Islamabad, Nov 17 (IANS) The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) has highlighted that the issue of enforced disappearances of political workers, students and other residents in Balochistan remains unresolved despite 16 years of protests, sit-ins and rallies.
Local media reported on Monday that, while addressing a press conference, VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch urged the state and other institutions to understand that using force, extrajudicial killings and disappearances of Baloch people would not improve the situation in the province.
Pakistan’s leading daily Dawn reported that Nasrullah Baloch demanded political approach to address grievances of people of Balochistan.
Joined by family members of the missing individuals, including VBMP General Secretary Hooran Baloch and activist Ghani Baloch, he said that the protest camp of the organisation outside the Quetta Press Club had now completed 6,000 days.
“This camp has also been set up in various parts of Balochistan, as well as in Karachi and Islamabad. It is viewed across Pakistan and the world as a symbol of peaceful resistance,” he was quoted as saying by Dawn, adding that the organisation over the past 16 years has held protests, seminars and long marches from Quetta to Islamabad, both on foot and by train.
“Thousands of Baloch have been forcibly disappeared and thousands have been killed extrajudicially, yet the situation continues to deteriorate. We appeal to the state to refrain from using force in Balochistan. The issue is political and must be resolved through political dialogue,” said Nasrullah Baloch.
He called for treating all the people in accordance with the law and recover of missing people and stressed that those facing charges be presented before courts and that extrajudicial arrests and killings be stopped.
On November 12, Paank, the Baloch National Movement’s Human Rights Department, said that at least two Baloch civilians, including a minor, were forcibly disappeared by the Pakistani forces in Balochistan.
Paank condemned the enforced disappearance of Tajah Bugti and his young son Mir Ahmed Bugti, who were abducted in broad daylight by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel from Dera Bugti district on November 11.
“The abduction of a father and his minor child reflects the alarming scale of state repression in Balochistan, where even children are not spared from the cycle of enforced disappearances,” Paank stated.
The rights body held the Pakistani authorities and its security agencies responsible for ensuring the safety and immediate release of both victims. It urged the international community, human rights organisations and media to take urgent notice of the ongoing policy of collective punishment against the Baloch people.
–IANS
akl/as
