Pakistan's Jamaat-e-Islami has announced to observe Balochistan Solidarity Day on December 12 to highlight the rising numbers of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings by Pakistan's security forces.
Baloch leaders and activists have repeatedly blamed the Pakistani government and military for mass killings and forced disappearances of Balochistan natives.
"Balochistan is rich in natural resources but its people are deprived of even basic needs. The present and former governments have failed to meet their demands," said JI Ameer Sirajul Haq while addressing a meeting of the party's central leadership at Mansoora here on Wednesday.
Balochistan is a resource-rich but least developed province of Pakistan where a movement for freedom has been ongoing for the past several decades.
Many Balochs believe that the region was independent before 1947 and was forcibly occupied by Pakistan.
While successive governments have promised to criminalise enforced disappearances, none has taken concrete steps and the practice continues with impunity. Recently, fighting between the Pakistan security forces and Baloch insurgents have intensified in the region.
In its 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights, the US State Department has highlighted significant human rights issues in Pakistan, including unlawful or arbitrary killings by the government and forced disappearance of Pashtun, Sindhi and Baloch human rights activists.
( With inputs from ANI )
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