QUETTA: In a chilling development here on Friday that underscores the deepening crisis in Balochistan, twenty bodies kept for several days at Quetta Civil Hospital were buried as unclaimed under the supervision of the Chhipa Foundation in Dasht Tera Meel graveyard.
Hospital officials confirmed that representatives from local authorities and volunteers of the Chhipa Foundation oversaw the mass burial. Rows of unmarked graves now bear silent witness to yet another episode in Balochistan’s long history of grief and unanswered questions.
Four Identified Among the Dead
Sources revealed that four of the deceased had been brought from Manguchar following recent military operations. They were identified as Gul Khan alias Yaseen, Inayatullah, Izzatullah, and Shay Murad. The remaining sixteen bodies could not be identified and were buried without names, prayers, or family farewells.
Shadow of “Staged Encounters”
Human rights defenders and Baloch nationalist circles have long raised alarms over what they describe as a disturbing pattern of staged encounters, operations allegedly used to justify the extrajudicial killing of political activists and suspected insurgents.
For many families, these mass burials reopen old wounds. “Every unidentified grave is a question mark on the conscience of the state,” said one rights activist on condition of anonymity, lamenting the lack of transparency surrounding such operations.
State’s Narrative Remains Unchanged
Despite growing outcry, government officials continue to defend security operations as part of their counterinsurgency strategy. Authorities maintain that those buried in Quetta were militants killed in various operations, including a recent encounter near the Frontier Corps Headquarters.
Mounting Concerns Over Human Rights Violations
In recent months, international and domestic human rights organizations have expressed escalating concern over enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan. Reports suggest that civilians are increasingly being caught in the crossfire of state-militant confrontations, with accountability remaining elusive.
As the dust settles over the freshly dug graves at Dasht Tera Meel, the silence of the dead echoes louder than official statements, demanding answers, dignity, and justice in a land where truth itself has become a
