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Dear
Qambar
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Where are you?
- By Malik Siraj Akbar
- Dated:11/07/2009
If I have ever been truly inspired by a leader of the
Baloch Students’ Organization then it is not Dr. Allah
Nizar Baloch or Bashir Zaib Baloch but Qumbar Chakar. In
him, I have always seen a future Ghulam Mohammad Baloch.
For English readers, he was (oh sorry, is) a “super
star” and for the Balochi readers, I could simply
describe him as a “Blaheen Mard” (Big man).
Qambar, 20, is an extraordinary agitator, cogent
speaker, deeply committed political activist and a
highly organized and punctual activist who could proudly
take credit for arranging most protest rallies for the
restoration of quota system at the Balochistan
University for Information Technology and Management
Sciences (BUITMS), recovery of all the missing Balochs
and several other issues.
He spoke a fluent English and made our work easier
whenever a foreign journalist was in town to learn more
about the Baloch students’ movement. In May 2009, I
introduced him with Canadian journalist Matthieu Aikins
of the National Post with whom he had a detailed
interview. Qambar spoke so beautifully that Aikins
started his article with a quote from him.
http://www.nationalpost.com/story.html?id=1593832
Fresh reports suggest that this amazing Baloch activist has been
whisked away by the personnel of the Frontier Corps and the
intelligence agencies. They say Chakar, also an Economics
student, had gone to attend classes at the City Campus of the
BUITMS and latter on proceeded to the Takato Campus of the
University to meet with the Vice Chancellor to speak about the
issue of the district-based open merit admission policy. On his
return from the college, Chakar, who was accompanied by five
other friends of his hailing from the Baloch Action Committee,
was stopped at Chaman Pattick area by a convey of security
forces.
“They (personnel of the security forces) had come in eight
vehicles and asked Qambar to get out of the Alto car,” said one
eyewitness, “once Qambar walked towards them, we saw them
putting a hand grenade in Qambar’s pocket.” According to the
eyewitness, the FC officials shouted at Qambar pointing at the
hand grenade: “What the hell is this? You Baloch terrorist! We
have to take you in custody.” They slapped, manhandled Qambar
and took him away to an unknown location while sparing his other
colleagues.
Pakistan’s most prominent newspaper, Jang, this morning reports,
though very briefly, that a BSO activist has been arrested by
the police while carrying a hand grenade.
One close friend of Qambar says if latter was truly carrying a
hand grenade with him then how he could not be caught by the
security scanners installed at the BUITMS where the Baloch
student had gone to meet with the Vice Chancellor.
However, such tactics no longer surprise anyone. We all know the
nature of the ridiculous cases the state functionaries have made
in the past against the Baloch people in this militarized
province. We do not have a short memory to recollect how Dr.
Imdad Baloch, a former chairman of the BSO, and his colleagues
were resurfaced after seven months of disappearance in 2005.
They were implicated in a case of stealing a washing machine
somewhere in Dera Ghazi Khan while they had never visited DG
Khan in their whole life time.
Presently, no one knows the whereabouts of Qambar Chakar. It is
believed that he is being detained by the FC and the
intelligence agencies in one of the torture cells where,
according to the Baloch nationalists, around five thousand
Balochs, including more than a hundred women, are languishing
simply because of their dissenting views.
“We strongly denounce the extra judicial arrest of the Baloch
student,” said Kachkol Ali Baloch, Balochistan’s former leader
of the opposition. “The State is taking benefit of our
powerlessness. Our leaders are being brutally killed and younger
ones are being subjected to enforced disappearance by the state
agencies. We call for a UN intervention in Balochistan.”
In fact, the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan has
remarkably intensified with the arrival of an utterly powerless
Pakistan People’s Party government following the historic
general elections of February 2008. It clearly seems that the
hawkish Punjabi Establishment based in Islamabad is still
unwilling to relinquish powers in Balochistan.
The resource-rich province is still under the control of the
army and the intelligence agencies that indulge in grave
violation of human rights. Ironically, most human rights
organizations operating in Pakistan deliberately snub their
illegal operations in the country’s largest province for the
reason that they do not want their funding to be stopped. The
national media and human rights organizations have also skirted
the plight of the Baloch since the arrival of the PPP
government.
The extra-judicial arrest of the Baloch political leaders,
mainly the political activists, has been taking place very
systematically. There is not an iota of doubt that the
establishment wants to eliminate or enervate the Baloch movement
by all possible means. Islamabad wishes to subjugate the Baloch
people to such an extent that they give up their demand for
self-rule. Such tactics, I am surely, are only going to increase
anti-Pakistan sentiments among the Baloch youth.
Qambar Chakar’s abduction is not accidental. It was surely
preplanned. Previously, the central vice chairman of the BSO,
Zakir Majeed Baloch, was arrested and taken to an unknown
location in a similar attempt. Likewise, another key leader of
the BSO, Shahzaib Baloch, who presides over the Quetta chapter
of the organization, was arrested in April and kept in illegal
solitary confinement for more than two months. The most pathetic
thing about such official behavior is the denial of judicial
justice to these ‘missing persons’. They are not produced before
any court of law to prove their innocence.
The list of the missing persons does not end here. Among the
fresh victims, two prominent names are that of Jalil Rekhi, the
central information secretary of the Baloch Republican Party (BRP)
and Chakar Qambarani, a member of the BRP central committee.
They have been missing for more than five months now.
It is highly regrettable that the restored Chief Justice of
Pakistan Mr. Justice Ifthakar Chaudhary, who was believed to be
sacked by former military dictator General Pervez Musharraf due
to his proactive role in recovering the missing persons, has
taken a U-turn in his approach towards the missing persons. The
Chief Justice of Pakistan has not only softened his attitude but
also completely skirted the plight of the Baloch youth who are
illegally pushed into torture cells and subjected to inhuman
treatment.
Mr. Chaudhary, is this what millions of people in Pakistan
marched for? No Sir. They wanted the restoration of a man who
had the spunk to bring the intelligence agencies under control.
If you fail to deliver justice then your opponents certainly get
an opportunity to say that you politicized your suspension
merely to gain personal popularity. I know you did.
The international community, mainly the human rights
organizations, have to take notice of the unabated violation of
human rights in Balochistan. The main reason for the kidnapping
of the American head of the United Nations High Commission for
Refugees (UNHCR), John Solecki, in February this year was
predominantly the issue of ‘missing persons.’ The people of
Balochistan are tired of the state repression. Their beloved
ones are going missing every other day. The international
community did not stand up to its promises with the Baloch
people regarding the issue of enforced disappearances while
negotiating with the Baloch leadership about the release of John
Solecki.
In the meanwhile, the Baloch students, who tried to protest the
extra-judicial arrest of Qambar Chakar, were shelled by the
police this morning at BUITMS. Qambar Chakar deserves a good
response from his political friends. While free, he had actively
campaigned for the release of everyone. It is the time everyone
joined the rallies being organized for Chakar’s release. Qambar
is a man of high spirits. He had told me many times that he knew
that the intelligence agencies and the FC were chasing him.
When I asked him for a meeting last time so that I could write a
story on Zakir Majeed, he said he was willing to meet me
anywhere I wanted. “What about the Press Club,” I asked. He
laughed and said, “but the press club is surrounded by ‘their
men’,” as he referred to the agents of the agencies. I said okay
we could sit somewhere safe. He said he was not afraid of coming
downtown. It was just he had begun to take precautionary
measures to ensure his own security. I said it was a very wise
decision.
We wish young Qambar Chakar all the best. He is a brave boy. He
surely knows that “ah pa sarani godaga….”
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