The situation in Balochistan is getting worse as Pakistani defense forces have violently suppressed the Baloch community’s assembly for the Baloch National Gathering. Protesters claim that the military is attempting to prevent their participation in the nationwide event, which aims to hold the government and defense forces accountable for their alleged “brutality.”
Despite the human rights violations in Pakistan, protesters argue that international media has largely ignored the violence in Balochistan. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee has called on global media to cover the issue more extensively.”Balochistan has now become a completely war-torn region. And the Pakistani state is using all its machinery and power to stop this peaceful public gathering and is committing the worst human rights violations,” their statement read.
Highlighting the ongoing human rights violations in Balochistan, the rights group said, “For the past 48 hours, the internet has been completely shut down in Gwadar and most parts of Makuran, while phone networks have been shut down since yesterday evening. A complete undeclared curfew has been imposed in Gwadar and nearby areas. No one is being allowed to enter or leave Gwadar.” The statement also detailed the abuses inflicted by Pakistani defense forces on Baloch caravans en route to Gwadar for a national gathering.
A Baloch National Gathering caravan, consisting of thousands of people, set out from Quetta yesterday morning but was halted and obstructed by the Pakistani military and Frontier Corps. Despite overcoming several barriers, the caravan reached Mastung, where the military opened fire on it, affecting hundreds of women and children. A total of 14 participants were injured in the attack, with three critically wounded and currently receiving treatment at the Quetta Trauma Centre.
After the attack, military forces punctured the tires of all the convoy’s vehicles, making them inoperable, and shattered the windows with gunfire. The caravan, which was en route to the Baloch national gathering, is now staging a peaceful sit-in in Mastung. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) also claimed that peaceful protestors in Balochistan were subjected to raids, with many being “forcibly disappeared” and others being falsely charged in fabricated cases. “To sabotage the Baloch National Gathering, in the past week, peaceful activists preparing for the national gathering have been raided in various parts of Balochistan. Five people from Karachi and several from Quetta have been forcibly disappeared, and several false FIRs have been registered against peaceful activists in various parts of Balochistan,” their statement read.
Describing the whole of Balochistan as a “war zone,” the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) called on international media outlets and journalists to uphold journalistic values and report on the situation. “For the past 48 hours, the entire Balochistan has been a war zone, but it is deeply regrettable and a matter of shame for the journalistic community that none of the so-called Pakistani mainstream media and journalists has uttered a word about this serious issue, but are all criminally silenced. We appeal to all media houses globally and journalists to respect journalistic values and principles to provide coverage of the war-like situation in Balochistan, the complete curfew in Gwadar, and the severe brutality and oppression by the Pakistani state,” the statement added.