Pakistan Army calls itself ‘guardian’ of Islam and yet commits un-Islamic acts

Recently a piece of news surfaced on the social media about a Baloch father’s suicide, whose name was Noor Jaan. News of suicide is a daily occurrence in a weak and economically unstable country like Pakistan, especially in the Punjab province of Pakistan. Suicide, kidnapping of minor children, murder after rape, or molestation of corpses by removing bodies from graves happens on a regular basis. Something similar also occurred on May 21 with Noor Jaan at Kasur in Punjab.

But in Balochistan, and especially with a Baloch, incidents of suicide are rare. There are no suicides or social evils in this nation. However, during the last year there have been some cases where some youths committed suicide. These suicides were not due to social ills in the society.

Awaran district of Balochistan is an important city in the current struggle for Baloch independence. Awaran is important also because Dr Allah Nazar Baloch belongs to Mashkay Tehsil of this district. Of course, during the current Baloch struggle the whole of Balochistan is affected, hundreds of people have been killed by the forces, including the displacement of more than one lakh people from the Awaran district.

The suicide of Baloch father Noor Jaan in Awaran was not due to an act of scarcity, poverty, unemployment, rather due to the ‘so-called’ Islamic Pakistan Army, which calls itself as the protector of Islam. That is to say, the army of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan forced the Baloch father to take his life to escape the humiliation of the family and to prevent the Baloch national dignity from being undermined at the hands of the Pakistan Army. Yes this was not a suicide, rather a murder. Not just the murder of a father, of a family, but humanity and Islam.

But the Punjabi Islamic Army, unfamiliar with the Baloch traditions forgot that it is not the offspring of the Punjab province who would greet every occupier with a drummer as soon as he arrives and hand over his honour to the occupier. Maybe the generals of this army were not aware that Baloch prefers death for their honour and dignity. The Baloch father Noor Jaan sacrificed his life for the sake of dignity as he refused to bow down to Pakistan Army’s demand of handing over his daughter to them. And before Noor Jaan committed suicide he sent a message to the Pakistan Army, “my body is waiting for you”.

The death of an unarmed and innocent Baloch did not get even a minute’s coverage in the local and national media, TV channels and newspapers of Pakistan. The human rights organizations also remained silent on this issue due to fear and pressure, as always. The only crime of the Baloch father was that his daughter was engaged to a Baloch freedom fighter. Pakistan Army continues to repeat its history in Bangladesh by rape and sexual assault as potent weapon. But this time the battle is against a Baloch nation, a warrior nation. I don’t know what will be the destination of this journey for Balochistan, but if we look back at the pages of history, this nation never bowed down in front of anyone.

Further, if we take a closer look at the activities of Baloch social media activists, it is not impossible to assess the situation in Balochistan. The media and human rights organizations are barred from entering this province of Pakistan rendering Balochistan ‘no-go’ area.

Thanks to technology, the situation across Balochistan comes to light for the rest of the world in the form of photographs and video clips. Noor Jan’s suicide is one such example.

Several such cases of blatant atrocities have come to light. A ten-year-old boy was sexually abused by our ‘Islamic’ Pakistan Army in Kech district, Balochistan, the hometown of former Chief Minister of Balochistan Dr Malik. Last year, Hayat Baloch, a student was shot dead by the Paksitan Army in front of his mother. The mother of the young Bramsh Baloch was killed and injured, but most Pakistani politicians, including Dr Malik, a Baloch politician remained silent.

Today, these so-called pro-federation Baloch politicians are becoming blind and dumb for the sake of their seats. If you monitor and follow the Baloch social media activists one can easily understand that these atrocities against the Baloch are a daily occurrence.

Ironically, it’s not the Israeli army but the Pakistan Army that calls itself the protector of Islam in the world. It’s a shame that those who chanted slogans of Islam and Jihad at al-Aqsa Mosque are silent on the military atrocities in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan. Whether the oppressed are Baloch, Sindhi, Pashtun or Punjabi themselves, if the ‘Islamic’ Pakistan Army oppresses them, doesn’t a fatwa of jihad be issued against such an army?

Those who are active on the issue of Palestine, let them first look at what is happening in their own home. Military repression has been going on in Balochistan since 1948 and it has reached a record high in the last fifteen years. Generations of Pashtuns have been destroyed in the name of Islam. Today the political struggle of the Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) is before us in this regard. The situation is still not right and a large population in Punjab itself is being used in the name of Islam, especially the poor and the unemployed.

In our so-called state of Madina, the fatwa of jihad in favour of Palestine is issued, on the other hand, the state of Madina also considers it a sin to speak out against the atrocities against millions of Uyghur Muslims in China, which has been reported to be the biggest atrocity in the world right now.

Born from India’s womb, Pakistan interfered in the affairs of Muslims in India, carried out terrorism through jihadis in Kashmir on both sides, and yet the ‘Islamic’ Pakistan Army is permitted to burn the Holy Quran, turn mosques and schools into army camps and sexually abuse children, girls and women in Balochistan.

It is not clear which Islam do we follow. There is no such thing in the Islamic religion that you should take up arms against a non-Muslim country with whom you do not share any borders and have no connections just for the sake of so-called Jihad. But on other hand you oppress your Muslim people, burn the Holy Quran which you consider most sacred, kill your people in captivity, make them disappear for years, rape them, bomb them just because they demand their rights, or believe in freedom of expression.

Pakistan is a hypocritic and fascist country which uses Islamic card for the sake of her vested interest. Pakistan is not protector or well-wishers of Muslims but a stooge of the international powers to protect their interests in the region.