QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN: The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has said that the displacement of the Baloch population from their land in the Shadi Kor area of Gwadar amounts to an attack on the survival of the Baloch nation.
In a statement, the group said that on July 11 and 12, approximately 5,000 people were forced to leave their homes, lands and ancestral areas, which reflecting the intensity of Pakistani state repression in Balochistan.
According to the statement, on May 5, personnel from the Pakistani military and the intelligence agency MI gathered residents of Shadi Kor at a single location, detained a large number of men and subjected them to torture and degrading treatment. The group said around 40 people were forcibly disappeared during this operation and taken to a military camp established at Shadi Kor Dam. Some were later released, while several others were reportedly moved to different locations, including Pasni and Gwadar, and remain missing to date.
The BYC spokesperson said that during this period, restrictions on movement and access to basic necessities, including food, subjected the entire population of Shadi Kor to collective suffering. The statement said that residents returning from Pasni with rations for their families were stopped and turned back at the Gabdi checkpoint, while road closures made it extremely difficult for the general population to obtain food and other essential supplies. Depriving an entire population of basic necessities and subjecting it to collective punishment, the group said, represents an extreme form of state repression.
The spokesperson further said that amid this crackdown, Sardal, son of Sher Khan, who had been forcibly disappeared by MI personnel roughly seven months earlier, was killed on the second day of Eid al-Adha and his mutilated body was found dumped at Chur Cross in Pasni. Haatir, son of Laghari, who had disappeared alongside him, was later released.
According to the statement, on July 9 and 10, the Pakistani military ordered local residents to vacate the area, threatening to burn their homes if they refused. Following this warning, an estimated 5,000 people were forced to abandon their homes, farmland and livelihoods on July 11 and 12. The group said numerous families are now taking shelter in temporary tents in Pasni, Ormara, Turbat and other areas.
The BYC described the events in Shadi Kor as part of what it called a policy of genocide against the Baloch people, alleging that the demolition of homes, dispossession of land, loss of livelihoods and imposition of fear and silence are being used by the state in an effort to erase the Baloch nation.
The group said the displacement of Baloch people from their own land is unacceptable under any circumstances and called on international human rights organizations, relevant United Nations bodies and the global community to take immediate notice of what it described as unchecked state repression, enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, movement restrictions and forced evictions in Balochistan. It further demanded that displaced families from Shadi Kor be granted safe and dignified return to their homes and lands and that the process of forced displacement and repression be halted immediately.
