Balochistan [Pakistan], February 19 (ANI): The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) condoled the death of known Sindhi political and social activist Hidayat Lohar, and stated that the discovery of mass graves has given a new painful story to describe the Baloch Genocide.
In its statement, the BYC mentioned that the victims of that operation have not yet received justice in Pakistan.
Relating the death of Lohar to the genocide in Balochistan, the statement mentioned, during the Tutak operation, “two people were killed and about 16 others disappeared, who are still missing. The discovery of mass graves on the same land on January 25, 2013 has given a new painful story to describe the Baloch Genocide, which the Baloch Yakjehti Committee has announced as a symbolic day of the Baloch Genocide.”
“The persons who were forcibly disappeared in the Tutak operation are still victims of enforced disappearance and many of them were buried in mass graves…Since Operation Tutak, the people there have been completely left at the mercy of the death squads and the lives of the common people have been made completely miserable,” the statement added.
According to the statement “no day passes in Balochistan when an operation is not taking place” in any area of Balochistan, it has become the state’s practice to pick up people in the name of an operation in an area or village and later kill them.
In recent days, there has been an increase in the ongoing operations in Balochistan. While on the one hand, the killing of Baloch people continues, on the other hand, the state persecution against other subjugated nations within Pakistan is not stopping.”
Regarding the death of Hidayat Lohar, the BYC stated, “The brutal killing of Hidayat Lohar, who was a strong voice against inhuman practices like enforced disappearances across Sindh, is an ongoing pattern of state violence against oppressed peoples that has been escalating over time. By killing Hidayat Lohar, the state has sent a message to the oppressed nations that the oppressed nations within Pakistan should strongly unite against this state oppression and raise their voice and struggle.”
“In any corner of Pakistan, including Balochistan and Sindh, the peaceful struggle of the oppressed is seen to be afraid, therefore, wherever a political activist stands up for the rights of his people and raises his voice, the state begins to impose restrictions against him. By suppressing the voices of the oppressed in Pakistan, the state wants to deprive the oppressed nations of their human rights and in this effort, it targets political activists like Hidayat Lohar. We strongly condemn this murder and demand the arrest of the killers and bring them to justice,” the statement read.
The statement also demanded that Pakistan stop the ongoing genocide in Balochistan.
It demanded the “cessation of human rights abuses in Balochistan, the recovery of people who were forcibly arrested during the Tutak operation, the criminals involved in the murder of Hidayat Lohar and their being brought to justice, saying that the state should understand that the people of Balochistan are human beings.” (ANI)
