Baloch Yakjehti Committee Quetta (BYC) held a protest in Quetta against what it calls fake encounters of 9 missing persons in a span of two days in the Noshki and Mastung areas of Balochistan.
BYC also demanded a fair investigation of the numerous dead bodies discovered on the roof of Nishtar hospital in Multan a few days earlier. The social activist group said around 500 dead bodies were found in Nishtar hospital and the delay in their DNA is only to suppress the issue.
The demonstration was organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee on Thursday, against the “fake encounters” of Baloch missing persons. The protesters holding banners and pictures of missing persons chanted slogans against Rana Sanaullah, the Interior Minister of Pakistan.
The rally started from the BMC and proceeding through Brewery Road reached the Hockey Chowk where the protesters staged a sit-in for two hours. Their sit-in protest caused a traffic jam.
It is pertinent to mention that, it is not the first time that the Counter Terrorism Department has been accused of killing Baloch missing persons in fake encounters. Earlier in July 2022, CTD claimed it had killed nine fighters of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), a “pro-independence” group, in an armed confrontation in Ziarat. It later transpired that the nine men were Baloch missing persons who were detained by Pakistani forces.
After the Ziarat incident, the families of victims and other Baloch missing persons carried out a sit-in protest in Quetta that lasted for at least 50 days when the government delegation and Rana Sanaullah personally assured the protesters that their demands will be met after which the protestors ended their protest. But current incidents have raised criticism over government officials and their promises.