BSA Condemns State Repression, Demands Recovery of Missing Leaders
SHAAL (QUETTA): The Baloch Students Alliance (BSA) has strongly condemned the state’s continued authoritarian and repressive actions in Balochistan, calling the ongoing wave of enforced disappearances and violence against students and political activists “a crisis that has reached its peak.”
In a statement released on Sunday, the BSA spokesperson said that promising students and political activists are being subjected to extrajudicial abductions and killings on a daily basis. The spokesperson further condemned the use of force against peaceful demonstrators, noting that when Baloch students or their families protest for their legal rights, they are met with baton charges, tear gas shelling, and even gunfire.
The statement highlighted that police deployed in large numbers attempted to prevent a peaceful demonstration held by the BSA outside the Lasbela Press Club in Hub. The protest was organised to demand the safe recovery of Javed Baloch, Chairman of the Baloch Students Front (BSF), and Gwahram Ishaq, General Secretary of BSF’s Shaal Zone, both of whom were subjected to enforced disappearance.
“Despite relentless efforts to stop our peaceful protest, including the use of various intimidation tactics, we successfully recorded our protest in front of Hub Press Club,” the spokesperson said.
The BSA asserted that their constitutional rights are being systematically denied. Referring to Articles 14 and 16 of Pakistan’s Constitution, the spokesperson said that Baloch students are entitled to the right to peaceful protest and freedom of expression.
“We are not simply being prevented from protesting — our legal and constitutional rights are being blatantly violated,” the statement said.
In closing, the BSA strongly condemned the state’s policies of repression and enforced disappearances. The alliance called for the immediate and safe release of Javed Baloch and Gwahram Ishaq and demanded that the state end its practice of forcibly disappearing Baloch students and activists and uphold their basic right to life and freedom.
