For several months, a shift has been observed in the state’s policies towards Balochistan – specifically the youth and students – with the emergence of alleged ‘fake encounters’ and ‘custodial killings’.
At the moment, there is a protest underway in Gwadar. Rights groups have condemned the extrajudicial killings in the province.
The latest episode emerged on November 23, when the bodies of four Baloch youth were shifted to the civil hospital in Turbat by security forces. It was reportedly claimed that the unidentified bodies belonged to “Baloch militants” who had been killed in an encounter on Pasni road.
Later the same day, one of the bodies was identified as Balach Mola Bakhsh.
It emerged that he had been forcibly disappeared from his home on the night of October 29, 2023, from Absor, near Turbat.
He was then said to have been handed over to the civil Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD), who charged him with carrying five kilogrammes of explosives.
He was subsequently presented before a judicial magistrate in Turbat, who granted ten days of physical remand.
It seems he was granted release only to die in an ‘encounter’ surrounded by bodies of other ‘Baloch militants’.
November 26,2023
Source : The Friday Times