The Baloch Students’ Council (BSC) Islamabad has expressed its outrage over the alleged ‘enforced disappearance’ of a Baloch student in Islamabad by the Pakistani intelligence agencies. The group issued a public statement on Thursday, condemning the incident and calling for his immediate and safe release.
The BSC identified the missing student as Imtiyaz Alam, who recently graduated from PMAS Arid University in Human Nutrition and Dietetics and was currently pursuing an MPhil degree from the National Institute of Health, Islamabad. The BSC said that he was ‘forcibly disappeared’ by unknown men in plain clothes from the Hostel City, Islamabad, around 3:00 pm on Wednesday, February 28.
Imtiyaz Alam was released several hours after his disappearance.
The BSC said that life in Balochistan has become difficult for the Baloch students, as the universities there have been transformed into cantonments, and the Baloch students are frequently subjected to enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings. The group said that Balochistan has become a ‘laboratory’ for inhumane practices where people are illegally detained, kept in confinement for months and years, and eventually killed in ‘fake encounters.’
The group said that the Baloch students flee from that environment to seek refuge and quality education in universities in Punjab and the federal territory. But even there, they are not spared. The group said that the Pakistani state has resorted to ‘tyrannical’ practices to stop the Baloch students from getting an education. The group cited the example of Hafeez Baloch, an MPhil scholar at Quaid-e-Azam University, Islamabad, who was racially profiled and picked up by the Pakistani security forces from his hometown, Khuzdar, when he was there on holidays. Hafeez was kept incommunicado for several weeks. His fellow students in Islamabad carried out a hunger strike camp for over a month, demanding his safe recovery. He was later released, but the Pakistani forces claimed he was a potential ‘militant’ and lodged several fake charges against him. After a prolonged legal battle, Hafeez proved his innocence and came out of imprisonment to continue his education.
The group also recalled the example of Beebgar Baloch, who was picked up from the hostels of Punjab University, Lahore, with the help of the varsity administration. His fellow students ran a campaign for his safe recovery, and he was eventually released. The group also reminded of Feroz Baloch, a student at PMAS Arid University, the same as Imtiyaz’s, who also disappeared from his hometown Baltgar, but has not returned, despite a long campaign for his safe recovery.
The group said that the recent disappearance of Imtiyaz Alam shows that instead of rolling back its policies in Balochistan, the Pakistani state has only intensified them. They said that it’s hypocritical that the Pakistani apex court and Islamabad High Court are having hearings related to the disappearances of Baloch students on the same day as another Baloch student went missing right under their noses.