Daily Times

In order to pave way for a peaceful resolution of the Balochistan issue, Akhtar Mengal, the leader of the Balochistan National Party (BNP), in 2012, presented a six-point-plan before the Supreme Court of Pakistan. The concerned civil and military powers showed no interest in such a plan and some even deemed it as a replica of Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rahman’s six points from the 1960s.

Backed by overwhelming public support from the Baloch masses, BNPhas this time strenuously taken up the case of Balochistan with the newly elected Government of Pakistan in order to secure some kind of relief for the people of Balochistan.

The most urgent and pertaining among the six point’s demands signed by the representatives of Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf (PTI) and BNP is the issue of enforced disappearances aka “Missing Persons”, which has impacted the lives of people in Balochistan in various ways, damaging the state’s socio-political harmony and presenting Pakistan in a negative light in the international media.

Historically, the Baloch relationship with Pakistan’s military establishment and previous governments has not been pleasant. The state institutions’ response to the Baloch demands for equal rights as guaranteed by the constitution of Pakistan; often resulted in bloody conflicts affecting adversely their mutual trust, harmony, and the fabric that weaves a federation together. The establishment under various pretexts, resorted to measures outside their constitutional ambits to contain the Baloch dissent. The cases of enforced disappearances, extra-judicial killings of political opponents, patronization of non-state actors are some startling examples of the state pursued strategies in Balochistan.

Enforced disappearances,extra-judicial killings of political opponents, patronisation of non-state actors are some startling examples of state pursued strategies in Balochistan

Although the Article 9, and Article 10 clause (1) & (2) of the constitution of Pakistan prohibits the unlawful detention of a person and asks of such a person to be produced before a Magistrate within a period of twenty-four hours of his or her arrest, nevertheless,People from Balochistan are being whisked away in broad daylight for years and their whereabouts are not known.

One of the major drawbacks of such measures in which its institutions disrespect and violate the law with impunity is that the state itself loses the moral ground to instruct its subjects to adhere by the constitution and state laws.In the Baloch case, this has damaged their trust in state institutions including the judiciary as a protector to uphold their rights and dignity, compelling them to look for remedies to their problems elsewhere.

As a consequence, a general hatred took roots among the Baloch masses against the majority ethnic group forming the backbone of the establishment. Unfortunately, exploiting the genuine demands of the people of Balochistan as a threat to its national security, the security establishment has been trying to neutralize any political or peaceful opposition against its actions in Balochistan.

However, human rights as they are, transcend beyond the ‘territorial integrity’ or jurisdictions of a state. The situation in Balochistan has caused much damage to the country amongst the international community. The United Nations and various other independent Human Rights bodies have repeatedly called upon Pakistan to keep its pledge of respecting the rights of its citizens and to refrain from violating the human rights instruments it is a signatory to. This has tarnished her international image and Pakistan is being seen as an abuser of human rights.

The issue of missing persons in Balochistan is a long-standing humanitarian crisis that remains unresolved, it is the most nerve-racking, draconian experience that thousands of families have fallen victim to.Even the most conservative of estimates provide the count for missing persons to be in the thousands.

It is now up to the PTI leadership to demonstrate whether the dream of Naya Pakistan is going to be translated into reality or will it also go missing in Balochistan

Members of these families including men, women and children have been campaigning for years for the safe and sound release of their loved ones exhausting all the available means in the state.The psychological repercussions of this are beyond one’s comprehension.

A situation has developed in which all hopes are lost by the affected families and what is left in their lives is a visualization of all the incomprehensible things happening to their loved ones, a psychological state they can never recover from. Delays in resolving this issue will give rise to more hatred against the state institutions and will cause more damage to Pakistan’s standing in the international arena.It is high time the concerned authorities in Pakistan revisit the past outcomes of such and revise their attitude and policies towards Balochistan.

The issue of “Missing Persons” under the MOU signed between BNP and PTI should be given priority and be taken as an incentive by the new government of PTI to bridge the existing trust-deficit and as a way forward to a peaceful conflict-resolution. Legislations should also be charted to bring an end to such practices.

Any talk of economic development remains meaningless when an individual’s personal freedom is restricted. For any sort of societal development, a particular political atmosphere without fear, interference and with some sort of freedom is essential.

It is now up to the leadership of the PTI to demonstrate whether the dream of naya Pakistanis going to be translated into reality or will it also gomissing in Balochistan.

The writer is a UK based Baloch socio-political activist who hails from Panjgur, Balochistan. He was the Ex chairperson of Baloch Students Action Committee, BUITEMS and Baloch Students and Youth Association UK. He can be reached at qambermbaloch@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, August 20^th 2018.