Analysis | Balochistan – A Saga of Devolutions, State Repression and quest for Freedom
“Today from the ramparts of Red Fort, I want to greet and express my thanks to some people. In the last few days, people of Balochistan, Gilgit, Pakistan-occupied Kashmir have thanked me, have expressed gratitude, and expressed good wishes for me.”
When the Indian Prime Minister acknowledged the people of Balochistan from the ramparts of the Red Fort on Indian Independence Day in 2016, it was followed by a barrage of speculations as to the implications of this apparently benign act of expressing thanks to his well-wishers. When the elected leader of the world’s largest democracy speaks on such an important date in front of a multitude of cameras, every word is carefully measured, and whatever is said, is uttered with a purpose. Comprehending or imagining the worst possible implicat...