Accession of Kalat - Myth or Reality?

The accession of Kalat has been a center of attention and propaganda of all the separatists and pseudo-intellectual. Here in this article I will try to clear some misconceptions about it. 

Its a well know fact that Quaid-e-Azam enjoyed a very good relation with Khan of Kalat

It was due to this good relation that Khan of Kalat chose Quaid-e-Azam to be the legal adviser to the Kalat state. Quaid-e-Azam later on became the Governor General of Pakistan. 

Flag of Kalat State

There were several rounds of negotiations with the Pakistani government. Khan of Kalat Ahmad Yar Khan was mainly reluctant due to arrogance of his brother Prince Karim Khan. However, more importantly, the Khan had agreed with Jinnah that an understanding must be reached between Kalat and Pakistan on defence, external affairs and communications. Pakistan recognized Kalat as a separate state but negotiations about its accession to Pakistan was still underway. Kharan and Las Bela the regions which were claimed by Kalat had already acceded to Pakistan while Makran a district of Kalat wanted to do the same.

Mir Mohammed Habibullah Khan, the ruler of Kharan, wrote to the Quaid on August 21, 1947: 

"I announce on behalf of myself and my subjects and joins Pakistan Dominion as its suzerain and promises to serve Pakistan up to its extent"

The situation was getting complicated as the ruler of Kharan state wrote repeatedly to Quaid-e-Azam and complained about Kalat's interference in Kharan, a Pakistani territory, internal matters. By October 1947, Quaid-e-Azam had a change of heart and he now wanted Kalat to accede to Pakistan so he wrote to the Khan of Kalat demanding accession. 

 

Khan of Kalat as said before was initially reluctant but was willing to accede if given some concession on defence, foreign affairs and communication matters. Moreover, he wanted all his claimed lands back in Kalat. 

The ruler of Kharan in Baluchistan, while visiting Karachi in October 1947, issued a statement, saying: 

"Kharan was equal to Kalat and would never suffer subordination to her; Kharan would live and, if necessary, die for Pakistan"

After writing a letter to Khan of Kalat on 2nd February 1948 demanding accession, Quaid-e-Azam visited Sibi on 15th February and addressed the Sibi Darbar. The main reason of Quaid-e-Azam's visit was to persuade the Khan of Kalat for accession. Khan of Kalat failed to appear at the meeting pleading illness but promised that he will discuss the matter with his parliament and reach a decision by the end of the month. Before Khan of Kalat called the meeting to decide the future of Kalat state, his brother Abdul Karim Khan was already conspiring against the accession. On March 17, 1948 the Pakistan Foreign Ministry sent a telegram to London announcing that Kharan, Las Bela and Mekran had applied for accession to Pakistan and their accession had been accepted. After the accession of these regions into Pakistan, Kalat was reduced to more than half of its claimed land without having any access to sea.

A rumor surfaced that Khan was seeking India's help in this situation while Khan's brother Abdul Karim Khan decided to leave for Afghanistan with his wife and children. Khan of Kalat rejected the rumors of seeking India's help which was mainly surfaced by All India Radio saying:

"It had never been my intention to accede to India;It is, therefore, declared that from 9 pm on March 27th & the time when I heard the false news over the air, I forthwith decide to accede to Pakistan, and that whatever differences now exist between Kalat and Pakistan be placed in writing before Mr Jinnah, the Governor-General of Pakistan, whose decision I shall accept."

 And hence Khan of Kalat signed the Instrument of Accesion

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Text of the Instrument of Accession:

NOW THEREFORE, His Highness Baglar Begi Khan of Kalat (signed) Ruler of Kalat State in, the exercise of my sovereignt; in and over my said State DO hereby execute this my Instrument of Accession and1. I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of Pakistan with the intent that the Governor-General of Pakistan, the Dominion Legislature, the Supreme Court and any other Dominion authority established for the purposes of the Dominion shall, by virtue of this my Instrument of Accession, but subject always to the terms thereof, and for the purposes only Dominion, exercise 1n relation to the State of Kalat (hereinafter referred to as “this State”) such functions as may be vested in them by or under the Government of India Act, 1935, as in force ,in the Dominion of Pakistan on the 15th day of August 1947 (which Act as so in force is hereinafter referred to as “the Act”).2. I hereby assume the obligation of ensuring that due effect is given to the provisions of the Act within this State so far as they are applicable therein by virtue of this My Instrument of Accession.3. I accept the matters specified in the Schedule hereto as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for this State.4. I hereby declare that I accede to the Dominion of Pakistan on the assurance that if an agreement is made between the Governor-General and the Ruler of this State whereby any functions in relation to the administration in this State of any law of the Dominion Legislature shall be exercised by the Ruler of this State, then any such agreement shall be deemed to form part of this Instrument and shall be construed end have effect accordingly.5. Nothing in this Instrument shall empower the Dominion Legislature to make any law for this State authorising the compulsory acquisition of land for any purpose, but I hereby undertake that should the Dominion for the purposes of a Dominion law which applies in this State deem it necessary to acquire any land, I will at their request acquire the land at their expense or if the land belongs to me transfer it to them on such terms as may be agreed, or, in default of agreement, determined by an arbitrator to be appointed by the Chief Justice of Pakistan.6. The terms of this my Instrument of Accession shall not be varied by any amendment of the Act or of the Indian Inde­pendence Act, 1947, unless such amendment is accepted by me by an Instrument supplementary to this Instrument.7. Nothing in this Instrument shall be deemed to commit me in any way to acceptance of any future constitution of Pakistan or to fetter my discretion to enter into arrangements with the Government of Pakistan under any such future constitution.8. Nothing, in this Instrument affects the continuance of my sovereignty in and over this State, or, Save as provided by or under this Instrument, the exercise of any powers, authority and rights now enjoyed by me as Ruler of this State or the validity of any law at present in force in this State.9. I hereby declare that I execute this Instrument on behalf of this State and that any reference in this Instrument to me or to the Ruler of the State is to be construed as including a reference to my heirs and successors.Given under my hand this 27th March 1948. Nineteen hundred and forty eightSigned by: His Highness Baglar Begi Khan of Kalat(Ruler of Kalat State)I do hereby accept this Instrument of Accession.Dated this 31st March 1948 Nineteen hundred and forty eightSigned by: Ma Jinnah(Governor-General of Pakistan)

While the Instrument of Accession was signed by the Khan of Kalat on March 27, it was placed before Jinnah on March 31, 1948, who accepted it.

Khan of Kalat's brother Abdul Karim Khan returned from Afghanistan with militants to stage an insurgency against the Pakistan state in mid of July 1948. It was the first time when Pakistan Army had to come forward to coup with this insurgency. Abdul Karim Khan along with most of his accomplices was arrested and put behind bars. He spent 16 years of his remaining 22 years behind the bars. 

There has been a kind of tug of war between Kalat and Pakistan but making the accession controversial and doing propaganda on its basis is not acceptable. Many journalists would blatantly lie that Kalat joined Pakistan by force but they can't give any historic proof to this claim. If accession of Kalat state was a myth, why would people like Mir Ghaus Baksh Bizenjo, President of the Kalat State National Party, who were against Kalat state acceding to Pakistan later on became the Governor of the Balochistan province? Another most important fact is that why Kalat is presented as entire Balochistan province? By the time of Accession of Kalat, most of Balochistan was already part of Pakistan but propagandists only talk about Kalat as if it was entire Balochistan. What is now called Balochistan had many Pashtoon dominated districts which along with Quetta and other districts readily became part of Pakistan by August 1947 excluding Gawadar which belonged to Oman at that time and was later sold to Pakistan.

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Sources Used for this Article:

1. THE ACCESSION OF KALAT: MYTH AND REALITY

2. INSTRUMENT OF ACCESSION OF KALAT STATE

3. Jinnah's Letter to Khan of Kalat demanding Accession to Pakistan

4. Wikipedia

5. Library sources

Aisha Baloch

Author is a twitter activist.She tweets here(https://twitter.com/AyishaBaloch)

Balochistan – Changing Perspectives

From a person with no homeland like Tarek Fatah to every second champion of human rights is worried about the matters in Balochistan.  But let me ask them, have they ever bothered to visit Balochistan themselves and see and hear with their own eyes and ears what’s really happening here? Being a native of Balochistan and having keen interest in its happenings I have came across many drastic changes in our region. From a merely Sardar hegemonic region with scarcity of literacy to a progressing with snail’s pace after some anti-state sardars fleeing the province, I have seen some very positive changes here over the last few years. The word ‘positive’ may sound alien in context of Balochistan as all you see on media about this province is negativity. The self-proclaimed Human Right activists like Tarek Fatah have never condemned the Israel's bombardment of Gaza for the last 6 decades that has killed millions including kids and women. They have no grit to question the Indian Army illegal occupation of Kashmir but when it comes to Balochistan, they appear out of nowhere with their maligned facts and twisted version of history as the 'saviors' of Baloch people.

There was a time when there was hardly any school in cities of Balochistan other than Quetta, but now we see them in almost every corner of the city. I myself had to travel miles to reach my school and very few girls from my neighborhood accompanied me in my early days. But now being a teacher by profession I am very glad to see that literacy rate is gradually increasing especially among girls. It may be far less as compared to other provinces but even this is acceptable in a province that has been hit by militancy for decades. The other positive thing I noticed is the increase in the sense of security as the time proceeds. The security forces are getting more and more popular as people feel less threatened by the militants in their presence. These untold facts may be really hard for some to digest as I have hardly heard any positive news about Balochistan on media till date. Most of the visitors from other provinces have been stunned to realize that most of what they heard before coming to Balochistan was merely a myth. They found  life as normal as it is in rest of the provinces. One of my friend from KPK province empathizes with me when I tell her about misconceptions about insecurity in Balochistan.

I am not denying the fact that militancy and terrorism in Balochistan had its days but the overall hype about it is more than it deserves. It was under these circumstances that I decided to voice my concerns to the world through an online platform and joined twitter about two years ago. The response I received was immense. But the most staggering revelation for me after meeting the online audience was that the most interested people in Balochistan matters were Indians. They were more interested than Pakistanis themselves and it was quite alarming for me. To be honest, I would never have studied them if I hadn’t come across them on twittersphere. And then who can ignore the separatists bully brigade? They helped me learn a lot about the mindset of my enemies and how they can be countered. The most common thing between the Indian audience and the separatist brigade is their rhetoric that India is the most peaceful country and Pakistan is the worst.

On the other hand, the role of Pakistani media has been quite disappointing but had it not been that way, my followers on twitter would never have known someone named Aisha Baloch. What’s more appalling than the fact that most of the media channels never dared to name the real culprits responsible for annihilating Quaid-e-Azam residency in Ziarat. The same has been the case with multiple train attacks and other public places. Just a couple of days back I came across pictures of a cricket tournament held in Quetta in which stadium was full of spectators. I didn’t come across any news about this positive activity in Balochistan on any news channel or newspaper.  Anyways, there has been a lot of awareness since the day I joined twitter and I have seen a lot of people who actually sympathize with the people of Balochistan in their real issues like terrorism, not the planted issues mainly given false hype by the media.

I am thankful to all my friends and followers for giving me the strength and motivation to strive for depicting a better image of Balochistan to Pakistan and to the world. I will never disappoint you in this regard.

Aisha Baloch

Author is a twitter activist.She tweets here(https://twitter.com/AyishaBaloch)