Quetta, the city that was stolen from us
When the city of modern-day Quetta was discovered by the British, it was a small settlement consisting of mud houses and a small fort. Despite its strategic location on major trade routes, it could not be developed into a proper, large city. During the British era, Punjabi laborer and traders helped build the city into a modern-day provincial capital. Even after the creation of Pakistan, Punjabis continued to play a role in the development of the city with Punjabi educated professionals especially teachers and doctors operating the education and health sectors in the city. Sadly, they were never accepted as belonging to Balochistan and were always referred to as settlers despite being the builders of Quetta. Today, the Punjabi population of Quetta has dropped from 16% of the population in 1998 to 4% of the population in 2023. Every other day, dead bodies of innocent civilian Punjabis are returned from Balochistan. Despite more than hundred years of living in the province, Punjabis are still treated as outsiders and worst of all, Baloch youth educated in Punjab on Punjabi scholarships are the perpetrators of these crimes.
Punjabis are already being forced out of Quetta and with the current demographic change happening in northern Punjab, it seems like our very own homeland is under invasion. More important than the government of Punjab, the ordinary Punjabi needs to understand the gravity of this situation and needs to stand up for their homeland. Otherwise, our situation will be no different from the situation during Abdali's invasion as put by Bulleh Shah:
کھادا پیتا لاہےدا
تے باقی احمد شاہے دا