Quetta, Dec 23 (IANS) Several Baloch families on Tuesday staged a protest in Balochistan’s Kech district against the enforced disappearance of four members of the same family by Pakistani forces.
According to the human rights body, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), the victims – two women and two men – identified as Fareed Ijaz, Mujahid Dilwash, Hani Dilwash, and Hair-Nisa Wahid were forcibly disappeared by Pakistani agencies.
The rights body stated that their families have taken to the streets of Tejaban village in Kech, demanding the safe return of their loved ones.
“Their protest is peaceful, yet their voices are being ignored, and no clear information has been given about where the missing family members are being held. The families say they will not end their protest until all four are safely recovered. They are calling on the people of Tejaban and nearby areas to stand with them and speak out against enforced disappearances, a practice that has torn apart countless families across Balochistan,” the BYC posted on X.
Condemning the enforced disappearances, the BYC expressed solidarity with the affected families. Alongside this protest, BYC has also begun a 5-day campaign focusing on the growing disappearance of Baloch women, aiming to raise awareness and demand accountability from those responsible.
“We urge human rights groups, humanitarian organisations, and all people of conscience not to remain silent and to take action against enforced disappearances in Balochistan,” it stated.
Highlighting the growing atrocities in Balochistan, the Baloch Women Forum (BWF) on Tuesday said that over the last few months, Pakistan has gradually worked to shape a psyche of normalisation around the abduction of Baloch women, which it described as a deliberate attempt to hurt the societal sentiments.
“It is deliberate in a sense that the state institutions want to go against state and international laws, treaties and conventions on human rights, particularly, women’s rights, by victimizing Baloch women of their basic rights, including the very right to free and impartial trial – just like the Baloch men are suffering from – and want no mass reaction on ground to ensure global funds are not frozen for violating its international commitments,” the BWF noted.
The forum called for immediate international interventions on the severe nature of crimes against the Baloch women on urgent and humanitarian bases.
–IANS
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