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| Pakistani Army uses enforced disappearances as an inhuman tool to silence the struggle of the Baloch people! |
Enforced disappearances of political and human rights activists have been rampant in Balochistan. Since the early 2000, the ruthless Pakistani army has been using enforced disappearances as an unwarranted and blatantly inhuman tool to stifle the separatist movement and silence every voice and struggle of the Baloch people.
On 15 November, 2018; activists and family members of the abducted Baloch people carried out a protest outside the Press Club in Balochistan's Quetta to seek justice against enforced disappearances by Pakistan ISI.
Emotions ran high as various leaders and Human Rights activists, including the chairman of VBMP Nasrullah Baloch, Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch and family members of abductees such as Shabir Baloch, and Aamir Baloch, addressed the participants at the protest.
Seema Baluch, sister of Shabir Baloch, has been conducting an online campaign for the safe release of her brother. Shabir Baloch, a 22 years old Student, HR activist, and spokesperson of Baloch Students Organization (Azad), was abducted by the Pakistan's security forces in Balochistan on 4th October 2016. His whereabouts are still unknown.
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| Family of Shabir Baloch, has been conducting an online campaign for his safe release! |
The On-going Evisceration of Balochis - Long-Standing Grievances of Family Members
Although the abductions began in the 1970s, the cases of enforced disappearances in Balochistan worsened during the reign of military dictator General Pervez Musharraf. The merciless practice continued during subsequent governments and military dispensations as well.
Most of the cases of enforced disappearances go unreported as family members of the victims are threatened with dire consequences if they speak up.
In majority of the cases, the victims are picked up by Pakistani ISI hooligans from their homes, in front of their helpless family members and villagers. In some cases, security forces even burn down the houses and entire villages.
Families of victims always fare worst because they are the helpless survivors. They have tried knocking on the doors of police and judiciary but all in vain. Despite hundreds of people having gone missing in the past few years, the toothless Pakistani media has never highlighted the issue of enforced disappearances. The hard fact is that the merciless Pakistani ISI is not answerable to any institution in Pakistan.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) board member Farooq Tariq, revealed, “In Balochistan province, the bodies of abducted people are thrown from helicopters. Mass graves are discovered in the western province but people are afraid to speak about it."
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) which organized the protest, condemned the state’s silence on the conflict and regarded it as nothing short of ‘criminal silence.’
Baloch Republican Party spokesperson Sher Mohammed Bugti expressed grave concerns over growing incidents of human rights violations in Balochistan, in Geneva this year.
He pointed out, "Earlier, they (Pakistan Army and ISI) used to abduct people and put them in torture cells. Nowadays, they abduct them and throw their dead bodies on streets. The situation is worsening as Army operation has been intensified in Balochistan. Not a single day passes when incidents of enforced disappearance and killing are not reported from the province. The security forces are perpetrating genocide."
The Ever Growing List
The Human Rights Council of Balochistan and Baloch Human Rights Organisation released their bi-annual report on the human rights violations and enforced disappearances in the Balochistan province occupied by Pakistan.
In the first half of 2018 only (between January and June 2018), around 541 enforced disappearances and 135 extrajudicial killings have been documented. However, the real number is likely to be far higher.
According to the International Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), at least 20,000 Balochis have gone missing between 1971 and 2018. Some of the prominent activists that have vanished over the years include Imdad Baloch, Allah Nazar Baloch, Ghulam Mohammed Baloch (who was found dead in 2009), Zahid Baloch and many more. The list is endless.
The victims’ families provided terrifying descriptions of atrocities suffered by the abductees. Some bodies of the abductees were found disemboweled. Few of them had their eyeballs removed.
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| The number of enforced disappearances have spiralled in Balochistan! |
Why Balochis are targeted?
Balochistan is a resource rich country; however, the indigenous Baloch people are still living in the middle ages. They have no access to drinking water and food. And now Balochistan, which is forcefully occupied by Pakistan, has become the hub of China's multi-billion dollar exploitative project - China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).
Baloch activist Mama Qadeer told the news agency, ANI, “People in Balochistan are being targeted for opposing CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) and China. They're demanding Pakistan to leave Balochistan, for which Pakistan is not ready. It's because Pakistan’s survival depends on Balochistan’s resources.”
Baloch Human Rights activists are being silenced for daring to fight for the independence of the Baloch people. The number of enforced disappearances have spiralled in Balochistan since CPEC is launched in the region.
The target people are mostly journalists, youth leaders, doctors, teachers and other intellectuals who have been active in the resistance against Islamabad.
This displays an uncanny resemblance to the 1971 Bangladesh “Mukti Yuddha” that witnessed the most barbaric killings of thousands of young lives and intellectuals by the Pakistani occupation Army and its acolyte, the Jamaat-e-Islami of the then East Pakistan.
Bring Back the Victims of Enforced Disappearances
MNA Muhammad Akhtar Mengal from Balochistan National Party (Mengal) BNP-M, said, “Only those who are suffering the pain of losing their loved ones can feel the pain that they are going through.”
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| Bring back the victims of enforced disappearances in Balochistan! |
Enforced disappearances and other human rights violations are carried out in broad daylight in Balochistan by Pakistan and nothing is being done about it.
Who will highlight the grievances of the families of missing persons in Balochistan?
What is the crime of those missing?
It is heart-breaking to imagine what pain and suffering the families must be undergoing while their loved ones have been missing for years. These grieving parents, sisters and brothers have every right to know if their loved persons are safe and sound or even alive.
It is important to address the long-standing grievances of the people of Balochistan. Enforced disappearances should be criminalized and it is time to bring back the victims of enforced disappearances.
The burning question is when will the international community begin to pay attention to the missing Baloch persons and the ongoing holocaust in Balochistan conducted by Pakistan?
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