The family of Zaheer Baloch, who has been forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces for the past 10 years, held a press conference and said that enforced disappearance is an unconstitutional and illegal act. Government institutions break into homes in the midnight without any legal justification, violating the sanctity of privacy and causing immense suffering to entire families. Then they disappear our loved ones for years, flagrantly violating the law, which is a grave breach of Pakistan’s own constitution.
Zaheer Baloch’s daughter said in the press conference, “My father was forcibly disappeared by state agencies from Hub Chowki on April 13, 2015. It has now been 10 long years, and we still do not know where he is or what condition he is in. Over these 10 years, we have done everything possible as a family within the legal framework, we protested in Hub, Panjgur, we went to Quetta and filed our case and we even raised our voice in Islamabad against his disappearance even after a decade, we have received no news about my father.”
She added, “We have lived these past ten years in agony and we do not have the words to express our pain and suffering. Enforced disappearance is an inhumane and torturous act not only does a person go missing but with them, their joy, their presence, the happy moments spent with them all fade away. All that remains is a long, never-ending chain of sorrow and suffering. And perhaps the state or its institutions have no idea how many people’s cries, grief and heartbreak they have collected through this inhuman practice. Eid is no longer Eid for us. These days of celebration only bring more sorrow, as we watch others in their joy and feel envy, wishing we could also celebrate with our loved ones. But how can there be light in a home where the lamp has been extinguished? My father was the lamp of our happiness and the state has put him out, leaving us in such a state that we don’t even know whether we’re truly alive or dead.”
She concluded, “As the tenth anniversary of my father’s enforced disappearance approaches on April 13, 2025, we announce through this press conference that we will organize a seminar on that day to highlight his disappearance. We will announce the time and location of the seminar in the coming days.”
