Baloch students protesting in the University of Balochistan once again closed the varsity and suspended all the academic activities in protest after the government and the university administration reneged on their promises. The students are protesting for the safe release of their fellow students for the past week.
According to reports, the negotiations between the authorities and the protesting students fell apart when the government failed to bring back the missing students. The students had given a four-day deadline to the government for the safe release of their missing fellow students, vowing to continue to the protest if the authorities failed to fulfil their promises.
When the authorities reneged on their pledge, the students closed the university once again on Wednesday.
Sohail Baloch and Faseeh Baloch were students of the Pakistan Studies department at the University of Balochistan. They went missing from the university hostel on November 1, despite the airtight security in the university premises. Soon after their disappearance, their fellow students gathered to protest for their safe release. They went to the university, demanding answers, but were utterly disappointed when the authorities evaded their questions. The students said that they had asked for the CCTV footage of the day when the two students went missing but were turned away by the administration who told them that there was no footage because the electricity had gone at that time.
The university was reopened when a truce was struck between the university administration and the protesting students. The students gave a four-day deadline to the administration for the recovery of Sohail and Faseeh Baloch, vowing to intensify the protest if the authorities failed to fulfil their demand. Till then, a token protest was continued in front of the admin block of the university.
The four days passed and the two students still remain missing. With the sense of betrayal in their hearts, the students once again restarted the protest, closed the university and suspended all of their academic activities. In a press conference outside the university, the student expressed disappointment that the government had reneged on its promises. They said that if the two students are suspected of some kind of a crime, they should be produced in court and prosecuted according to the law.
The students also ran a social media campaign chastising the government and the university administration – which they deem equally culpable in the disappearances – for failing to fulfil their promise.