THE reaction of the interim Balochistan government to criticism of enforced disappearances in the country lays bare a deep disconnect with reality, and indicates how little the administration cares about the wholesale violation of human rights. Where past governments buried their heads in the sand or paid mere lip service to the issue of missing persons, the current set-up has effectively gaslighted the families of missing persons by saying that the issue has been ‘politicised’. The government’s reaction comes after BNP-M chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal declared that his party would contest the next election under the slogan of ‘the recovery of missing persons’. Mr Mengal talked about the enforced disappearance of his own brother in the 1970s, and the anguish his family feel even today, despite being told that his brother had passed. His phrase that “we are still waiting for him” describes the trauma experienced every day by scores of families that have marched, begged and pleaded for the return of their loved ones — with little success. His words that “there isn’t a single home in Balochistan which hasn’t received a dead body or is not awaiting the recovery of a missing relative” are simply chilling.

The Balochistan government’s reaction, therefore, is shameful. To claim such remarks are politicising the issue of missing persons is tone deaf, and will fool no one. What those at the helm need to realise is these are not ‘issues being exploited’ but brutal human rights violations that are causing Baloch families generational trauma. Unexplained disappearances with scant information, no trials and virtually no trace of the victim points to a callous mentality. If the state is going to pretend these protests and cries for recovery are ‘agenda-driven’ and not the genuine pleas for help they are, it risks further alienating young people in a province that has always been a low priority for successive governments. The state may end up paying a heavy price.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2023