Pakistan: HRCP Condemns Killing Of University Teacher In Quetta, Balochistan
Lahore, April 28, 2010: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemns the target killing of Nazima Talib, a
university teacher in Quetta, capital of Balochistan province, and calls upon the government to provide adequate
security to vulnerable academic staff across Balochistan and bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
Human Rights Commission of Pakistan is concerned at the continuing target killings of teachers and other non-Baloch
workers across Balochistan. Most of the victims are so-called settlers in the province who have been providing valuable
services to people of Balochistan for the last several decades. Unfortunately, some Baloch militant organizations often
claim responsibility for such murders and try to justify their acts as revenge for the excesses committed by the
law-enforcing agencies against the Baloch political activists. HRCP is of the view that the excesses committed by the
security agencies should not be visited on innocent non-Baloch people who served the Baloch society without any
discrimination of race or language.
The killing of innocent people on ethnic basis serves no purpose for otherwise a legitimate struggle for political
rights of the Baloch population. It is unfortunate that most of senior Baloch leaders have not condemned these ruthless
killings strongly enough, some of them present conspiracy theories to divert the blame from the Baloch organisations
which hardly makes any sense. As the target killings have led to migration of the settlers, mostly engaged in the
services sector where the Baloch people do not have or have little indigenous expertise, out of Balochistan, the Baloch
people have suffered owing to increasing shortage of necessary services.
As a result, the education system in the province has been destroyed besides the unavailability of other essential
services such as healthcare. The government, despite the heavy presence of paramilitary forces and all sorts of
intelligence agencies in the province, has failed in checking the crime. So far, no criminal has been brought to justice
in any incident of target killing which emboldens the perpetrators of the crime. The discontent among the Baloch youth
could not be assuaged though several months passed since the government made commitments to take measures to win over
the Baloch nationalists, especially the young Baloch, under the Aghaz-i-Huqooq-i-Balochistan Package. The murder of the
woman teacher at the Balochistan University should serve as a reminder to the powers that be that they need to act
immediately and decisively to make things improve in the Balochistan province.
ENDS