May 23, 2011

by Khalid Hayat Jamaldini

According to Pakistani officials, in circumstances where law and order can't be maintained by a regular police force, its most trustworthy law enforcement agency, the Frontier Corp (FC), which is essentially a paramilitary force, has been given control of Balochistan to ensure law, order and to protect the lives of the people. But unfortunately, according to the relatives of victims, eye witnesses and human rights organizations, this "self proud" force itself is found to be guilty.

The lynching and extrajudicial killings of Balochs still continue. The bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons--Balochs activists--mutilated and decomposed, are being found in different parts of the most neglected, deprived, poverty-stricken and occupied province of Pakistan, Balochistan. In addition to poverty and the deprivation of basic human needs, this piece of suppressed land is witnessing a massacre of the aborigines of the province, Balochs. To date, no single person has presented any justification for the killing of this educated cluster of society in a province which suffers from a high illiteracy rate due to the disastrous policies of its occupier, Pakistan.

According to Pakistani officials, in circumstances where law and order can't be maintained by a regular police force, its most trustworthy law enforcement agency, the Frontier Corp (FC), which is essentially a paramilitary force, has been given control of Balochistan to ensure law, order and to protect the lives of the people. But unfortunately, according to the relatives of victims, eye witnesses and human rights organizations, this "self proud" force itself is found to be guilty. Indeed, they themselves are behind these inhuman crimes. According to the Human Right Commission of Pakistan, "During the first four months of the year 2011, as many as 25 journalists, writers, human rights defenders, students, nationalists and political activists were killed extra judicially." It states that "one prominent human rights defender and journalist, Mr. Siddique Eido and his friend, Mr. Yousaf Nazar Baloch, [were] arrested by the FC and police on December 21, 2010 and on April 28, 2011, their mutilated bodies were found along the Makran coastal highway near Ormara, Balochistan.

Five more dead bodies of missing persons were found on May 11, 2011. They included: Dr. Abid Baloch, a prominent leader of the Baloch Student Organization (BSO Azad), Abdul Sattar, a teacher, Safeer Baloch, Tariq Rahim, a BSO activist, and Mohammad Jan. The Baloch Hal reports these youths had been whisked away nearly nine months ago by the FC.

In the past four months, hundreds have been executed and there is no sign of the whereabouts of hundreds of missing persons. The murder and disappearances of Balochs clearly indicates that Pakistan has adopted this approach to suppress the voice of those Baloch who are demanding their rights to their resources, equality and justice. This method will not work for long. Pakistani officials must know that they cannot suppress the voice of Balochs through torture and killing. Pakistani officials kill Balochs simply because the Baloch want to enjoy their basic human rights and justice. This brutal tactic will further increase the abhorrence for Pakistan, its law enforcement agencies and its peoples of other ethnicity.

This hatred, suppressed by the Balochs for the last six decades, turned into resistance. Balochs at large cannot tolerate the ruinous policies of Pakistan, policies that were designed to utilize the resources of Balochistan for the development of the country and leave Balochistan undeveloped. This unequal development created this schizm between Balochistan and Pakistan.

The reason for the extreme dislike for Pakistan amongst the Baloch is justifiable and genuine. Each successive democratically elected civilian or military government has acknowledged this deprivation in the first few months of their tenure and blamed the previous government for the injustices done to Balochistan. Yet they continue to trick the innocent people of Balochistan with wicked apologies and false promises in the name of infrastructure development, increasing employment opportunities and development packages, and so on. Balochs are wise people and thus cannot be cheated by false promises. In reality the government gives nothing. Their words are limited to speeches and documentation in the upper and lower house of parliament and they continue to play the role of rival instead of developer.

In a recent editorial "The man who betrayed Balochistan," the editor of The Baloch Hal lists the name of the Chief Justice of Pakistan amongst the betrayers of the Baloch because of his silence on the extrajudicial killings of the Balochs. Moreover, the current comments of Justice Javed Iqbal praising the work of military and secret agencies and calling the huge number of missing person "propaganda," shows his lack of interest in the matter of extrajudicial killing of the Balochs and clearly indicates that the Baloch should not hold any expectations of justice from these institutions of Pakistan.

The Baloch are alone in this battle of seeking justice for the victims of Pakistani kill and dump policies and the missing Balochs. They have to find a way to seek justice by themselves. They have to raise their voice to tell the world about these atrocities. They have to unite to get justice. Nawab Akbar Bugti said of the Pakistani forces "They are powerful. They are forceful. They can destroy us, but we can also in self defence drop a few drops of blood from their bodies."

Developed countries like Australia also adopted a policy of inhuman acts toward its aborigines. But in the end Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on February 13, 2008, apologized to its aboriginal communities in parliament for past mistreatment and policies.

"As Prime Minister of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the government of Australia, I am sorry. On behalf of the parliament of Australia, I am sorry. I offer you this apology without qualification. We apologise for the hurt, the pain and suffering that we, the parliament, have caused you by the laws that previous parliaments have enacted. We apologise for the indignity, the degradation and the humiliation these laws embodied. We offer this apology to the mothers, the fathers, the brothers, the sisters, the families and the communities whose lives were ripped apart by the actions of successive governments under successive parliaments."

Pakistan is pushing the Balochs to a point where an apology from Pakistan will not win the hearts or forgiveness of the Baloch. An apology will not satisfy the grievances of the Baloch and what they have suffered through. If Baloch leaders do accept any apology, they will not be forgiven by those who lost their loved ones who wanted justice in the form of freedom for the Balochs and who accepted death rather than betraying their ideals.

The writer belongs to Balochistan and writes on the issue of Balochistan for international and national websites and papers. He can be reached at khalidhayat77@yahoo.com