In a glimmer of hope for the struggling Baloch community, prominent activists Sammi Baluch and Mahrang Baloch met with the representatives from the United Nations mission to Pakistan yesterday. This represents a significant step in its constant pursuit of an impartial inquiry into human rights issues in the area by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
BYC was able to garner widespread support for its petition to the UN fact-finding mission to Balochistan. In less than ten hours, the petition drew over 10,000 signatures representing the solidarity and urgency to address the violations of human rights in Pakistan-occupied Balochistan.
The human rights violations committed against the Baloch community during their forcible occupation by the Pak Army on March 27, 1948, have resulted in a miserable list of suffering. Since then, horrifying daily reports have surfaced on home raids, enforced disappearances, staged encounters, torture, humiliation at checkpoints, kidnappings/ abduction for ransom etc.
A UN-led probe would send a strong message to the offenders to put human rights first and ensure that the Baloch people are given justice. The BYC has pledged to keep up its lobbying efforts, pressing the UN to fulfil its word and send a fact-finding team to Balochistan. The meeting today was an important step in making sure that the voices of the Baloch people are ultimately heard even though the future is uncertain, their calls for justice are taken seriously.