Pak: Baloch Yakjahti Committee urges to break silence, adopt path of political struggle on forced disappearances

Balochistan [Pakistan], February 5 (ANI): The Baloch Yakjahti Committee, in a letter, urged the human rights organisations and the Baloch nation to not remain silent and adopt the path of political struggle on the matter of forced disappearances in Balochistan.

The committee, in their letter posted on ‘X’ om Monday, emphasised that the genocide of the Baloch people is being intensified day by day and urged the people to break their silence.

They further stated that the state has shown that they would not change their policies as they have been continuing the killing of missing persons in fake encounters.

“We want to make it clear to the world once again that the genocide of the Baloch people is going on in Balochistan and it is being intensified day by day. The state has given a clear message by killing the missing persons again in fake encounters. That he will not change his policies in Balochistan. We appeal to human rights organizations, including the United Nations to take notice of these incidents in Balochistan, while we appeal to the Baloch nation to adopt the path of political struggle instead of silence on the forced disappearances of their people,” the Baloch Yakjahti Committee wrote in the letter posted on X.

They further recalled the march held in the Abad district of Balochistan, where thousands of people from across the cities and villages of Balochistan took to the streets against the state oppression.

“You must be aware of the fact that for the past two months, Balochistan has been facing serious violations of human rights and Baloch genocide, in which the main issue is the killing of missing persons in fake encounters in the form of catch and shawl and then Islam in the form of dharna. A march was held in Abad and thousands of people from every city and village of Balochistan took to the streets against the oppression of the state and expressed their strong displeasure against these cruel policies of the state,” they added.

The committee stressed that the families of hundreds of missing persons participated in the Long March with the hope and belief that their loved ones would not be killed in a fake encounter, but unfortunately, the state wants to continue its cruel and oppressive policies towards Balochistan.

Recalling the Mach incident, they said that the way the missing persons were taken out of prison and killed was “extreme cruelty and oppression.”

“The state is committing inhumane acts by killing the missing persons and justifying the actions of the armed men,” they added.

The state is continuing the Baloch genocide on the false narrative that the missing persons are in the mountains but the reality is quite the opposite, the committee wrote, adding that those who are fighting armed conflict have never been protested by the families of missing persons and their names are not on the list of missing persons.

“The state believes that by justifying the armed struggle in Balochistan, we massacre the victims of enforced disappearances and make this massacre controversial through false narratives, but we want to make it clear to the state that the courts should not kill the victims of enforced disappearances. We will not remain silent on killings under any circumstances,” the committee stated.

Of all the armed men involved in the Mach incident, not a single person’s name is included in the list of missing persons, nor has their family claimed that they were forcibly disappeared.

But the state picks up dozens of people on a daily basis in Balochistan, keeps them in secret prisons for two months, four months, even years, and later releases them, and, the news of their release goes to the media and their families. If estimated, there will be millions of people who have been tortured and left missing by the state, they wrote on X.

Further emphasising that enforced disappearance is a serious crime according to the constitution and law of Pakistan, including the United Nations, they said that if the state considers a citizen to be a criminal or there is any kind of charge against that citizen, the state has courts, and according to the law of the land, they should be brought before the courts so that the courts and the law can decide whether these people are innocent or guilty. If found guilty of any crime, the courts are there to punish them.

“But arresting people illegally, keeping them in secret prisons for months and years and killing victims of forced disappearances in response to any armed action is not an affront to humanity. It is equivalent to flying, but it is also equivalent to trampling the state law and constitution,” they added.

They held the state institutions responsible for the growing frustration in Balochistan, which is constantly trying to create fear in Balochistan through illegal and inhumane actions.

Regarding the five dead bodies that were brought to the Civil Hospital Quetta yesterday, the state agencies are trying to establish a false narrative that these five persons were armed and were killed in the Mach incident, but the state is unable to understand this small matter and that the state cannot hide its atrocities and oppression by creating false narratives, the committee said.

“The relatives of two of these five persons have identified their loved ones who had previously forcibly disappeared and have all the evidence of their enforced disappearance,” they added.