Balochistan: Families of abducted Baloch protested in Panjgur

QUETTA: Several families from Balochistan’s Panjgur district held a protest outside the Deputy Commissioner’s office on Thursday and demanded the release of their loved ones.

According to detail, families from different areas of Panjgur have gathered in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s office and urged Pakistani authorities to bring surface and release their loved ones who have been in custody of Pakistani forces for more than past four years.

The protesters said their relatives were arrested and disappeared from different areas by FC and other security forces.

The mother of two brothers Mumtaz and Mukhtar Ahmad was also among the protesters to raise her voice for the release of her sons.

‘The FC abducted my two sons from different areas. Mukhtar Ahmad was abducted a year ago during a picnic and Mumtaz was whisked away in 2016 from the main Bazar in Panjgur’ she said.

Other families included relatives of Arz Mohammad resident of Parom Panjgur and Khair Bakhsh son of Hazur Bakhsh resident of Parom Panjgur who were abducted by FC from Parom on 16 October 2014 whereas Abdulrab son of Allah Bakhsh was abducted from Quetta and Iltiyad son of Sabirullah was abducted during a raid on his house in Pangur.

The protesters said that in past more than four years they have been knocking all doors for recovery of their abducted relatives and they used all peaceful and lawful mediums but they have not succeeded in securing the release of their loved ones.

According to a statement by the protesters, they have contacted the district court, the FC colonel, ex-Chief Minister Balochistan Quddos Bezinjo during his visit to Panjugr, Akhtar Mengal, Mir Rahmat Saleh and heads of all political parties to play their role for the immediate and safe release of their children but still it was not been possible to get them released.

The participants of the demonstration said if there were any cases and charges against their disappeared relatives then they should be presented to a court of law and legal proceedings should be followed to punish them for their wrongdoings.

The protesting families said the children and immediate relatives of the abducted men are going through mental trauma and struggle because of the absence of their loved ones.

The families of enforced-disappeared Baloch have urged the Chief Justice of Balochistan, Chief Justice of Pakistan, acting Chief Minister of Balochistan, acting Prime Minister of Pakistan and others to play their role for the release of their relatives and if they are not released at the earliest possible, the families will set up a protest camp in front of the FC (Frontier Corps) camp in Pangur.