Balochistan [Pakistan] January 25 : Families of six Baloch individuals, including women and minors, have been protesting in Hub, Balochistan, demanding the release of their loved ones taken by Pakistani security forces.
They staged a demonstration outside the Lasbela Press Club in Hub, demanding that their relatives be produced and released. The protesters said their loved ones had vanished without any legal procedure, leaving their families in anguish and uncertainty, as reported by The Balochistan Post.
The missing individuals are Nasreen Baloch, Hani Baloch, Hair Nisa Baloch, Fatima Baloch, Fareed Baloch, and Mujahid Baloch.
According to The Balochistan Post, the disappearances had caused extreme mental stress within their households and disrupted their daily lives. The families noted that while cases of missing young men had been documented in the region for years, the recent inclusion of women, including minors and pregnant women, represented what they described as a dangerous new phase.
The protesters questioned what alleged offence their relatives could have committed. They argued that if any accusations existed, the detainees should be brought before a court rather than kept in secret. Enforced disappearances, they said, violated both constitutional guarantees and international human rights norms.
The families also alleged that when they attempted to file a First Information Report at the local police station, the Station House Officer refused to register their complaint. One protester asked how justice could be expected when even the right to lodge a case was denied.
The refusal, they said, forced them to take their demands to the streets. The demonstrators called on authorities to disclose the whereabouts and physical condition of the missing individuals. They stated that if no information was provided, their protest campaign would be expanded.
Appeals were also directed toward national and international human rights organisations to intervene in the matter, as highlighted by The Balochistan Post.
Addressing the gathering, Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Fauzia Baloch described the alleged disappearances of women in Balochistan as an alarming development.
She said such actions were being used to instil fear and weaken political and social awareness among the Baloch population. She further alleged that people were being picked up regularly and, in some cases, publicly humiliated before being taken away.
Fauzia Baloch criticised the Pakistani state's claims of democracy and Islamic values, asserting that neither was reflected in its treatment of the Baloch people. She said the committee would continue its struggle against what she termed repression and injustice in the province, as reported by The Balochistan Post.