Mehlab Baloch, the daughter of the forcibly disappeared elderly Baloch nationalist leader Wahid Kambar , while holding a press conference at Shall Press Club with her family, said that “my father Wahid Kambar also known as “Ustad Wahid Kambar ” due to his important role in Baloch national politics. As a political leader since 1970, he has been raising his voice for the rights of the Baloch nation. The politics of Balochistan. The relations of the political elites of Balochistan with the rulers of Islamabad had many ups and downs, but my father’s loyalty, love and determination to defend his nation and its legitimate interests did not diminish, perhaps this is the reason why he has always been an undesirable politician for Pakistani rulers.
She said that he has always been in danger from the state institutions, on March 14, 2007, the state secret agencies with the help of the police, subjected him to forced disappearance for 41 months after extrajudicial and legal arrest along with his friends.
After being held in torture cells for so long, the military intelligence officials handed him over to the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) of the police under 12 terrorism cases, and thus he came to light and was tried in Pakistani courts. “My father was honorably acquitted by the High Court in 2011 from these false and baseless cases. Despite this, the state institutions were harassing him based on his political views.
Pakistani forces raided our house and attacked us with firearms. This situation forced my elderly father to go into hiding and he lived in hiding for a long time – In the press conference, it was said that in the recent period, his health had also been badly affected, he was suffering from many kinds of diseases.
Due to heart disease, he shifted with the help of his relatives in West Balochistan from where he was taken to Kerman, Iran for treatment. Due to the extended duration of treatment, his accommodation was also arranged in the same city so that it would be easy for him to go to the respective doctors.
She said that on July 19, 2024, my father went out of for groceries shopping from a shop near his house when four car-riders (who had a white Iranian car called Peugeot ) came, they tried to force them into the car, on his resistance the nearby shopkeepers intervened but they were also kept away through threatening behavior and abducted. As he was a stranger there, even the local people who were eyewitnesses of the incident were unable to understand the situation but immediately reported it to his house and explained the whole situation. There, his well-wishers tried to find him through various means, but no trace of him was found.
Now there is no room for doubt that they have been abducted and transferred to Pakistan after being searched by the secret agencies of Pakistan with the help of their agents and here they are kept in a secret prison. Statements of eyewitnesses, circumstantial evidence. And from the personality of Ustad Wahid Kambar , it is clear that he has been forcibly kept missing by the institutions of the state of Pakistan after his abduction.
She said that my father is an elderly person, who was practically living a semi-retired life. Of course he has a big and leading role in Baloch national politics, it cannot be denied but the truth is that his health kept him away from practical struggle.
Enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity that cannot be justified in any way, but the enforced disappearance of an elderly person who was undergoing treatment after abduction increases the severity of the process of enforced disappearance and makes it more criminal. In such a case, it is no longer a matter of national integrity, but becomes a blind revenge, a collective punishment. Which has pushed every family of Balochistan into darkness.
She said that my father, due to whose concealment have endured the last 17 years of his separation, is suffering from heart disease. He recently had an angioplasty and needs medication several times a day. Doctors have been strictly instructed that they should always take some of their medicines, even instructions have been given to use only certain company’s medicines so that their health is not damaged due to poor quality. If they don’t get medicines in time, their life will be in danger.
When she was asked why he was abducted? In response, she said that the abductors can give a better answer, but our speculations and concerns indicate that the Pakistani authorities want to use them to increase pressure on the Baloch National Struggle.
In the past, he was tortured while in custody and pressured to hold a press conference to confess his wrongdoings, but he did not admit it. They want to bring out the narrative, during the time that they are in the prison of Pakistan, they are being tortured, they are being hurt every day.
She said that we also want to bring it on record through you that there may be an attempt to harm his family to weaken him or use him as a psychological weapon to make him give up his political views. To be forced to bear or give an opposing narrative. Which will never be an acceptable practice. If anything happens to my father Wahid Kambar , it will be the responsibility of the State of Pakistan and its military agencies. There is a possibility of recovery and release. “
We appeal to all human rights organizations and the Baloch nation to join us in this struggle. She said that the purpose of this press conference was to convey this message to the authorities that they should realize their responsibilities and make possible the recovery and immediate release of Ustad Wahid Kambar as he has been honorably acquitted by the Supreme Court of Pakistan in false cases. To our knowledge, there is no charge against him on the basis of which he can be kept in prison, even though he has been abducted and forcibly disappeared from abroad while undergoing treatment.
