A staff member of a well-known publishing house in Karachi has been recovered after being forcibly disappeared for more than five months, even as protests against enforced disappearances in Balochistan entered their 6,044th day.
Changiz Baloch, a member of the central office of the publishing house Ilm o Adab, located in Karachi’s Urdu Bazaar, was recovered after 165 days of enforced disappearance. He had been abducted on July 21 last year from his bookshop, where he was engaged in selling books, allegedly by Pakistani security forces.
Ilm o Adab is a prominent Karachi-based publishing house known for producing books in Urdu, Balochi and other regional languages. The organisation is also recognised for making rare books available to readers at affordable prices.
Meanwhile, in Quetta, the protest camp organised by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) outside the Quetta Press Club completed 6,044 consecutive days on Thursday. The camp is led by VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch and continues to highlight the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
On Monday, the families of forcibly disappeared individuals Ghani Baloch and Fareed Baloch participated in the protest and recorded their grievances. Professor Abdul Qayyum Badini, brother of Ghani Baloch, told protesters that his brother was taken into custody by Pakistani forces on May 27 last year while travelling from Quetta to Karachi on an Al-Muneer coach. He said the family has repeatedly approached legal institutions and relevant forums for Ghani’s recovery, but no relief has been provided so far, leaving the family under severe mental distress.
The brother of Fareed Baloch said that Fareed, son of Muhammad Azam, was forcibly disappeared on February 16 last year from Quetta Airport by personnel of state institutions. He said that although a statement regarding Fareed’s arrest was later circulated in the media, he has yet to be produced before any court or brought into the public domain.
He further said that during hearings of Fareed’s case before the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, officials of state institutions denied the arrest statement, terming it “fake news,” despite its circulation. The family, he added, continues to suffer intense psychological pressure dueVBM to the lack of information about Fareed’s whereabouts.
VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch demanded that the government either present Ghani Baloch, Fareed Baloch and other missing persons before courts if there are charges against them, or ensure their immediate release if they are innocent. He said prolonged enforced disappearances have subjected families to lifelong trauma and must be brought to an end in accordance with the law.