Paank, the Human Rights Department of the Baloch National Movement (BNM), has strongly condemned an order requiring around 5,000 families, approximately 30,000 people, to leave their ancestral homes in Shoor Paarod, Kalat, by 30 October 2026, ahead of a planned military offensive. In a statement, Paank said the proposed displacement raises grave concerns about fundamental human rights, the protection of civilians and the rights of Indigenous communities to their ancestral lands, livelihoods and cultural identity. “Ancestral land is not merely territory; it is the foundation of a people’s identity, history and collective existence,” the statement said, adding that Baloch families have lived, worked, raised children and buried their dead on these lands for generations.
According to Paank, Pakistani authorities issued the evacuation order citing the presence of Sarmachars and claiming the area is government land. The organisation said such claims do not justify arbitrary displacement or free the authorities from their obligations towards civilians, and that the scale of the order and its short deadline demand urgent scrutiny, transparency and accountability. Paank pointed to Article 10 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which prohibits the forcible removal of Indigenous peoples from their lands without their free, prior and informed consent, fair compensation and, where possible, the option of return. It also cited Articles 6 and 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and the UN Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
The statement warned that uprooting 30,000 people and moving them into camps shows a complete disregard for human dignity and the realities of their lives. Paank noted that these communities have long lived without basic facilities in their own homes, and asked what guarantee the authorities could offer that the same people would receive adequate shelter, heating, healthcare, clean water and sanitation in relocation camps. It added that Kalat is among the coldest regions of Balochistan, and that moving thousands of families into camps as winter approaches could put their health, safety and lives at serious risk.
Paank said authorities cannot simply order people out of their homes without explaining where they will go, how they will survive and what concrete arrangements have been made to protect them. The organisation stressed that no one should be forced to abandon the lands where their ancestors lived and died without full respect for their rights, dignity and legal protections.
