Karachi: Since stopping activists from holding a ‘National Gathering’ on July 28 against human rights abuses and enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Pakistani authorities have imposed severe restrictions in the region. Locals are struggling with their day-to-day lives as everything has been either shut down or seized by the authorities. The situation has been particularly bad in the Makran region, including in Gwadar.
Despite the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) issuing statements of its willingness to hold talks with the government to resolve the issue, there has been no response from the authorities. As the stalemate continues, locals suffer even for basic amenities.
The BYC is the key organiser of the Baloch protests.
Initially, the government promised to fulfil its commitments made to the BYC in an agreement last week, but then resorted to violence, exacerbating the situation.
Provincial government ministers, through their media statements, have shown some willingness to negotiate, but also made it clear that the BYC could not hold a gathering in Gwadar.
Such statements, the BYC says, go against Pakistan’s constitution, which guarantees every citizen the right to hold gatherings in their cities.
Mahrang Baloch, a prominent leader of the BYC, lamented that the Baloch people were being stopped from holding public gatherings on their own land.
The Wire managed to reach out to Mahrang and spoke with her after a week of limited communications during which the provincial government partially restored communication services but kept some lines of communication fully cut off.
Mahrang told The Wire that the BYC has attempted to engage with the authorities for negotiations since the onset of the conflict. Although there was an initial agreement to sign a document to facilitate talks, the government ultimately reversed its stance and chose to use violence against peaceful protesters in Balochistan and in Karachi, Mahrang added.
She criticised officials for focusing on the interests of the security forces rather than on the safety of citizens. She explained that the BYC had demanded that a first information report (FIR) be filed against the Frontier Corps (FC) for opening fire on peaceful protesters, resulting in the death of one protester in Noshki and leaving several others in critical condition.
Despite these demands, the government refused to register an FIR, Mahrang said.
She further pointed out that while the government quickly filed an FIR against her for the alleged murder of security personnel, it had consistently denied the BYC’s request to file an FIR against the FC for Baloch casualties.
“We [the Baloch] do not even have the right to file FIRs,” Mahrang says. “Everyone has seen who has opened FIRs on locals. The Baloch have to stage a sit-in just to have an FIR registered.”
The BYC remains firm in its constitutional demands and would not back down, she added.
Sammi Deen Baloch, a human rights activist who was detained by the police during a peaceful sit-in in Gwadar, was released following an outcry from both national and international communities.
Sammi recounted how security forces stormed the peaceful protest. She said that police vehicles sped into the crowd and that the cops drove over and fired at protesters.
She added that military forces had seized equipment from local police and that those who attacked peaceful protestors in Gwadar were dressed in police uniforms. She said that while the BYC had been willing to engage in dialogue with the government, the state’s response was to escalate the violence.
‘Families of missing persons are being forced to speak out against the BYC’
Meanwhile, the government has reportedly been exerting pressure on the families of missing persons and of those people who participated in the protests to speak out against the BYC.
One family whose kin lost his life due to fire from security forces in Noshki, has reportedly been pressured into stating that he was murdered by the BYC.
Imran Baloch, a lawyer from Quetta who has been closely following the recent unrest, has an FIR filed against him.
Speaking to The Wire, he remarked on the state’s approach, saying that while in the past the state filed FIRs against activists alleging that they committed crimes such as bicycle theft, “after 70 years, they have developed their script from bicycle theft to car theft.” Imran, along with other Baloch activists, is now charged with car theft in the FIR.
When asked about the state’s pressure on victims’ families to speak out against the BYC, Imran told The Wire that he had met with one such family in the district jail. He said they had been pressured to record a video statement accusing the BYC of instructing them to be involved in anti-state activities. The family has so far refused to comply.
Imran explained that in the past, the state used similar tactics to coerce families into denouncing Baloch nationalists. However, this time, private gunmen, along with security forces, have been seen in videos opening fire on peaceful protests. In some areas, police have even forced people to vandalise vehicles and shops to fabricate cases against the BYC.
He expressed concern that in the coming days, the government might present these private gunmen as victims and have them issue statements against the the BYC.
Mahrang said that the government has tried every act to defame the BYC and its main leadership.
“But even in Balochistan, every child knows who abducts and kills the Baloch. It is the state and its security forces who led violence,” Mahrang said.
