A Baloch ‘National Gathering’ Against Forced Disappearances and Human Rights Violations

The Baloch of Pakistan are gearing up for a national gathering on July 28 in Gwadar, organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC). “Baloch Raaji Muchi (Baloch National Gathering)”, as they call it, was announced by BYC organiser Mahrang Baloch via a video conference. It aims to unite the Baloch from all corners of Balochistan against severe human rights abuses and genocide.

In her address, Mahrang highlighted that the Baloch are being subjected to enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, socio-economic exploitation, forced population displacement, cultural suppression, tribal feuds, road accidents, drug abuse, cancer, and other endemic diseases.

“This gathering serves as a pivotal moment in the fifth phase of the ‘March Against Baloch Genocide’.”

Mahrang told The Wire, “Our goal is to foster unity among the Baloch nation, creating a powerful collective force to end the State of Pakistan’s brutality and pave the way for a prosperous future for the Baloch people.”Lala Wahab, the deputy organiser of BYC, told The Wire that every day, Baloch people fall victim to enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Baloch drivers, who risk their lives for daily meals at the borders, are harassed and tortured by the Frontier Corps (FC), and the killer highways of Balochistan have claimed many lives, he added.

“Now, in order to exist, we are left with no other option but to march,” he said, calling for the Baloch nation to unite at the national level in the fight for survival.

Nako Mayar (75), who has been protesting for his disappeared son, told The Wire, “I have nothing at home but a few goats and my only son, Fateh, has disappeared from Kech since 2023.”

“I will fight and march for his life, no matter the heat or coldest hours. At least my son would be proud that Mayar is resisting,” he smiled.

BYC as a strong-resistance movement

The ‘kill and dump’ policy against the Baloch began in 2009. Baloch students, activists, and political leaders who were actively mobilising the Baloch community became victims of this policy. The widespread killings and enforced disappearances instilled fear and uncertainty in the population. Many individuals who forcibly disappeared in 2009, such as Zakir Majeed, Deen Mohammad, Ramzan Baloch, and thousands of others, are still missing.

After 2009, the Baloch political landscape became stagnant, with no significant protests or political activities. For example, in 2013, over 200 bodies were discovered in Totak, Khuzdar, yet there was a notable lack of protests against this incident. Despite the need for substantial resistance, only a few protests occurred, and nothing more. Throughout that decade, the Baloch faced mutilated bodies, killings and abductions, leading to widespread hatred towards the army.

According to BYC leadership, the Baloch political circle has effectively channelised and guided this national hatred politically, thus ending political stagnation in Baloch society.

“BYC was not created accidentally, nor did it emerge as a mere incident, even though the world may perceive it that way,” Mahrang Baloch told The Wire. “BYC has grown from a small group into a significant organisation. It started as a small, aware and conscious political circle that has witnessed and practically experienced events since 2009. They came to the final decision that there was a need for political organisation in the face of oppression and suppression. Thus, they transformed BYC from a small group into a large political movement.”

In 2020, several events contributed to the rise of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, where Baloch masses once again took to the streets to resist their genocide collectively.

Such events included:

In May 2020, the attack by the death squad on the house in Danuk, Turbat, resulted in the killing of Malik Naaz Baloch and the injury of her daughter Bramsh Baloch.

In August 2020, Hayat Baloch, a student from the University of Karachi, was indiscriminately shot and killed by FC personnel while working with his parents in an orchard in Turbat.

Later, in 2020, the tragic death of Karima Baloch, a prominent Baloch political leader, in Canada fueled widespread belief among the Baloch people that the state was responsible. Hashtags like “StateKilledKarimaBaloch” trended on social media, and massive protests were carried out.

In 2021, the Frontier Corps fired mortar shells in Hoshab, Kech, killing two Baloch children: Allah Baksh and Sharatoon. Their family staged a protest with the dead bodies in Turbat’s Fida Ahmed Chowk and later marched to Quetta. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee channelised the demonstration in Quetta, and protests spread across different areas of Balochistan.

In 2023, Balach Mola Baksh was killed in a fake encounter by the Counter Terrorism Department  (CTD). His body was placed in Fida Ahmed Chowk, and after his burial, BYC organised a long march against the Baloch genocide from Turbat to Quetta and from there to Islamabad. Hundreds of victim families of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings participated. Thousands of Baloch welcomed the march, leading to massive protests across all parts of Balochistan and the Baloch areas in Karachi.

Sabiha Baloch, a BYC leader, told The Wire that BYC is strong because “in political struggle, methodology and strategy play a very important role.” Two political patterns are discussed in political struggles: extremely careful political patterns and straightforward.

In extremely careful patterns, political forces work very slowly, avoid challenging the status quo, and lack intensity in their efforts, fearing that they might be crushed if they become too aggressive.

“However, BYC has changed the old pattern of Baloch political struggle and introduced a new political pattern,” she said. “Straight forward” means that instead of working slowly in an extremely careful position against widespread suppression, the resistance cycle must be at an extreme level. “BYC, with new methods, has challenged them all. They have broken the shackles of fear and created a courageous environment for people to resist,” she explained.

Sebghat Abdul Haq, one of the leaders of BYC, told The Wire that there has always been a limit in all Baloch political parties and organisations. “But BYC has changed that strategy; there is no limitation for joining BYC. In other political parties, there was a particular circle in which some people were allowed while others were excluded. From the start, BYC has broken all these limitations, giving ground to each and every Baloch,” he added.

State response towards the Baloch

Basheer Ahmed and Arman Baloch were two victims of enforced disappearances in July 2023; their mothers marched from Balochistan to Islamabad and were part of the ‘March Against Baloch Genocide.’ Later, they were killed in a fake encounter in February 2024.

“They are those mothers whose sons were enforcedly disappeared in front of their eyes; they travelled miles to reach Islamabad to protest for their sons’ lives, but this state handed over their dead bodies,” Mahrang Baloch said.

Emaan Mazari Hazir, a lawyer and a human rights activist, mentioned to The Wire that the targeting of peaceful civilians from Balochistan continues by the state of Pakistan. Arman and Basheer were two youths who forcibly disappeared in 2023. Their families participated in the BYC Long March Against Baloch Genocide and, like many other families, were persecuted after that for their participation in the same.

“Arman and Basheer were extrajudicially executed, and authorities refused to hand over their bodies to their family members until and unless the latter agreed to sign a declaration stating that their children were insurgents.”

Sammi Deen Baloch, secretary general of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and the daughter of forcibly disappeared Deen Muhammad since 2009, told The Wire that internationally, the state has built a narrative that its human rights violations, including ‘kill and dump’ policies and illegal abductions of the Baloch people, are aimed at countering terrorism.

“If the state acknowledges the issue of missing persons, it would be held accountable by international organisations for its actions in Balochistan,” she said. She added that the state, following a pre-planned policy, denies all human rights violations to justify its actions under the guise of counter-terrorism.

What BYC wants to achieve from the Baloch National Gathering

Mahrang added that imperial megaprojects in Balochistan, such as the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Saindak, and Reqo Diq play a crucial role in strengthening the state’s hand in the Baloch genocide. These projects, under the guise of development, exploited the Baloch people and fueled the state’s actions against them.

Mahrang concluded that the ‘Baloch Raji Muchi’ would give a clear message to the state that the Baloch would not sit silently and allow further abuse of their fundamental rights. This event would be a historic referendum.

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), as a responsible political force, would highlight the ongoing genocide of the Baloch at all levels – be it socio-economic exploitation under the guise of development projects or state violence under the pretext of security. This event would declare that the Baloch nation would not tolerate their annihilation and genocide under any circumstance.