In Balochistan, each day follows a misery for a family – at least – of the grave human rights violations: a news of abduction; a fake encounter; robbery and theft; targeted murder; breaking into shops; a media propagation terming the indigenous people ‘terrorists’ or part of a proxy they have never had an idea of; and so on. The other violations are yet afar, people living here have lost the basic essence of human life, facing traumatization and dehumanization of all kinds, with alleged involvement of the state and non-state actors such as the locally-hired militias, or best-known as Death Squads.
Among the very serious recent developments, a teenage boy, Zubair Rahim was abducted from Dalbandin, Balochistan, along with his 22-year-old sister, Rahima Rahim at the same time, with alleged ‘unwarranted raid’ in the area, creating an atmosphere of fear and disappointment for the residents from the state institutions. In response, the society-fellows blocked the main road in the city and demanded the release of the two youths and accountability for the culprits – allegedly the security institutions. Though they have not been released yet, the indigenous masses entered into successful negotiations and the district administration ensured of their safe and quick recovery.
Even if the two siblings are released, the concern does not end. There are two factors: one, the continuous trend of gross human rights violations of the indigenous people in Balochistan, particularly the enforced disappearances without any accountability for the state institutions. Two, the cultural violation, as the Baloch Women Forum (BWF), a ground-rooted Baloch political entity working to bring political consciousness and ensuring human rights are served at their best to the Baloch community, calls it.
Only in the ongoing year (2025), as the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) notes, there have been 1237 reported cases of enforced disappearances with only 312 of them being released and another 71 being killed in custody and dumped, and still 854 persons are still facing illegal detentions without receiving the right to a fair trial and information to their families of their whereabouts. Another political entity records 50 among the abductees being minor and 07 women. Among the women, Mahjabeen Baloch (25), abducted from Civil Hospital Quetta on May 29, 2025, Nasreena Baloch (15), abducted from Hub Chowki on 22 November, 2025, and Rahima Rahim (22), abducted from Dalbabdin on December 9, 2025, are yet kept in secret torture cells.
The new wave of enforced disappearances is marked with a focus on women abduction which is locally observed as a “Cultural Violation”, a global human rights breach and an attempt to revive the 1971-resurgence – the gross state-carried violations on indigenous people in East Pakistan, targeting women too, which led the birth of Bangladesh. Even in war-like conditions, women and children are made an exception, but Balochistan is facing otherwise.
In another similar development, the security personnel opened indiscriminate firing on civilians in Sahaaki area of Balgatar in Kech district, wounding a young woman, Durdanag Baloch, wife of Nazeer Ahmed, on December 8, 2025. The incident did not grab much attention unless she was shifted to Karachi for treatment where doctors refused to admit her with the mere condition to produce the First Information Report (FIR) which the police refused to lodge – as always, in such cases. The local people closed the road connecting Quetta and the surrounding areas with Kech and Gwadar, demanding FIR against the accused security personnel. But denied.
The Balgatar incident had not vanished in the minds of the people, when another similar nature of attack was reported in Awaran on December 12, 2025, when the security forces allegedly threw mortar fires on civilians, injuring seven individuals, including women and children. Though the injured ones were given first aid treatment, the misery of no-accountability for the culprits leaves a sense of ignorance from the state towards the inhabitants. I have still not quoted the earlier mortar shelling in Hoshap (Kech) allegedly by the same security personnel on November 29, 2025, executing a minor girl, Yasmeen Nasir, and injuring another four minors.
Behind all the mentioned human rights violations only within a span of few days, the indigenous civilians and political entities allege the security forces behind setting the genocidal atmosphere in Balochistan, claiming to be eye-witnesses of the tragic incidents. Despite the fact that they have tried every means of urging the relevant state authorities for timely action and accountability, they have always reacted in crushing the locals through force, colonial-like laws and harassment. With the given state response to the genuine concerns of Balochistan, we can only expect societal instability and drawbacks, which will not only haunt the people back in Balochistan but also largely engulf the state machinery.
The only way forward is listening to the ground-rooted, genuine grievances of the residents in Balochistan and giving them their fundamental human rights without any intervention. Force can only beget a larger counter force, which will bring about mass destruction that we cannot afford. For the very purpose, the state’s higher authorities need to reform their mentality, behavior and approach towards the Baloch and Balochistan and come forward with positive intentions.
