By Beberg Baloch
This statement has been published in solidarity with the Baloch Students Organisation.
Balochistan has witnessed mass upheavals throughout the province after what has become known as the Dannuk Incident. Angry but peaceful crowds chanted slogans against the oppressive regime and their hired death squads, which have been involved in murders of common people, kidnapping for ransom and various criminal activities. Demonstrators demanded justice for four-year old Bramsh Baloch, whose mother Malik Naz was killed few days ago by members of death squad during a burglary in their house in Kech.
Representatives of the Balochistan Government have claimed in the mainstream media that law and order in the province is under control. But incidents are occurring on a daily basis and the patrols of paramilitaries in civilian areas tell another story. On the one hand, the rulers pretend to call for peace but, on the other, death squads are trained and protected under their shadow. How can death squads be so powerful and operate with complete impunity? Who funds and facilitates them? Where is the civil administration? These are all questions that have been raised in the past, but stand out clearly in front of the whole world after Malik Naz sacrificed her life resisting them. It’s not as if people didn’t know about all this, but fear and restrictions by oppressors curbed them from speaking and taking an open stand. The killing of Malik Naz, pictures and videos of Bramsh’s injuries hit the Baloch people like a shock wave. They feel pain and humiliation and come out for justice for Bramsh Baloch. This broke the fear of oppressive state and its death squads.
The role of death squads in the region is to protect the interests of Narco-traffickers, who somehow make it into the parliament as well. The market structure in Balochistan is quite different from the rest of the world, therefore such killers are hired by white collar authorized people (state officials?) to carry out their black deeds. From human trafficking to extortion, from dealing narcotics to other heinous crimes, armed killers operate to protect them and create chaos in society. Although it should be that criminals are afraid, instead the fear was indoctrinated into the common people, who are struggling for mere survival. We cannot understand all this without understanding the role of the state, patronising these gangs for attacking, killing and pressurizing the Baloch people’s struggle for their democratic rights.
The chain of protests held in Gwadar, Turbat, Quetta, Awaran, Naseerabad, Karachi and other places created a new wave in Baloch society. The fear died and the tradition of resistance against oppression revived as people no longer bow to the murderers and their arms. While it was the Dannuk incident that sparked the revolt in Baloch society, it has very deep roots and causes. The Baloch people face racism and if they raise their voice for democratic rights, they have only one fate and that is forced abductions and humiliated bodies. This is the situation from which the Baloch movement is rising. It needs international solidarity from working class, socialist parties and anti-racist movements internationally. Before these hired killers throw the society into further chaos and conflict, there is a need for the disarmament of the oppressor and peace for the oppressed.
As far as the parliamentary forces are concerned here, they have been busy in point scoring and politics with party flags. It’s not that they have not condemned the Dannuk Incident, but Balochistan needs much more. The parliamentary political parties do not hold the capacity of providing any political programme and showing conscious direction to the public. Therefore, Baloch society stands in need of a young leadership, which could be able to direct and lead the masses with a clear stance instead of the rotten ideas of present parties, who can only offer tall claims with their clouded narrative.
The protests are not an end to this tragedy, that is for sure, and the people coming out for justice have a clear stance against the death squads. The authorities have to learn that fear and collaboration with hired killers must not go on further as everything is exposed. Malik Naz is no more and Bramsh cannot remove the tragedy from her unconscious brain, but the people of Balochistan have woken up.
Despite the challenges that Balochistan is facing today, it is essential to link up internationally and let the people around the world listen to its miseries. Baloch Students’ Organisation appeals to the masses throughout the world to express solidarity with Bramsh and the Baloch nation.
