January 24, 2025
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
After the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) announced that they would be commemorating January 25 as ‘Baloch Genocide Remembrance Day’, there have been increased crackdowns against the organization. Incidents of crackdown have been recorded by the Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) – a watchdog organization, which shows the extent to which clampdowns have been taking place in the province.
The BYC is a women-led civil rights movement, headed by Dr. Mahrang Baloch, a physician-turned-human-rights activist, announced an awareness campaign and a public gathering to observe the Baloch Genocide Remembrance Day, on January 25, in Dalbandin, a town in the Chagai region of Balochistan, where Pakistan conducted its nuclear tests in 1998. However, the BYC is facing severe repression from Pakistan’s military and law enforcement agencies, which are attempting to derail the campaign and gathering. Leaders and activists of the movement have been charged under what they claim are false charges, while police have violently attacked and arrested members to suppress their cause.
The crackdowns include assassination attempts, bogus police cases, attacks and arrests against the BYC leaders and members, imposition of ban on public gatherings, shutting down mobile services and internet, and threatening transporters and the public not to support and attend the events organized by the BYC.
Background and Importance of January 25
HRCB claims that there have been thousands of Baloch people who were killed by security forces, particularly since 2000. Many were brought to various hospitals by the military agencies, claiming they were killed in ‘encounters.’ Hundreds of bodies were discovered in multiple mass graves across Balochistan.
In 2014, one of the most harrowing incidents occurred when three mass graves were found in the Khuzdar district on January 25. These graves contained the remains of over 126 individuals, out of whom only two victims, Naseer Baloch and Qadir Bakhsh, were identified. Both the individuals had been forcibly disappeared three months earlier from Awaran, a region pivotal to recent uprisings against exploitative state policies.
Hundreds of victims were buried without identification as they were too highly decomposed or bullet-riddled to be recognized. There was an entirely new graveyard allocated in Dasht, where hundreds of unknown bodies were buried after being discovered in different parts of Balochistan, particularly in Quetta, and its surrounding regions.
Baloch Genocide Day
The day was marked by the BYC to remember the victims and the atrocities they have suffered. This year, BYC called a public gathering to be held in Dalbandin, Chagai, on January 25. The selection of Chagai is also of importance in this regard as it is one of the most resource-rich districts in Balochistan and a key location for multinational mining projects, including the Sino-Pak Saindak Copper-Gold Project and the Reko Diq mineral reserves and project, which Canadian corporation Barrick Gold is set to exploit. These projects are playing a significant role in the region’s militarization and symbolize the exploitation of Balochistan’s resources amidst the widespread oppression of its people.
It is also important to note that Chagai was the region where in 1998 Pakistan tested its nuclear missiles violating protection protocols. There was no independent investigation allowed with regard to the aftermath of these tests, despite the fact that there were thousands of cancer cases reported in the region since the tests.
Crackdown on the BYC
The BYC has been campaigning consistently against human rights violations in Balochistan, and have been mobilizing communities to demand justice and accountability. One of their main focus has been that of enforced disappearances and suppression by the state.
However, their activism has frequently been met with violent state suppression. In December 2023, a BYC rally in Islamabad, comprising women, children and the elderly who were advocating for the forcibly disappeared, was violently dispersed with water cannons and police charges.
Similarly, a planned gathering in Gwadar in August 2024, another focal point of Pakistan-China projects in the region, was met with brute force, resulting in multiple casualties and injuries. In both cases, the organizers and leaders faced numerous arrests and intimidating and defaming campaigns.
Other raids and crackdowns have happened in Karachi too, while students going to universities and colleges in Punjab have also been abducted time and again for their affiliation with BYC.
This current wave of repression appears to be an attempt to block the Dalbandin gathering.
HRCB has expressed its fear that such crackdowns can cause further unrest and worsen the political and security situation in Balochistan.
Details of the crackdowns
January 23, 2025
The government shut down the mobile services and internet in the region, including in Dalbandin, where the Baloch Genocide Remembrance Day public gathering is set to happen. Such tactics of shutting down mobile services and the internet are a reminder of the government’s crackdowns and tactics against the “Baloch National Gathering” organized by the BYC in Gwadar in July 2024.
According to Mahrang Baloch, the civil rights movement’s central organizer, “The shutdown of internet services across the region, including Dalbandin, ahead of the peaceful Baloch national gathering represents a deliberate attempt to silence voices [for] and violates fundamental human rights. This approach is not unprecedented; during the Baloch National Gathering in Gwadar, the authorities similarly disabled internet services, followed by a targeted crackdown on the event’s organizers and participants.”
January 18, 2025
A violent police crackdown occurred in Lyari, Karachi, during a public awareness campaign organized by the BYC. The Sindh Police attacked and arrested several BYC members and leaders. Footage shared by BYC showed the police forcibly dragging Lala Wahab Baloch, the Deputy Organizer, along with Sammi Deen Baloch, Fauzia, and Amina Baloch. Over 25 participants were detained. The police warned of strict legal action against those arrested.
The detainees included both males and females. While the females were released later that night, the males were charged under an FIR for chanting slogans against Pakistan.
There was widespread condemnation from human rights organizations, including the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), and eventually the police eventually released the detainees.
January 17, 2025
During a public rally organized by BYC in Hub City to raise awareness about human rights violations for the upcoming gathering, participants apprehended two suspects. The suspects were armed and posed an immediate threat to Sammi Deen Baloch. A review of their phones revealed profiling activities, indicating coordination with state agencies. Despite BYC’s attempts to report the incident, the police did not offer any assistance, according to Sammi.
January 16, 2025
An FIR was filed against BYC Central Leader, Dr. Sabiha Baloch under Section 144 at the Kharan police station. Dr Sabiha had delivered a speech addressing the pressing issues faced by the people of Yakmach and highlighted the dire state of education there, blaming the state’s anti-Baloch policies for it. She had pointed out that the local boys’ school has been turned into a hub for drug activities, symbolizing the deliberate neglect and systematic degradation of public institutions. Additionally, she had condemned the actions of death squads that have been seizing land from poor Baloch residents, further impoverishing the local community.
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January 15, 2025
The Balochistan government imposed a month-long ban on public gatherings under Section 144, with gatherings of more than five people subject to prosecution. The ban followed BYC’s announcement of its public mobilization campaign and the January 25 gathering, indicating a targeted crackdown.
Deputy Commissioner Chagai, Atta ul Munim, issued an order warning government employees against attending political gatherings. This followed the announcement of BYC’s peaceful gathering in Dalbandin.
The government shut down network services in Naseerabad during Mahrang Baloch’s visit for a public rally. Transporters in Dalbandin were ordered not to operate their vehicles for a week.
January 14, 2025
Mobile and internet services were shut down in Machh and surrounding areas of Bolan, disrupting BYC’s mobilization efforts for the January 25 gathering and causing significant public inconvenience.
January 12, 2025
After a public rally in Mastung, an FIR was filed against Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Beebow Baloch, Sabghat Ullah, Hafeez Baloch, and other 40 to 50 unknown individuals, at the Mastung City Police Station.