A student who was reportedly forcibly disappeared by security forces in May has returned home to Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, bringing relief to his family after months of uncertainty.
The student, identified as Aimal s/o Aurangzeb, was allegedly detained by security forces in front of his family members in May this year and taken to an unknown location. Aimal, an eighth-grade student, is the elder brother of Fatima Baloch, a prominent young human rights activist who campaigns against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Meanwhile, the pattern of enforced disappearances continues across the Balochistan, with fresh cases reported in multiple areas. Baloch rights groups argue that the number of missing persons who return to the safety of their homes is negligible compared to the number of individuals who are allegedly forcibly disappeared.
In Nushki, for instance, Pakistani security forces reportedly detained a man named Hafeez Ullah s/o Peer Mohammad, a resident of Qazi Abad, from his home. His family members have demanded his safe recovery.
Additionally, two more cases of enforced disappearances have been reported from Kech district. According to local sources and family members, Qambar Baloch s/o Noor Jan, aged 16, who operated a small shop, was allegedly detained by Military Intelligence and Inter-Services Intelligence personnel on July 23 at 4 PM from the Josk area of Turbat. Similarly, Imran Khan s/o Taj Mohammad, aged 26, a student at the Institute of Baloch Language and Culture at the University of Turbat, was reportedly abducted by Frontier Corps and Military Intelligence personnel on June 27 at noon from Turbat.
In a separate incident, Muslim Dad s/o Sahib Dad, a philosophy student at the University of Karachi, went missing on Saturday evening from outside the university’s Maskan Gate, causing severe distress among his family and fellow students.
Muslim Dad belongs to the Mashkay area of Awaran district in Balochistan and is a fourth-semester philosophy student at the University of Karachi. According to sources, he was returning to the university hostel with friends when he was reportedly abducted by unknown individuals.
Muslim Dad was known as an active and dynamic student among Baloch students studying at the University of Karachi. His disappearance has not only caused anguish for his family but has also created deep concern among students at the university, particularly Baloch students.