Balochistan student Fahad Lehri joins long list of Pak's 'kill and dump' policy victims

Quetta, May 15 (IANS) The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on Thursday condemned the murder of Fahad Lehri, a student of Balochistan, calling it a continuation of Pakistan's "kill and dump" policy to suppress the Baloch identity.

In a statement, the BYC stated that Fahad, a student and resident of Mastung, Balochistan, was forcibly disappeared on May 4, and his bullet-riddled body was discovered in the same region on Wednesday.

"The 'kill and dump' policy has become an institutionalised method of silencing Baloch voices. From students and labourers to political workers and artists, no one is safe. Fahad was neither presented in court nor allowed legal recourse; his only "crime" was being a Baloch youth in a region where identity alone is deemed a threat," read the statement.

"This ongoing strategy of targeting young Baloch men is intended not only to eliminate those who might question the state but to instil fear deep within Baloch society. Fahad Lehri now joins a long list of names, victims whose lives were erased without trial, whose families continue to mourn in the shadows of state violence," the statement added.

Highlighting the brutality of Pakistan, the Baloch forum stated that even in grief, it will not remain silent.

"The people of Balochistan will continue to resist this brutality through our voices, our truth, and our collective memory. The bullets may bury bodies, but they cannot erase the will of a people determined to live with dignity and justice," said the statement.

The BYC in another statement also revealed that a 7-year-old girl, Rokia Baloch, died on Thursday after she was fatally shot a few days ago while sleeping outside her home in Khudabadan, a town in District Panjgur, Balochistan.

Highlighting the incident, it stated that in the early hours on Monday, personnel from Pakistan's Frontier Corps (FC) indiscriminately opened fire in the area, and a bullet struck Rokia in the abdomen while she was asleep.

The child was immediately rushed to the hospital in Panjgur and later referred to the District Headquarters Hospital in Kech (Turbat), and despite efforts by her family, she succumbed to her injuries on Thursday, the BYC stated.

"The tragedy was compounded by the dire condition of the healthcare facility. Upon admission, there was no proper oxygen supply, no emergency medicines, no functioning air conditioning, and no reliable electricity. These life-saving necessities were absent, reflecting the systemic neglect and underdevelopment of Balochistan's public services, especially in critical healthcare," read the statement by the BYC.

"This is not an isolated incident. Such acts of indiscriminate violence by state forces have become a recurring reality in Balochistan. In the aftermath of attacks or confrontations, it is often the civilian population, including children, women, and the elderly, who bear the brunt of state retaliation," the statement read.

"The ongoing militarisation of civilian areas, the impunity enjoyed by security forces, and the systematic denial of basic rights have created a humanitarian crisis in Balochistan that demands international attention," the statement further added.

The BYC urged international human rights organisations, medical humanitarian groups, and global civil society to acknowledge and act against this violence, stating that Rokia's name joins a long list of innocent lives lost not to conflict, but to state-sponsored brutality.

--IANS

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