Muzaffar Khan Kashmiri
When the media questioned the repression of the Baloch, the reaction on Human Rights Day in Pakistan justified the oppression of the Palestinians by Israel. It is this characteristic of responding among privileged Pakistanis that shows their indifference to Balochistan.
The topic of atrocities against the Baloch population of Pakistan is easily dismissed in all influential circles without input from policy makers and legislators. Every day the Baloch demand the rights to their resources from the government of Pakistan. In return, they are rewarded with an uncompromising colonial rule that threatens their very existence. Extrajudicial killings have given rise to the rhetoric of human corpses in the province. Bodies are mutilated to make identification impossible. Pakistani society has exposed its double standards by ignoring the Middle East issue and acting on it.
In a recent hearing at the Islamabad High Court in October last year, the chief justice admitted that the court was “embarrassed” by dealing with dozens of missing persons petitions that had gone unsolved for ages. The bench agreed that enforced disappearances had brought Pakistan into disrepute. “Black Vigo” (a popular car brand used to kidnap people and settle scores against the establishment) is a symbol of tyrannical rule in Balochistan.
Initially, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings were a problem along Pakistan’s borders with Afghanistan. But today it is mostly Baloch nationalists who pay the price for speaking up for their constitutional rights, which Pakistan has alienated since its occupation of Balochistan in 1948. Backward rights activists and journalists sympathetic to the Baloch cause are declared ‘missing’. next day. Furthermore, those who try to be ‘lost’ soon become lost too!
These illegal detentions and killings of Baloch have become so common that a common Pakistani openly believes that the lives of Baloch are not equal to theirs. They believe that the Baloch are second-class citizens, ignoring their seven decades of economic contribution to Pakistan’s prosperity.
Encouraged by multiple axes of power – the ISI, the Pakistan Army, leaders of political parties with support systems in the West, or feudalism – they have created parallel governance systems where the weak are treated as public property. Courts are equally surprised to see the repetition of Baloch persons over time by various ‘unknown’ parties. The “powers” take turns punishing, depriving Pakistani citizens of state institutions, zero accountability and no fear of the law.
Despite being citizens of Pakistan, the Baloch have a pervasive sense of insecurity about their future in the country. Discrimination against them adds to their hardships and the ongoing economic crisis in the country has pushed them into poverty. The problem of Balochistan cannot be called a case of injustice. It is the disenfranchisement of local residents by the Pakistani state. This is why Baloch is not a mainstream advocate for constitutional rights. It is only during elections that Balochistan is remembered, alliances are forged, and empty promises are made.
The situation has escalated to such an extent that Baloch women are leading the Azadi March against Pakistani terrorism. Now that all the men are either captives or dead, it is up to the women to highlight the pervasiveness of Pakistani violence. Imagine signing up to the nine main human rights treaties in international human rights law, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and opposing virtually every one of them.
At one time, Balochistan was ready for reconciliation with Pakistan. He cared about joining the nation with the “greatest nuclear power”. But today they leave it to Pakistan. Growing disillusionment with the government has pushed them to resort to violent means to end decades of oppression. People want to avenge their loved ones, even if it means encouraging local “anti-government” organizations. These changing winds, the oppressed, are increasingly demanding equality in the distribution of state resources. No human rights organization can invalidate or justify their bloodshed on the Baloch. For the crimes in Balochistan, Pakistan feels the need for international investigation and punishment by the International Human Rights Commission (IHRC). Government of Pakistan may take efforts to talk with the people of Balochistan so that these kind of suppression can be stopped.
