A prominent Baloch activist has warned of protests if five individuals, including four students, who were reportedly forcibly disappeared in Karachi, are not released within two days.
Speaking at the Karachi Press Club, Sammi Deen Baloch, a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), said enforced disappearances have become a daily reality for the Baloch people.
“Whenever a Baloch person appears before you for a press conference, it is evident that yet another innocent Baloch has become a victim of enforced disappearance,” she said.
She claimed the practice, once concentrated in Balochistan, has now spread to Sindh, Punjab, and other federal territories.
According to Sammi, unknown individuals raided a flat in Karachi’s Maskan area early on Monday morning, detaining four Baloch students who were living there.
The students were identified as Gamshad, an MPhil student in the Philosophy Department at the University of Karachi; Doda Ellahi, a sixth-semester student in the International Relations Department; Muzammil, a sixth-semester Philosophy student; and Mehraj, a recent graduate seeking admission for an MPhil.
She said the students had come to Karachi from remote areas of Balochistan to pursue their education.
Sammi added that Ismail, a resident of Balochistan who had recently returned to Karachi from Dubai, was also detained from Hassan Square at the same time.
Two of the students, Doda Ellahi and Gamshad, had previously been forcibly disappeared in 2022 but were later released, she said.
Sammi described the recurrence of such incidents as alarming and called for the immediate release of the missing individuals.
“If these young men are not released within the next two days, we will be compelled to announce a strict protest plan,” she warned.