14.6 C
Athens
Τρίτη, 5 Νοεμβρίου, 2024

Army targeting Baloch students raises spectre of violence

Περισσότερα Νέα

- Advertisement -

The Pakistan Army’s hit teams are on a ruthless campaign to target young Baloch students, studying in various parts of the country, to brutally suppress the growing wave of protest among the young and restless in the Baloch community.

In the past few months, over 48 Baloch students were jumped upon by anonymous armed men, at home and outside their colleges, assaulted, their phones snatched away and bundled into big, un-numbered vehicles. All of them were mercilessly beaten up in secret cells, hung upside down and kept hungry for days. The lucky ones returned brutalised, silenced but alive. Rest disappeared.

According to various estimates, over 5000 Baloch men and women have `disappeared` in the last few years. Of these, there has been an alarming rise in the number of young university students in the recent past. In fact, after a suicide bombing outside Karachi University which killed three Chinese nationals in April this year, there had been sudden spurt of crackdown on Baloch students across the country. Several students, living in hostels and other residences across Karachi, were picked up in several swoops, tortured and detained in secret cells. Only a few have since returned.

The sudden rise in the disappearance of Baloch students and others is caused by Chinese anxieties about the mega-million projects under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC). The Chinese have demanded an immediate end to attacks on their citizens and the projects that run through Balochistan. The local Baloch are up in arms against the CPEC projects which threaten to snatch their livelihood and change the demographics of their homeland. With the Pakistan Army assuring the Chinese about security in Balochistan, the assaults on young and older Baloch men and women are likely to see an unprecedented rise in the coming days.

Another reason for the Army’s cycle of suppression on Baloch people is to stem a new leadership of the people emerging from the ranks of university students. The Pakhtun student leaders had put tremendous pressure on the army in the recent years on similar issues of disappearances and assaults. The Pakhtun people nurse strong opposition to the army’s brutal unleashing of military might on the Pakhtun people and their homeland under the garb of `war on terrorism`. The Generals want to avoid a similar confrontation with Baloch university students in the near future.

- Advertisement -

Such has been the army’s ruthless campaign against Baloch students that the Pakistan Human Rights Commission in June this year strongly condemned the “the recent cycle of abductions and manhandling of Baloch students“. Referring to the abduction of students from Karachi University, the commission pointed out that these students were “allegedly being picked up by law enforcement personnel, and those who demand their release are roughed up and arrested“ Such enforced disappearances, the commission decried were not  not only illegal but inhuman.

The Army had launched an all-out war against Baloch people after veteran Baloch leader, Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti had opposed President Pervez Musharraf’s furious anti-Baloch campaign after a Baloch woman accused a serving Major of raping her. Bugti and several others were killed in an unprecedented military offensive ordered by Musharraf which included use of combat jets and artillery guns. Years later, the Islamabad High Court Chief Justice lamented that “As already noted, the phenomenon appears to be an undeclared policy of the State as was acknowledged by one of the former Chief Executives, General (Retd)  Musharraf, in his autobiography, “In the Line of Fire”.

Many in the civil society believe that the army’s policy of isolating and suppressing its own people from Balochistan could create a situation similar to the late 60s when Pakistan carried out a brutal wave of suppression against Bengali Muslims on the issue of language and ended up losing East Pakistan. The savage campaign of repression against Baloch students could prove to be Pakistan’s Bangladesh mistake.

- Advertisement -

ΑΠΑΝΤΗΣΤΕ

εισάγετε το σχόλιό σας!
παρακαλώ εισάγετε το όνομά σας εδώ

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

Ροή ειδήσεων

ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Pakistan is third worst nation globally in terms of law and order: World Justice Project index

In the latest World Justice Project (WJP) Rule of Law Index for 2024, Pakistan has been ranked 140th out of 142 countries, making it...

EU raises concern over Chinese aggression in Taiwan

The European Commission in a report raised concern over China's aggression against Taiwan and suggested that the EU step up exchanges with Taipei, Taipei...

Taiwan detects 6 Chinese military aircraft, 9 vessels around territory

Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) reported Chinese military activity near the island on Tuesday and said that by 6 am (local time), six...

China Tries to Blot out Tibetan Criticism of Mining Firm’s Damage to the Environment 

Chinese censors are trying to prevent people from viewing posts that allege severe environmental damage in Tibet caused by sand mining. A young Tibetan man...

ΔΗΜΟΦΙΛΗ ΑΡΘΡΑ

Προειδοποίηση Ρεπουμπλικάνου βουλευτή στις ομοσπονδιακές υπηρεσίες για την μεταβατική περίοδο-Επιστράτευση της Εθνοφρουράς

Ο Ρεπουμπλικάνος γερουσιαστής Μπιλ Χάγκερτι, προειδοποίησε τις υπηρεσίες και τα τμήματα της ομοσπονδιακής κυβέρνησης σχετικά με μια πιθανή μετάβαση σε μια μελλοντική κυβέρνηση Trump...

Η αστυνομία συνέλαβε έναν άνδρα που προσπαθούσε να εισέλθει στο Καπιτώλιο των ΗΠΑ με πυρσό και πιστόλι φωτοβολίδων!

Σύμφωνα με την αστυνομία του Καπιτωλίου των ΗΠΑ, ο άνδρας σταμάτησε την Τρίτη κατά τη διάρκεια ελέγχου ασφαλείας στο Κέντρο Επισκεπτών του Καπιτωλίου. Οι...

Αποκλειστικό-Προβλέψεις αγορών για αμερικανικές εκλογές: Τραμπ, 61% πιθανότητες, Χάρις 39%

Πιθανότητες νίκης στις προεδρικές εκλογές των ΗΠΑ Τραμπ: Τραμπ: 61% πιθανότητες, Χάρις: 39% (Βάσει δημοσκοπήσεων και προβλέψεων αγορών) https://twitter.com/spectatorindex/status/1853876689753059404 Σύμφωνα με την Polymarket, μια...

Αποκλειστικό: Πάνω από 10.000 βορειοκορεάτες στρατιωτικοί έχουν φτάσει στη Ρωσία

Πάνω από 10.000 βορειοκορεάτες στρατιωτικοί έχουν φτάσει στη Ρωσία, με έναν «σημαντικό αριθμό» στρατιωτών να έχουν ήδη σταθμεύσει κοντά σε περιοχές της πρώτης γραμμής,...