In Quetta, a large protest led by the Baloch Students Action Committee took to the streets on Friday, demanding the safe return of Suhail Baloch and Faseeh Baloch, two students from the University of Balochistan who were forcibly disappeared three years ago. The rally, which began at the university and moved to the Quetta Press Club, saw students, family members, and community supporters calling attention to the pattern of enforced disappearances targeting the Baloch community.
Protestors voiced frustration over what they described as a systematic “campaign of silence” where individuals from various walks of life — including students, farmers, and teachers — are detained without trial, often taken directly from their homes or educational institutions. They said that Balochistan has become “gumshuda-istan” (“the land of the disappeared”) due to the large number of enforced disappearances reported in the region. According to participants, Suhail and Faseeh were taken from their university hostel by security forces and have not been seen since. Protestors expressed fears for their well-being and demanded action from the authorities.
Speakers at the sit-in highlighted that the crisis of enforced disappearances has intensified, with October alone witnessing over 70 cases of forced disappearances, many of whom were students. Families of other missing persons joined the protest, calling on the government and international human rights organizations to intervene, denouncing the environment of fear and the suppression of voices in Balochistan.
As students in Balochistan were raising their voices for the safe return of their peers, reports emerged of the disappearance of several Baloch students from the capital of the country. On Friday, ten Baloch students from the National University of Modern Languages (NUML) in Rawalpindi were allegedly forcibly disappeared following a raid on their residence by the security forces.