Balochistan: Protest against abduction of Baloch Human rights activists, women and children

KARACHI: The Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO) took out a rally in Karachi on Thursday against the abduction a Baloch Human Rights activist, students and women and children from Karachi and Quetta.

According to the details, the BHRO rally started from Arts Council Karachi and ended at the Karachi Press Club after a protest demonstration.  The participants were carrying pictures of abducted persons, banners and chanted slogans against enforced-disappearances in Balochistan.

Some of Progressive Pakistani Human Rights activists also joined the BHRO protest in Karachi. The Pakistani participants included Asad Bhutt vice-chairman of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in Sindh, civil society activist Jibran Nasir, Democratic Student Federation’s Naghma Sheikh, National Student Federation’s Fatima Zaidi and Wahab Baloch of the Baloch Rights Council. Also, a large number of Baloch residents of Karachi mostly women and children joined the protest rally to express their anger against enforced-disappearances in Balochistan.

Speaking on the occasion the organisers of the protest said that Pakistani security forces continue abductions and disappearances with increasing intensity. They said previously, Pakistani forces only abducted men and youth but now even Baloch women and children are not safe in Balochistan. They said the excessive use of forces would not help resolve the issue of enforced disappearances. In fact, the heavy-handedness of forces will further complicate the issue.

They said the information secretary of the BHRO Nawaz Atta Baloch and eight other students aged between 8 – 25 were abducted on October 28, 2017. Their whereabouts remain unknown and their families are extremely concerned about their wellbeing and safety.  “If there are any charges against the abducted persons, they should be brought to the surface and presented to courts,” the BHRO speakers said adding that enforced-disappearances cannot be justified.

The BHRO activist criticised the government of Sindh for its silence on the abduction of organisation’s information secretary and other eight students. They urged the Chief Minister of Sindh to take notice of the abduction Baloch students from Karachi’s Gulistan Jauhar.

The protesters also expressed their concerns over the abduction of Baloch women and children from Quetta on 30 October 2017. “If the state institutions are serious about solving the problem of Balochistan and Human rights Violations, they should release all the abducted Baloch and end military operations across Balochistan,” the protesters said.

The activists of BHRO appealed to the international Human Rights Organisations to raise their voices for the safe recovery of the enforced-disappeared persons including innocent women and children.