The Balochistan National Movement (BNM) released its monthly report of May on Thursday. The report details a number of human rights abuses that have been committed throughout Balochistan through May, like the rampant enforced disappearances, killings and the deliberate vandalizing of civilian property. The BNM said that human rights abuses are on the rise in Balochistan, and UN intervention is now indispensable.
BNM Information Secretary Dilmurad Baloch released the damning report on Thursday. The report claims that “state-sponsored terrorism and violence” was on the rise in Balochistan during May. During the month, the Pakistani security forces conducted 70 military operations in Balochistan that killed approximately 11 people. The local death squads and the police also killed several individuals. At least 51 people were “forcefully abducted” by the Pakistani forces and 30 houses were set on fire during raids and operations. Only 16 “missing persons” were released from the “Pakistani confinement” and returned home safely.
The report claims that in various incidents, the Pakistani forces gunned down unarmed, innocent civilians in broad daylight. The forces also killed a number of “freedom fighters” in several confrontations in various areas of Balochistan. Many of these were relatives of the BNM leaders and members, the report said.
Perhaps that grisliest revelation was that of the sexual harassment of three women in Mashkay by the “Pakistan-backed” death squads. Once the news broke out, the Pakistani forces targeted the family members of the victims in an attempt to coerce them into silence, the report says.
The report also related the suicide incident of Noor Jan Baloch, a resident of Haroon Dann in Awaran, who was detained by the Pakistani forces, beaten to exhaustion and released on the condition that will bring his daughter to the Pakistani forces. His daughter had been wedded to a Baloch freedom fighter. Noor Jan knew that if he agreed to the demand, his dignity, respect and honour would be lost. Haunted by the nightmarish thought, he committed suicide, thus safeguarding his dignity and honour. In his final message to the forces, Noor Jan said that I cannot hand over my daughter to you – you can instead take my dead body.
Per the data provided in the report, several gruesome crimes were committed every day during May. Either someone would be killed or forcefully abducted by the Pakistani forces. The BNM information secretary said that the UN intervention in Balochistan is indispensable to check the “state-sponsored terrorism” that has taken roots in Balochistan.