The Baloch National Movement (BNM) made a horrifying revelation in a recent media statement, saying that the Pakistani forces raped a dozen women during the devastating military operations in the Kilkor area of district Panjgur. When the father of one of the victims resisted, the forces riddled him with bullets. The army has also forced the locals in several areas of Kilkor to abandon their homes and possessions and relocate.
The spokesperson for the BNM said that the ghastly incidents of sexual assault occurred in Nakshili, Jinchop and Eidi areas of Kilkor where the “monstrous” Pakistani forces laid their filthy hands on more than a dozen Baloch women. He said that a few weeks ago, the forces had sexually abused a minor – an eleven-year-old boy named Ameer Murad – in the neighbouring area of Hoshaap in district Kech. Similarly, the forces had sexually harassed a woman in Mashkay and then coerced her family members into silence. But somehow the news got out.
The BNM spokesperson further said that similar incidents of sexual abuse continue to occur throughout Balochistan at the hands of the Pakistani forces. But in most incidents, the victims and their family members keep quiet, fearing that by raising the issue they might incur the wrath of the Pakistani forces. The spokesperson also related the suicide incident of Noor Jan, a resident of Awaran, who ended his life after the Pakistani forces pressured him to bring his young daughter to their camp.
The spokesperson said that Kilkor stands at the main route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Numerous camps, check-posts and military cantonments have been established in the area for the “protection” of the CPEC infrastructure from the Baloch “pro-independence” groups. Due to such a dense military presence, enforced disappearances, kill-and-dumps and mass violence have become common practices in Kilkor. He said that the Pakistani forces have established “centres of sexual abuse” in the area and there are reports that they keep minors and women as “sex slaves.”
He said that we have been constantly trying to persuade the world to rein in Pakistan so that the history of Bangladesh might not repeat itself in Balochistan. But now, the process has begun – Balochistan is being gradually converted into the Bangladesh of the 1970s. Several such incidents have surfaced in Kilkor in the past six months, and several families have been forced to relocate.
The BNM spokesperson appealed to the United Nations and the rest of the “civilized world” to hold Pakistan accountable for its war crimes, rampant violence and mass slaughter in Balochistan. He announced that the Baloch National Movement will run a social media campaign against the sexual abuses in Kilkor and the rest of Balochistan with the hashtag #RapistArmyInBalochistan. He appealed to the general public to participate in the campaign and raise their voices in solidarity with the victims of Pakistan’s “barbarity. “