Quetta, Oct 15 (IANS) Human rights body Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on Thursday strongly condemned Pakistani authorities, accusing them of forcibly displacing thousands of families across Balochistan and stripping people of their ancestral homes, livelihoods and the security of living on their own land.
“For the past several months, thousands of families have been forcibly displaced from various areas of Balochistan. In areas such as Zehri, Sarawan, Kaland, Jiwani, Noshki, Chagai, Kharan, Mand, Dasht, Sani Shoran, Mangchar, Mastung, Mashkay, and many others, the Baloch people have been compelled to abandon their ancestral homes, while notifications to vacate have already been issued for several other areas. This list grows longer with each passing day, and no one knows which settlement’s turn it will be tomorrow,” the BYC stated.
“Local people are handed a piece of paper and stripped of the life they built over years of toil, forced to accept the identity of a migrant on their own land for the rest of their lives. With that identity comes the loss of their home, their livelihood, and protection from the harsh seasons—everything. They either end up as part of a makeshift slum by the roadside in some city or wander endlessly in temporary shelters,” it added.
According to the BYC, many displaced people continue to lead a nomadic life in the rest houses of Koh-e-Murad in Kech district, while others have been forced to seek refuge in the homes of relatives.
The rights body said that the displacement was not merely about losing homes, as coastal fishermen were cut off from the sea, farmers from their land, and herders from their flocks and pastures. It added that generations-old skills and livelihoods had been rendered meaningless by a single decree.
“On the basis of one decree, our people are driven away from the soil of their ancestors’ graves, and despite being the rightful heirs of this homeland, they are forced to live as helpless migrants. Whoever leaves their home does not merely leave walls behind — they leave their history, their memories, and their identity,” the BYC noted.
Condemning the destruction of ancestral settlements and forced displacement in Balochistan, the Baloch Voice for Justice (BVJ) said that stripping people of their land and livelihoods amounted to erasing their cultural identity, dignity, and generations of history.
“Burning homes, bulldozing ancestral settlements, cutting down orchards and trees, and displacing people from their lands is not merely the destruction of buildings and villages, but is tantamount to erasing generations of memories, cultural identity, human dignity, and the bonds tied to the earth. When a nation is stripped of its land, homes, and livelihoods, it is not only its present that is ravaged, but the markers of its past and the dreams of its future are buried beneath the rubble as well,” it said.
The rights body called on the United Nations and global human rights organisations to take immediate notice of the forced displacements and destruction of residential homes in Balochistan, ensure the protection of the rights of the affected people, and take effective measures to halt this humanitarian tragedy.
–IANS
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