حزب مردم بلوچستان  Balochistan People’s Party  بلوچستانءِ اُستمانءِ گــَل

Photo journal: Life in a tribal Baloch settlement

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/picture_gallery/06/south_asia_life_in_a_tribal_balochi_settlement/html/1.stm

New Kahan

New Kahan is a settlement outside of Quetta city in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province. It is home to the Marri tribal people who initially fled Pakistan for Afghanistan in the 1970s after a war with government forces.
When the Taleban came to power in the mid-1990s, they returned to Pakistan and finally settled near Quetta naming New Kahan after their original homeland in the remote eastern part of Balochistan.

A student from Quetta, who prefers to remain anonymous, visited New Kahan and sent these pictures.

Living with animals

"The people I visited in New Kahan live in quite pathetic conditions. Many in the village live in tents made up of animal hide or thatch.
This entire family lived in this small space and you may notice that a child is holding onto a goat. People often have to share living quarters with animals, especially in the cold weather.

The more prosperous villagers live in the hardier dried mud homes and there are a number of mud homes in New Kahan. But the camp has no facilities - no electr
 

Women gathering

"New Kahan is raided by the police from time to time. After a bomb explosion in Quetta, they come here and arrest people they suspect of involvement.
These people were rebels and active in the 1970s and the government, it appears, believes they are still involved in insurgency. They believe there are artillery depots held in the camp.

This is a picture from a demonstration last year after many men from New Kahan were arrested. The women are protesting for the men to be released."
 

On the move

"These older women were walking through the arid land of New Kahan. There is very little for them to do. These women would have seen the wars of the 1970s, they would have been part of the community that fled to Afghanistan and then returned.
When I visited, there were few young men around. Many of them go to the vegetable market to seek work. There is no money so the men have to go to the city.

The women are left in the village. Most of them are housewives but some of them do embroidery and crafts to sell to a market or for small contracts."
 

On the move

"These older women were walking through the arid land of New Kahan. There is very little for them to do. These women would have seen the wars of the 1970s, they would have been part of the community that fled to Afghanistan and then returned.
When I visited, there were few young men around. Many of them go to the vegetable market to seek work. There is no money so the men have to go to the city.

The women are left in the village. Most of them are housewives but some of them do embroidery and crafts to sell to a market or for small contracts."
 

Community force

"After a police raid on New Kahan, this woman is recovering belongings from the offices of a labour organisation. The building campaigns for labour rights. Many people believe that Balochi people don't get enough jobs from the government. It is a political place.
Despite the lack of work and money in New Kahan, I believe these people will stay here and stick together.

They have been here for about a decade, but many other people have been displaced by recent violence elsewhere in Balochistan."

Tense homeland

"The people of New Kahan have tense relations with the authorities. This old man had been arrested by the police and released after a few hours. People say they feel alienated in their own homeland, as if they are under constant surveillance. I cannot vouch for the truth of these claims. But people do feel angry.
From what I saw, I can say they live in quite primitive conditions. The major concern was that they could not keep warm in the cold weather.

If I return in five years time, I think probably nothing will have changed. "