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Ordinary Civilians Targeted in Balochistan’s Terror Crackdown

18 Min Read

September 12

By Xari Jalil

LAHORE

Abid Mir was shocked to find out that his name was one of the dozens, part of a fourth schedule list that the Balochistan government released on September 9 including 137 names of those having alleged links with terrorist groups in specific the Baloch Liberation Army and the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

“I was in a state of disbelief,” he says. “I have been recently transferred for work from Quetta to Dera Bugti and was travelling when I found out.”

Mir is a Professor of Urdu in a government run college, and is also pursuing a PhD degree from NUML Islamabad. He has dabbled in journalism and column

While this list comprises people from Quetta, political leaders like Dr Abdul Malik () and Akhtar Mengal (BNP-M) claim that there are thousands of others whose names are being kept secret by the government and are expected to surface later.

The names have caused alarm because unlike targeting of political workers, many of these are known to be ordinary civilians, say their friends and acquaintances. Some are writers and academics.

Mir has not received any clarity from the government.

“I have received no calls, I do not even know if they call up people personally,” he says. “My family told me that someone had come to my home in Saryab asking for my contact number, but even after that no one called me,” he said while speaking to Voicepk.

Mir says he does not know why he has been added to the list. “I have always been a human rights activist and have called out on violations and have discussed socio-political issues in my columns. But I never said anything unconstitutional or ‘anti-state’. Is it a crime to talk about human rights?”

Adding people to the fourth schedule on basis of allegation only is an excessive act by the authorities.

“Even under General Musharraf’s regime, I have not faced this situation,” he says. “They have equated me with being a terrorist and this has not only endangered my career it has left me feeling very insecure for my life as well.”

AFTERMATH OF BLA ATTACK

The list was released along with a notification by the Home Department, and has come as part of the government offensive in the aftermath of the deadly attack by the BLA (Majeed Brigade) on 35 Punjabi labourers. As a response, government launched offensives targeting areas where BLA activity had been known to occur such as highways, rural areas and in cities like Quetta and Khuzdar. The main response has been a military operation involving ground forces, aerial surveillance, and artillery fire along with intelligence-led operations. But there surveillance around checkpoints and roadblocks has also tightened while search operations of suspected homes, businesses and other locations have also taken place.

“Is this an ultimatum for educated people giving an indirect message?” asks Mir. “They are basically silencing all political voices.”

PPP senior leader and former Senator Farhatullah Babar said that while the fourth schedule list came under the Anti Terrorism Act, it was already being applied in Gilgit Baltistan and in Khyber Pukhtunkhwa. However he equates it to harassment of civilians.

“You must register yourselves, tell the SHO where and why you are going if you wish to leave the city, and most of the time the SHO is not present, or if he is then he demands to know the reasons of your travel, and other unnecessary personal details,” says Babar. “It is complete trampling of your constitutional rights.”

He condemns the act and says that worse is expected if it carries on like this. “We will see more – including names of writers, academics, social media activists, media, in short anyone with an alternate view. It is no better than Indian held Kashmir,” says Babar. “The government is closing all doors of talks with the people of Balochistan by behaving like this. They cannot deny the reality of the force these young people have gathered.

‘MOST OF THEM ARE CIVILIANS’

Dr Shah Muhammad Marri, a prominent Baloch historian and cultural expert, says that most of those who have been named in the list are government servants or intellectuals and academics.

“Even the head and chairman of the Sangat Academy of Science are both in that list,” says Dr Shah who works there himself. “There are lots of ifs and buts, however there must be an active protest against this,” he says. “Mahrang Baloch had created a charged atmosphere – so much so that even older people wanted to join in it. It was a one of a kind protest not just in Pakistan but even internationally – have we ever seen such an organic demonstration being led solely by women? Lists like these aim to silence her. Civil society should create such an uproar that the government is forced to revert the list. Is it even legal?” he questions? “This is a huge drama on part of the government.”

DAILY HARASSMENT

Meanwhile Bebarg Baloch, an activist from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), describes how those whose names are on the list must come to the police station and give a daily statement just so the police can keep an eye on them.

“Our basic freedom of movement is being challenged,” he says. “We cannot leave the district, even though many of us belong to other districts. We cannot even work because we have been accused of being terrorists. Each day we must go and register ourselves at the nearest station and sometimes we wait for hours because the SHO is not present. Those having jobs find this to be an extremely challenging situation.”

The BYC has already been labelled as having terrorist links according to the DG ISPR, Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, ever since Mahrang Baloch’s Raji Muchi movement grew into a huge phenomenon.

“The BYC is being violated, our leaders are being threatened by sending direct threats to their families instead of them,” says Bebarg referring to how Mahrang Baloch was not added to the list but her brother Nisar was. “Nisar was never involved in politics but now he has been made the scapegoat. Several other BYC members have been included in the list in the belief that this will drive a wedge between them and the leaders who are not being named. It is a typical colonial divide and rule policy being run against us by the state.”

 

However, Bebarg has a suspicion that the others will also sooner or later be put on lists. Recently Sammi Deen Baloch was stopped at the airport by the FIA because her name was on the Exit Control List.

Many have condemned the way civilians have been added to the list without any evidence.

Senior members of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan Habib Tahir and Ghani Parwaz have both slammed the act.

Habib Tahir, the head of HRCP Quetta said that constitutional rights were already being trampled in Balochistan and that it only made things from bad to worse how Islamabad took decisions arbitrarily. Parwaz the regional coordinator of HRCP in Turbat and Makran says that the names on the list is only proving the weakness of the state. “There is a large number of people according to this list and this is all without evidence. If even one of these people has links with terrorist organizations they should be booked and sent to court, in an open trial not a secretive one.”

Parwaz adds that this has been done only in order to intimidate human rights activists. “Taking out lists like this goes against the state and shows its weaknes and the agencies are proving this weakness.”

BACKLASH FROM CIVIL SOCIETY

The list has been condemned from all spheres of society.

Student activist Cadia Baloch said that the authorities were in fact constructing a landscape of fear and repression, turning the land into one massive internment center. “Anyone who dares to breathe a word of dissent finds their name added to the 4th Schedule, as if freedom of thought were a crime.”

Latif Baloch, the head of Baloch Voice for Justice,  a human rights organization said that including the names of political workers, students, lawyers, professors, and ordinary citizens in the Fourth Schedule and portraying them as members of armed organizations was nothing more but an attempt to intimidate them and prevent them from raising their voices for Baloch national rights.

“This is an effort to deprive people of their political freedom, human rights, and the right to assembly and free expression by using this colonial black law,” he said in an interview to Voicepk. “This series of political repression is a step towards further suppression, increased aggression, and enforced disappearances in Balochistan. We as an organization strongly condemns this state action and demand the immediate removal of activists’ names from the Fourth Schedule.”

Balach Qadir, BSO Chairman, also condemned the decision to include student leaders, political workers and civil society members and academics in the 4th Schedule. “The implementation of the constitution and law in Balochistan has completely collapsed.”

Qadir’s own name is on the list.

Advocate Imran Baloch says that even the authorities have no idea who they have included in the list.

“One family in Saryab was contacted about their family member who was included in the list. When they were told that he has to register himself with the police, the family said he had died a few years ago,” he said. “They have added people at random. Some people do not even have CNIC numbers, or a father’s name. Is this the investigation by the agencies?”

Imran Baloch says he has heard through various quarters that his name is also on the list – however he says he has not come across it neither has he received any calls by the authorities. Being a lawyer in many cases of enforced disappearances and missing persons, and politically affiliated with BSO, he finds himself to be a target in any case.

“Both my brothers have been picked up – one of them three times, and the other four times – by the agencies,” he says. “Since the Raji Muchi movement, they have lodged two FIRs of anti-terrorism against me, and even now I am on interim bail fighting these cases. The complainants are none others than those linked with death squads and one of them is linked to the Navy. These notifications are being filled in on the ‘advise’ and orders of others who are in the shadows.”

At the same time, he is highly critical of the Baloch nationalist leaders including Akhtar Mengal and Dr Abdul Malik.

“They already know what is going to take place so they create a situation where they can distance themselves from the assembly, and flee the area while an operation is being launched in the province. This way they can say we resigned from the assembly in protest on behalf of the Baloch nation while also allowing full passage to the powers that be to do as they please. These leaders see the power that people like Mahrang Baloch wield and they have now become irrelevant and they know it.”

LEGAL RECOURSE

Lawyer and Senator Kamran Murtaza, says that whether it is political activists or it is intellectuals as part of the list, it is in fact ‘wrong’ to add them like this.

“The fourth schedule falls under the Ant Terrorism Act and although it is used under a law, it is not meant to be used like this,” he says. “This is a list meant for those who have a criminal past – one with direct links to terrorist organizations- and if the state wants to keep them under surveillance, especially if they have recently been acquitted. In that situation the person has to go everyday to the area police register with them and explain the days activities with proof to the police, and also inform them if they want to move anywhere upon which the police does its investigations to find out where when and why that person will be going and coordinates with the police of that area. It is not meant to include names of civilians on basis of suspicion. It’s a provincial list.”

If in any case the person does not follow the obligations under the 4th schedule such as reporting to the police station, and FIR may be lodged against him or her.

“Currently we do not know if any FIRs have been lodged against any of the people in this list but if this happens it will this surely complicate matters,” he said. “It is also possible that most people do not know that they can have their names removed from the list as well following certain procedures.”

The first thing to do is to approach the Home Secretary and ask for any evidence as to why they have include the person’s name on the list. The Home Secy must be told to remove it. If the name is not removed then a writ petition can be submitted to court.

 

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