By destroying the native language of the subjected nation, the colonial rulers are well aware that they can steadily weaken the subjugated nation’s resistance and their demand for breaking free from the bondage of colonialism. They are conscious of the fact that language is the interconnecting network of a nation’s cultural, moral, aesthetic, legal, social and economic identity. The occupying states know well enough that a national identity would not be annihilated easily without destruction of the native language of the occupied nations. They know that the youths of the subjugated nations cannot be indoctrinated with a false history and identity without the destruction of their native languages.
Underachievement and low skills of children under occupation are the inevitable concomitant of giving unfair disadvantage to these children by denying them to be educated in their mother tongue. From the account which has been given it follows that colonial rulers in pursuing this policy will proactively undermine the potential abilities of these children and will damage their future prospects forever. One matter of great importance that bears the full force of this impervious malicious design is that the potential contributions of these children to their homeland will be lessened severely. In addition, they cannot express their demands and democratic rights fully when they reach at their rebellious age. They will be less confident and even may show a sense of inferiority complex about their origin, culture, language and the past history. This will be followed by being engulfed by a gloomy cloud of capitulation, despondency, failure, dependency and servitude behaviour.
Another instrument of prolonging subjugation is by means of spreading addiction among the youths of the subjected nation. Baluchistan is a tragic case where thousands of Baluch youths are the victims of this deliberate criminal policy. Traditionally Baluch have been strongly against the use of addictive drugs.
This terrible malaise in Baluchistan has taken root in the last thirty years. During the same period we see the birth and growth of a whole new nationwide national democratic liberation movement in Baluchistan. Both the occupying Islamic states of Pakistan and Iran have been using this instrument of destruction to undermine the potential power of Baluch youths from playing a role in the liberation movement.
Falling in the dungeon of addiction will also give spurious self-justification to the colonial rulers. These rulers would claim in their propaganda machine that if it were not for their presence in Baluchistan a larger number of Baluch youths would descend into this quagmire. In other words they imply that Baluch people are irresponsible, unreliable and unable to remedy their social defects themselves. By splitting this fabricated deceit down the middle, the colonial establishment hang the both sides of this falsehood over the neck of the Baluch nation. They lay the blame all together on the Baluch as the cause and effect of their devastation. But this accusation is far from reality. The truth, in its totality, is obviously more complex but the hand of occupying states in spreading this malaise at the same time is undeniable. There are many historical records, cases and conclusive evidence of colonial powers direct involvement in employing addiction as an instrument of suppression.
One of the main causes that some Baluch youths are turning to illicit drugs is due to the presence of chronic level of unemployment. The Baluch youths live in a real predicament that is designed and implemented by these states. On one hand the Baluch youth are unable to acquire proper education and hence cannot get a proper job. Out of desperation these youths resort to drugs and petty crime.
The shattered state of education is so apparent that even the occupying establishments have been admitting their gross negligence and underinvestment in this sector. The crisis is so big that it cannot be hidden. The rareness of educational institutions and the poor quality and paucity of resources allocated to this sector is too visible that it cannot escape one’s attention. Compounding this problem is the fact that as Baluchistan is kept so poverty stricken - only very few Baluch families are able to afford even the type of education that is currently available. Among Baluch students there are also those students who are prevented from continuing their education since these youths or a member of their families are known to be a member of Baluchistan resistance movement.
Furthermore, the occupying states, their security forces and their proxies have created an unstable and insecure environment that is not conducive for Baluch youths to peruse their education in Baluchistan. The degree of insecurity and prospect of not getting anywhere with one’s education is such that their education will not just help them in their social, economic, intellectual, cultural well-being - instead it may bring them more misery, unemployment, poverty, displacement and conflict with corrupt Sardars, colonial and religious authorities. The causal consequence of this policy comes to nothing less than the negation of an effective culture of learning.
Even if you pass all these stages and you happen to be a well-qualified for the few jobs that are offered in the public sector your chance of getting one is almost second to none. These jobs tend to go to the cronies of the occupying states and security forces who tend to be non-Baluch. For those small numbers of Baluch that happen to get a job in this sector, they either get it by accident or are carefully selected. The number of these individuals is usually insignificant. Those who are selected by the colonial rulers are among specific social groups. The hard core of this group is tend to be selected from the most timid, subservient, religious, ignorant, corrupt, and criminal section of Baluch society. These individuals are not at all concern about the human and democratic rights of Baluch people and nation.
A little reflection on the stringent conditions of colonial policy of education in Baluchistan shows that it is fragmentary and replete with contradictions. This can hardly be called a satisfactory educational system. Many of its functions run counter to the interests of Baluch youths and Baluchistan. After all, its underlying purposes consist of two complementary elements. The primary purpose is to keep educational system as underdeveloped as possible and secondly to employ the scanty education provided to promote their colonial beliefs.
The prevalent colonial geopolitical systems in Baluchistan can maintain their domination so long as the Baluch youths are not legally, socially and politically informed about their democratic rights, interests and well-being. That is why, at one level, most of those lucky Baluch youths who completed their education find themselves in a dead-end situation. Soon after completion of their education they discover a life that involves isolation and unemployment. At another level, they are lacking the skills that their parents and grandparents employed for their survival. So they are being barred from both worlds. The severe economic hardship then leaves not many options in their disposal. The struggle for bare necessities and survival will unavoidably distract their thoughts and daily activities away from their rights and their opposition to subjugation. This is exactly what the colonial powers and establishment wish for. The end result of this policy only prolongs the period of bondage and subjugation.
To be continued…
Dr Shahswar K is a Baloch political and Human Rights activist, and the co-ordinator of International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons in United Kingdom. He is a Senior Lecturer in Economics at London Metropolitan University, UK. He is the author of "Money and its Origins".
http://balochwarna.com/features/articles.82/Baluch-Youths-and-the-Baluch-Liberation-Movement---Part-3.html#.Uc9oCscukws.facebook
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