Taken aback by the massive backlash on social media against yet another case of enforced disappearance in 'warzone' Balochistan, the Pakistani state-sponsored death squads were forced to release Professor Liaquat Sani Bangulzai of Balochistan University Monday, more than 48 hours after his abduction along with two other university teachers. Prof. Sani, Dr. Shabbir Shahwani and Prof. Nizam Shahwani were picked up by armed men of Pakistani secret agencies while travelling to Khuzdar district on Saturday and their car was found abandoned in the Mastung area of the province. However, while his two colleagues were released earlier, Sani, who is also a poet and heads the university's Brahvi department, remained missing till late afternoon yesterday.
Baloch activists, local mediapersons and even politicians like Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari had demanded immediate recovery of Sani. "The reported incident of kidnapping of three professors of the University of Balochistan was a highly condemnable act and appears to be aimed at further alienating the people of the province. Professor Liaquat Sani should be recovered and his freedom restored without any delay," Bhutto said in a statement.
The Baloch National Movement (BNM) said that in accordance to a new strategy, Pakistan tried to portray the abduction of Liaquat Sani as a kidnapping for ransom so that the image of the state does not tarnish and the sentiments of Baloch nation can easily be diverted to another direction. The party said that the latest incident was an attempt to steal the source of knowledge and intellect from Baloch society.
"This policy had been going on for decades to inhibit the growth and development of the Baloch nation in the field of science and literature. Saba Dashtyari's, who was an edifice of knowledge, assassination in Quetta by Pakistan is another example of their tactics. Hundreds and thousands of torch bearers of knowledge including Haji Razzaq, Ustad Ali Jan, Professor Razzaq and Zahid Askani had been earlier assassinated and taken away from us. But the struggle for freedom against slavery is continuous and will continue in future. It is determined that the abduction of teachers, students, women and children will bring disgrace to Pakistan," said a BNM spokesperson.
The Balochs are now fully aware of the "state barbarism" in all its forms and also the pulls and pressures which at times force the Pakistani deep state to go on the back foot, just like in the case of released professors.
"An attempt was made to call the enforced disappearance a kidnapping for ransom under a well-laid plan, but the joint efforts of the Baloch nation thwarted the emotional boys of Bajwa and rescued Dr. Liaquat Sani. Of course, all the problems can be solved if we work together in the same way," tweeted Hakeem Baloch, the UK zone president of the Baloch National Movement.
The Balochs remain convinced of the direct involvement of the state agencies in kidnapping for ransom in Balochistan and also that – just like the murder of Hafeezullah Baloch had proved – very rarely does a person forcibly abducted returns home. Hafizullah went missing from Dalbanden on August 30, 2016 with a Pakistani Army officer, Major Naveed, demanding Rs 6.8 million for his release. Despite the payment, Hafizullah's mutilated body was found at Pul-e-Choto in Chaghi. Pakistani Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa had accepted the role of his officer in the entire episode.
"Pakistan intelligence agencies are not only war criminals they are also a human trafficking mafia. They abduct people not only for their views and activities but also kidnap for ransom but their victims never come back," Karima Baloch, a former President of the Baloch Students Organization – Azad (BSO Azad) tweeted Sunday.
Baloch parties like the BNM have been highlighting the plight of people in the province for long now. They claim that a new wave of military operations has been initiated by Pakistan in Dasth, Awaran, and Jahoo areas, inflicting new levels of atrocities in Balochistan.
"For the last two decades several areas of Balochistan have remained the centre of heavy military operations on a daily basis. With the inauguration of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Pakistan surged the level of these military operations. Hundreds of villages have been removed from the face of the earth. Thousands of people became the victim of enforced disappearance and thousands more were killed. Consequently, millions of people were forced to migrate in order to maintain Pakistani hegemony and the control of the Baloch coast which has immense geopolitical importance.” says Khalil Baloch, the chairman of Baloch National Movement on the "brazen barbarities" of the Pakistan army in the entire width and breadth of Balochistan.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">I know only one Balochistan which is occupied Balochistan.</p>
Occupied by Islamic Republic of Pakistan illegally on 27 March 1948. <a href="https://t.co/q6G1wmYGhN">pic.twitter.com/q6G1wmYGhN</a>
— Fazila Baloch?☀️ (@IFazilaBaloch) <a href="https://twitter.com/IFazilaBaloch/status/1331693054747684865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 25, 2020</a></blockquote>
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The growing discontent of the masses is spreading all across the province right upto the Pak-Afghan border. A 14-year-old boy named Matihullah was killed and several critically injured when the Pakistani security forces opened fire at Bab-e-Dosti (Friendship Gate) on Pak-Afghan border in Chaman, Balochistan on Sunday.
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<p dir="ltr" lang="en">Yet another brutality of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pakarmy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pakarmy</a>!
A 11 yr old boy was killed when <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PakistanArmy?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PakistanArmy</a> shot at unarmed civilians in the city of Chaman, <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Balochistan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Balochistan</a>
When will d cruelty of <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/pakistan?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#pakistan</a> on <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pashtuns?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pashtuns</a> & minorities end?<a href="https://twitter.com/hrw?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@hrw</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/UNHumanRights?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@UNHumanRights</a> should not stay quiet on such barbarism of Pakistan. <a href="https://t.co/h3crzNnm03">pic.twitter.com/h3crzNnm03</a></p>
— Muneeba Tak (@MuneebaTak) <a href="https://twitter.com/MuneebaTak/status/1333344227032395776?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 30, 2020</a></blockquote>
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From Gilgit to Gwadar, the anger fueling against the Imran Khan government is now pretty much visible to the rest of the world. However, as IndiaNarrative.com had reported earlier, the 'puppet' PM still believes that he can continue to fool everyone. As Pakistani agencies like the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) had noted earlier this year the federal and provincial governments continue to pass the buck and blame everything on the ‘enemies of the country’ who are attempting to ‘create unrest in Pakistan' to achieve their nefarious designs!.
