The so not Yom-e-Takbir in Balochistan
Haider Mir
The Balochistan Post
This May 28th, marked the two decades of Pakistan’s nuclear tests and becoming the 7th nuclear power in the world. On this day Pakistan tested its five nuclear weapons simultaneously in the mountains of ‘Raskoh’ of Chaghai District in Balochistan. Further tests were conducted on 30th may, but 28th is commemorated as “Yom-e-Takbir” (Day of Greatness) in Pakistan.
The day of greatness for Pakistan, has become a black day for the owners of the land where these nuclear weapons were tested. Why won’t they (the Baloch) commemorate it as black day in the history, as those tests were not only taken out completely against the wish of the Baloch people, but also pushed the inhabitants of Chaghi and adjacent districts into an unending suffering and misery.
The new generation of Baloch inhabitants in the region is plagued with serious diseases stemming from those blasts. Impacts of the radiation resulting from the blasts, is causing diseases of: lung, liver, and blood cancer, skin diseases, typhoid, and infectious hepatitis, as well as serious effects on the nervous system, blood pressure, eyes, and throats, and on newborn babies. The tests also impacted the environment.
Although Pakistan always claims that the test sites were a barren area and there was no human population, but Abdul Raziq reveals in his master’s thesis, titled “Impacts of Nuclear Tests on Chagai,” that there were many households near the site, and that even if the tests were conducted one kilometre from the ten households the government says were moved, it would not have kept them safe. “Four thousand people were affected from the blasts,” he writes. “Even the government did not facilitate the people who were displaced and dislocated.”
These tests were carried out in haste in response to similar tests carried out by Pakistan’s arch rival India. As now confirmed by the outburst of different diseases, no safety measures were taken by Pakistani military to vacate close proximity of the blast. Though, Pakistani state media on very next day of the blasts claimed that there have been no harmful radiations out of these tests. One cannot comprehend how Pakistani state came to a conclusion within such a quick time regarding such a sensitive matter. In fact, this highlights and confirms fears of Baloch nation that no safety measures were in place.
Balochs have been in conflict with Pakistan since day one, and speculations of a nuclear blast alerted Balochs. A group of Baloch students had hijacked a passenger plane prior to the nuclear tests, and demanded that there would be no nuclear explosion in Balochistan. They were later arrested in a military action, and hanged in HaidarAbad jail on the very day of “Day of Greatness” in 2015.