The Baloch Student Organization (BSO) held a protest rally in Quetta on Friday, calling for justice for the ten-year-old victim of the Hoshap incident who had been molested by FC soldiers. Scores of participants took to the streets, carrying placards and demanding that the culprit be brought to justice. A demonstration was also held in Turbat, Kech, where the victim’s mother participated and addressed the gathering.
Scores of participants, led by the Baloch Student Organization, held a demonstration in front of the Quetta Press Club on Saturday where the participants repudiated the medical report of the Hoshap incident and demanded that the authorities arrest and bring the culprit to justice. Several members of the Balochistan National Party, social and political workers, students and the civil society participated in the gathering in large numbers.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers said that Pakistan has a long history of inflicting tyranny on the Baloch nation. The Baloch Student Organization always stood in way of this repression and will continue to do so in future. They said that our history is the testimony of our peaceful struggle against oppression – we must not be forced to pick up arms.
Another speaker from the Balochistan National Party said that such incidents reflect the sinister face of the Pakistani state. Dr Shazi Khalid also suffered molestation, and now Murad Baloch had to go through the same ordeal. This kind of repression in Balochistan means one thing – the state cares only for the resourceful land of Balochistan, not for its population, he said. He said that despite the cruelties, his party – BNP – will stay beside the Baloch students in their struggle.
A demonstration was also held in Turbat, Kech, on Saturday where hundreds of individuals marched on the roads in pursuit of justice. The participants, chanting slogans and carrying placards, said that Pakistan is repeating in Balochistan what it did to Bangladesh in 1971. Addressing the gathering, the victim’s mother said that the Pakistani forces must shoot us down, or blow us up in via bombs, but not strip us of our honor. She said that this ill has not befallen her family alone, but the entire Baloch nation.
BSO-Azad, the “pro-independence” offshoot of the Baloch Student Organization, also condemned the incident in a recent media statement, saying that the Pakistani forces are involved in all sorts of human rights violations in Balochistan. The statement said that the “colonial oppression” has reached such a critical level in Balochistan that innocent minors are targeted in broad daylight.
The statement said that such incidents frequently occur at the hands of the Pakistani security forces throughout Balochistan, but media houses and world organizations are exhibiting a deafening silence. We request the United Nations and other global organizations to see through the lies of the Pakistani state and take notice of the rampant human rights violations occurring in Balochistan, the statement concluded.
The Hoshap incident has agitated and galvanized a large portion of the Baloch society where thousands are running campaigns on roads and social media, demanding justice for Murad Baloch. Murad, a ten-year-old boy, was sexually assaulted by FC soldiers a few days ago in Hoshap. His family members have said that the incident occurred when Murad and his brother were on their way to a garden near the FC check post. The FC soldiers saw them; they beat up his brother and forced him to flee. They cornered Murad, tortured and molested him and left him unconscious in the wilderness. He regained his consciousness and came back home weeping.