Quetta, May 1 (IANS) Leading human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), on Friday strongly condemned the targetting of Baloch civilians in fabricated cases and their subsequent enforced disappearances, despite their full legal compliance, describing it as the “worst example of oppression” by Pakistani authorities.

According to the BYC, since March 18, following the state crackdown, hundreds of people were arrested, and dozens of cases were registered against BYC leaders, along with several other individuals. It added that many protestors were arrested during demonstrations and later implicated in various cases.

The rights body further said that although some of those arrested have been released on bail, they continue to appear in ongoing jail trials.

Highlighting the enforced disappearance of two civilians amid these proceedings, the rights body said that last week, Miraj was forcibly disappeared from the provincial capital Quetta while appearing in court. Similarly, two days ago, Abdul Ghaffar Kheyzai was also forcibly disappeared while attending the court hearings in connection with the same cases.

“This situation is extremely alarming. Subjecting such individuals — who have surrendered themselves to the law and are presenting themselves in judicial proceedings — to enforced disappearance is tantamount to the state itself rejecting its own courts. Furthermore, the pattern of harassing other members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee continues,” the BYC stated.

Meanwhile, addressing the people of Balochistan, Sabiha Baloch, the central leader of BYC, called on the people to recognise the scale of the worsening humanitarian crisis in the province aimed at erasing their identity.

She emphasised that such actions are intended to displace Baloch people from their own land, adding that the root cause behind the oppression by Pakistani authorities is “the very identity inherited from their ancestors, which makes them rightful heirs of the land.”

She urged the people not to forget the cases of the Baloch women who have been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces, including Mahjabeen, a polio patient missing for nearly a year; Nasreen, a young child; Haseena; Khadija; and Hair-un-Nisa — “all taken without any crime proven against them”.

Sabiha Baloch stated that such brutality and cruelty are being inflicted upon the Baloch people because of their courage to resist and speak against the atrocities.

She said that the courage and dignity of the Baloch people are now being targeted by Pakistani authorities in an attempt to humiliate them and assert power by taking away their loved ones, including the vulnerable and elderly.

In her concluding remarks, Sabiha warned that “silence and inaction will remain a lasting stain on their history” and called on the people of Balochistan to raise their voices, step forward, write, and resist, emphasising that “this is the time to act and not remain silent.”

–IANS

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