The Baloch Students Action Committee (BSAC) has said five Baloch students of the University of Karachi forcibly disappeared after law enforcement agencies and Pakistan Rangers raided their residential flat in Karachi’s Gulshan-e-Iqbal area. Two Baloch students had earlier been picked up by Pakistani security forces, one from the university premises and one from a degree college in Hub.
In a statement, the BSAC identified the students as Azhar Baloch & Ghaus Baksh Baloch, both sons of Hayat, Shehzad Baloch, son of Shahid, Anees Baloch, son of Azeem, and Waseem Baloch, son of Mohammad Ameen. Two other students were identified as Khalil Baloch and Zubair Baloch, according to a report of The Balochistan Post.
The statement said the raid took place at around 2 AM on August 5, when personnel entered the apartment, “physically assaulted and harassed” the students, and took them away along with their belongings. It added that no information had been provided about their whereabouts since.
Azhar Baloch, a resident of Gwadar, is a student of General History, while his brother Ghaus Baksh Baloch is studying BS Economics. Shehzad Baloch, also from Gwadar, is a student of Environmental Science. Anees Baloch, from Noshki, is studying BS Philosophy, while Waseem Baloch, a resident of Kalat, is enrolled in BS Political Science at the University of Karachi, the statement said.
The BSAC said the five had left their home areas to pursue higher education but had become victims of what it described as enforced disappearance. The organisation said the targeting of Baloch students within and around educational institutions was a matter of serious concern.
“These unjust actions not only affect the educational career of the Baloch students, but also subject them to severe psychological trauma,” the statement said.
Two students had disappeared earlier
The BSAC also referred to the earlier enforced disappearance of Khalil Baloch, an MPhil student at the University of Karachi, who it said was taken from the university premises.
It said Zubair Baloch, son of Noor Mohammad, a BS Chemistry graduate of Degree College Hub, was also forcibly disappeared from Hub after returning home from a hearing in a Fourth Schedule case.
The organisation demanded that authorities immediately end the “harassment” and “heinous behavior” towards Baloch students, ensure the safe release of all seven students and guarantee their security.
Persistent pattern of targeting Baloch students
BYC leader Dr Sabiha Baloch said the enforced disappearance of Baloch students had become a “persistent pattern” and reflected what she described as a policy of “collective punishment” rather than isolated incidents.
She said young people who leave their homes to pursue education were being targeted from campuses, hostels and private residences, creating a “climate of impunity” and lasting psychological trauma for families.
Another BYC leader, Sammi Deen Baloch, said six of the seven students were from the University of Karachi, including MPhil student Khalil Baloch, who she said was taken from the campus by Rangers and other state institutions.
She said educational institutions should be safe places for students, not centres of enforced disappearances.
“If these students face any allegations, they should be presented before a court in accordance with the law. Otherwise, they should be recovered immediately so they can continue their education,” she said.
HRCB expresses concern over disappearances
The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) said it was “gravely concerned” over the forced disappearance of seven Baloch students, including the five taken from Gulshan-e-Iqbal. HRCB demanded that authorities disclose the students’ whereabouts, ensure their safety and release them unless they are produced before a competent court under lawful process.
Pakistani authorities, Rangers and the University of Karachi administration had not issued a statement on the reported disappearances at the time of publication.
Meanwhile, the body of an elderly man forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces last month has been recovered in Balochistan’s Lasbela district, local sources said. The deceased was identified as Haibatan, son of Malo Marri and a resident of Bela.
Haibatan was taken away from Bela Cross on July 9 and had remained missing since. His body was recovered from a roadside near Gharibabad on Hub-Sakran Road. Sources said the body bore signs of torture and gunshot wounds.
The case comes amid continuing reports in Balochistan of forcibly disappeared persons later being found dead in what families and rights groups describe as extrajudicial killings.
