Robin Fleming
The Baloch people, who number some ten million, have long been denied a state of their own. Divided between Iran, Pakistan and Afghanistan, in many respects their maltreatment by centralised, authoritarian states closely recalls the experience of the Kurds.
But there are also parallels between the two countries’ political movements. In Balochistan, a new wave of women-led protest has broken out, with prominent female activists including Dr Mahrang Baloch taking to the streets to demand an end to forced disappearances conducted by the Pakistani authorities and said to have resulted in thousands of deaths among Balochi opposition figures. The prominent role of women in these protests is unprecedented, and follows the Kurdish movement’s own rise to global prominence on the basis of a unique, women-led ideology.
Medya News’ Robin Fleming spoke to Ruken Ahmed, a member of the diplomacy committee for Kurdish women’s movement Kongra Star, to discuss the links and parallels between the two movements, and whether these women-led, stateless political forces could present an alternative to the state violence currently engulfing the Middle East.
Are there historical, cultural and linguistic links between the Kurds and Baloch?
There are many parallels between the Kurdish people and the Baloch people. The two peoples were divided geographically into different parts and are today occupied by different states. This was done by foreign forces, in Kurdistan by the Sykes Picot Treaty and in Balochistan by the then-British occupation. In both cases, we are dealing with a population that was divided geographically by artificially drawn state borders. Kurdistan was divided into four states and Balochistan into three. In all these states, the Kurds and Baloch became a minority, although they form the majority in their region as a whole. Both peoples were and are confronted with the genocidal policies of the respective occupying states.
What are the political implications of these links?
When we hear about the fate of the Baloch, about state disappearances, about mass graves, about precarious conditions in their regions due to state policies, about assimilation and genocidal policies, about mothers asking for their disappeared children, about the exploitation of natural resources, then we see again the situation in which we Kurds find ourselves.
When we learn that young Baloch are murdered and their families receive their bodies mutilated by state forces while waiting for their return, I cannot help but think of Agit İpek, one of the many [slain Kurds] whose remains were sent by mail to his parents.
Both peoples are confronted with the capitalist, fascist and patriarchal violence of the nation state. The identities of both peoples are not internationally recognised, neither politically nor culturally, and because they have no such status, they also have no access to international organisations and mechanisms whose task it is to prosecute human rights violations and breaches of international law, because to do so, one must be or have a state, which we do not have. But apart from that, we also see parallels in both peoples’ strong connection to their own culture, language, history and the waging of an indomitable struggle for their rights and freedom.
In both the Kurdish and Baloch resistance movements, women are at the forefront and lead their societies. In both cases, we have understood that women’s freedom is part of the freedom of society as a whole. Both movements are connected to society, to the grassroots, and reflect their demands for freedom. They are both movements that draw their strength from their convictions and through their people. In both movements, we see that the leaders are also willing to give their lives for the freedom of their people. Despite the attacks on leading women, such as Karima Baluch, a leading woman in the Balochi student movement, or leading women from the Kurdish freedom movement such as Sakine Cansiz, the will and conviction of women for the struggle is unbroken.
Why is it important that these two, distinct peoples and movements support one another at the present movement?
International solidarity against patriarchy, nationalism, fascism and capitalism, which are forms of oppression of people on an international level, is very important, even if the forms and methods of oppression are expressed differently, they are connected at the root. Therefore, the fates of the oppressed peoples and their struggle for resistance cannot be considered separately. Not only do we draw strength for our struggle when we see that the women of Balochistan are fighting for the same as we are, but we are also convinced that the stronger their struggle is, the stronger our struggle will be. Apart from that, we are very close geographically and we have seen in Iran, for example, that our struggle is a common one. When the uprisings in Iran started with the Kurdish women’s movement ‘Jin Jiyan Azadi’, it was Kurdish and Baluchi women who participated the most in the protests against the oppressive regime. Our struggles are connected. Resolving the Kurdish and Baluchi issues is an important step towards democratisation and resolving the conflicts in the Middle East.
Women play a prominent role in both movements. What is the importance of this?
Kurdish and Baloch women are oppressed in three ways: firstly by the nation state like the entire population, by fascism because of their identity as Baloch and Kurd, and then as women by patriarchy. As women, we have not accepted the fate that is imposed on us as women and which is imposed on our people, and we revolt against it. In both movements, we see that women play a leading role for the freedom of their people and are at the forefront of the protests because they have understood that society cannot be free without women’s freedom. And we cannot leave the gaining of our freedom to anyone else, so it is important to fight this struggle ourselves.
