Pakistan And Balochistan Archives - Lokmarg

Rebel Attacks In Balochistan, KP Surged During 2022

By LokMarg 1st January 2023

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan provinces remained under the grip of unlawful activities as Pakistan suffered close to 376 terror attacks the previous year, Dailytimes reported citing a report by the Center for Research and Security Studies (CRSS) on Sunday.

The report claimed that the majority of the attacks were carried out by banned outfits such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Daish (Islamic State Khorasan), and Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA).

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province as a whole had an exponential surge in violence, with a corresponding rise in fatalities. Government officials, law enforcement officers, and civilians made up the majority of the victims of violence. According to the study, there were several foreigners among the civilian population.

According to the Center, after November 28 there was an extraordinary uptick in terrorist assaults in KP and Balochistan, with over twenty strikes occurring in only the month of December.

According to the report, this increased the number of fatalities in the province (including ex-FATA) to roughly 64 percent of all fatalities in the nation. Balochistan was next with 26 percent of deaths allegedly attributable to terrorism, Dailytimes reported.

During the last year alone, terrorists of Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Gul Bahadur group, the Islamic State-Khurasan, and several others have reportedly conducted at least 165 terrorist attacks in KP province which is a 48 percent increase from 2020. Out of all these attacks, 115 of these were orchestrated by TTP, according to the Al Arabiya Post report.

The security establishment in Pakistan has also been facing severe issues, Al Arabiya Post reported citing a report shared during a recent meeting of Pakistan’s National Security Committee, that there are “capacity gaps” in KP’s counterterrorism department (CTD), revealing that CTD spends less than 4 percent of its budget on operations, with “zero allocation for procurement”.

The report stated that in the last year, Punjab faced only five terrorist incidents, while KP witnessed 704 such incidents. (ANI)

Pak: Over 100 Arrested As Gwadar Unrest Grows

By LokMarg 30th December 2022

As many as 100 people have been arrested in Balochistan’s port city of Gwadar as the provincial government struck with an iron fist at protesters and imposed an emergency law that prohibits the gathering of five or more people.

The arrests come a day after the provincial government imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Gwadar, the Dawn newspaper reported. “There will be a ban on all kinds of rallies, protests, sit-ins, and gatherings of five or more people in the port city of Gwadar,” the Balochistan home department said in a statement.
Despite Section 144, workers and supporters of the Maulana Rehman-led Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) continued their protest, demanding the release of all people and activists of the movement.

Tensions continued to simmer in Pakistan’s port city of Gwadar with protests continuing after clashes with supporters of the ‘Haq Do Tehreek’ (HDT). The clashes occurred this month between locals and security forces in Gwadar as protests against illegal fishing turned violent after some people were arrested in the port city.

The provincial government had contacted Jamaat-i-Islami leader Liaquat Baloch to help restore normalcy and resolve the issues that have become a bone of contention between the government and the HDT, the Dawn newspaper reported citing sources.

After clashes between protesters and the police in several areas of Gwadar. Protestors have blocked the main highway linking the port city with other districts of the Makran division.

The Pakistani newspaper said the port city remained cut off from Karachi and other areas and all incoming and outgoing traffic was suspended.

The HDT activists have been protesting in the city for nearly two months. Their demands include an end to illegal trawling in Gwadar’s water, the high number of security checkpoints, and an opening up of trade on the Pak-Iran border.

As the HDT protests threaten to blow up on Pakistan’s ruling establishment, the country’s media has urged provincial authorities in Balochistan to exercise restraint.

“While violence cannot be condoned, the state needs to handle this issue with care,” the Dawn newspaper said in an editorial. (ANI)

Enforced Disappearances Bleed Balochistan

By LokMarg 31st August 2020

There is a long history of enforced disappearances in Pakistan occupied Balochistan. While thousands of Balochs have been abducted and disappeared since its illegal occupation, hundreds of others have been eliminated in the line of Pakistan’s “kill and dump” policy. Thousands still remain unaccounted for.

Due to the silence and numbness of the civilized world and Human rights organizations and lack of the media or other means in Balochistan, this issue has been suppressed until this day.

Enforced Disappearance has been used as a tool by the Pakistani state to silence the oppressed people of Balochistan since the very first day of its occupation. While countless Abductees have been killed, many of them are still facing inhuman torture in army secrets cells. Humanity is bleeding at the hands of the Pakistani state. Baloch people have taken to the streets. Families of the disappeared people suffer significant harm, they live with continuous uncertainty about the fate or whereabouts of their loved ones, often utterly disrupted by the disappearances.

Some of these missing persons’ relatives have passed away with the pain and suffering in their chests but their loved ones have never returned back to them and they died waiting.

ALSO READ: Enforced Disappearances: Anti-Pak Protests Held

United Nations, International Court of Justice, Human rights organizations may not be able to fathom the plight of the families of missing persons. Baloch mothers, sisters, widows and their children are suffering from severe spiritual mental distress.

Pakistan’s Inhuman atrocities in Balochistan are never exposed as there is a total media Blackout. Voice for Baloch missing persons or VBMP’s peaceful protest camp has been going on for more than 4050 days in Quetta, demanding Justice for Baloch missing persons. Thousands of people visit this camp on a daily basis. But the army state never understands and respects a democratic way of struggle for rights.

Enforced disappearances have been a long stain on Pakistan’s human rights record. Despite the pledges of successive governments to criminalize the practice, there has been a very slow movement on legislation which is equal to nothing, while people continue to be forcibly disappeared with impunity.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is now practising the method of enforced disappearance in abroad on the Baloch Diaspora as well. Recently, a prominent Baloch journalist and activist Sajid Hussain was disappeared from a European country Sweden on March 2, 2020. His body was later found in a river of Uppsala on May 1, 2020. Sajid Hussain was a significant voice of the Baloch in the diaspora. He used to work on Human rights issues happening in Balochistan, dedicated to documenting enforced disappearances by the Pakistani agencies.

According to a report issued by the Reporters Without Borders (RSF), in Sweden, they suspect that the Sajid Hussain might have been abducted by Pakistani ISI.

Previously, another Baloch Social activist Rashid Hussain was arrested and disappeared from Sharjah, by UAE secret agencies on 26 December 2018, Rashid had been living and working in UAE for several years.

Later on, news issued through Pakistani electronic media that Hussain was a suspect in the Chinese consulate attack in Karachi. After six months Rashid Hussain was illegally deported and handed over to Pakistani authorities by UAE.

This news was also published by Pakistani media houses, but since then Rashid has not been given access to any court. On the contrary, Pakistan’s anti-terrorism court has declared Rashid as a fugitive. Now his family is more concerned about his life. Pakistani agencies are trying to harm him in their custody.

According to a report released by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, there has been an increase in cases of Baloch women being targeted by security forces. Human rights observers have noted that the absence of explicit legislation criminalizing enforced disappearances in domestic law only aggravates the situation.

Baloch women and even children are being detained by forces in their local army camps, some of them get released after a few days, but before that, they are harassed and tortured. A 23 years old school teacher Zarina Marri was abducted by security forces from the Kohlu area of Balochistan, In December 2005, and her whereabouts are still unknown.

Hundreds of political leaders, activists, Engineers, doctors, lawyers are missing in Balochistan for years. Dr Deen Mohammad Baloch, an official doctor and dispenser at Ornach Khuzdar was abducted on June 28, 2009 and is still missing.

Zakir Majeed, a student leader was abducted on June 8, 2009 and still missing, While Zahid Baloch, Shabir Baloch and many such cases of disappearance are there to be practised and solved.

Baloch nation is facing the worst Human rights abuses by Pakistani forces and agencies in this modern era, where a plethora of human rights organisations exist.

World Human rights organisations and the International courts of justice must implement legislation criminalizing Pakistan over enforced disappearances without delay so that prosecutors have appropriate tools to prosecute those responsibly.

We request the civilised world, international community, international court of justice, the United Nations and other human rights organisations to take this as a matter of urgency, to end unlawful abductions and incommunicado detentions. Enforced disappearances are a tool of intimidation that grossly violates human rights laws. (ANI)

Why Is Europe Quiet On Baloch Journalist’s Death?

By LokMarg 1st August 2020

The story is known, and has been written and advertised for at least a month before disappearing from the radars of the press. The story is known and starts with a body dumped into a river. The body of a Baloch journalist, Sajid Hussain.

Is not uncommon, unfortunately, to find mutilated dead bodies, in various stage of decomposition and beyond recognition dotting the roads of Balochistan: it is part of the nefarious ‘kill and dump’ policy of Pakistani intelligence agencies highlighted many times by human rights organisations both national and international. But this time, there was a twist in the usual plot.

Sajid was dumped into a river, but the river was in Uppsala, Sweden. The place where he had fled is country and asked for political asylum. “His body was found on 23 April in the Fyris river outside Uppsala,” Jonas Eronen, a police spokesman, said. Adding that a crime could not be completely ruled out, but that Hussain’s death could equally have been an accident or suicide. And, after more than three months, the Swedish authorities did not give any answer yet.

The family has been allowed to see the body only after two months, and have been denied permission to bury Sajid in Balochistan by the Interior Ministry until ISI did not give permission: yesterday. The clearance has just been given but, with the clearance, another strange thing happens.

An Urdu newspaper, in Pakistan, carried a story on Sajid quoting the police report on his death. According to the article, the investigative reports states that Sajid has not been killed but his death was an accident. Point is, nobody has this police report and the person the article is quoting as a source, Taj Baloch who was Sajid’s flatmate, has no idea of what the article is talking about.

The family, until today, has not been given any investigative report and the Swedish police are not even releasing the post mortem report. Not to the family, not to the lawyers, after more than three months. According to sources close to the family: “There must be something political and diplomatic going on between Sweden and Pakistan”.

And there must be for sure, because is just unbelievable, especially for a European citizen, that Sweden is behaving, in this particular case, practically like Pakistan.

And, if the article tells the truth and they saw the report, is even worst: giving reports to Pakistani press and intelligence agencies (don’t forget in Pakistan press is controlled by the agencies) before the family is informed is not only against the law but against any decency.

The Swedish police should answer many questions, and quickly: Why the investigations about Sajid’s death started only the March 28 if he disappeared the two of the same month; why during all this time they did not give any news to the family about the developments of the case; why after a round of inquiries there was only a deafening silence; how a body can stay for almost two months in a river which, by definition, flows; why the post mortem report is not out after more than three months; and why somebody who had survived ISI and Frontier Corps ‘attention’ would go and drop himself in a river in Sweden.

The article is perfectly in line with the ISI behaviour, and they are most probably trying to cook up a story in order to wash their hands of Sajid’s death.

But, since Sajid had been granted political asylum, Swedish authorities must have been familiar with Pakistan’s behaviour toward its own citizens.

In the country and now even abroad. A number of human rights organisations have been openly calling out Pakistani ISI for Sajid’s murder.

But, apparently, no attempt of investigation has been done following this track. No country and no official international body is even trying to charge Pakistan for enforced disappearences and kill and dump, even though they violate international treaties and laws.

Filing Sajid’s disappearance and murder as an ‘accident or suicide’ case is very tempting, because it will allow Swedish Government, and other European governments after it, to deny what is happening under their own eyes. Sajid is dead, but his death should not be taken lightly. European governments are responsible for the safety of their citizens.

Democratic governments are responsible for the freedom of those fleeing dictatorial, military regimes. Silence and connivance with those regimes in the name of diplomatic relationships are as criminal as the deeds of the perpetrators.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are strictly those of the author) (ANI)