The Baloch Students Organization Azad (BSO-Azad) has accused the Pakistani state of pursuing what it described as a “systematic effort” to normalize the enforced disappearance of Baloch women, calling it a deliberate attempt to weaken Baloch society.
Central spokesperson Sholan Baloch said Baloch society is rooted in moral and ethical principles shaped by resistance against injustice, justice and equality, and respect for women. These traditions, he said, have historically defined its identity and preserved what he described as its dignity.
He said that after what he described as Pakistan’s “occupation” of Balochistan in 1948, the state began exploiting the region while attempting to alter its social structure by suppressing language, culture and traditions in order to maintain control.
“Enforced disappearances have already been made routine… efforts are now being made to normalize the disappearance of women,” he said, adding that raids on homes and violations of domestic spaces were taking place and that women were being subjected to “collective punishment.”
He said that in the current year alone, nearly two dozen Baloch women had been forcibly disappeared from Quetta, Karachi, Hub, Khuzdar, Kech, Awaran, Gresha, Dalbandin and Tejaban.
He alleged that some of the women were being held in “torture cells” and subjected to “inhumane treatment,” while others faced threats and what he described as “media trials” aimed at weakening the ongoing movement through false narratives.
Referring to historical events, he said the Pakistani state had previously carried out similar actions in Bangladesh, alleging that women were abducted and subjected to violence. He described this as reflecting a pattern of disregard for social morality and human rights.
He added that similar practices were now being repeated in Balochistan, where women were being harassed, threatened and forcibly disappeared, calling such actions “serious human crimes” and violations of human ethics and the laws of war.
He said the increasing disappearance of women formed part of what he described as a broader attempt to weaken and desensitize Baloch society and distort its structure, adding that such measures would not succeed, stating that a nation “in which resistance is embedded in its memory cannot be subdued by force.”