8th June, The Day Of Baloch Missing Persons
Shayan Baluch
The Balochistan Post
Baloch missing person’s case, one of the aggravated problem that has gracelessly failed to yet gain concrete attention nationally and internationally. The plight of missing’s unknown whereabouts under custody of Pakistani military and associated forces has created a concentrated uncertainty among the people whose beloved are still missing. The process of disappearances in Balochistan initiated at the time when exactly the insurgency of the Baloch against Pakistani occupation and brutalities intensified a decade ago. This continuity of the disappearance in this resource-rich land took thousands of innocent civilians and political activists behind the bars as a way to suppress and subjugate the Baloch people.
Balochistan after the British Rule, was an independent state being run under the khanate of Kalat supervision along with its princely states, namely Kharan, Lasbella and Makuran. But this couldn’t be digested by the Pakistani rulers and they fiercely started their conspiracies under the leadership of Mr. Jinnah to annex Balochistan. Later on, when the entire tragedy of annexation occurred the occupiers tried to make the international community believe that Kalat (Balochistan) annexed with Pakistan on March 27, 1948 in their own aspirations. However, in reality this was an invasion and suspension of the Khanate rule. On the proceedings Balochistan was kept deliberately backward and deprived.
Since the date of annexation Balochistan has been under the claws of firm occupation. Pakistan could never tolerate a voice raised from Balochistan and will always repeat the same reaction if it observes a slight jolt of resistance from any corner of it. Henceforth, despite of being such an enormously resourceful land with its highly effective geographical importance the wealthy owners of the lengthy coastline, abundant mines reservoirs, Silver, Gold, Methane Gas etc. still have been deliberately kept suppressed to have any kinds of rights of freedom expression and every raised finger has been swirled down.
The issue of Baloch missing persons is an apparent example of this cruelty over the Baloch. Here in Balochistan on daily basis Baloch people are disappeared to unknown places by the open handed law enforcement authorities and the squads they have made have been given full impunity. This incurable disappearance issue even compelled the missing persons families to join Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) on a grueling 2,800 kilometer march from Quetta to Karachi and finally to Islamabad just with hope of recovery of the ones who are missing.
On the issue of this appalling disappearance the UN fact-finding mission, the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (WGEIDD) visited Pakistan in 2012. On this 10-day mission they also had a touch to Balochistan where the Baloch Missing person’s family demonstrated their protest and despite of the consolidations from the team not even a single case of a Baloch could get justice, which created a massive mistrust among the people.
In addition to that, the Supreme Court of Pakistan has also declared an investigation bench for the cases of the missing people from Balochistan and issued warnings to the governmental machinery over recovery of the disappeared ones but all efforts went in vain.
Abdul Qadeer Baloch, fondly known as Mama Qadeer, an unshaken voice of missing persons forum (VBMP) once told AFP that, “our main objective is to secure release of our beloved ones who are in disturbingly higher number but unfortunately we have not yet received any attention from any forum, globally too”.
Repeatedly seeing a negligence from all human rights defenders, Baloch Students Organization-Azad declared 8 June the day for missing hoping to raise the voice of all disappeared person’s cases. The day, 8 June, 2009 has very emotional attachments as on the same day a great leader of BSO-Azad, Zakir Majeed Baloch, who was the then Senior Vice Chairman of BSO-A was abducted. He was kidnapped by Pakistan’s Intelligence Agencies from Mastung, Balochistan. Zakir Majeed was a student of Lasbela University of Agriculture, Water and Marine Sciences. This 8th June of 2018 completes his nine years of missing.
Zahid Baloch, former Chairman of Baloch Students Organization-Azad was abducted from Quetta in front of his colleagues on March 18, 2014 and another activist Shabeer Baloch, 22 years old, was also abducted by same forces in an area of Turbat, Balochistan. Both are among the missing without any justification. Above and beyond these many other political activists have been disappeared by a continuous series of abductions of individuals from all spheres of life, whose whereabouts are still unknown.
BSO-Azad on the issue of missing persons decided to raise a voice as an appeal to the global judiciary panels like International court of justice to play their role in recovery processes of the missing ones and put efforts to create an international awareness about the human violations in Balochistan.
BSO-Azad on the occasion of this day requests all the concerned global authorities to have their must involvement in dealing and taking a serious step to build up a trust which is deficient among the people of Balochistan who are being treated cold-bloodily by the occupier, Pakistan.