ISLAMABAD: The past few days have been very traumatic for the families of at least a dozen Baloch youth who have been picked up by the Pakistani security forces and subjected to what is called “enforced disappearances’’. In two separate incidents reported on October 15 and 19, all these Baloch youth have vanished from a hotel and a common residence they were sharing in Karachi, the capital of Sindh, according to Balochistan Post.
In the most recent incident, eight students named Shoaib Ali, Beebgar Amir, Ashfaq Khalid Dad, Shehzad Khalid, Qamber Ali, Hanif Badal, Zaheer Shaukat and Saeed Ullah were picked up by the security personnel from their residence. These students were all enrolled in different courses in different institutions, the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC) has said. . Shoaib and Beebgar are history students at Karachi University, Hanif is enrolled at Federal Urdu University, Ashfaq and Shehzad attend Madrassa, Qamber is an F.Sc. student, and Saeed Ullah is studying law.
The Baloch Students Council (BSC) has issued a statement highlighting the escalating crisis of enforced disappearances of Baloch students, describing it as a grave human rights violation that demands urgent political attention. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) too has issued a statement condemning the surge in enforced disappearances, particularly targeting Baloch students. In a post on X, the BYC claimed that security agencies were retaliating against Baloch youth after recent security failures. “The intelligence agencies become vindictive after their security failures,” the BYC said. “The current surge in enforced disappearances is alarming, particularly of Baloch students in Punjab and Karachi.”
The BSC and BYC, representing ethnic Baloch students and civil society claim these abductions are part of a systematic campaign by the Pakistani state to silence and suppress the Baloch youth. They have also said that such actions can result into massive protests all over Balochistan.
In the incident reported on October 15, four Baloch youths allegedly ‘enforced disappeared’ by Security Forces (SFs) from a hotel in Saddar area of Karachi, the provincial capital of Sindh, The Balochistan Post reported. The disappeared youths were identified as Zain Baloch, Zareef Ahmed, Akram Baloch, and Anees Baloch, all residents of Panjgur District in Balochistan. The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) confirmed the incident, stating that the four youths are from the Parom area of Panjgur and were staying in a hotel in Saddar, Karachi, for medical treatment.
Eyewitnesses reported that Karachi Police and SF personnel dressed in civilian clothing raided the hotel, tortured both the hotel manager and the victims, and then took the manager along with them. The manager was later released, but the four detained youths remain missing.
The practice of “enforced disappearances’’ is unique to Pakistan society and it is widely known to be the handiwork of the security forces. The main reason of these disappearances is the continuing political strife in Balochistan. For long, the Baloch nationalist groups have sought greater autonomy and control over local resources. To counter them, the Pakistani state has mostly employed heavy-handed tactics, including military operations that result in the systematic targeting of dissenting voices.
These disappearances have impacted the society heavily and created an atmosphere of fear. This has given rise to activists who use peaceful means to protest and foremost among them has been Dr Mehrang Baloch. The heavy-handed manner has stifled political expression and eroded trust in state institutions.
The families of the disappeared have often faced harassment and are left in a state of uncertainty and grief, prompting them to organise and advocate for justice. These families often do not know for years together whether their dear ones are being kept in secret jails or have been killed and their bodies disposed off.
