Whenever armed organizations fighting for freedom in Balochistan attack Pakistan’s military or economic targets, the country’s law enforcement agencies often respond by extrajudicially killing forcibly disappeared individuals in staged encounters, falsely labeling them as militants. There have been numerous incidents in Balochistan where state institutions have killed individuals who were already in custody—and had even been presented in courts—in fabricated encounters with police or military forces.
On the night of August 26th, in response to the Baloch Liberation Army’s Operation Herov, state institutions, as usual, extrajudicially killed forcibly disappeared persons, labeling them as Baloch militants, and dumped their bodies in desolate areas across various parts of Khuzdar and Hub. Nine forcibly disappeared individuals were killed, four of whom have been identified as Fayyaz Jattak, Saeed Ghulamani, Saeed Miraj, and Nisar Ahmad. Their cases were registered with the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons, and the police had also been notified about their enforced disappearances.
The statements by Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi, claiming that “the Balochistan issue is just a matter of an SHO’s (Station House Officer’s) strength,” clearly indicate that the politicians representing the state’s powerful institutions are oblivious to the realities of Balochistan. Even after Operation Herov, Pakistan’s powerful institutions continue to repeat the same policies that have turned Balochistan into a simmering volcano for state institutions.
The elimination of the Baloch insurgency is not possible through the killing of forcibly disappeared persons. Instead, these policies will further widen the rift between the Baloch nation and the state of Pakistan. When peaceful political avenues are closed, political leaders are labeled as traitors, and extrajudicial killings of forcibly disappeared persons persist, Baloch youth will be left with no option other than armed resistance.
Pakistan’s politicians claim they believe in resolving the Baloch issue through negotiations, but there are no signs of progress towards a solution. The situation arising from the state’s policies in Balochistan clearly shows that the concept of independence through armed struggle is gaining traction among Baloch youth. As a result, participation in the freedom struggle by Baloch youth is likely to increase, and the intensity of the conflict will escalate in the future.