Pakistan is carrying a systematic genocide of Baloch the same way it did with Bengalis. India should prevent it through all means, by raising it at UN & intervening in Balochistan in the same way as NATO has done in Kurdistan. Ms. Farzana Majeed Baluch speaks to Aveek Sen in an exclusive interview

She had led the protest march from UN office in Quetta to Islamabad to protest Pakistan’s abduction (enforced disappearances) of more than 20,000 Baloch

Farzana Majeed Baluch and Mama Qadeer had led a ‘long march’ from the UN office in Quetta to the UN office in Islamabad for the recovery of the Baloch Missing Persons. Her brother himself is missing for years, along with more than 20,000 others. More than 6,000 of them were later killed and dumped from helicopters or in mass graves. Even after the Supreme Court of Pakistan’s comments on ‘enforced disappearances’ (abductions) it wasn’t redressed.

She tells that the “ Baloch long march for justice, freedom and release of our beloved ones was organised by Baloch families of disappeared persons. There are literally thousands of Baloch political and human rights and also Baloch civilians who have been abducted by Punjabi Muslim army, security forces and their Jihadist proxy groups in Pakistani occupied Balochistan. The story of Baloch missing persons goes back to the very day when the Punjabi rulers of Pakistan illegally invaded Balochistan in 1948. In order to silence Baloch liberation movement, the fanatical Pakistani army has spread their deadly tentacles all over Pakistani occupied Balochistan. The army, security forces and their jihadist groups have their own private prisons and torture cells in Balochistan. They can abduct Baloch activists at will and torture and kill them whenever and wherever they decide.

Among just primary and secondary school students who were abducted by the Punjabi army and killed- 13 year old Majeed Zehri Baloch’s mutilated body was discovered on 24 October 2010, The tortured body of Nadir Baloch also 13 was found on 14 January 2012, 14 year old Waheed Balaach Baloch’s tortured and mutilated body was found 9 October 2011, dead body of Riaz Baloch 14 years old, was discovered on 2 April 2012, the dead body of Mir Khan Marri 15 years old was found on 7 February 2011, Arafat Baloch 17 years old, his body was found on 6 October 2011, Arz Mohammad Pirkani 18 years old, his body was found on 21 August 2010, Shaker Mohammad 18 years old, his body was found on 3 February 2011, Yasir Baloch 18 years old, his body was found on 8 March 2011, Hamid Nasir Baloch 18 years old, his body was found on 18 August 2011, Samad Younus Baloch 18 years old, his body was found on 8 September 2012 and 17 year old girl Shahnaz Baloch, was killed on 11 September 2014.

Among student leaders were my brother Zakir Majeed, a MA English literature student. He is fluent in five languages and a gifted speaker. My brother is a democrat who genuinely believed in human rights, democracy, freedom of thought and speech, equality of gender and opportunity. He is a truly decent, informed and responsible young man. Well-liked among friends and family. It was for these qualities that the Punjabi jihadist rulers of Pakistan abducted my brother 9, June, 2009 and disappeared him ever since. This is exactly for the same reasons that what has happened to the rest of other enforced-disappeared Baloch persons. Zahid Baloch was abducted on 18 March, 2014 from Quetta, Qambar Chakar’s mutilated body was found on 5 January 2011, dead body of Comrade Qayyum Baloch was found on 10 February 2011, Shafi Baloch’s body was found on 23 June 2011, and Reza Jhangir was killed on 14 August 2013. Baloch journalists, authors, educationists, school teachers, professors like Saba Dashtyiari and lawyers have been systematically eliminated. Recently in another deadly act they eliminated nearly 70 lawyers, mostly Pashtuns of Balochistan, in Quetta.

This is what the Punjabi fundamentalists of Pakistan did to the Bengalis during their war of liberation. They killed their students, lawyers, teachers and rest of most politically continuous people. After Bangladesh they have been doing to the same to Baloch, Sindhis and Pashtuns for decades.

Therefore, out desperation the families of Baloch missing persons organised the longest march in human history, as far as I know, to highlight the fate of our loved ones. We walked from Shaal (Quetta) the capital city of Balochistan to Sindh capital city (Karachi) and from Karachi to Pakistan capital city (Islamabad). On our way we have encountered a lot of difficulties and hardships, which I have included in my forthcoming book on Baloch long march to freedom. The media coverage was minor because the Punjabi army did not allow them to contact us. The Pakistan army could not even tolerate those Pakistani human rights activists who were one way or other sympathetic to our struggle. They killed Sabeen Mahmood who organising an even ‘Unsilencing Balochistan’ in Karachi, they tried to kill Hamid Mir for inviting us to his talk show ‘Capital Talk’. Fortunately, he survived the assassination attempt. We knew from the beginning that the impact of our action would be insignificant on Pakistani institutions, organs, systems and political and legal structures. Because they are paralyzed by their army. There is not any civil society, independent judiciary and free and responsible media in Pakistan. The whole Pakistan means the Punjabi Muslim army and their close Islamist Punjabi mafia. In such violent, corrupt and toxic environment human life has no value. This is what Pakistan is and will be to its end.

The fact is the Baloch nation is one of those nations that has received the least support from any organisation, state or even human rights groups. When we look at our history, we have been one of the nations that have constantly been involved in our struggle for independence since British imperial army attacked and illegally divided Balochistan in 1839. I think before it is too late, India should intervene in Balochistan in the same way as NATO has done in Kurdistan — I mean to say provide the Baloch all means to defend themselves against Pakistani aggression and daily indiscriminate bombardments. The Pakistani army is investing a lot of time and money to Talibanize Balochistan as they have done in Pashtun areas. They have imported hundreds of Jihadist groups from Punjab, from the Pashtuns region and Afghan Taliban in Balochistan. The Baloch secular culture and the liberation movement have kept them at margin but there is a serious cause for concern since Baloch are displaced by force to leave their areas and then the gaps are filled by these fundamentalist groups. The west and India should assist secular and democratic Baloch political and human rights organisations who truly believe in human rights, a democratic government, freedom of belief and religion and rule of law. So their support should be conditional to such principles.”

In part 2, we will discuss her message for China and other gruesome details of the Baloch genocide by Pakistan