Protests are underway in Karachi on Eid Day for the recovery of Baloch and Sindhi missing persons. Organizers from the Voice for Baloch Missing Persons and Voice for Sindhi Missing Persons unanimously called a protest on Eid Day in front of the Karachi Press Club for the recovery of Baloch and Sindhi missing persons.
Prominent Baloch and Sindhi human rights activists, including Soorath Lohar, Mama Qadeer Baloch, Sammi Deen Baloch and Seema Baloch, are present in the protest. Families of the Baloch and Sindhi missing persons are also present in the gathering.
The participants also observed a one-day long hunger strike.
The participants said that the Pakistani security forces have “forcibly disappeared” thousands of Baloch and Sindhi persons from throughout Sindh and Balochistan. A few days ago, Seenar Noonari, a senior politician from the Awami Workers Party, was “abducted” from Naseerabad, Sindh. Rights groups have called for his safe recovery and carried out protests in Naseerabad and a few other areas of Sindh.
It should be noted that “enforced disappearances” are rampant throughout Balochistan and Sindh, allegedly at the hands of Pakistani security forces. Rights groups and activists argue that Pakistani forces forcefully abduct dissidents, journalists, activists and anyone who dares to challenge the narrative of the state. They say that the detainees are kept in confinement for years and tortured, and some are killed and their dead bodies were thrown in the wilderness.
“Enforced disappearances” have seen a rapid rise in Balochistan in the past two decades. According to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons, a human rights group advocating for the end to enforced disappearances in Balochistan and safe return of missing persons, says that tens of thousands of Baloch have gone missing over the years without a trace.
Over time, some Baloch missing persons have returned. Six Baloch missing persons came back home on Wednesday, a day before Eid. One of these is a student named Majid Baloch who went missing from Kalat in May 2019. Majid was reportedly abducted by the Pakistani security forces. His family members were among the hundreds who carried out protest rallies and demonstrations in Quetta, calling for his safe return.
Yasir Arafat, who went missing from Mastung three years ago, is also among the six persons who returned home. Jawansaal Baloch, a resident of Dera Bugti who went missing in 2019, was also recovered.
Two individuals from the Marri tribe of district Kahan are among the six recovered persons. The two individuals are reportedly mentally impaired and have lost their memory due to years of confinement and torture. Their photos were posted on social media in an attempt to search for their family members.
Whereas, on Tuesday, the minor son of an MPA was reportedly ‘abducted’ by Pakistani forces.
Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party leader and Member of the Provincial Assembly of Balochistan Nasrullah Zeray said in a statement that his eleven-year-old son, Awlas Yar Khan, was abducted by the Pakistani security forces from the front of his house in Quetta.
Zeray said that his son was blindfolded and kept in confinement for five hours. Subsequently, the kidnappers threw him out of the car near the Sariyab Bridge in Quetta. He trekked three hours to return home.
He said that speaking for the rights of Pashtun people has become a crime in Pakistan, and we will continue to do it.
Zeray said that the state institutions have stooped an unimaginably low standard that they are now abducting our family members in an attempt to silence us. But they are mistaken: we will not back off from our stance. He said that leaders like Abdul Samad Achakzai and Usman Kakar sacrificed their lives for this cause, and we will do the same if it came to it.
He said that the law enforcement agencies must investigate the abduction of my son and bring the culprits to justice.