committee.
(i) A three-member Information Desk shall be established under the headship of the Information Secretary, which shall assist the Information Secretary in gathering information and in publication and broadcasting.
(ii) He or she shall be responsible for the publication of the party’s regular organ and, for this purpose, may when necessary form a Literary Committee and obtain the approval of the Central Committee for it.
(iii) He or she shall be responsible for making the party known and for having newspapers, circulars, pamphlets and the like published to publicise its aims, objectives and policies.
(i) The Welfare Secretary shall establish a three-member Welfare Desk, which shall assist him or her in welfare work.
(ii) He or she shall gather information about Baloch refugees and prepare a strategy for their welfare and for the education of their children.
(iii) The Welfare Secretary shall maintain contact with labourers, peasants and fishermen, shall guide the party on their problems and struggles, and shall report to the Central Committee.
(iv) The Welfare Secretary shall maintain contact with labour unions and with fishermen’s and peasants’ organisations, and shall report to the Central Committee on their activities.
(v) The party’s Department of Education, Department of Health and relief programmes shall be under the Welfare Secretary.
(vi) He or she shall organise programmes for the prevention of drug abuse and social evils in Balochistan.
(vii) He or she shall keep a close watch on the social problems, disasters and accidents of Balochistan and, having obtained information on them, shall guide the party on party policy and strategy.
(i) The Human Rights Secretary shall establish a three-member Human Rights Desk to assist him or her.
(ii) He or she shall gather data on the human rights situation in Balochistan and send it regularly to the United Nations Working Group and to other international and regional human rights bodies.
(iii) He or she shall arrange, with the assistance of the Central Information Secretary, the publication of material on human rights.
(i) Foreign affairs shall be a department of the party under the Foreign Secretary, with three members including the Foreign Secretary.
(ii) The Foreign Secretary shall be responsible for implementing the foreign policy approved by the Central Committee.
(iii) The Foreign Secretary shall be bound to take the Chairperson of the party into confidence in all his or her affairs.
(iv) It shall be the responsibility of the Foreign Secretary to make known the party’s central policies on national and foreign affairs in diplomatic relations with independent countries, the United Nations and international forums.
(v) The Foreign Secretary shall work abroad to obtain diplomatic support for the Baloch movement.
(vi) The Foreign Secretary shall be responsible for informing the international community of the important political, economic and human rights issues of Balochistan, and shall coordinate this work with the relevant departments of the party.
(vii) He or she shall formulate a policy on foreign affairs and present it to the Central Committee for approval.
The constitutional powers, rights and duties and the organisational structure of the Hankeen and the Tak (Zone / Chapter) shall be the same. Bodies abroad equivalent to a Hankeen shall be called a Tak (Chapter).
(i) A Hankeen / Tak Council shall consist of at least four Banzahs.
(ii) The Hankeen / Tak Council shall be the most authoritative body of the party within the Hankeen.
(iii) One member in every three members of a Banzah shall be elected to the Hankeen / Tak Council.
(iv) The Banzah Secretary and the Banzah Deputy Secretary shall be members of the Hankeen / Tak Council.
(v) The Hankeen / Tak Council shall guide the Banzahs in membership drives in the primary Banzahs, and in political and social affairs and activities.
(vi) On the recommendation of a primary unit, the Hankeen / Tak Council may recommend to the Chairperson or the Secretary General disciplinary action against any ordinary member of that primary unit.
(vii) The Hankeen / Tak Council shall elect the office-bearers of the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet.
The Hankeen / Tak Cabinet shall consist of the following offices:
(7.5.1) President
(7.5.2) Vice President
(7.5.3) General Secretary
(7.5.4) Joint Secretary
(7.5.5) Finance Secretary
(i) The Hankeen / Tak President shall be the head of the party throughout the Hankeen / Tak.
(ii) The Hankeen / Tak President may preside over any meeting of the party in the Hankeen / Tak.
(iii) The Hankeen / Tak President may at any time call a meeting of any body of the party in the Hankeen / Tak.
(iv) The Hankeen / Tak President may, when necessary, spend up to twenty thousand rupees, or an equivalent sum, on party affairs without prior approval; the details of such expenditure must be presented at the next meeting of the Hankeen / Tak Council.
(i) In the event of the resignation, removal, illness, absence or death of the President, the Vice President may exercise all the powers of the President.
(ii) The Vice President shall assist the President in all the activities of the party.
(i) The General Secretary shall be responsible for all the office affairs of the party in the Hankeen / Tak and for the safekeeping of its records, documents and files.
(ii) The General Secretary shall be responsible for preparing the agenda for meetings of the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet and the Hankeen / Tak Council, and for preparing the minutes of those meetings and presenting them at the next meeting.
(iii) The General Secretary shall be competent, in consultation with the President, to call meetings of the Hankeen / Tak Council, the Hankeen Cabinet and other bodies.
(i) In the event of the resignation, removal, illness, absence or death of the General Secretary, the Joint Secretary shall perform all the duties and exercise all the powers of the General Secretary.
(ii) The Joint Secretary shall assist the General Secretary in the various affairs of the party.
(i) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for incurring expenditure in accordance with the budget on the instructions of the President or the General Secretary.
(ii) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for collecting contributions and donations in accordance with the instructions of the President, the General Secretary or the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet.
(iii) The Finance Secretary shall be responsible for keeping the accounts of all the funds of the Hankeen / Tak, and for presenting the accounts of the party at the meeting of the Hankeen Council or as directed by the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet.
(iv) Of all the finances of the Hankeen / Tak, the Finance Secretary shall be bound to deposit 75 per cent in the central finances, and may retain 25 per cent locally for its own expenses.
(i) All party units established in neighbourhoods and villages, and abroad, shall be called Banzahs.
(ii) At least seven members are required to establish a primary Banzah.
(iii) The power to form a Banzah in any area shall rest with the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet.
(iv) A Banzah shall have a Secretary and a Deputy Secretary, who shall be elected by the members of the Banzah.
(v) The Banzah Secretary shall be competent to call and preside over every meeting in his or her Banzah and to hold study circles, while the Deputy Banzah Secretary shall assist the Banzah Secretary in various matters.
(vi) A simple majority of a Banzah may recommend to the Chairperson or the Secretary General the suspension of the membership of any of its members (except members of the Hankeen / Tak Cabinet).
(i) The cell system shall apply where the establishment of the basic organisational structure (the Banzah) is not possible. The Cabinet shall decide the scope of the cells.
(ii) Cells shall work under a Coordinator and a Deputy Coordinator and shall report directly to the General Secretary, who shall be competent to present such reports only at a meeting of the Cabinet.
Under the Constitution, disciplinary action may be taken against any member of the party, any member of a Council, any member of the Central Committee, or any office-bearer of the Central Cabinet, a Hankeen, a Chapter or a primary unit; provided that the member or office-bearer concerned has violated, in word or deed, the Manifesto, the Constitution, the aims and objectives or the discipline of the organisation, or is involved in political, moral or financial corruption.
The sources of the funds of the party shall be as follows:
(i) Membership fees and regular contributions.
(ii) Donations.
(iii) Sums received from the party’s publications and broadcasting.
(iv) Contributions for special occasions.
(v) Income from literary, social and welfare activities.
(i) Elections for all bodies and offices of the party shall be held by secret ballot on the basis of “one person, one vote”.
(ii) For the election of the central offices, other than the four co-opted central members, the Central Council, and for the election of all other candidates the President or the Cabinet concerned, shall have the power to form a three-member “Election Committee”. The members of the Committee shall themselves nominate the Election Commissioner.
(iii) Upon the formation of the Election Committee, the Cabinet or body concerned shall stand dissolved.
(iv) In the event of a tie in an election, the Election Commissioner may use a casting vote.
Only the National Council shall have the right to amend, repeal or add to the Constitution, the Manifesto and the programme of the party. The Constitution may be amended by a two-thirds majority of the members of the National Council present.
The quorum of the National Council, the Central Committee, the Central Cabinet and all other subsidiary bodies shall be formed by a simple majority; provided that, for an amendment of the Constitution, the quorum of the National Council shall be one third of its total members.
A meeting may be called on the motion of one quarter of the members of the body concerned. Once the requirement of quorum is met, the body concerned shall be competent, in accordance with the Constitution, to remove any member or office-bearer from his or her basic membership or office by a simple majority.
I, ____________, swear by the Baloch nation, by Balochistan and by the martyrs of the Baloch national struggle that, in fulfilling the aims and objectives of the “Baloch National Movement”, I shall not hold back from making any sacrifice, and that I shall do nothing by which harm may come to the interests and welfare of the Baloch nation and of the “Baloch National Movement”.
Party Programme
To mobilise and organise the Baloch nation politically and intellectually, and for the restoration of Baloch national freedom, the party shall struggle on the following points:
(i) The Baloch National Movement shall struggle for the restoration of Baloch national freedom under the ideology of nationalism, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
(ii) Rejecting the partition of the Baloch land by colonial powers, the Baloch National Movement shall struggle to reconstitute national unity on historical, geographical, linguistic and cultural foundations, and to unite the Baloch regions under one flag.
(iii) The Baloch National Movement shall not become part of the political, parliamentary, administrative and colonial structures imposed by the states occupying Balochistan.
(iv) For the restoration of Baloch national freedom, the Baloch National Movement shall struggle to form a united front, on ideological, intellectual and revolutionary standards, with the parties engaged in the freedom struggle.
(v) For the national, political, economic, educational and cultural development of the Baloch nation, the Baloch National Movement shall struggle to establish in Balochistan a political and social structure founded on social justice, democracy and progress.
(vi) Recognising Balochi as the national language of the Baloch nation, the Baloch National Movement shall take special measures for the development and promotion of Balochi and Brahui literature, and shall struggle to introduce a system of education in the mother tongues in order to build a literate society in Balochistan.
(vii) The Baloch National Movement shall take the necessary measures to repeal the imperial and colonial laws in force in Balochistan and to replace them with laws in harmony with positive Baloch traditions, values and customs and with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
(viii) The Baloch National Movement shall struggle to root out religious prejudice, sectarian terrorism, and tribal and linguistic intolerance and hatred in Balochistan, and to promote collective spirit, brotherhood and national solidarity in Baloch society.
The Baloch National Movement shall struggle for the restoration of Baloch national sovereignty on the basis of national freedom. The party regards the national domination and occupation of the Baloch homeland by foreign occupying nations, the deprivation of the Baloch nation of its national sovereignty, and the oppressive, colonial, political and social structures imposed by the occupying nations as the fundamental cause of the political, economic, social and cultural backwardness of the Baloch nation. For the national, political, economic, social, educational and cultural construction and development of the Baloch nation, the party shall therefore struggle for complete deliverance from the present colonial system, founded on oppression, exploitation, and national subjugation and domination.
The Baloch National Movement shall struggle to build the national economy of Balochistan on the basis of a mixed economy and to establish a welfare society through a partnership of national and private ownership and capital, and the following policies shall be implemented:
(i) The Baloch National Movement shall struggle to secure the free and independent development of the Baloch nation, protecting the political, economic and cultural interests of the Baloch nation from every kind of negative effect of foreign domination and monopoly.
(ii) The Baloch National Movement shall end the remnants of the feudal and comprador capitalist economy in Balochistan and make possible industrial and agricultural development in accordance with the needs of the national economy. To this end it shall ensure the participation of labourers, peasants, small farmers, traders and fishermen in the process of economic development, protect their rights, and encourage private industry and crafts alongside national industrialisation.
(iii) The Baloch National Movement shall cancel all anti-people agreements made on foreign and domestic investment and trade, and with multinational corporations, that conflict with Baloch national interests, and shall impose a complete ban on non-beneficial investment.
(iv) The investment of all multinational corporations and financial capitalist companies shall be brought into harmony with the national financial system, and local industry and crafts shall be protected from the negative effects of imperial investment.
(v) To protect local industry, the onslaught of foreign products shall be checked, and a policy of self-reliance shall be adopted by controlling dependence on the import of luxury goods.
(vi) The public sector in industry shall be encouraged. All domestic and foreign banks, insurance companies and large financial institutions of a national character shall be linked through the financial system of the national central bank.
(vii) Large monopolies shall be discouraged and medium and small-scale investment encouraged; to achieve balanced development, a network of suitable industries shall be laid throughout Balochistan, and friendly commercial and economic relations shall be established with foreign countries.
(viii) To derive the greatest benefit from mineral resources, mineral industries shall be established, monopolies over these resources shall be ended, and the resources shall be taken into national ownership.
(ix) Special measures shall be taken to develop the gas reserves of Balochistan; their wasteful use and unsuitable distribution shall be controlled, and the supply of gas shall be ensured to all the towns and rural areas of Balochistan, so that industries may be promoted and every citizen may be provided with cheap fuel for domestic needs.
(x) Special measures shall be taken to discover oil reserves and to develop them and bring them into use; by making full use of these reserves, domestic needs shall be met and foreign exchange earned through the export of oil products.
(xi) For the discovery of the underground mineral resources of Balochistan — oil, gas, coal, uranium, iron, sulphur, copper, gold, silver, gypsum, chromite and other minerals — agreements shall be made with developed countries, keeping Baloch national interests in view.
(xii) Special arrangements shall be made for the development of the mining industry, and modern equipment and machinery shall be provided for its development and expansion.
(xiii) To free Balochistan from the semi-feudal, outdated and backward relations of production imposed by the occupying nations and to bring the agricultural economy into harmony with the needs of the modern age, a policy of agrarian reform shall be adopted: the ceiling on the ownership of irrigated agricultural land shall be fixed at not less than 50 acres, the ceiling for rain-fed land shall be determined according to output per unit, and all uncultivated land shall be distributed among landless peasants in proportion to the ceiling.
(xiv) To develop agro-industry, agriculture shall be given the status of an industry. The free supply of modern agricultural implements, tractors, fertilisers, agricultural pesticides, seeds and the like to farmers and peasants shall be made possible, and no unjust agricultural tax, water rate or the like shall be levied on them in any form.
(xv) Interest-free agricultural loans and other financial grants shall be provided to peasants and small farmers to increase agricultural production; laws shall be made for the encouragement and protection of farm labourers and tenants, and farm labourers and tenants shall be given the right to organise.
(xvi) Water reserves shall be developed. To modernise and improve the irrigation system, underground water resources shall be brought into use and, to store flood water, large dams and check dams shall be built on all rivers and streams, and these sources shall be put to use.
(xvii) Recognising employment, education, housing, medical treatment and other basic facilities as the fundamental right of every citizen, the Baloch National Movement shall take practical steps to entrust these responsibilities to the state.
(xviii) The experience of developed countries shall be drawn upon to establish an effective system of taxation. To increase the sources of revenue, a research centre of economic experts shall be established, which shall plan the use of national income for development work in order to build a welfare society.
(i) To develop fisheries and marine resources, special arrangements shall be made to provide fishermen with modern equipment that does not destroy marine life, loans on easy instalments, boats, engines and nets, and technical training. Harbours shall be built in all coastal areas, cold storage and factories shall be established for the modern packing and preservation of the fish catch, and marketing at local and international level shall be guaranteed for the export of the fish catch abroad.
(ii) Co-operative societies shall be established to create fishing farms, and the economic security of fishermen shall be ensured.
(i) Cattle farms shall be established for livestock breeding and herding. Special measures shall be taken to provide basic human facilities to the nomadic population, and they shall be provided with water, electricity, housing, education, medical treatment, means of transport and employment opportunities. Cattle farms and poultry farms for livestock breeding shall be given the status of cottage industries, and the facility of bank loans shall also be provided.
(ii) Wildlife shall be protected. Effective laws shall be made for the protection of natural pastures, wild animals and birds and for the development of forests, and national parks shall also be established.
(iii) To promote tourism, places of recreation shall be made attractive. The tourism sector, too, shall be given the status of an industry and made an important means of earning foreign exchange.
(i) Adapting the means of trade and transport to the needs of the modern age, and in view of the geographical conditions of Balochistan, an effective transport system shall be established. A comprehensive network of roads, bridges, railway lines and modern sea and air communications shall be built so that all the areas of Balochistan may be linked with one another.
(ii) Balochistan shall be linked to the global village through information technology, modern electronic equipment and computer technology, and, to bring it into harmony with the needs of the modern age, institutions of education and training of international standard, equipped with modern technology, shall be built as a matter of urgency.
(i) The colonial and neo-colonial system of education in educational institutions shall be abolished. Keeping in view national needs and the needs of the modern age, new curricula shall be drawn up in which special attention shall be paid to science and technology, national history, civilisation and culture, and positive national values, and which shall also be acceptable to international universities.
(ii) The system of education founded on class and commercial bases shall be abolished and equal educational facilities shall be provided to all citizens. Centres of basic education shall be opened in the villages. Education shall be declared free and compulsory.
(i) Special measures shall be taken for the discovery and protection of the Baloch historical heritage.
(ii) Dedicated institutions shall be established for the encouragement of writers, poets, researchers, artists, painters and musicians of the Balochi and Brahui languages.
(iii) Special measures shall be taken for the development and promotion of Balochi handicrafts, embroidery and architecture.
(i) Adopting an independent, positive and non-aligned foreign policy, the Baloch National Movement shall establish political, economic, commercial and cultural relations with the nations of the world on the basis of equality, under the principle of peaceful coexistence.
(ii) The best of friendly relations shall be established with all neighbouring countries, and fraternal ties shall be built while adhering to the policy of non-interference in one another’s internal affairs.
(iii) For the establishment of peace at the international level, the survival of humanity, democracy, and social and economic development, the Baloch National Movement shall struggle, together with the peace-loving forces of the world, to bring about an end to war and nuclear weapons, and shall oppose countries engaged in a race for weapons of mass destruction in violation of the Charter of the United Nations and contrary to international law.
(iv) The Baloch National Movement shall struggle on every front against the colonial and neo-colonial system, racism and discrimination, and shall co-operate fully with the countries and political movements struggling against these forces.
(v) The Baloch National Movement shall support anti-imperialist national freedom movements, labour movements and democratic forces; declaring the right to national freedom to be the natural right of every nation, it recognises this universal principle as the fundamental basis of world peace, the survival of humanity, and political, economic and social development.
To shape the political and social structure of Balochistan in a national democratic mould, the Baloch National Movement shall struggle on the following points for the restoration and protection of fundamental human, democratic and social rights:
(i) To establish a national democratic form of politics and society and the sovereignty of the people in Balochistan, the Baloch National Movement, declaring the people to be the source of power, shall completely end the exploitation of one individual by another, and shall guarantee to every citizen, without distinction of colour or race, religion or belief, caste or sex, an equal freedom to take part in the affairs of establishing Baloch national sovereignty, to hold office, to be elected to public bodies, and to put forward his or her point of view in the affairs of the state.
(ii) The political policy of national democratic politics shall be founded on a people’s democratic system, which shall guarantee the welfare, progress and prosperity of the people.
(iii) The people’s right to vote shall be recognised, respected and protected under the principle of one person, one vote. In place of separate electorates, the principle of joint electorates on the basis of adult franchise — one person, one vote — shall be adopted; and freedom of writing and speech, of organisation, of expression and of voting shall be guaranteed.
(iv) Discrimination on the basis of sex shall be ended; there shall be a struggle for the equal rights of women and men in society, and the equal participation of Baloch women in the process of Baloch national construction and development shall be ensured.
(v) The provision of employment, education, housing, medical treatment, food and other basic facilities shall be recognised as a fundamental right, and practical measures shall be taken in this regard.
(vi) The rights of children shall be fully protected. Special attention shall be paid to their upbringing, education and training, and to their health and nutritional needs, so that they may play a positive and constructive role in the building and development of society as healthy and capable individuals.
(vii) Educational institutions run on class and commercial bases shall be prohibited, and equal educational facilities shall be provided to all citizens. Education shall be declared free and compulsory. Education in the mother tongues shall be recognised as a fundamental right and introduced in educational institutions.
(viii) Modern educational, technical and scientific institutions and health centres of international standard shall be opened in the urban and rural areas of Balochistan.
(ix) There shall be a struggle to secure for labourers the rights to form unions, to strike and to bargain collectively, and the rights of labourers shall be protected in accordance with the charter of the ILO. The minimum wage of labourers shall be fixed in proportion to inflation.
(x) Appropriate industrial laws shall be made to provide medical treatment to labourers and their children and educational facilities to their children. Special legal arrangements shall also be made to improve the industrial environment and to ease the conditions of labour.
(xi) To provide speedy justice to the people, the judiciary shall be separated from the executive, and special measures shall be taken, and laws made, to keep the administration and the bureaucracy free from oppression, corruption and other social evils.
(xii) Opposing dictatorship, one-party rule and undemocratic measures in political affairs, and recognising the role of political organisations and democratic institutions, there shall be a struggle to promote the political process.
(xiii) The fundamental democratic and civil rights of all linguistic and religious minorities living in Balochistan shall be fully protected; all discriminatory laws that cause division in society or affect fundamental human rights shall be abolished, and equal rights and privileges shall be given to all citizens without any discrimination.
(xiv) All anti-people black laws made to protect the interests of the imperial and colonial bureaucracy, of feudalism and of comprador capitalists shall be repealed, and in their place laws in harmony with positive Baloch traditions, values and customs and with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights shall be introduced.
(xv) Old people’s homes and care centres shall be established for elderly citizens. Old-age benefit insurance policies shall be made, and in the event of disability the responsibility for all expenses shall rest with the state. Every possible arrangement of facilities shall be made for elderly citizens.
(xvi) The trade, use and spread of narcotics in Balochistan shall be declared a serious crime, and urgent measures shall be taken for the treatment and rehabilitation of drug addicts. A comprehensive struggle shall be waged to prevent narcotics and other social evils.
(xvii) The protection of the fundamental rights of doctors, engineers, teachers and all employed and skilled persons shall be ensured.
To establish peace in the Baloch state, the party shall form a national army on a professional basis, free from aggressive and expansionist designs, which shall protect the country’s geographical frontiers.