Quetta, January 20 – In a bold move to spotlight decades of alleged oppression, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a prominent human rights organization, has announced worldwide events on January 25, designated as ‘Baloch Genocide Remembrance Day.’ The group urges Baloch communities globally to participate in protests, seminars, press briefings, video messages, panel discussions, TV shows, podcasts, webinars, and cultural programs to reveal what they describe as Pakistan’s systematic targeting of the Baloch people.
In a statement posted on X, BYC emphasized that this day marks the onset of a calculated assault on Baloch identity, beginning with mass killings and enforced disappearances. ‘Genocide isn’t confined to overt mass murders,’ the statement reads. ‘It can be a slow, methodical erasure of a community’s identity, existence, and way of life through deliberate neglect, disease, unsafe living conditions, economic deprivation, and psychological terror.’
The organization accuses Pakistani authorities of perpetrating this through targeted assassinations, drone strikes, denial of healthcare, economic exploitation, the spread of deadly diseases like cancer, and widespread psychological torture. These methods, they claim, aim to obliterate Baloch presence in their resource-rich homeland.
The formal declaration of January 25 came during a historic rally at Saryab Shahwani Stadium in January 2024. This date commemorates the horrific 2014 Totak incident in Balochistan, where over 100 Baloch youths, abducted by Pakistan intelligence-backed death squads from a remote secret camp, were found mutilated and dumped. The mass graves discovered there remain a haunting symbol of enduring trauma, with families still awaiting identification of their loved ones.
BYC notes that similar mass graves have surfaced across Balochistan, underscoring a pattern of atrocities. ‘January 25 symbolizes all such genocidal acts,’ the group stated. ‘The bodies from these graves share one identity: they are Baloch. Each year, they reopen wounds for hundreds of grieving families.’ Last year, Baloch activists held a massive gathering in resource-laden Dalbandin, sending a unified message of resistance against exploitation-driven genocide.
Balochistan continues to suffer under death squads allegedly supported by Pakistani officials, enabling enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and illegal detentions. As the world prepares for January 25, BYC calls for global solidarity to amplify the Baloch struggle for survival and justice.