A Baloch student from Balochistan has gone missing after being detained allegedly by Pakistani forces in Punjab province.
Hamid Baloch, son of Khan Muhammad, a resident of Balochistan’s District Kech, Tehsil Buleda, was forcibly disappeared from Bahadur Shah Road in Sargodha, a city in Pakistan’s Punjab province.
The missing student is enrolled in the 7th semester in the Department of Sociology at the University of Sargodha. His fellow students and family members have called for his immediate release.
Meanwhile, two more Baloch students, Musa Khaliqdad and Sameer Majeed, were reportedly taken into custody by Pakistani forces on September 22 at a military checkpoint in Dasht Doro in Gwadar area when they were traveling from Gwadar to Kapkapar.
After being detained by the forces, both students have not been seen or heard from since, and their whereabouts remain unknown.
It’s worth noting that in the past 24 hours, five cases of enforced disappearances involving Baloch youths have been reported. Yesterday, two young men were forcibly disappeared from their homes in the Kalat district of Balochistan.
Incidents of enforced disappearances of Baloch individuals, especially students, continue to be reported frequently from Balochistan as well as Punjab and other regions of Pakistan. Most of these missing individuals are young students.
Baloch students in Punjab reportedly face profiling and harassment by Pakistani intelligence agencies. Despite having approached the courts, such incidents have not ceased. Additionally, Baloch students studying in Punjab have also faced violence from religious and other groups.
Two days ago, Baloch students at Punjab University, Lahore, were attacked by members of Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba. During the attack, members of the group openly used firearms. However, police raided the hostel and detained the Baloch students.
Two students injured in the incident are reported to be in critical condition. Baloch students are protesting against the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba and the police, alleging that the “group’s thugs are working with Punjab police to prevent Baloch students from continuing their education and to expel them from the university.”