Quetta: The Baloch Women Forum has expressed serious concern over ongoing collective punishment, enforced disappearances and the illegal detention of civilians, including women, in Balochistan.
In a statement, the forum said that continued human rights violations by state institutions not only undermine the rule of law but also reflect what it termed a colonial-style approach toward the people of Balochistan.
Referring to a recent incident, the forum stated that on February 18, security personnel raided a house in the Gazgi area of Khuzdar and detained Hayat Bibi, a resident originally from Nokjo in Mashkay, transferring her to an undisclosed location. According to the statement, this marks the second reported case of enforced disappearance of a woman this year, bringing the total number of missing women to seven.
The forum said Hayat Bibi’s family has already faced collective punishment, claiming that her husband and two sons were previously detained and disappeared at different times, while eight other relatives also remain missing.
The statement also raised concerns over the enforced disappearance of Baloch students from Karachi. It said that Zahid Baloch, a graduate of the University of Karachi, was reportedly disappeared on July 17 last year and has not yet been produced before any court.
According to the forum, on February 16, three Baloch students were detained in Karachi, including Danyal Nasir, a graduate of the National University of Modern Languages (NUML). While two of the students Mohammad Iqbal and Irshad Ali were later released, Danyal Nasir remains in custody, the statement said.
The forum further said that on February 2 in Hub Chowki, security forces detained three elderly individuals former Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Bakhsh Sajidi, his brother Naeem Sajidi and engineer Rafiq Baloch describing the action as outside the constitutional framework.
The Baloch Women Forum called for an immediate end to what it termed colonial-style policies in Balochistan and demanded the release of all forcibly disappeared persons. It said that if any charges exist, individuals should be produced before courts of law, adding that illegal detentions and enforced disappearances are not a solution to the province’s longstanding issues.
