Suicide blasts rock Pak-occupied Balochistan & Khyber- Pakhtunkhwa; 57 killed
On the day of birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, Pak-occupied Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa witnessed massive bombings killing at least 57 individuals while injuring 112 others.
The first blast took place at a 12th Rabiul Awwal procession in Balochistan’s Mastung district near Madina mosque on Al Fatah road. The attack was targeted on the birthday celebration of prophet Muhammad. The officials of the occupying authorities are anticipating it to be a suicide attack.
According to Mastung Deputy Commissioner Abdul Razzaq Sasoli, “A procession of hundreds of people came out of the Madina mosque and as it reached Al Falah road a suicide bomber targeted it.” Later the video of the horrifying blast also surfaced on social media, in which hundreds of people could be seen affected by the bombing. As per report, about 53 individuals have lost their lives while more than 100 have been injured.
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Blast
Just a couple of hours after the Mastung blast, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa was also rocked by two consecutive blasts outside a mosque. It was also a suicide attack which took place in a mosque situated inside the Doaba Police Station in Hangu, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. The initial explosion occurred at the police station’s entrance, drawing a crowd to the location. Shortly thereafter, another blast occurred within the mosque.
District Police Officer Nisar Ahmad confirmed that the second blast took place during the Friday sermon.
In an official statement, the interim Information minister Feroze Jamal elucidated that two suicide bombers, traveling in a vehicle, attempted to reach the mosque but encountered opposition from the police officers stationed at the mosque’s entrance.
He elaborated, stating, “One of the attackers was killed in a confrontation with the police outside the mosque, while the other managed to enter the place of worship.”
Jamal further noted that during the exchange of gunfire, two officers were injured, highlighting that the quick response of the police resulted in the safe evacuation of worshippers upon hearing gunshots.
He underscored that the situation could have been much more dire had the police not displayed strong resistance. As of now 5 persons are reported to be killed, while about 12 are injured.
The region of Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been vulnerable areas. Blasts often occur in these regions, but this attack was on the day of birth celebration of Prophet Muhammad, the most significant time of the year in the Islamic tradition. As of now, no organisation has taken the responsibilities of the attacks.
Students in Pak-occupied Balochistan struggle with lack of basic needs in educational institutions
Students protest has erupted in the Khuzdar district of Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan. In the ongoing protest by female students at Girls’ Degree College Khuzdar, these young women have voiced their concerns. Their issues revolve around transportation fees, irregular classes, shortage of teachers, and harassment by the college administration. The Student Organization is also standing firmly alongside these students, endorsing their legitimate demands.
In an inappropriate statement, an academic counselor (AC) said, “This is an illegal work, your careers can be destroyed, it does not make you beautiful to sit on the road, rot and die.” These words shows how the authorities of Girls’ Degree College Khuzdar think. However, it didn’t affect the determination of students who have taken a stand against a range of issues affecting them.
Despite their repeated efforts to engage with the College Principal, officials from the DMG Quetta Division, Director of General Colleges Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan, and local leaders, the students’ grievances have not received the attention they deserve. This lack of response has not only affected their education but has also taken a toll on their mental well-being.
The spokesperson for the students has made a heartfelt appeal to the college authorities and local leaders. They are urging these stakeholders to genuinely address the students’ concerns and swiftly resolve the issues at hand.
The students emphasize that their protests are peaceful expressions of their legitimate demands. However, the students warned that if their demands are not met, peaceful protests will continue and may escalate to more extensive demonstrations, for which they will hold the government responsible. Earlier, similar protest also erupted in Barkhan district. There female students from the government girls’ college also rallied against the college’s ineffectiveness.
Voice for Baloch Missing Persons’ hunger strike camp completes 14 years, students join in solidarity
A group of students led by Nazir Baloch joined the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) hunger strike camp in Nushki on September 29, 2023. The camp, demanding the recovery of the thousands of Baloch people abducted by the Pak Army, has been ongoing for fourteen years.
In a speech to the students, VBMP Vice Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch said that oppressive regimes around the world have used death squads to suppress people’s voices. He said that Pakistan is using the same strategy in Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan. Paki establishment has gathered all social evils, including local brokers and drug dealers, to openly harm Baloch people. In addition to hinder the growing popularity of the national struggle. People hold these protests to address the ongoing issue of missing persons in Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan.The enforced abduction by the Pakistan Army has persistently undermined the rights of Balochistan and its people, against which VBMP has been protesting for years.
Furthermore, Qadeer Baloch noted that the Balochistan death squad in Khuzdar is an ongoing horror. He also added that Pak Army’s death squads, including those from ISI, have set an example of their brutality and terrorism in Balochistan, including Khuzdar. Moreover, the death squads have mercilessly targeted the families, elders, and women who were part of the Baloch Missing Persons Movement.
However, Qadeer Baloch said that the Baloch sons in Khuzdar have initiated a caravan of justice and will not relent in the face of oppression and coercion until they reach their destination. For far too long, Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan has witnessed enforced disappearances, targeting political activists, students, and civilians by the Pak Army. They are subjected to torture, and their lifeless bodies are discarded in isolated areas. Following the illegal occupation of Balochistan in March 1948, Balochistan has been fighting the war of its existence and freedom from Pakistan. Be it the peaceful way of protests or the armed resistance, against the inhumane authoritarian quasi state of Pakistan, Balochs are fighting an all-front war.
Sindh: Pakistan Army kills 9 people in Sakrand
The so-called “Counter-Terrorism Department” (CTD) and Pakistan Army has killed about 9 innocent people including women in Sakrand Sindh.
On September 28, the CTD of Pakistan, based on an intel, attacked village Maari Jalbani in Sakrand to kill a nationalist activist Rajab Jalbani. The atrocious rangers opened indiscriminate firing over the people of village. This led to the killing of almost 9 innocent individuals including women. The incident has again raised concern over the Pakistan Army and its operations against the native people of Sindh.
People residing in the neighbourhood told media that the persons killed in the attack had no cases registered against them neither were they related to any sort of movement. They were simple farmers and labourers. In fact, they didn’t even posed any kind of threat to the operation, still, they were killed.
The incident has aroused anger in the local people. Agitated people pelted stones over the barbarian army. Meanwhile, the local youth from Hyderabad blocked the National Highway and protested against the Pakistan Army.
Various Sindh rights organization like Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) and SUP have come forward and condemned the incident as well as persecution, that Sindhis face on the hands of terrorist army known as Pakistan Rangers.
Jeay Sindh Freedom Movement (JSFM) Central Chairman Sohail Abro, Vice Chairman Zubair Sindhi, among others issued a joint statement against the attack. While condemning the brutality, cowardice and barbaric actions of Pakistan, JSFM urged the international organization including United Nations, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International to take cognizance of the incident and ensure strict actions “as per the international on the state terror activities of the cruel fascist Punjabi Army and its intelligence agencies.”
Sindh: Rocket launcher explosion inside house; 9 killed
In a devastating incident in the Mehwal Shah area of Kashmore district’s Kandhkot tehsil, a deadly rocket launcher explosion rocked a house, resulting in nine fatalities, including four children. The tragic incident occurred on Wednesday and left a woman injured, according to local authorities.
The house belonged to Ali Nawaz Sabzoi, and all the victims and the injured woman were part of the same family. Initial investigations suggest that children discovered what appeared to be a rocket while playing and brought it home, where the devastating explosion occurred, claiming eight lives. Law enforcement authorities have cordoned off the area and initiated further inquiries into the incident.
The incident has sparked concerns, prompting authorities to explore the circumstances that led to the rocket launcher explosion and the loss of lives. Tragic accidents involving the mishandling of explosive objects have occurred in the past, emphasizing the need for caution and awareness.
Reportedly, Kashmore-Kandhkot Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohail Khoso confirmed the heartbreaking loss of lives, indicating that the victims included five children, two women, and two men. The injured woman was promptly transferred to a hospital in Larkana, while the deceased were brought to the Kandhkot Civil Hospital.
Past incidents
The incident highlights the long persisting problem of easy general public’s easy access to dangerous explosives and weaponry. Some of the distressing incidents from recent years include:
- April 2023: A shepherd lost his life in Chaman when a hand grenade he discovered detonated as he began playing with it.
- January 2023: Merely two days before the Kashmore incident, three children tragically perished in an explosion within an abandoned compound in the same region, where they were playing with an object they had stumbled upon.
- January 2022: Two children met a grim fate when a grenade they were handling exploded, causing severe injuries to another.
- June 2021: Quetta witnessed a heartbreaking event where three teenagers lost their lives while playing with a hand grenade, having mistakenly believed it to be a harmless toy.
- January 2021: Peshawar experienced a similar tragedy when three brothers were killed, and two others sustained injuries after a grenade they found in the fields detonated during play.
- January 2019: In Balochistan’s Washuk district, three children were killed, and one was injured as they innocently played with an unexploded grenade they had discovered.
- April 2013: Buner District witnessed a devastating incident where a toy bomb exploded, claiming the lives of two children and a woman. The explosion occurred when they were handling a rocket-like shell they had found.
- April 2013: South Waziristan’s Wana area was shaken by an incident where at least two individuals were injured during a political gathering when an unidentified rocket landed abruptly.
Pakistan-occupied Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa epicentres of poverty
Pakistan is facing a ticking time bomb in the form of its poverty crisis. Recently, the World Bank’s report says that this year, another 1.25 crore people have been pushed into poverty, with the total number of people living below the poverty line now at 9.6 crore. Nearly 40% of the population lives below the poverty line, and the situation is only getting worse. With the rising cost of living, lack of infrastructure, and weak economic policies, ordinary Pakistanis are struggling to make ends meet.
Economists say that the provinces of Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the most poverty-ridden regions in the country. The rising cost of living, lack of infrastructure, and weak economic policies have all had a negative impact on the lives of ordinary people in these provinces. However, the major issue is that Pak Army has targeted these regions specifically for their resources. Illegal-occupation of these regions was their only motive, the Paki establishment just wanted to exploit their resources and benefits of the resources should be reap by the Panjabi Pakistan.
The World Bank also said that the income of middle-class people in Pakistan has decreased by 34.5% since 2018, with the daily income per person dropping to $3.20.
Where poverty meets inequality
Pakistan economists have blamed the authorities . They suggest that more taxes from the affluent-class should be used to provide assistance to the lower-class. The United Nations Development Agency (UNDP) reports that the highest poverty rate in Pakistan is 65% in Balochistan, followed by 50.7% in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 50% in Sindh, and 25% in Punjab.
Economists highlighted that the middle class has a special status in a country’s economic development and they can play an important role in the country’s development. They point to India as an example, where the middle class of 56 crore people pays for education, goes shopping, and buys things, which is why all countries want to invest in India, build factories and export their products in India.
The World Bank report also says that the per capita income in South Asia has increased by four percent over the past 20 years, but Pakistan, which previously had the highest per capita income among South Asian countries, remains the last in this region.
The report’s findings are alarming and highlight the urgent intervention by the international communities. Pakistan-occupied-Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are under the strong grapples of the brutal regime, they need humanitarian assistance and support for freedom not these reports that doesn’t address their scar.
Geneva: ‘Sindhi Lives Matter’, World Sindhi Congress
The voice of Sindh reached the United Nations as the World Sindhi Congress held a massive protest against Pakistan in Geneva. With the banners of Sindhi lives matter, WSC sent a strong message to the world and condemned the ongoing persecution of the native Sindhis in the region.
The protest saw a significant number of participants from across the world. The protestors raised the issue of the illegal occupation of Sindhi land by Pakistan. Along with that, WSC raised the crucial issue of persecution of Sindhi Hindus.
It is no hidden fact that Hindus are under continues threat of Pak sponsored hatred and persecution. There are hundreds of cases where minor Hindu girls are being abducted and forcibly converted to Islam. They are often married to their abductors of thrice their age. The cases of Hindu women and girls being raped are other disturbing developments in Pakistan. Besides, there have been instances when Hindu temples have been vandalised, sometimes even through a bombardment!
The presence of dacoits is also a sorry state of Sindh that is hounding the Hindus. In past few months, their terror has increased, many Hindus were abducted by the dacoits and were traded with a heavy ransom amount. Recently, various Sindh activists and inhabitants held a series to protest against the dacoits’ terror and a demand from the authorities to take strict action. Instead of taking actions against them, the Police carried on a baton charge over protestors. Some Police personnel even posed as dacoits to attack the protestors.
Issue of Karunjhar
Nonetheless, the World Sindhi Congress also raised an important issue of Karunjhar mountains. Karunjhar hold an important ancient significance for the Sindhi community and the entire historical heritage of South Asia. However, just for monetary gains, Pakistan is trying to cut those mountains and extract the resources so that they could be sold and exported.
During the Secretary General of the World Sindhi Congress, Lakhu Luhana said, “There are 1000 issues…The human rights situation (in Sindh) on every front is worsening…We request the international community and all the powers in the world…they should act now…”
Pakistan had earlier issued the notification of tender despite knowing that the matter was under the consideration of judiciary. This is actually not just an issue of allocation of tenders, rather it is a policy to erase anything that can be ascribed to Sindhi Hindus. Along with silencing their voice, Pakistan has always tried to completely wash out the traces of rich civilisation of religious minorities. The policies of Pakistan are nothing less than that of the ethnic cleansing of Sindhis and Hindus from the region.
Voices from Pak-occupied Jammu & Kashmir and Pak-occupied Gilgit-Baltistan in UN Human Rights Council
In a powerful and heartfelt address to the 54th regular session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), Professor Sajjad Raja brought forth the plight of the people living in Pakistan-Occupied Jammu and Kashmir (POJK). Along with him, Danish Ali a human rights activist from Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit Baltistan(POGB) also spoke up and exposed Pakistan Army’s human rights crimes in the occupied region. His words resonated with a passion that sought not just attention but, more importantly, action from the international community.
Plight of POJK
Professor Sajjad Raja is the Chairman National Equality Party, JKGBL, that stands for Jammu and Kashmir Globalization Board of Leaders. It is a political party in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POJK) that advocates for the rights of the people of POJK and POGB. His intervention at the UNHRC session shed light on the grim circumstances faced by the people of POJK, who have long yearned for a life of peace and dignity on their own land. His concerns centered around two critical issues: the availability of essential resources like flour and electricity and the pressing need to free the region from Pakistan Army’s oppressive grip.
The professor appealed to the global community and reminded us of the decades-long struggle of those living in POJK. Their aspirations for freedom and self-determination have been consistently denied with the use of utmost violence. And their basic human rights have been violated. This situation calls for immediate attention and intervention, and Professor Raja’s impassioned plea came at a critical time. Pakistan is grappling with inflation, debt and instability. These economic hardships has now been transferred to the innocent civilians, and the burden of high electricity rates and food has led to numerous protests, burning of the electricity bills in the region.
Pakistan’s Human Rights violations in POGB
The voice of Danish Ali also reverberated through the UNHRC chambers as he brought to light the coercive measures employed by Pakistan Army to suppress human rights in the region. Pakistan-occupied-Gilgit-Baltistan has, for far too long, suffered under the shadow of political and military control, with the local population’s basic rights going unfulfilled.
Ali spoke about the Paki establishment’s suppression of freedom of expression of POGB. He also highlighted the deprivation of basic human rights and amenities, including medical and educational facilities, under Pakistan’s illegal occupation. Pak Army also restricts internet services to cut the region off and isolating it from the rest of the world.
Furthermore, people of POGB are suffering due to Pakistan’s anti-people model of control, and lack of any form of governance. Pak has imposed excessive tax on the electricity bills on POGB and it has forced the people to launch a civil disobedience movement. Also, currently Shia minorities are being targeted through misuse of blasphemy law. These issues has resulted in protests in the region.
Minorities in Pakistan especially Shias, Ahmadiyas, Christians and Hindus are living under constant threat of cultural and physical genocide. Therefore, Ali urged the international community to support POGB & POJK to reunite with India & end to Pak illegal occupation.
Demand for Justice
The people of POGB and POJK are now taking a stand, raising their voices to demand justice and basic rights. They are no longer willing to accept a status quo that has deprived them of the resources and freedoms they rightfully deserve. Their peaceful protests show the urgency of the situation and the need for international platforms to step in and address their grievances.
Fatima Shigri, another brave voice from POGB, has questioned Pakistan’s priorities. In her poignant words, she asks why the suffering of the people in her region goes unnoticed, while trivial matters make headlines. Her question resonates with many who feel that their lives and struggles have been overshadowed by the politics of Pakistan.
A Global Call for Attention and Action
The people of POGB & POJK are standing up for their rights and their land. Their demand for justice is clear, and their commitment to bringing about change is unwavering. They understand that their land and resources are only what Pakistan wants, but they are determined to reclaim what is rightfully theirs.
In a world where headlines are often dominated by global politics and power struggles, it is essential to pay attention to the voices that often go unheard. Professor Sajjad Raja, Danish Ali, and Fatima Shigri, along with countless others in POJK and POGB, have now raised their voices for themselves. Their passionate pleas at the United Nations should serve as a wake-up call to the international community.
Geneva: PTM leads a barefoot march to the United Nations against atrocities by Paki Army
Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) carried out a barefoot march to the United Nation in Geneva Switzerland highlighting the terrorism spread by Pakistan Army and its subsequent human rights implications.
PTM’s march started from Lake Geneva to Broken Chair in front of the United Nations. The event was attended by hundreds of Pashtuns from Pakistan and Afghanistan along with other supporters of the cause.
During the march, Pashtun protestors raised slogan against Pakistan Army. They underscored the fact that Pakistan Army and its sponsored terror organization TTP have carried out a genocide of Pashtuns. The Pashtun community is facing the consequences of the terror war which is not even related to them.
International Conference on Human Right Violations of ethnic minorities in Pakistan
Beside the march to the United Nation, PTM Europe also organized the International Conference on Human Right Violations of ethnic minorities in Pakistan. PTM workers present at the event told the media that no religious minority is safe in Pakistan. Pakistan Army with its breaded terror outfits continue to hound every tribe, sect and religion.
Notably, Pakistan has employed every subversive tactic to curb the voice of dissent. PTM which has been a non-violent right advocacy movement, is being dealt with brutality. In addition to that, the terror of extremist organization like TTP among others has also made the region and Pashtuns vulnerable. Pasthun workers have time and again voiced their concerns by exemplifying the horrendous situation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. As per them, the streets of areas like Waziristan remain filled with the terrorist and army vehicles.
The kids who need to play with toys see guns lingering at the shoulders of terrorists and military personnel. According to Pashtuns, any sensible government would never throw its citizens to such a hell, unless it is brutal and inhuman as Pakistan.