A demonstration was held in the provincial capital Quetta on Saturday for the recovery of missing Mushtaq Baloch, Attaullah Baloch and Kabeer Baloch. Scores of participants gathered in front of the Quetta Press Club, carrying placards and banners and urging the world institutions to take notice of the rampant “enforced disappearances” in Balochistan.
According to the details, the demonstration was called out by the family members of Kabir Baloch, Mushtaq Baloch and Attaullah Baloch – the three of them went missing in 2009 and have never been heard from since. Scores of participants attended the demonstration, including the VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch, Vice-Chairman Mama Qadeer Baloch, BSO Chairman Manzoor Jahangir, members of the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam Balochistan, MPA Sana Baloch and several others.
Addressing the gathering, the speakers said that the issue of Baloch missing persons is getting serious day by day. They said that the federal government is helpless in front of the mighty military. They said that the Pakistani state must refrain from using using violence and aggression in Balochistan, as the ramifications will not be pleasant.
Family members of the missing Kabir, Mushtaq and Attaullah Baloch appealed to the international human rights organization to take notice of the issue, saying that we have been through the agony in the past twelve years. They said that we have knocked on every door in pursuit of justice – we have tried every form of protest but to no avail. We still don’t know anything about the conditions and whereabouts of our loved ones, they said.
The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons completed the 4264th day of protest in front of the Quetta Press Club on Saturday. BNP-Mengal leader Lashkari Raisani, BSO Chairman Jahangir Manzoor and Abdul Hakeem Lehri of the Baloch Peoples Congress visited the protest camp to express solidarity with the families of the Baloch missing persons.
Speaking at the gathering, Mama Qadeer Baloch said that the state is targeting not only innocent civilians and students but political and social leaders as well. He said that all the institutions of the country – whether it is the parliament or the so-called “free press” – have become the “blind adherents” of the Pakistani state and its powerful military. “They all view the Baloch as an enemy”, said.
He further added that the Pakistani government is trying to mislead the world about the peaceful Baloch struggle. He said that thousands of Baloch missing persons are weathering away in the Pakistani torture cell. But the state employing various nefarious tactics to conceal its crimes from the watchful eyes of the world. “The truth is that the Baloch are not missing, nor are they ‘terrorists’ – they are innocent civilians in the confinement of the Pakistani intelligence agencies”, Mama Qadeer concluded.