Saturday, October 29, 2011
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Monday, April 4, 2011
Islamabad’s barbarism DailyTimes March18,2011
Islamabad’s policy of eliminating the political backbone of Baloch society through a ‘kill and dump’ strategy will further the Baloch resolve to look for alternatives rather than sticking with merciless Islamabad
According to reputable human rights organisations and media reports, as many as 110 bullet-riddled bodies of moderate missing Baloch political activists have surfaced in the past seven months of 2010 and 2011. This alarming trend of ‘kill and dump’ started in mid-2010 and has been going on unabatedly, with the criminal silence of the international community that upholds the banner of human rights and provides belts and bullets to our rogue security establishment.
In fact, the Baloch-Islamabad conflict is a known reality. The Baloch people want to control their own destiny and Islamabad wants to suppress the political will of the people through western-provided guns and cannons.
The International Committee of the Red Cross’s (ICRC’s) concern regarding the alarming human rights emergency in Balochistan is a wakeup call for the international community to urgently react to the Balochcide, a slow motion systematic genocide of educated and moderate Baloch political youth.
Moderate Baloch political parties have been voicing their demand for the right of self-determination and fundamental changes in Pakistan’s ethnically structured state system, which is based on discriminatory principles and policies. But Islamabad’s reluctant institutions failed to address their genuine grievances, which furthered the Baloch people’s mistrust of the state system and institutions.
The ongoing merciless military operations since 2005 neither improved political conditions nor helped stabilise the security situation. Flawed and ill-conceived socio-political engineering of Baloch society by Islamabad’s vision-less and biased establishment turned peaceful Balochistan into a quagmire. Each and every policy is furthering the divide and hatred between the Baloch and the state.
The mounting anger and distress is not due to external involvement; the Baloch frustration and reaction towards the colonising forces, particularly the non-Baloch paramilitary force (Frontier Corps), is due to their heavy-handed policies and disrespect towards the Baloch people.
Actually, the onus lies on the federal government, especially the establishment that comprises the military, bureaucracy and policymakers, responsible for maintaining a pugnacious approach towards Balochistan. Their policy is not much different from colonial policies. They want to control Balochistan politically, economically and socially.
In order to control society and politics of Balochistan, Islamabad has unleashed a policy of divide and rule under which it is pampering some pro-establishment sardars, nawabs and criminal groups. The prevailing state of poverty, lawlessness, anarchy and disappointment is, in fact, the fallout of the federal government’s deliberate policy of negligence and suppression.
Political conflicts mainly originate from social and economic deprivation. The main cause of unrest in Balochistan since 1947 is political oppression and the people’s deprivation. The province is economically controlled and a special security apparatus rules the province. The official narrative is that they want to develop Balochistan but the Baloch do not accept their model of development. Therefore, they justify the use of brute force against the Baloch.
Thousands of Baloch youth are jobless and living in appalling conditions, but around 150,000 army, navy, Frontier Corps (FC), anti-narcotics force (ANF) and coast guard recruits are appointed from the dominant province [Punjab] to systematically suppress and economically control the province.
Besides acknowledging the role of the FC in the disappearance of people, even the Balochistan government has expressed its helplessness in controlling this force. Balochistan’s Advocate General Salahuddin Mengal submitted to the Supreme Court on March 2, 2011 a report on the killings, murders, abductions and kidnappings for ransom in the province. “We are recovering dead bodies day in and day out as the FC and police are lifting people in broad daylight at will, but we are helpless. Who can check the FC?” Mr Mengal asked. “End the burning issue of missing persons first and then blame the Balochistan government for not controlling the law and order situation,” he said.
The Baloch people have always demanded an end to the presence of a third party, i.e. military and paramilitary forces in Balochistan. While there is no such heavy presence of security forces in the rest of the country, why is lack of trust shown toward the Baloch by deploying so many troops in Balochistan? The heavy deployment has made it impossible for the local people to grow economically, socially and politically. There are around 800-900 checkposts of the FC across Balochistan. There is one checkpost for every 8,000 people. You cannot see such an overwhelming and aggressive presence of the forces in the remaining three provinces.
The FC has been granted powers under the Customs Act, which means it can even monitor the movement of the Baloch people on the roads, which discourages economic activities. If the FC is going to perform every job, then what is the need to have other state institutions?
Moreover, the FC has a very colonial structure. For instance, the Rangers in Punjab, Sindh and FC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa predominantly comprise locals of those provinces but in Balochistan the FC is entirely manned by ‘outsiders’ who often treat the local population as their slaves. The FC is a major cause of resentment because it has always had a key role in stirring trouble in the province. It is a major bone of contention rather than being part of the solution to the problem.
There are nearly 350 arms manufacturing factories in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The government endorses, encourages and legalises those factories by recognising them as a source of income for the tribal people. In Balochistan, the tribes and their chiefs are disrespected by the forces, an attitude which is intolerable and unacceptable to us. Regardless of our differences with certain political figures, we believe they must not be disrespected and mistreated.
The human rights situation is further exacerbated since the mainstream national media and superior judiciary is playing a partial role and siding with Islamabad’s powerful security establishment. The media is under-reporting the Balochistan truth, and the judiciary is silent over extra-judicial and targeted killings of ethnic Baloch political activists. This policy of blackout is encouraging the security forces to take extra-constitutional and extra-judicial actions to eliminate political dissidents.
Islamabad’s policy of eliminating the political backbone of Baloch society through a ‘kill and dump’ strategy will further the Baloch resolve to look for alternatives rather than sticking with merciless Islamabad.
The writer is the president of Balochistan National Party
According to reputable human rights organisations and media reports, as many as 110 bullet-riddled bodies of moderate missing Baloch political activists have surfaced in the past seven months of 2010 and 2011. This alarming trend of ‘kill and dump’ started in mid-2010 and has been going on unabatedly, with the criminal silence of the international community that upholds the banner of human rights and provides belts and bullets to our rogue security establishment.
In fact, the Baloch-Islamabad conflict is a known reality. The Baloch people want to control their own destiny and Islamabad wants to suppress the political will of the people through western-provided guns and cannons.
The International Committee of the Red Cross’s (ICRC’s) concern regarding the alarming human rights emergency in Balochistan is a wakeup call for the international community to urgently react to the Balochcide, a slow motion systematic genocide of educated and moderate Baloch political youth.
Moderate Baloch political parties have been voicing their demand for the right of self-determination and fundamental changes in Pakistan’s ethnically structured state system, which is based on discriminatory principles and policies. But Islamabad’s reluctant institutions failed to address their genuine grievances, which furthered the Baloch people’s mistrust of the state system and institutions.
The ongoing merciless military operations since 2005 neither improved political conditions nor helped stabilise the security situation. Flawed and ill-conceived socio-political engineering of Baloch society by Islamabad’s vision-less and biased establishment turned peaceful Balochistan into a quagmire. Each and every policy is furthering the divide and hatred between the Baloch and the state.
The mounting anger and distress is not due to external involvement; the Baloch frustration and reaction towards the colonising forces, particularly the non-Baloch paramilitary force (Frontier Corps), is due to their heavy-handed policies and disrespect towards the Baloch people.
Actually, the onus lies on the federal government, especially the establishment that comprises the military, bureaucracy and policymakers, responsible for maintaining a pugnacious approach towards Balochistan. Their policy is not much different from colonial policies. They want to control Balochistan politically, economically and socially.
In order to control society and politics of Balochistan, Islamabad has unleashed a policy of divide and rule under which it is pampering some pro-establishment sardars, nawabs and criminal groups. The prevailing state of poverty, lawlessness, anarchy and disappointment is, in fact, the fallout of the federal government’s deliberate policy of negligence and suppression.
Political conflicts mainly originate from social and economic deprivation. The main cause of unrest in Balochistan since 1947 is political oppression and the people’s deprivation. The province is economically controlled and a special security apparatus rules the province. The official narrative is that they want to develop Balochistan but the Baloch do not accept their model of development. Therefore, they justify the use of brute force against the Baloch.
Thousands of Baloch youth are jobless and living in appalling conditions, but around 150,000 army, navy, Frontier Corps (FC), anti-narcotics force (ANF) and coast guard recruits are appointed from the dominant province [Punjab] to systematically suppress and economically control the province.
Besides acknowledging the role of the FC in the disappearance of people, even the Balochistan government has expressed its helplessness in controlling this force. Balochistan’s Advocate General Salahuddin Mengal submitted to the Supreme Court on March 2, 2011 a report on the killings, murders, abductions and kidnappings for ransom in the province. “We are recovering dead bodies day in and day out as the FC and police are lifting people in broad daylight at will, but we are helpless. Who can check the FC?” Mr Mengal asked. “End the burning issue of missing persons first and then blame the Balochistan government for not controlling the law and order situation,” he said.
The Baloch people have always demanded an end to the presence of a third party, i.e. military and paramilitary forces in Balochistan. While there is no such heavy presence of security forces in the rest of the country, why is lack of trust shown toward the Baloch by deploying so many troops in Balochistan? The heavy deployment has made it impossible for the local people to grow economically, socially and politically. There are around 800-900 checkposts of the FC across Balochistan. There is one checkpost for every 8,000 people. You cannot see such an overwhelming and aggressive presence of the forces in the remaining three provinces.
The FC has been granted powers under the Customs Act, which means it can even monitor the movement of the Baloch people on the roads, which discourages economic activities. If the FC is going to perform every job, then what is the need to have other state institutions?
Moreover, the FC has a very colonial structure. For instance, the Rangers in Punjab, Sindh and FC in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa predominantly comprise locals of those provinces but in Balochistan the FC is entirely manned by ‘outsiders’ who often treat the local population as their slaves. The FC is a major cause of resentment because it has always had a key role in stirring trouble in the province. It is a major bone of contention rather than being part of the solution to the problem.
There are nearly 350 arms manufacturing factories in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The government endorses, encourages and legalises those factories by recognising them as a source of income for the tribal people. In Balochistan, the tribes and their chiefs are disrespected by the forces, an attitude which is intolerable and unacceptable to us. Regardless of our differences with certain political figures, we believe they must not be disrespected and mistreated.
The human rights situation is further exacerbated since the mainstream national media and superior judiciary is playing a partial role and siding with Islamabad’s powerful security establishment. The media is under-reporting the Balochistan truth, and the judiciary is silent over extra-judicial and targeted killings of ethnic Baloch political activists. This policy of blackout is encouraging the security forces to take extra-constitutional and extra-judicial actions to eliminate political dissidents.
Islamabad’s policy of eliminating the political backbone of Baloch society through a ‘kill and dump’ strategy will further the Baloch resolve to look for alternatives rather than sticking with merciless Islamabad.
The writer is the president of Balochistan National Party
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Indian Express June15,1998 Baluchi Govt in soup over anti-nuke rhetoric
UNITED NEWS OF INDIA
ISLAMABAD, June 14: The Baluchistan National Party-led coalition government in Baluchistan faces a no-confidence motion tomorrow for its opposition to Pakistan's nuclear tests late last month.
The no-trust motion has already been given to the provincial assembly speaker by the BNP's coalition partner, the Muslim League of prime minister Nawaz Sharif(PML-N).
The League, which has been trying for a long time to wrest power in the province, has found BNP's angry outburst against the nuclear blasts a good pretext to try again.
The PML(N) hopes to be supported by the Jhamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-Islam (JUI), the latter is part of the coalition.
Soon after the nuclear tests, BNP founder and chief organiser Sardar Ataullah Mengal had indicated that his party's government would quit because it was not consulted on the use of Chagai hills in Baluchistan as the site for the nuclear tests.
He had said what was the point in having a government in the province if it was not consulted ona matter as important as the use of the province's territory for nuclear blasts. He feared this would cause radioactivity and lead to migration of people.
Following this statement to BBC, many newspapers began speculating on the dissolution of the provincial assembly.
But last week provincial chief minister Akhtar Mengal told his coalition partners and allies that he was not asking for the dissolution of the provincial assembly. But the BNP continued to criticise the federal government's refusal to reply to the provincial government's objection. It boycotted this week's joint session of parliament called to debate the national emergency imposed after the nuclear blasts.
Sardar Ataullah Mengal, who asked the senators and members of the national assembly of his party to boycott the session, said it was to register his party's protest against the federal government's refusal to take the provincial government into confidence about the nuclear tests.
The session went on for four days without BNPparticipation. On the last day, when the emergency was approved, many other Baluchi members of parliament chose to keep away.
Reports from Chegai say that the nuclear blasts did cause radio activity which killed many goats and camels and caused nose and ear bleeding. One woman lost her eyesight. Meanwhile, prime minister Nawaz Sharif who is on a visit in London today urged his countrymen abroad to give money to his government to counter sanctions imposed because of the country's nuclear tests.
``There will be a lot of responsibility for Pakistanis living abroad,'' he said at a rally attended by several thousand members of Britain's Pakistani community.
Sharif, who is on a private visit to Britain until June 16 said, ``Send money but don't send it through illegal channels. Send it through banking channels.'' The crowd, waved banners saying ``Nawaz Sharif: hero of Pakistan'' and ``Welcome, pride of Pakistan'' and greeted him enthusiastically.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
ISLAMABAD, June 14: The Baluchistan National Party-led coalition government in Baluchistan faces a no-confidence motion tomorrow for its opposition to Pakistan's nuclear tests late last month.
The no-trust motion has already been given to the provincial assembly speaker by the BNP's coalition partner, the Muslim League of prime minister Nawaz Sharif(PML-N).
The League, which has been trying for a long time to wrest power in the province, has found BNP's angry outburst against the nuclear blasts a good pretext to try again.
The PML(N) hopes to be supported by the Jhamhoori Watan Party (JWP) and the Jamiat-ul-Ulema-Islam (JUI), the latter is part of the coalition.
Soon after the nuclear tests, BNP founder and chief organiser Sardar Ataullah Mengal had indicated that his party's government would quit because it was not consulted on the use of Chagai hills in Baluchistan as the site for the nuclear tests.
He had said what was the point in having a government in the province if it was not consulted ona matter as important as the use of the province's territory for nuclear blasts. He feared this would cause radioactivity and lead to migration of people.
Following this statement to BBC, many newspapers began speculating on the dissolution of the provincial assembly.
But last week provincial chief minister Akhtar Mengal told his coalition partners and allies that he was not asking for the dissolution of the provincial assembly. But the BNP continued to criticise the federal government's refusal to reply to the provincial government's objection. It boycotted this week's joint session of parliament called to debate the national emergency imposed after the nuclear blasts.
Sardar Ataullah Mengal, who asked the senators and members of the national assembly of his party to boycott the session, said it was to register his party's protest against the federal government's refusal to take the provincial government into confidence about the nuclear tests.
The session went on for four days without BNPparticipation. On the last day, when the emergency was approved, many other Baluchi members of parliament chose to keep away.
Reports from Chegai say that the nuclear blasts did cause radio activity which killed many goats and camels and caused nose and ear bleeding. One woman lost her eyesight. Meanwhile, prime minister Nawaz Sharif who is on a visit in London today urged his countrymen abroad to give money to his government to counter sanctions imposed because of the country's nuclear tests.
``There will be a lot of responsibility for Pakistanis living abroad,'' he said at a rally attended by several thousand members of Britain's Pakistani community.
Sharif, who is on a private visit to Britain until June 16 said, ``Send money but don't send it through illegal channels. Send it through banking channels.'' The crowd, waved banners saying ``Nawaz Sharif: hero of Pakistan'' and ``Welcome, pride of Pakistan'' and greeted him enthusiastically.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Samaa TV NEWS BEAT September 8 , 2010
Link
other days never stopped.
thought operation stopped in
some Musharaf or
,
(شكرا جوجل)
أنا لا أتفق مع البيان ، أن (مرة أخرى، ويجري الجيش الباكستاني بدأ عملية في بلوشستان.)
وكان الجيش عملية في بلوشستان بدأت عندما كان مشرف العام في السلطة، وزالت مستمرة حتى هذه اللحظة. انها بدرجات متفاوتة، في بعض الأيام مع شدة، وأيام أخرى مع الشدة، فإنه لم تتوقف.
يعتقد بعض الحالمون، أن توقف العملية الديمقراطية بعد الحكومة يأتي في السلطة.
وقد ألغيت الدكتاتورية في بعض المناطق بعد مشرف اليسار أو بعد أن تخلى عن منصبه العسكري للجيش.
بلوشستان لا تزال تحت سيطرة الجيش الباكستاني.
في الوقت الحاضر ، ما يسمى، واصلت حكومة ديمقراطية مهمة خطف وقتل البلوش من اليوم الأول من انها الاستيلاء على السلطة.
فهي خطف وتعذيب البلوش في نفس زنزانات التعذيب التي كانت تستخدم من قبل مشرف.
في واقع الأمر ، المرة الأولى التي حاولت الحكومة الحالية على قول الحقيقة نصف بالقول، انهم يريدون لبدء عملية للجيش في بلوشستان.
كان يمكن أن يكون أفضل إذا كانوا قد قالوا انهم يريدون لزيادة كثافة العمليات الجارية في بلوشستان.
في باكستان، للبقاء في السلطة، كل الحكومة إلى اتباع بعض القواعد والأنظمة ، واحد من الأساسي منها هو : -- لسفك دم البلوش وجعل الجيش والبنجاب سعيدة.
لفترة طويلة، وقد البلوش ضحوا من أجل هذا.
other days never stopped.
thought operation stopped in
some Musharaf or
,
(شكرا جوجل)
أنا لا أتفق مع البيان ، أن (مرة أخرى، ويجري الجيش الباكستاني بدأ عملية في بلوشستان.)
وكان الجيش عملية في بلوشستان بدأت عندما كان مشرف العام في السلطة، وزالت مستمرة حتى هذه اللحظة. انها بدرجات متفاوتة، في بعض الأيام مع شدة، وأيام أخرى مع الشدة، فإنه لم تتوقف.
يعتقد بعض الحالمون، أن توقف العملية الديمقراطية بعد الحكومة يأتي في السلطة.
وقد ألغيت الدكتاتورية في بعض المناطق بعد مشرف اليسار أو بعد أن تخلى عن منصبه العسكري للجيش.
بلوشستان لا تزال تحت سيطرة الجيش الباكستاني.
في الوقت الحاضر ، ما يسمى، واصلت حكومة ديمقراطية مهمة خطف وقتل البلوش من اليوم الأول من انها الاستيلاء على السلطة.
فهي خطف وتعذيب البلوش في نفس زنزانات التعذيب التي كانت تستخدم من قبل مشرف.
في واقع الأمر ، المرة الأولى التي حاولت الحكومة الحالية على قول الحقيقة نصف بالقول، انهم يريدون لبدء عملية للجيش في بلوشستان.
كان يمكن أن يكون أفضل إذا كانوا قد قالوا انهم يريدون لزيادة كثافة العمليات الجارية في بلوشستان.
في باكستان، للبقاء في السلطة، كل الحكومة إلى اتباع بعض القواعد والأنظمة ، واحد من الأساسي منها هو : -- لسفك دم البلوش وجعل الجيش والبنجاب سعيدة.
لفترة طويلة، وقد البلوش ضحوا من أجل هذا.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
`I'M READY TO SUPPORT WHOEVER TAKES INITIATIVE.
It is high time for the Baloch people to forge a united front and wage a struggle against the brutal attitude of Punjab’s establishment.
A sense of insecurity prevails among the Baloch people who are receiving mutilated bodies almost every day, I appeal to the Baloch political parties and tribes to assemble on one platform and wage a joint struggle. I am ready to support whoever takes initiative. Baloch people had been picked up and listed as missing but now their bullet-riddled bodies were being discovered.
A sense of insecurity prevails among the Baloch people who are receiving mutilated bodies almost every day, I appeal to the Baloch political parties and tribes to assemble on one platform and wage a joint struggle. I am ready to support whoever takes initiative. Baloch people had been picked up and listed as missing but now their bullet-riddled bodies were being discovered.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Crime Without Name (Daily Times)
Islamabad and its powerful establishment are committing Balochcide, a systematic act committed with institutional intent to destroy Baloch society. Islamabad’s brutalities and Hitler-like policies against the Baloch people will not deter us from continuing our struggle nor will these terror tactics result in suppressing our feelings
On August 24, 1941, two months after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a radio broadcast. Describing the barbarity of German police troops, as he called the SS, he said, “We are in the presence of a crime without a name.”
And today Pakistan, a country that came into being in the name of Islam, is using the worst inhuman methods and committing unprecedented “crimes without a name”. The crimes committed against a particular ethnic group by the dominant ethnic community and its institutions need a new name — not ethnocide or genocide. Simply, Islamabad and its powerful establishment are committing Balochcide, a systematic act committed with institutional intent to destroy Baloch society and eliminate its educated youth and politicians.
Balochcide is not limited to enforced disappearances and throwing away their tortured and bullet-riddled mutilated bodies. These practices include eliminating the few available moderate political Baloch voices one by one, destroying the very unique and liberal features of Baloch society, polluting the Baloch political system by supporting Taliban elements and encouraging a culture of “crimes in uniform”.
If you go through the reports and evidence compiled and developed by reputable human rights organisations, think-tanks, experts, writers and researchers and then put it beside other information available — widely reported upon by the media and by others — we simply conclude that genocide (Balochcide) has been committed in Balochistan and that the government of Pakistan bears responsibility.
The so-called civilised international community’s silence is adding to the severity of the human rights crisis. I am addressing this to the powerful west: just imagine your reaction if someone in uniform unlawfully abducts your child due to a suspicion that he believes in the political freedom of his community, and he is taken to an unauthorised detention centre and tortured for months without any access to family or a lawyer. Imagine in that kind of extreme environment, severe pain and suffering, bleeding and state of lifelessness, your son, in order to get rid of this slow motion death, agrees and accepts any kind of allegation and blame that the perpetrators put on him. And after accepting all these ‘allegations and crimes’, instead of producing him in a court — the perpetrators kill and dump him — exactly on Christmas day, a day meant to celebrate and enjoy life in Christian culture, not mourn. Furthermore, to inflict this pain on the family and community if the murderer leaves a paper with the dead body that reads: “A Gift of Christmas for the people (of a particular community).”
This is exactly what happened on this Eid. not with one, two or three, but six families, communities and regions in Pakistan’s ‘Darfur’ (Balochistan).
Six innocent young Baloch Student Organisation (BSO) activists, including a journalist, were killed and their bullet-riddled bodies were found in Khuzdar, Turbat, Gwadar, Kalat and Mastung during the three days of Eid. The slaughterers left a paper with the dead bodies that read: ” A Gift of Eid for the Baloch.”
The victims of extra-judicial killings were identified as Lala Hameed Baloch, president of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), and Hamid Ismail. Hameed Baloch was a journalist and a member of the Gwadar Press Club. Two bullet-riddled bodies of Bashir Ahmed Lehri and Inayatullah, who had been missing for more than two months, were found in Kad Kocha area of district Mastung. The badly tortured and bullet-riddled body of a university student, Samiullah Mengal, was found near Ferozabad area of Khuzdar. Another body was discovered on Friday from Kapotu area of Kalat district and has been identified as that of Nasurrallah Baloch. “Nasurrallah had been missing for the last two months and had been whisked away by government functionaries,” relatives alleged (‘Six missing persons found dead in Balochistan’, Daily Times, November 20, 2010).
All these killings came after Amnesty International’s recent demand that the government of Pakistan “must” investigate the torture and killings of more than 40 Baloch leaders and political activists over the past four months. “Activists, politicians and student leaders are among those who have been targeted in enforced disappearances, abductions, arbitrary arrests and cases of torture and other ill-treatment. The violence takes place against a backdrop of increasing political unrest and Pakistan army operations in Balochistan, south-western Pakistan,” said the statement.
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, was quoted in the statement as saying that Islamabad must act immediately to provide justice for the growing list of atrocities in Balochistan. “Baloch political leaders and activists are clearly being targeted and the government must do much more to end this alarming trend,” he observed.
Is it not the case that killing and dumping of a large number of Baloch people in such a brutal fashion by military, paramilitary and intelligence agencies in Balochistan constitutes genocide?
Is it not that the criminal silence of the apex courts and their human rights champion judges shows that the justice system too is working on an institutionally and ethnically agreed policy of ‘kill and dump’ the Baloch people?
No doubt Islamabad’s brutalities and Hitler-like policies against the Baloch people will not deter us from continuing our struggle nor will these terror tactics result in suppressing our feelings. Our forefathers resisted for centuries and we will do the same to teach our children that truth and freedom is more important than the consequences.
The writer is president of the Balochistan National Party and a former chief minister of Balochistan. He can be reached at akhtarmengal@hotmail.com
On August 24, 1941, two months after Germany invaded the Soviet Union, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a radio broadcast. Describing the barbarity of German police troops, as he called the SS, he said, “We are in the presence of a crime without a name.”
And today Pakistan, a country that came into being in the name of Islam, is using the worst inhuman methods and committing unprecedented “crimes without a name”. The crimes committed against a particular ethnic group by the dominant ethnic community and its institutions need a new name — not ethnocide or genocide. Simply, Islamabad and its powerful establishment are committing Balochcide, a systematic act committed with institutional intent to destroy Baloch society and eliminate its educated youth and politicians.
Balochcide is not limited to enforced disappearances and throwing away their tortured and bullet-riddled mutilated bodies. These practices include eliminating the few available moderate political Baloch voices one by one, destroying the very unique and liberal features of Baloch society, polluting the Baloch political system by supporting Taliban elements and encouraging a culture of “crimes in uniform”.
If you go through the reports and evidence compiled and developed by reputable human rights organisations, think-tanks, experts, writers and researchers and then put it beside other information available — widely reported upon by the media and by others — we simply conclude that genocide (Balochcide) has been committed in Balochistan and that the government of Pakistan bears responsibility.
The so-called civilised international community’s silence is adding to the severity of the human rights crisis. I am addressing this to the powerful west: just imagine your reaction if someone in uniform unlawfully abducts your child due to a suspicion that he believes in the political freedom of his community, and he is taken to an unauthorised detention centre and tortured for months without any access to family or a lawyer. Imagine in that kind of extreme environment, severe pain and suffering, bleeding and state of lifelessness, your son, in order to get rid of this slow motion death, agrees and accepts any kind of allegation and blame that the perpetrators put on him. And after accepting all these ‘allegations and crimes’, instead of producing him in a court — the perpetrators kill and dump him — exactly on Christmas day, a day meant to celebrate and enjoy life in Christian culture, not mourn. Furthermore, to inflict this pain on the family and community if the murderer leaves a paper with the dead body that reads: “A Gift of Christmas for the people (of a particular community).”
This is exactly what happened on this Eid. not with one, two or three, but six families, communities and regions in Pakistan’s ‘Darfur’ (Balochistan).
Six innocent young Baloch Student Organisation (BSO) activists, including a journalist, were killed and their bullet-riddled bodies were found in Khuzdar, Turbat, Gwadar, Kalat and Mastung during the three days of Eid. The slaughterers left a paper with the dead bodies that read: ” A Gift of Eid for the Baloch.”
The victims of extra-judicial killings were identified as Lala Hameed Baloch, president of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), and Hamid Ismail. Hameed Baloch was a journalist and a member of the Gwadar Press Club. Two bullet-riddled bodies of Bashir Ahmed Lehri and Inayatullah, who had been missing for more than two months, were found in Kad Kocha area of district Mastung. The badly tortured and bullet-riddled body of a university student, Samiullah Mengal, was found near Ferozabad area of Khuzdar. Another body was discovered on Friday from Kapotu area of Kalat district and has been identified as that of Nasurrallah Baloch. “Nasurrallah had been missing for the last two months and had been whisked away by government functionaries,” relatives alleged (‘Six missing persons found dead in Balochistan’, Daily Times, November 20, 2010).
All these killings came after Amnesty International’s recent demand that the government of Pakistan “must” investigate the torture and killings of more than 40 Baloch leaders and political activists over the past four months. “Activists, politicians and student leaders are among those who have been targeted in enforced disappearances, abductions, arbitrary arrests and cases of torture and other ill-treatment. The violence takes place against a backdrop of increasing political unrest and Pakistan army operations in Balochistan, south-western Pakistan,” said the statement.
Sam Zarifi, Amnesty International’s Asia-Pacific Director, was quoted in the statement as saying that Islamabad must act immediately to provide justice for the growing list of atrocities in Balochistan. “Baloch political leaders and activists are clearly being targeted and the government must do much more to end this alarming trend,” he observed.
Is it not the case that killing and dumping of a large number of Baloch people in such a brutal fashion by military, paramilitary and intelligence agencies in Balochistan constitutes genocide?
Is it not that the criminal silence of the apex courts and their human rights champion judges shows that the justice system too is working on an institutionally and ethnically agreed policy of ‘kill and dump’ the Baloch people?
No doubt Islamabad’s brutalities and Hitler-like policies against the Baloch people will not deter us from continuing our struggle nor will these terror tactics result in suppressing our feelings. Our forefathers resisted for centuries and we will do the same to teach our children that truth and freedom is more important than the consequences.
The writer is president of the Balochistan National Party and a former chief minister of Balochistan. He can be reached at akhtarmengal@hotmail.com
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