Achi news desk-
In his recent visit from Turbat, Sarfraz Bugti, the newly ‘elected’ prime minister of Balochistan, called the very worrying issue of enforced disappearances ‘self-disappearances’. This is very dangerous in nature, as far as the matter in question is concerned. On the one hand, this term is a threat to victims of enforced disappearances; on the other hand, it shows the non-serious attitude of the government in solving the very serious issue of enforced disappearances. Not only does the new prime minister mislabel enforced disappearances as ‘self-disappearances’, but he also calls the struggle of families and campaigners to curb enforced disappearances an ‘exaggerated political agenda’ and ‘baseless propaganda’ ‘ only. This is very deplorable from the so called prime minister and other beneficiaries of the conflict and status quo in Balochistan.
For the last two decades, in particular, enforced disappearances have emerged as a very serious problem in Pakistan as well as across the world. Balochistan, which is administered as a province in Pakistan, is known as the ‘home of enforced disappearances’ where thousands of political activists, journalists, teachers, professors, doctors, human rights activists, sportsmen, students, and people from all walks of life have come to be. the soft and hard state targets, including being subject to extrajudicial killings as well as enforced disappearances which are at the top of the list.
People are violently ‘disappeared’ by law enforcement agencies in broad daylight as well as late at night from their homes, workplaces and markets, even when they are traveling from one place to the another. Other people witness everything with their eyes, but since the criminals are the ‘guardians of the Constitution’, no one speaks or acts against them for fear of retaliation. The bills put on the assembly tables on this subject have themselves disappeared: the same has been the case with the introducers of the bill and other ministers at state level. Everyone who talks about curbing enforced disappearances themselves becomes a target. That is how enforced disappearances have become the norm in Pakistan, especially in the poorest province of Balochistan.
Amidst such uncertainty, rather than focusing efforts on solving the missing persons issue, the rise of such a politician – Sarfraz Bugti, someone who has always been against critics of enforced disappearances – as the chief executive of the state increases’ the situation further. the fears of the families of the abducted people. Not only are the lives of their loved ones precarious under illegal detention but the peaceful struggles of thousands of families – those who turn to protest outside press clubs, on the roads, on special and regular occasions – are are seen as operating outside legal lenses. Previously, the so-called Joint Investigation Teams (JITs) had already mocked the families who protested against enforced disappearances and threatened them not to search for their loved ones. Now, a person like Sarfraz Bugti, in the office of the prime minister, further aggravates the situation and discourages the families by undermining and trivializing their struggles.
For a long time, the people of Balochistan have lost their faith in the parliamentary political parties. Incidents like this fuel the hatred further. These parties have become mere tools to promote Baloch genocidal policies and have no role to bring any peace or development to the people of the province.
But these families would never give up something that makes even the slightest hope of getting their loved ones back from the dungeons of the state. Such events, however, have done well to reveal the faces of the parliamentarians who have used the issue of ‘missing people’ for their political agendas and to increase their vote banks. For example, the former prime minister of Balochistan, National Party Dr. Abdul Malik (NP) had introduced a resolution on ‘missing Baloch people’ in their party manifesto before the elections. In every campaign event they have organised, they have used the missing persons issue to score political points. But in Bugti’s recent visit to his home, the former prime minister handled the matter and called it different, maintaining silence without any concerns. Silence on the matter is usually tantamount to confirming the dire situation.
Although many believe that Bugti was the guest of the former prime minister, who forced him to remain silent, that does not mean that someone comes as a guest and destroys all your political programmes; just looked at his face without saying anything. Even after the current prime minister’s ‘false and frivolous statement’, Dr Malik and his party seemed reluctant to negate this statement. Meanwhile, other pro-parliamentary parties have been in the same boat, and that is how the process of gaining temporary power is practiced here in Balochistan.
For a long time, the people of Balochistan have lost their faith in the parliamentary political parties. Incidents like this fuel the hatred further. These parties have become mere tools to promote Baloch genocidal policies and have no role in bringing any peace or development to the people of the province. The masses, on the other hand, have been noting everything. For now, they are only looking for their loved ones who are being illegally enslaved by the state. In times to come, they are likely to act against all such state actors who have been directly or indirectly involved in anti-Baloch policies.
As far as Sarfraz Bugti is concerned, if he cannot show grief and accept his unhappiness in front of the so called law enforcement agencies, he has no right to mock the families either. Last but not least, Bugti is not and has never been the prime minister of the people: he only serves those who have placed him over the people of Balochistan.
