Protest in Germany over Pakistan Army's atrocities in Balochistan
Jun 05, 2022
Dortmund [Germany], June 5 : Baloch Republican Party Germany organized a protest in Dortmund against Pakistan Army's atrocities.
Taking to Twitter, Voice for Peace and Justice tweeted, "Baloch Republican Party Germany protested in Dortmund against the human rights violations in #Balochistan where Pak Army is crossing every limit of atrocities. People of Balochistan are being deprived of every basic right & are being tortured by the security agencies."
In the past few months, the atrocities against the Baloch people have crossed every limit. The Pakistan Army has strong control over the lives of people in Balochistan. The Army has imposed its own laws to control the area and people. The situation is similar in almost all the districts in Balochistan province.
Baloch people are being deprived of every basic right and are being tortured by security agencies. All male members of the districts from the age of 12 appear once or twice a week in the local Military Camp for questioning. It is mandatory as per the rules formulated by the army.
Let alone this, the locals in many districts of Balochistan are not even allowed to organize funerals without the approval of the Military. Even to visit a nearby town to buy household items, one needs Army's permission.
Recently, the case of people disappearing from Balochistan has increased. On May 11, Feroz Balocha was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani intelligence agencies, according to Pakistan's vernacular media.
As per a local media report, the activists from Balochistan province are high on the list of the 'missing'. Baloch 'nationalists', forming many groups, have been fighting the state to oppose curbs on civil rights and the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects that they say deprive Balochs of natural resources while giving few jobs.
According to Amnesty International, the commission received 3,000 cases of such disappearances. By 2021, the Commission reported that it has received 7,000 cases of forced disappearance since its inception and it has resolved around 5,000 of those cases.
The issue of forced disappearance in Pakistan originated during the Musharraf era (1999 to 2008), but the practice continued during subsequent governments.
People have voiced their concerns and protested against this but the pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Baloch students, no matter whether they are in Balochistan or any other part of Pakistan, are always living in the fear of being abducted, tortured, and killed. They cannot roam freely or do normal activities as other students would.
Harassment, killing, enforced disappearance, and torture by Pakistan security forces have put Baloch people in such a situation that even the educated women are resorting to a unique form of protest including a suicide bombing which is haram in Islam, as per the thinktank.
Pakistan Army can kill the Balochs but is not in a position to heal their wounds. With all this, one thing is clear the pain and suffering that Baloch people undergo are not going to be alleviated in Pakistan keeping in mind the continued pattern where many innocent Balochs are subjected to torture and harassment.