Bullets and bodies

The story we have heard, so many times, continues. Two more bullet-ridden bodies were found in Balochistan the other day, both belonging to young men who disappeared some weeks ago. The bodies, spotted by passersby in the town of Turbat, are stated to bear marks of torture. Does this shock us? Perhaps not enough. We have become far too accustomed too and hardened to such events. They have occurred frequently, with scores of bodies found over the last few months. International human rights monitoring bodies have associated the incidents with the intelligence agencies and their operations in Balochistan. But in spite of the proof that exists that something terribly wrong is occurring in the region, not enough seems to be happening to remedy it.

In short, our situation now is as bad as any of the Latin American or other dictatorships we have read about at various points in history. Like the people of Chile in the 1970s, the people of Balochistan occupy a kind of nightmare world where nationalists are ‘punished’ in a terrible fashion, apparently by state representatives. Even those who have survived — poets, writers, students, intellectuals — have in some cases, been so gravely physically and emotionally traumatised, that they will bear the scars for life. Those who have been released with their lives intact, have been warned never to speak out about their experiences — or risk yet worse fate, for themselves and their families.

Is this a situation we can live with? The answer quite obviously should be in the negative. Yet, the fact also is that outside Balochistan, concern for the province is far too limited. The government has not done enough either. The degree of anguish that should be present is simply not there. This adds to the problem there; its isolation only makes things worse and in fact aids the elements behind the atrocities. Something needs to be done. Balochistan needs to be saved; its people won back — and we must hope this task has not already been left too late, making success impossible in a province where frustration already runs deep.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2011.