Quetta, Aug 27 (IANS) Several leading human rights organisations on Thursday strongly condemned the forced evictions and enforced disappearances of around 40 civilians in Balochistan’s Gwadar district, allegedly carried out by Pakistani forces, calling them grave human rights violations and part of “Baloch genocide policy”.
Citing reports, the Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) alleged that residents of the Shadi Kaur area of Pasni in Gwadar have been forcibly displaced from their ancestral lands as a result of coordinated “state operations”. It said that these actions by the Pakistani forces coupled with arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, and severe restrictions on civilian movement, had left thousands of people facing immense hardship.
“Approximately 40 individuals were forcibly disappeared and transferred to a military camp established near the Shadi Kaur Dam. While some detainees were later released, several were reportedly moved to Pasni, Gwadar, and other undisclosed locations, and many remain missing,” the BVJ stated.
“Residents also endured extensive restrictions on movement that disrupted access to essential services and basic necessities. People attempting to transport food and household supplies from Pasni to their homes were reportedly turned back at the Gabdi Check Post, leaving families without adequate access to food, medicine, and other necessities,” it added.
Expressing concern over these developments, the BVJ reiterated that forcing people from their ancestral lands through “intimidation, coercion, or military pressure” is incompatible with fundamental human rights and human dignity.
Highlighting the escalating atrocities in Shadi Kaur, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said that nearly five thousand people were forced to migrate from their homes, lands, and ancestral areas last month, underscoring what it described as the “intensity of Pakistani coercion” in Balochistan.
“On July 9 and 10, the Pakistani army issued orders to local people to vacate the area. They were threatened that if they did not vacate, their homes would be burned to ashes. Following this threat, on July 11 and 12, nearly five thousand people were forced to abandon their homes, fields, and means of livelihood. Today, numerous families are compelled to take refuge in temporary tents in Pasni, Ormara, Turbat, and other areas,” the BYC stated.
“The Shadi Kaur incident is part of the Baloch genocide policy. Demolishing homes, depriving people of their lands, seizing their means of livelihood, and then imposing fear and silence are the forms of coercion through which the state is attempting to annihilate the entire Baloch nation,” it noted.
The rights body called on international human rights organisations, relevant United Nations bodies, and the global community to take immediate notice of the “unchecked state coercion” underway in Balochistan, including enforced disappearances, citizen detentions, restrictions on movement, and forced evictions.
--IANS
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