Balochistan: Pakistan’s Nightmare – OpEd

A “Trick That Never Seems to Fail”

Pardon me for repeating it for the third time, but by singing paeans of a spectacular victory achieved by the security forces in Balochistan, the Pakistan army’s media wing Inter Services Public Relations [ISPR] has yet once again reaffirmed its absolute faith in the stratagem of acting boastfully about something one ought to be ashamed about mentioned in Joseph Heller’s famous anti-war fictional novel Catch 22 set in the closing days of World War II.

In this novel, there’s an incident in which the anti-hero Yossarian on a bombing mission is so scared by the enemy’s flak that he fails to drop his bombs and so he decides to go over the target the second time. Though he manages to destroy the target, making a second pass over the target gives the enemy the opportunity to shoot down another bomber accompanying him, killing its entire crew.

Colonel Cathcart who is commanding the bomber group is livid as mentioning that his bombers went over the target twice was something that he felt “Looks lousy on the report” and is worried as to “how am I going to cover up something like this in the report.” When Yossarian suggests that he be given a medal, Cathcart rightly tells him that “you’ll be lucky if we don’t give you a court-martial.” But the ambitious Colonel is more worried about the inevitable embarrassment that this incident would cause.

Luckily, Colonel Cathcart’s deputy Colonel Korn comes up with a face saving strategy by proposing to the commanding officer, “why we don’t give him a medal?” He explains-“You know, that might be the answer-to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of. That’s a trick that never seems to fail.” When Colonel Cathcart asks if it would work, Colonel Korn replies “I’m sure it will,” adding “Let’s promote him to Captain, too. Just to make certain.”

A Weird Stratagem in Motion

On May 7, 2025, India responded to the Pakistan sponsored Pahalgam terrorist attack by launching Operation Sindoor targeting nine major terrorist facilities and eleven air bases. The Pakistani armed forces were caught completely unaware and the substantial damage caused left Rawalpindi red faced. Gen Asim Munir’s predicament would definitely been akin to that of the fictional Col Cathcart of Catch 22 after Yossarin’s botched bombing mission and the ISPR with Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif in tow played the role of Colonel Korn.

Assisted by its covert ‘army’ of social media handles, ISPR quickly embarked on the mission of conjuring a narrative sans any credible evidence to support its phantastic claims. The physical damage caused to Pakistani terrorist and defence facilities was there for all to see, and presence of senior army officers at the funeral services of high ranking terrorist leaders notwithstanding, ISPR successfully pushed across its incredible account of this confrontation, thanks to a lobby of Indians from various walks of life with a known history of berating India.

ISPR saved the day by deciding “to act boastfully about something we ought to be ashamed of” and no one questioned the army and its premier spy agency Inter Services Intelligence [ISI] on their abysmal failure to provide early warning of India’s military response despite the fact that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had clearly articulated New Delhi’s decision to seek appropriate retribution for the Pahalgam terrorist attack. And following Col Korn’s idea, Gen Munir promptly promoted himself to the rank of Field Marshal “just to make it certain.”

Operation Herof 2.0

On January 30, the Balochistan Liberation Army [BLA] launched Operation Herof 2.0 with its fighters attacking security forces and law enforcement agencies in a dozen cities spanning at least nine districts including Balochistan’s capital Quetta. Such a massive operation involving hundreds of fighters would have required extensive coordination through electronic means as well as large scale physical movement and concentration of BLA cadres prior to the attacks. That the ISI and the military failed to detect the same is undoubtedly a major intelligence failure, but who in Pakistan dares to question those in uniform.

Operation Herof 2.0 once again brought to fore the extraordinary determination and willingness of BLA fighters to embrace death and in this operation, female Baloch fighters also participated as foot soldiers. BLA fighters did not engage in hit and run attacks but took control over populated areas and fought till the end. Visuals show civilians mingling freely with BLA fighters and even cheering them, which conclusively demolishes the Pakistan army’s false narrative that Baloch armed groups terrorise the people. 

Unanswered Questions

As the country’s CDF, Field Marshal Munir has to and must answer some hard questions like-

• The Pakistan army claims that the people of Balochistan are with them and not with armed Baloch groups, why hasn’t it been able to subdue Baloch armed groups?

• If armed Baloch groups are terrorising locals then what explains video footage released by BLA showing civilians not moving around freely in areas controlled by BLA fighters but even fraternising with them? 

• When he had publicly announced that “We will beat the hell out of these [Baloch] terrorists very soon,” how come the BLA could launch a massive operation?

• If armed Baloch groups are being sponsored by New Delhi as the CDF alleges, then why is ISI which boasts of being the world’s premier spy agency helpless in severing this link?

• Despite a string of humongous intelligence failures to predict major militant attacks in Balochistan like the August 2024 Operation Herof, 2025 Jaffar Express Hijacking and ongoing Operation Herof 2.0, why Field Marshal Munir has not taken any action against those  responsible for the string of major intelligence failures that has resulted in deaths of over a hundred security force personnel ?

Reflections 

Comparative statistical data on fatal casualties prepared by the Pakistan army indicates that for every security personnel killed during Operation Herof 2.0, the BLA has in turn lost nearly 10 fighters. However, this is nothing to be proud of,-especially since it’s obvious that while BLA fatalities are grossly exaggerated, the number of security force personnel killed have definitely been significantly understated. 

Surah Luqmān [31:18] warnsthat “Do not walk proudly upon the earth. Indeed, Allah does not love the arrogant and boastful.” Unfortunately, though himself an Islamic scholar, Field Marshal Munir seems to have disregarded the profound content of this ayat [verse] when he pompously declared that “We will beat the hell out of these [Baloch] terrorists very soon.” And ten months later, Operation Herof 2.0 has proved that just like politicians, for Pakistan’s Field Marshal, “very soon” is an expression denoting an open-ended estimation of time!