One of the protestors added that the use of illegal substances among the Baloch youth helps Pakistan consolidate its control over the conflict-prone region….reports RAHUL KUMAR
Baloch activists in Germany are highlighting how Pakistan is pushing drugs among youth in Balochistan which has become a convenient corridor for smuggling Afghanistan’s illegal drugs worldwide. Activists from two Baloch organisations, Baloch National Movement (BNM) and the Baloch Republican Party (BRP) held the protest together.
On the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking (June 26), Baloch activists held a protest in Munster, Germany, highlighting how the Pakistani Army is dispersing drugs across the world through major routes in Balochistan.
Samul Baloch, Vice-President, BNM Germany, said that the drug mafia in the Awaran area of Balochistan has the blessings of the Pakistan military. He added that with Balochistan becoming a major route, a large number of young people have become addicted to drugs in the region.
Samul said: “In Balochistan children are becoming addicted to drugs but the state of Pakistan is promoting its illicit drug trade to strengthen its colonial policy in order to paralyse the future of Balochistan.”
He added that the use of illegal substances among the Baloch youth helps Pakistan consolidate its control over the conflict-prone region.
The issue of consumption of drugs among Baloch youth was also taken up by Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch, the leader of the ‘Gwadar ko haq do’ movement (Give Rights to Gwadar) in a mass agitation in December 2021.
With Afghanistan brimming with drugs, Balochistan and its ports like Gwadar, Ormara, Talar, Hingol, Sur Bandar, Peshukan and Jiwani have become a major gateway for the Pakistani establishment to send drugs across the world.
With June 26 also an International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, the protestors also highlighted Pakistan’s role in enforced kidnappings of women and students as well as the human rights violations of people who are believed to hold nationalist views.
Asghar Ali, President, BNM Germany, said that Pakistan is not only kidnapping people on a large scale but is also torturing the families of people who are victims of enforced disappearances. Giving an example, Ali pointed to the beating of the daughters of Din Mohammad who was forcibly disappeared by Pakistan’s intelligence agencies while on duty in Hornach. He said that enforced disappearances are taking place in Sindh province as well, not just Balochistan.
With the insurgency in Balochistan going on since March 1948, after the Pakistani military had invaded and forcibly taken over the princely state of Kalat, the region faces total media clampdown and an undeclared emergency where the Pakistani Army operates with impunity.
BNM member Sadiq Saeed Baloch alleges that more than 40,000 Baloch, including social activists, intellectuals and students have been forcibly disappeared in Balochistan.
Sadiq says that the mutilated bodies of thousands of Baloch are found scattered over deserts on a daily basis. The security forces also harass the Baloch people and restrict their movement even within Balochistan owing to the China-led mega infrastructure project China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.
The Baloch diaspora across the world, particularly in the Western countries, has been standing up for the violations taking place in Balochistan. Various Baloch groups have been petitioning parliamentarians as well as pressing UN organisations for self-determination.