Quetta– Prominent Baloch human rights advocate Mir Yar Baloch has issued an open letter to Indian parliamentary delegations, urging them to spotlight Pakistan’s ongoing human rights abuses in Balochistan during their international engagements aimed at exposing cross-border terrorism.
In the letter, Mir expressed deep gratitude on behalf of the estimated 60 million Baloch people for India’s “unwavering resolve and national unity” in exposing Pakistan’s support for terrorism and extremist groups. He praised India’s efforts on the global stage as a “beacon of hope” for communities long subjected to what he called Pakistan’s illegal occupation and systemic oppression.
Underlining India’s transformation into a unified and diverse nation under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mir contrasted this with Pakistan’s continued use of religion as a geopolitical weapon to destabilize its neighbors—including India, Afghanistan, and Balochistan. Despite these attempts, he wrote, Pakistan has failed to disrupt this regional solidarity.
Mir urged Indian officials to use their international platforms to raise awareness about what he described as a “genocide” against the Baloch people. He noted that since 1948, the Baloch population has endured military crackdowns, extrajudicial killings, and widespread censorship. With no access to national television, newspapers, or radio outlets, Baloch voices are largely confined to social media, he said, while Punjab province enjoys extensive state-funded media coverage.
“Despite being a population of sixty million, we have no national platform to share our suffering,” Mir wrote. “In contrast, Pakistan’s Punjab has hundreds of media outlets—funded by wealth looted from Balochistan.”
The activist lauded Indian delegations for presenting evidence of Pakistan’s activities to the international community and called for deeper collaboration. “India and Balochistan have faced the same religious extremism for over seventy years. Our enemy is the same. Our interests are aligned. We must support each other rather than struggle alone,” he said.
Mir also called attention to grave human rights violations by Pakistan’s military, including abductions of women and girls, whom he alleged were trafficked into Punjab. He cited the imprisonment of female rights defenders, such as Mahrang Baloch, and said thousands of activists are languishing in secret detention facilities. “Even Pakistan’s courts are ignored when they order the release of political prisoners,” he added.
According to Mir, Pakistan’s intelligence agency, ISI, has forcibly disappeared around 40,000 Baloch civilians, while nearly 200,000 have died in military operations or in custody—many of their bodies discarded in remote regions.
He called on the international community to send fact-finding missions to Balochistan to gather independent evidence and meet with affected families. Additionally, he urged the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to investigate possible radioactive contamination in Chagai, the site of Pakistan’s 1998 nuclear tests, which he claims have caused a surge in cancer cases.
“Balochistan suffers from war crimes,” Mir concluded. “In nearly every household, two to four young men are either missing or have been killed. The world must act. If Pakistan is not held accountable and its military presence not ended, this suffering will only deepen.” (Source: IANS)
