Sir: Two more bodies of missing Baloch persons have been recovered from a roadside and have been shifted to a hospital. It has also been reported that some personnel of the FC and ISI, in plain clothes, whisked away a member of a Baloch political party from his house. Such is the situation in this part of the world. A man leaves home in the morning but he is not sure whether he will be back in the evening, not because he thinks he will be killed by any robber or thief but by the paramilitary forces and intelligence agencies of the state. These days, Balochistan is going through the worst phase in its troubled history, where human rights are being gravely violated by the state agencies to weaken the Baloch liberation movement. Extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances and the dumping of mutilated bodies of journalists, political activists, writers, poets, teachers and members of human rights groups is a common trend. According to a report by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, there are nearly 14,385 missing Baloch in the province and more than 500 tortured bodies have surfaced within a period of three years. The reports show that the recovered bodies of missing persons from different swathes of the province contained inhumane torture signs such as the cutting of limbs, drilling of body parts, cigarette burns and, sometimes, the bodies are so severely decomposed that it becomes impossible to recognise them. Apart from this, the Baloch who managed to escape from their torture cells say that the detainees are kept in a very bad condition. After being picked up, the security agencies throw the detainees in a narrow, dark and filthy cell with their hands tied back and eyes covered. They are never allowed to use toilets and are not given food for days. Often, missing persons die in these cells and during interrogation. It is then that they are either dumped in jungles or buried in unknown graves due to which the families never come to know about the whereabouts of their loved ones. Nevertheless, the most hurtful and pressing problem is the silence of the international community and human rights groups over this grim situation. The question arises here: what are they waiting for? Do they want to see more bloodshed and dead bodies of the Baloch? What is the reason that the United Nations is taking the side of such brutal agencies of the state? Currently, Pakistan gets most of its military aid from the US in the name of the so-called war on terror but it is unfortunate to mention that Pakistan is using most of these arsenals against the Baloch instead of curbing terrorism. Therefore, the US should stop funding the Pakistan Army as the arms and funds given to Pakistan are being used in this province against the freedom movement of Balochistan. Deteriorating law and order, flagrant violation of human rights, illegal custody and target killings of political dissidents will strengthen the morale of the Baloch movement and take the nation one step closer to its liberation for which they have been struggling for decades. KOHISTAN BALOCH Turbat