Recently, when the Pak Army delivered six unidentified bodies to Quetta Civil Hospital claiming it to be the Baloch freedom fighters that were killed during the Dara-e-Bolan operation that was launched by Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) in Mach, Bolan were the innocent Baloch civilians who were forcibly disappeared by the Pak Army. These innocent civilians are often rounded up and killed by the Pak Army in ‘staged encounters’ and subsequently labelled as terrorists.
It has been determined that four of the six bodies belong to missing people from Baloch. According to Jan Achakzai, the caretaker minister for Information and Public Relations of Balochistan, at least 24 people have been killed by the Pak Army during the clearance operation in Bolan and its surroundings.
While the majority of the martyred belonged to the Majeed Brigade of BLA, who sacrificed their lives during the operation of Dara-e-Bolan. The unidentified bodies which the Pak Army asserted to be “terrorists” were the Baloch missing persons who were forcibly disappeared and detained last year by the Pak Army.
After much protest by the families of the Mach attack victims, the hospital administration handed over the bodies, and an emotional tribute unfolded outside the hospital, where people lined up and showered the coffins with flowers.
The bodies at Quetta Civil Hospital have been identified as Arman, son of Nihaal, and Basheer Ahmad, son of Haji Khan. In June 2023, both people were “forcibly disappeared.” Their families had taken part in the anti-Baloch genocide demonstration in Islamabad organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).
The other two bodies were identified as Shakeel Ahmad, son of Muhammad Ramzan, a resident of Zehri, who was forcibly disappeared in June 2023, and Subaidar, son of Gulzar Khan, who was wrongfully detained from Harnai in September 2023.
Initially, the hospital’s management declined to give the deceased individuals bodies to their families. However, following protests by the families and the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, the administration relented.
The BYC declared that it possesses information on four deceased people who are believed to be missing Baloch individuals. The families were coerced into signing a document identifying their departed loved ones as Baloch insurgents. They declined to sign and asked who was demanding the form; the administration merely said, “people from above,” in response.
Leaders of the BYC convened a press conference in Quetta after the four deceased were declared missing. Speaking to the assembly, Dr. Mahrang Baloch said that the Pakistan establishment has not changed its “brutal” policies in Pak-Balochistan, thousands who took to the streets in every city in Balochistan, the Pakistan establishment has not altered its ‘brutal’ policies in Pak-Balochistan.
Four of the six bodies found in Quetta Civil Hospital have been identified as missing Baloch people, according to Dr Mahrang Baloch. It is thought that the fifth body might also be a missing person. She appealed to the international community, saying that the Pakistan “establishment” blatant refusal to alter its policies is demonstrated by the persistence of “staged encounters” in Pak-Balochistan.
Additionally, Dr. Mahrang Baloch urged Quetta residents to congregate at the Civil Hospital and participate in the demonstration against the genocide against the Baloch people.
The people of Pak-occupied Balochistan are fighting against the atrocities and Baloch genocide committed by the Pak Army of daily home raids, disappearances, staged encounters, target killings, torture, humiliation at checkpoints, and kidnappings for ransom they have been subjected to since the Pakistan Army forcefully occupied their region on March 27, 1948. It is highly crucial that the international community stands in solidarity with the Baloch people and takes decisive action to address their grievances and ensure justice and freedom for all.