Families of Disappeared Baloch Youth Announce Sit-In Protest on CPEC Route
QUETTA: The families of two forcibly disappeared Baloch youth, Zaman Jan and Abdul Hassan, have announced a sit-in protest on the CPEC Highway M-8, starting tomorrow, December 24. This decision comes after the expiration of a three-day deadline set by the families for their recovery, which yielded no results.
According to the families, the incident occurred on December 16, 2024, in Turbat, when Zaman Jan, son of Sipahan, Abdul Hassan son of Rahmat and Altaf son of Bahram, were detained and disappeared by Pakistani forces. While Altaf was released after two days, Zaman Jan and Abdul Hassan remain missing.
It is noteworthy that this is the third time Zaman Jan has been forcibly disappeared. He was previously detained twice before being released on both occasions.
At a press conference held on December 20, the families said Mir Hothman, Chairman of the District Council Kech, of being involved in the disappearances. They saud that he summoned their loved ones to his residence, where they were subsequently detained and disappeared.
With the expiration of their ultimatum and no progress on the recovery of the missing youths, the families have decided to escalate their protest by blocking the CPEC Highway M-8 at Hoshap, Turbat. The sit-in, set to begin tomorrow, aims to draw attention to their plight and to pressure authorities to take immediate action.
The families have appealed to the public to join the sit-in in solidarity and to support their demand for justice. The protest is expected to disrupt traffic on this key economic corridor and to spotlight the ongoing issue of enforced disappearances in the region.
In a separate incident, Pakistani forces allegedly abducted Dr. Jamil Baloch, a resident of Koh-e-Sulaiman in occupied Balochistan, from a hotel in Lahore, Punjab.
According to eyewitnesses, Dr. Jamil was having tea with a friend at a hotel in Lahore when he was taken into custody and moved to an undisclosed location. His whereabouts remain unknown at the time of filing this report.
