Author: Hakeem Baloch
It is a common practice in Balochistan for the Pakistani army to arrest and abduct innocent men, women and children to suppress the voice of freedom and equality and the struggle of basic human rights, liberty and freedom.
This practice has become normal in Balochistan since 2009, after the abduction and killing of three prominent Baloch leaders Ghullam Mohammad, Lala Muneer and Sher Mohammad. Ghullam Mohammad was one of those individuals who helped in the negotiations with Baloch armed forces to secure John Solecki’s release.
According to the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons(VBMP) an organisation found by the families of Baloch missing persons, “Till this day over 40,000 people are missing and thousands of them have been brutally tortured to death.”
On 26th of May, Mama Qadeer Baloch, leader of VBMP, said in a tweet that the previously abducted Javed Baloch had died because of unbearable pain.
The news of Javed’s abduction was also made public by Mama Qadeer. He was abducted on 7th of May during a raid from his hometown in Mand area of Balochistan. Javed’s fourteen year old younger brother Anis Baloch was also abducted on 15th of May 2020 and he is still missing.
Javed Baloch after being severely tortured in the custody of the FC, was thrown in the open in Soro bazaar of Mand, in a critical condition on 17th of May. He was later shifted to a hospital in the metropolitan city of Karachi where he succumbed to his injuries on Tuesday morning.
Local human rights organisations have accused the security forces for abduction of dozens of innocent people across Balochistan. They have also accused the forces of asking ransom to release the missing persons.
Pakistani political and military establishment has always used only one way of dealing with the issue of Balochistan and that is with the barrel of gun. Since 1948 the Pakistani state and military has never even tried to understand that with the use of power and force it is not possible to suppress the voices of people. And the use of guns against the people of Balochistan has always resulted in a strong resistance against the oppression.
Every time the military establishment has offered a truce and promised the same thing to end the oppression of the people of Balochistan, but every time they have disregarded their own promises, they even disrespected the oath taken over the holy Quran.
That is why the current Baloch leadership has refused to talk with Pakistani state without an international guarantor. Because of the fact that Pakistani forces have never kept their promises.
Logically If it was possible to suppress the voices with the use of guns and killing then why have they witnessed five rebellions and the fifth one is continued for more than two decades for now. And it does not seem to be ending anytime soon.
The people of Balochistan may remain silent now, but they are witnessing all these injustices and killings. The current generation of Balochistan has seen a lot of sufferings and there are many orphans in the next generation. They will only know that their father was killed because of their political opinions and that child will also ask the same questions as his father did.
This cycle of asking for basic rights and liberty will continue till an honest and truthful outcome has not been achieved by the people of Balochistan.
In this hard time of pandemic and Covid-19 when all the international community is busy in helping the people of the world it seems that the people of Balochistan are forgotten and left without any humanitarian support. Balochistan is in complete lockdown for more than a decade now, where political voices have no right to roam free and speak about the injustices and even the normal people have to be lucky enough to pass all the security checkpoints to travel from one town to another.
I can only wish the civilised world and all international human rights organisations will act to save the lives of thousands of innocent people languishing in the secret cells. Saving those lives means saving the future of Balochistan and putting an end to children becoming orphans.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of The Balochistan Post or any of its editors.