Baloch National Movement (BNM) Chairman Dr Naseem Baloch, addressing the 12th Balochistan International Conference in Geneva, said that generation after generation, Baloch political activists, students, doctors, teachers, lawyers and ordinary citizens in Balochistan have faced imprisonment, enforced disappearance, exile and death, while for decades attempts have been made to suppress the Baloch national question through military force, political engineering, enforced disappearances, imprisonment and control over Balochistan’s resources.
He said that despite this, the Baloch national question has not disappeared, and new generations continue to enter political life.
Addressing human rights defenders, representatives of different nations and organisations, members of the media and Baloch political activists in Geneva, the BNM Chairman said that the conference is not simply another political gathering, but an effort to bring to the world the voices of those facing the human consequences of the ongoing crisis in Balochistan.
He said, “We have gathered here not simply to hold another conference. We are here because behind every report, every photograph and every statistic from Balochistan, there is a human being.”
According to him, there is a mother waiting for her disappeared son, there is a child growing up without a father, and there is a family searching from one prison to another, from one court to another, asking a very simple question: “Where is our loved one?”
He said that there are also people who have paid with their lives for refusing to remain silent.
In his speech, the BNM Chairman also remembered Dr Abdul Rasheed, known to us as Dr Nokaap Baloch, a member of the Central Committee of the Baloch National Movement, who was recently killed. He said that on 10 September, “we lost Dr Abdul Rasheed, known to us as Dr Nokaap Baloch,” and that his loss is still very fresh for the BNM.
“His killing is still very fresh for us. This is not something I can speak about merely as a political incident. He was our colleague. He was our comrade. He was someone who had spent his life among his people.”
The BNM Chairman held Pakistani state agents responsible for the killing of Dr Nokaap Baloch, saying that armed men posing as patients came to him and killed a man whose profession was to heal people.
He said that Dr Nokaap Baloch was a political activist, physician and educator who devoted his entire life to the cause of Baloch national freedom, serving humanity and spreading the light of knowledge.
“His martyrdom is an irreparable loss for the BNM, supporters of the Baloch national movement, and Baloch refugees, for whom he was a source of hope, medical care and education.”
He said, “Today, his chair is empty. But the values he lived for remain with us.”
He said that Dr Nokaap Baloch is not the only person they are mourning.
The BNM Chairman devoted most of his speech to remembering the political life, struggle and martyrdom of Chairman Zubair Baloch.
He said that the conference was not held simply to remember Chairman Zubair Baloch or to mourn his absence, but to pay national tribute to a political leader who sacrificed his life and ultimately his blood for the struggle for Baloch national freedom.
He said, “Whenever I think of Chairman Zubair, one question comes to my mind: How deeply did he love the land of Balochistan and the cause of Baloch national freedom that even holding the chairmanship of a student wing affiliated with the National Party could not change his direction?”
The BNM Chairman criticised the National Party, saying that, in alliance with the Pakistani state, it secured a puppet provincial government to undermine the Baloch national movement. According to him, the National Party continues even today to pursue a politics that seeks to keep the Baloch nation in permanent subjugation to Pakistan.
He said that after completing his student political career, an easy path lay before Zubair Baloch. He could have joined the National Party, gained privileges and positions, and secured a comfortable political future. He could have pursued high office and personal benefits. But Zubair Baloch rejected that path. Instead, he reached out to the Baloch National Movement and chose the difficult path — the path of struggle for national freedom.
The BNM Chairman said that whenever he spoke with Zubair Baloch, he saw in him a mature political leader, a national activist with a clear vision, and a true lover of his homeland who was prepared to sacrifice everything for its freedom.
He said that Zubair Baloch’s life, his politics, his unwavering voice in the face of his adversaries, and ultimately his martyrdom stand as undeniable testimony to this.
According to him, his life teaches us that the freedom of nations is not achieved through desire alone. It requires a clear vision. It requires organised struggle. It requires steadfast character. And it requires a constant readiness to make the greatest sacrifices.
The BNM Chairman said that Zubair Baloch’s politics was not driven by temporary emotions, personal interests or an ambition for office. His political position was clear, his character was steadfast, and his struggle was consistent.
He said that the Pakistani state killed Zubair Baloch because he was a politically conscious, principled and influential national leader.
According to him, Zubair Baloch was not killed because of a personal dispute, an accidental incident or an ordinary security operation.
He said that he was targeted because of his commitment to Baloch national freedom, his rejection of Pakistan’s occupation over Balochistan, and his efforts to awaken national consciousness among Baloch youth.
The BNM Chairman said, “The enemy took Zubair Baloch from us, but it could not take away his political vision.”
He told the conference participants that Zubair Baloch’s martyrdom should not be allowed to become merely a monument to grief. “We will make his political consciousness our guide. We will make his steadfastness our strength. And we will make his sacrifice our national responsibility.”
On this occasion, he said, “The flag that he raised high with his blood is now our shared responsibility to carry forward until it reaches its destination.”
The BNM Chairman said that the purpose of the 12th Balochistan International Conference is not simply to remember individuals, but also to draw attention to the wider political and human rights crisis in Balochistan.
He asked why, generation after generation, Baloch political activists, students, doctors, teachers, lawyers and ordinary citizens have found themselves facing imprisonment, disappearance, exile or death. “This is the question that the international community must confront.”
He said that the political and human rights crisis in Balochistan continues today.
The BNM Chairman referred to the life imprisonment sentences of Dr Mahrang Baloch and Sibghatullah Shahji, saying that they were sentenced to life imprisonment by an Anti-Terrorism Court in June.
He said that UN human rights experts later described Dr Mahrang Baloch’s punishment as a “grave injustice” and raised serious concerns about the fairness of the proceedings and the use of counter-terrorism laws against peaceful political activism.
The BNM Chairman said that other leaders and members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee remain imprisoned.
He further said that only days ago, Gulzadi Baloch was also sentenced to life imprisonment by a court in Shaal in fake charges. “We strongly condemn her life sentence.”
The BNM Chairman said that the central question of the crisis in Balochistan is the Baloch national question.
According to him, for decades, attempts have been made to deal with this question through military force, imprisonment, enforced disappearances, political engineering and control over Balochistan’s resources, but the conflict has not ended.
He said that women who once waited outside prisons and government offices searching for their disappeared relatives are today leading some of the peaceful political movements taking place in Balochistan.
According to him, young people are also asking the same questions that their parents and grandparents asked before them: Who controls our land? Who controls our coast? Who decides how our natural resources are used? Why do decisions concerning Balochistan continue to be taken without the meaningful consent of the Baloch people?
The BNM Chairman said that Balochistan is also becoming increasingly important in international politics.
He mentioned China’s heavy investment through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and said that international companies are interested in Balochistan’s copper, gold and other natural resources.
He said that governments around the world are looking for new supplies of critical minerals, but there is a voice that is too often missing from these discussions: the voice of the Baloch nation themselves.
Addressing governments and international investors, he said: “The political question of Balochistan cannot simply be bypassed.”
According to him, discussions about Balochistan’s resources, minerals and international investment cannot be separated from the question of the political future of the Baloch nation. “Our political position is a free and independent Balochistan.”
The BNM Chairman made the political position of his organisation clear, saying, “For the Baloch National Movement, the answer to this long-running crisis is clear. Our political position is a free and independent Balochistan.”
He said that this is why, for the BNM, its struggle for human rights and its struggle for national freedom cannot be separated from one another. “Our struggle for human rights and our struggle for national freedom cannot be separated from one another.”
According to him, the lasting solution to the conflict, repression and recurring crises in Balochistan is the freedom of the Baloch nation and its right to determine its own future.
In the final part of his speech, the BNM Chairman again mentioned Dr Nokaap Baloch. He said, “There is something deeply painful about losing a person whose whole life was dedicated to saving lives. He could have chosen an easier life. He could have remained silent. He did not.”
He said, “He treated the sick. He taught those who needed education. This is how I want us to remember him. Not only by how he martyred, but by how he lived.”
He said that the same is true of Chairman Zubair Baloch. “We should not remember our colleagues simply as victims.”
According to him, future generations should hear these voices for themselves. “A nation preserves its struggle not only through political organisations, but through memory.”
“Through the stories of people who refused to abandon what they believed in.”
Addressing the families of the disappeared in Balochistan, political prisoners, colleagues living in exile and Baloch families who have lost their loved ones, the BNM Chairman said, “Your pain is part of our collective memory.”
He remembered Dr Nokaap Baloch, Chairman Zubair Baloch and all those who are no longer physically among them.
“Your absence is deeply felt. But the questions you raised remain. The cause to which you gave your lives remains.”
At the conclusion of his speech, the BNM Chairman once again made the organisation’s political position clear, saying: “The political position of the Baloch National Movement remains clear: we believe that the lasting solution to the conflict, repression and recurring crises in Balochistan is the freedom of Balochistan and the right of the Baloch nation to determine its own future.”