a young boy, hailing from Panjgur, committed suicide, and now, a piece of disturbing news is circulating on Baloch media, the term is referred to the activists and pages on social media which are run by the Baloch freelance journalists, that a couple has ended their lives one after the other because of continuous humiliation by the LEAs in Kharan. the problems that lead individuals to resort to such an extreme act stretch from psycho-technological to socio-economical and politico-cultural spheres. Unfortunately, in Balochistan, all the issues persist one way or the other in the society as a whole. On one hand, the psychological issues are made taboos in Baloch society, as a result they tend to refrain from going to psychologists and psychiatrists who might help them in getting out of such mental issues. On the other hand, the increasing rate of unemployment in the public sector, and lack of private sector opportunities have increased the problems for the lower and lower-middle class in the region. Balochistan was declared as the poorest region of the world by the united nations in 2019, and according to the world banks report 2022 around 62 percent of its population is living below0

M the poverty line which is 2.15 dollars, daily. To put it simply, people do not have the means to earn around 470 rupees per day. One of the main sources of income has been the unregistered Iranian and Afghanistan border trade, which is under curbs in the name of E-tags and Token system, the closure has adversely affected the socio-economic conditions.

Moreover, digital advancement has not even left itself behind in contributing into this plight, it has negative impacts on the human mind, especially on young ones. with the advent of information technology, people get to know about what is happening around them in particular and in the world in general: the disgrace of fellow citizens and torchers on particular marginalized sections of society, violence on any level, from state to domestic, and the inability of the individual to do anything put the person under severe mental ailments like anxiety and depression. Consequently, those who cannot keep the balance between reality and the theoretical ability of a man to struggle for the emancipation of their fellow human beings end up in killing their own-selves.

Additionally, these problems are coupled with political disturbances which are seemingly on a rise rather than getting resolved. In an already volatile province, the law and order situation has witnessed worse in quite a few years. Although the situation was seemingly brought under control from 2013 to 2018, the extremist activities in all over the country were down by sixty percent, but the situation started to deteriorate after that. Besides the violence inflicted by the non-state actors, arbitrary use of powers by legal authorities against the people, illegal FIRs and detentions of political activists have exacerbated the political situations in Balochistan, too. This as a result drives the Baloch youth away from the mainstream politics and leaves them to opt for violence or end their lives. both of them depicts the failure on the part of state and the society respectively.

However, the suicidal trend can be controlled through a panacea implemented on a state level in collaboration with societal forces. This requires a multi-faceted scheme to deal with it systematically. Firstly, there is a dire need for certain polls, research, findings and surveys to collect data from the people about their issues in common, and those which could be mitigated by the society or the state must be identified. secondly, the individual themselves should get rid of outdated superstitious beliefs and taboos that have cost us many precious lives and should consult the psychiatrists and psychologists whenever their needs are. This can only be possible if awareness programs are arranged by state institutions, civil societies, social activists and NGOs in schools and through seminars by explaining different prevailing issues so that we can deal with the problems in an objective and scientific way. thirdly, the unemployment shall be dealt with a mixture of public and private opportunity building programs. For instance, the government might make a plan to promote the private sector, which is neglected in the province. In addition, instead of trying to deal with the border trade through unregistered and unplanned E-Tags and token system that has created a mess in the province; people have been protesting against this, especially in Makran region, it should be regulated through legal models. The trade can be made legal by issuing a license to the people who wish to do trading with Iran, it will serve as a source of revenue for the province as well. Lastly, the authorities, who are given a free hand to deal with undesirable situations have done a great damage to the political order which has impacted the individual lives negatively; therefore, the government must ensure to give respect to the socio-cultural norms, values and traditions, because the ultimate powers they have is delegated by general masses.

The writer is a lawyer based in Balochistan

Tweets at @Baluch_SM