Members of the Turbat Civil Society have launched a long march from Turbat to Quetta, demanding an end to ‘enforced disappearances’, safe recovery of Baloch missing persons, end to drug trafficking in Balochistan and against the Land Acquisition Act 1894. The participants will carry out the 750km long trek barefooted.
Before starting the long march, the participants, led by Turbat Civil Society Convener Gulzar Dost, said that we don’t see an end to “enforced disappearances” in Balochistan in the foreseeable future. They said that thousands of Baloch civilians have gone missing over the years and the grim practice continues unabated.
The participants said that drug trafficking is being strategically carried out in Balochistan. Instead of cracking down on the practice, the authorities are further encouraging it – an entire generation is now suffering from this scourge.
They said that the Land Acquisition Act, first introduced in 1894, is being used by the federal government to seize the lands of innocent civilians in Balochistan and Sindh. They said that this draconian practice is not acceptable.
It should be noted that members of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, led by Mama Qadeer Baloch, carried out a long march from Quetta to Karachi and then to the federal capital Islamabad in 2013. After walking over 3000kms in over two months, the activists reached Islamabad where they met with representatives of the United Nations, the European Union and a few countries to discuss the issue. The 2013 long march was a world record, but the pleas of the marchers fell on deaf ears.
“Enforced disappearances” have seen a sudden uptick in Balochistan in the past few days. Tens of individuals, including students and social activists, have gone missing, allegedly at the hands of Pakistani security forces. A few of these have returned, but the majority are still missing.
Similarly, in Balochistan’s district Barkhan, a shutter-down protest was observed for the safe recovery of Dr Jamil Baloch, Shahzaib Baloch and Naseem Baloch. The three detainees were members of the Barkhan Nojawan Ittihad [Barkhan Youth Front] and were allegedly detained by the Pakistani security forces. The locals in Barkhan said that Sunday’s protest was to highlight the issue of their disappearances and demand their safe release.
The three social activists were reportedly voicing their concerns over the issuance of domicile certificates to non-locals. They were reportedly abducted at the behest of the influential locals in the city. The authorities have not yet commented on the incident.