The Pakistani security forces have reportedly detained 9 persons, including two women, from Gichk area of District Pangjur, Balochistan, and moved them to unknown locations.
According to the sources, BiBi Maryam, an elderly resident of Gichk, was travelling with her two young grandsons Rashid s/o Iwaaz and Ajmal s/o Shahjahan to her hometown of Gichk when their vehicle was stopped midway by the Pakistani security forces. They were detained and subsequently moved to an unknown location.
The local sources say that both Ajmal and Rashid are studying in Kech and were travelling to their hometown Gichk to spend their holidays, but went missing midway along their journey and never reached their destination.
The forces allegedly detained Muhammad Karim s/o Yar Muhammad and his spouse and moved them to an undisclosed location on November 30. They have not been heard from since.
Four other people have also gone missing in Gichk over the past few weeks. These men have been identified as Saleem s/o Jumma Khan, Wahid s/o Qadir Baksh, Nazeer s/o Ummayat and Yar Jan s/o Dilmurad.
According to sources, mass military operations have been carried out in Gichk from August this year that have reportedly resulted in the loss of lives, enforced disappearances and property destruction.
The locals claim that the mass operations have forced many families to abandon their hometown and migrate to other areas where they live a life of oppression and helplessness.
Commenting on the incident, Mama Qadeer Baloch of the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons said that the ‘enforced disappearance’ of women is abominable. We will unanimously raise voice against such incidents, he said.
Mama Qadeer said that no one is safe in Balochistan – the disappearance of an academic of the University of Balochistan in the past week and the recent ‘enforced disappearance’ of Baloch woman are the living proof of it.
He said that the Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies have not only ‘forcefully detained’ Baloch women in the past, but also ‘martyred’ them. Several women were ‘forcefully detained’ from Awaran and then presented in the media with the allegations of terrorism.
Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, a human rights organization campaigning for the safe recovery of Baloch missing persons, has completed 4150 days of protest in front of the Quetta Press Club. Mama Qadeer, the Vice-Chairman of the group, said in a statement that he aspires to travel to Saudi Arabia for Umrah. But when he went to submit his documents, he was told that his name has been reentered in the Exit Control List.
Mama Qadeer’s name was also put in the No Fly List in the past which barred him from attending conferences in Geneva and America.