‘Lums seminar’ on Balochistan held in Islamabad

ISLAMABAD: “There were dead bodies found in Balochistan with Pakistan Zindabad carved into their skins,” Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur said on Saturday, at a seminar which had to be relocated to a different city for it to be held.

The seminar ‘Un-silencing Balochistan’ scheduled to be held at the Lahore University of Management Sciences (Lums) on April 9 was cancelled allegedly in response to pressure from an intelligence agency.

HRCP slams order to cancel Balochistan talk at LUMS

Lahore, April 10: The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed grave alarm and dismay over the authorities ordering the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) to cancel a discussion on Balochistan. HRCP called it unfortunate that that had happened on a democratic government’s watch.

The Commission said in a statement issued on Friday: “It is extremely unfortunate and highly condemnable that the discussion on Balochistan scheduled for April 9, under the re-mapping justice series at LUMS, had to be cancelled on the orders of the government.

Censorship and Balochistan

Earlier this week, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) was forced to cancel a panel discussion on Balochistan that would have featured activists and academics including Mama Qadeer, who marched from Quetta to Islamabad as part of his attempts to highlight the issue of the province’s missing persons. The orders to cancel the event were delivered by elements of the state’s intelligence services, although the state’s latest demonstration of its penchant for stifling debate and silencing dissent was not entirely surprising.

زبان کیخلاف جنگ

تحریر : نزیحہ سید علی
ترجمہ لطیف بلیدی

بلوچستان کا دورہ کرتے وقت کوئی بہ آسانی دیکھ سکتا ہے کہ یہ صوبہ پاکستان کے مرکزی دھارے سے کتنا الگ تھلگ ہے۔

اور یہ محض ظاہری چیزیں نہیں ہے، جیساکہ ترقی کی کمی، جبر کا فضاء یا جبری گمشدگیوں کی کہانیاں اور لاشوں کا پھینکا جانا۔ وہاں زبان کا ایک نازک مسئلہ بھی موجود ہے۔