Daily Times

The Khan of Kalat’s disappointing delays and the act of dragging his feet before the promised announcement of accession may have been in response to some internal conflicts. He had delayed the fulfillment of the promise of accession of the state to Pakistan with Mr. Jinnah by almost six months. It is likely that some political games were being played and the players included the British, Indians, some tribal sardars and the ‘Khan’, who was the nominal head of the ‘Balochistan States’. Kalat had been given a special status beyond the framework the British had worked out for all princely states, so the question was what else Khan wanted.

The six-month delay in the completion of legal formalities taxed Quaid e Azam’s patience, and on March 27 1948, he instructed Foreign Secretary Ikramullah, “There should be no negotiations of any kind or any further discussion to create slightest impression that anything but accession is possible”.

While these developments were going on, the All India Radio broadcasted accession of Kalat to India. The Khan of Kalat retaliated and somewhat dramatically decided to accede to Pakistan since Lasbela, Kharan and Makran had already acceded to Pakistan on March 17, 1948.

The last Khan of Kalat had the privilege of being the President of the Council of Rulers for the Balochistan States Union. The instrument of accession concluded as under:

“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 27thMarch 1948. Nineteen hundred and forty- eight. Signed 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 eight) Signed by: M.A. Jinnah (Governor-General of Pakistan)’”

On the night of May 16, 1948, Prince Abdul Karim Khan, the younger brother of the Khan, decided to lead a rebellion. The prince invited the leading members of the nationalist political parties — the Kalat State National Party, the Baloch League, and the Baloch National Workers Party — to join him in the struggle for the creation of an independent “Greater Balochistan.” He was captured in September and the jirga and the District Magistrate sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment. This is followed by a history of unrest.

Some of the events prior to Kalat’s accession are relevant and indicate how the Khan of Kalat found it necessary to finally agree to accession.

What effected the situation was the desire of Kharan and Lasbela, two feudatories of Kalat, to accede to Pakistan, irrespective of Kalat’s decision. Moreover, Makran, which was a district of Kalat, wanted to do the same. There are several letters from the rulers of Kharan and Lasbela asking the Quaid to accept the accession of their states to Pakistan, irrespective of Kalat’s decision. 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 join Pakistan Dominion as its suzerain and promises to serve Pakistan up to its extent.”In each successive letter, Habibullah Khan makes it apparent that the supremacy of Kalat is unacceptable to him. He wrote to the Quaid in November 1947, by then the Governor-General of Pakistan saying, “My State will never submit to the dictates of the Kalat State and will continue to oppose any moves aimed at an interference of the State’s freedom to act.”A few days later writing again to the governor-general, he argued that it was not possible any longer for Kharan to bear the undue interference from the Kalat state and described the legal status of Kharan in these words, “Following the lapse of the British paramountcy, Kharan repudiated the supremacy of Kalat and acceded to Pakistan.”Kharan also complained that Kalat was arming the “mischief mongers” in Kharan with the purpose of creating law and order situation in Pakistan-controlled areas.

These correspondences make it quite clear that the Khan of Kalat was left with little options because of the overwhelming support to Pakistan within Balochistan and if he had not done so, his status could have come under question.

In 1952, the Balochistan States Union came into existence. The Balochistan States Union existed between October 4, 1952 and October 14, 1955 in southwest Pakistan. It was formed by the states of Kalat, Kharan, Lasbela and Makran with the capital at the town of Kalat. The area of the Union was roughly the western half of the modern province of Balochistan. The Union was separate from the Chief Commissioners Province of Balochistan, which comprised areas to the northeast of the Union. The Union did not include the enclave of Gawadar, which was part of the Sultanate of Oman. The four state rulers continued in office but some matters became the responsibility of the Council of Rulers. The first head of the Union was the Khan of Kalat who held the title Khan e Azam. The main governing body was the Council of Rulers, which comprised of the Khan e Azam, the Jam of Lasbela and the nawabs of Kharan and Makran. Decisions on major issues could be taken by a jirga or council of all the nobles or sardars of the Union. This ‘Union’ was abolished on October 14, 1955 and then it became a part of the West Pakistan province and was administratively identified as Kalat Division. West Pakistan was dissolved in 1970 by the second military President, Yahya Khan. Kalat thereafter continued to be Kalat Division in Pakistan. Since the creation of West Pakistan, the status and authority of the ‘Khan’, sardars, nawabs et al diminished and they seemed less of the rulers. causing seeds of dissatisfaction among them.

With this perspective, we will look at the events and conflicts that followed. Ignoring the issue does not help, rather an understanding does help.

(To be continued)

The writer is a culture and media management specialist, a researcher, director and author. He is also a Vice-President and Punjab General Secretary of the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML)