Baloch activists urge United Nations to probe Pakistan govt’s atrocities in Balochistan

New Delhi: In a bid to create greater international awareness about near-extermination of the people of Balochistan, a campaign is being launched by activists under the banner of the Baloch Human Rights Council. A pavilion is also being set up outside the UN Office in Geneva, adjacent to iconic broken chair named “Save the Baloch”. 

The council activists demand that the UN must launch an immediate and thorough investigation into the Pakistani government’s actions in Balochistan, and must hold Pakistan accountable for its egregious human rights abuses against the people of Balochistan. 

“Save the Baloch” initiative marks an effort to amplify the voices of the people of Balochistan and usher in the restoration of their most basic human rights — social, cultural, political and economic autonomy. 

Currently, the Baloch faces an unending saga of humiliation, destruction, and grief. Mass graves have been discovered across Balochistan; death squads kidnap social and political activists and human rights defenders, who are then murdered and thrown into these mass graves. Military oppression is the key tactic Pakistan has employed in order to sustain its unjust rule over the Baloch. 

The people of Balochistan were never asked whether they wanted to be part of Pakistan. Also, they never gave their consent to have their territory annexed into the fundamentalist hotbed that is Pakistan. The Pakistani government has denied their right to self-determination. 

Pakistan pushes the narrative that the people of Balochistan are happy— that they want to be part of Pakistan. This narrative is baseless and demeaning to the actual lived experiences of the Baloch. 

Defending the rights of the people of Balochistan is not an option— it is an obligation. In the words of one of the protestors, “Freedom for Balochistan has been long-delayed, but it cannot and will not be denied.” 

Because of these transgressions and the lack of UN counteraction, the UN has failed its own mandate to protect and fight for human rights across the globe. Silence from the UN on this matter is essentially an endorsement of this cultural extermination of genocidal proportions.