PART 3/3
11 August: From the Independence of Kalat to the Unfulfilled Right of the Baloch Nation to Self-Determination
A Historical Review of the Khanate of Kalat, the Parliament of Balochistan, the Role of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and the Events of 1947–1948
Mohim Baloch-Sarkhosh
Secretary General, Balochistan National Solidarity Party
11 August 2026
Part 3/3
The Balochistan National Solidarity Party does not view the present-day Balochistan question simply as an attempt to restore an old monarchy or revive the political system of the eighteenth century.
The history of Kalat is important to us, but the future of Balochistan should not be a copy of the past.
Neither a Khan, nor a sardar, nor an army, nor a religious leader, nor any single political party owns Balochistan. This principle applies to all three parts of Balochistan.
Balochistan belongs to the Baloch nation.
The historical importance of Kalat lies in the fact that it disproves one major claim: the claim that the Baloch have never experienced sovereignty, government, diplomacy, treaties, political institutions, or independent political decision-making.
But our right to self-determination today does not rest solely on the history of the Khanate of Kalat.
Even if the Khanate of Kalat had never existed, the Baloch nation would still possess the same right as every other nation in the world: the right to freely determine its own political system and future.
11 August and the Contemporary Meaning of Self-Determination
For this reason, 11 August should not be reduced merely to ceremonies, flags, or the commemoration of a historical event.
If this day is to have real meaning for future generations, it must also address the question of the future.
Under what political structure should Balochistan be governed?
Should Balochistan become independent?
Could a confederal structure provide an acceptable answer to the aspirations of the Baloch nation?
Could genuine federalism, based on the sovereignty and rights of nations, offer an acceptable solution?
The experience of federalism in Pakistan has not been successful for the Baloch nation and has failed to resolve the question of Baloch national rights, sovereignty, and self-determination.
Or will the people of Balochistan choose another option?
The final answer cannot be predetermined by us, by Islamabad, by Tehran, or by any other capital.
The answer must come from the freely expressed will of the people of Balochistan.
The Balochistan National Solidarity Party believes that independence, confederation, federalism, or any other form of political relationship should be freely presented as options before the Baloch nation, and that the people must be allowed to decide without military threats, imprisonment, repression, demographic engineering, or coercion by a central government.
That is the true meaning of the right to self-determination.
The Younger Baloch Generation Must Know Its History, Not Merely Repeat Slogans
One of the greatest dangers facing any nation is not only the loss of its land; it is also the loss of its historical memory.
If the younger Baloch generation does not know what Dar-ul-Awam and Dar-ul-Umara were; if it does not know what agreement was announced on 11 August; if it does not know why Kalat did not immediately join Pakistan; if it does not know what relationship Jinnah had with the Khan of Kalat before the creation of Pakistan; and if it does not know what the parliament of Kalat said about accession, then others will write the history of Balochistan for them.
And a nation that learns its history only from the books of the dominant state gradually begins to see its own past through the eyes of that state.
For this reason, national struggle does not take place only in the streets, in protests, or in the political arena.
Universities, books, archives, the Balochi language, media, historical research, diplomacy, political organization, and the education of an informed generation are also fields of struggle.