QUETTA: Sammi Deen, a leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), has strongly criticized what she described as contradictory and confusing statements by Pakistani government officials regarding the issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan.
In a statement shared on the social media platform X, Sammi Deen said that the grave human rights issue of enforced disappearances in Balochistan is at times labeled as false or fabricated, at times dismissed by claims that missing persons have “gone to the mountains,” and at other times denied altogether. She pointed out that within the span of a single week, government representatives issued mutually conflicting statements on the same issue.
Referring to a statement made by the Chief Minister around ten days ago, she noted that he had announced that no one would be forcibly disappeared after February 2. Sammi Deen said that this statement in itself amounted to an admission that enforced disappearances had been taking place in Balochistan for years.
She contrasted this with remarks made a week earlier by Defense Minister Khawaja Asif, who had reportedly described the issue of missing persons as a “complete fraud” and denied its existence. She also referred to a recent announcement by Federal Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar, who stated that the federal government was forming a new committee to further investigate the long-standing issue of enforced disappearances.
Sammi Deen further criticized statements made by Rana Sanaullah at the Asma Jahangir Conference, saying that he attempted to trivialize the issue by comparing it to an “egg-and-hen” analogy and openly stated that as long as terrorism continues in Balochistan, enforced disappearances would also continue. According to her, this amounted to an explicit acknowledgment that enforced disappearances are taking place and would persist in the future.
She said these remarks were made in the presence of a daughter whose father has been forcibly disappeared for the past 17 years and who continues to wait for his return. She recalled that Rana Sanaullah and Azam Nazeer Tarar had met families of missing persons, including herself, during a sit-in at Quetta’s Red Zone in September 2022, where they had claimed to understand the families’ suffering, announced the formation of a commission, and assured that enforced disappearances would stop, that accused individuals would be presented before courts, and that transparent trials would be conducted under the law.
However, Sammi Deen said that during the recent interaction she was told that if someone were picked up, they would not be dealt with according to the law. She said this contradicted claims of constitutional supremacy and amounted to a federal minister negating the rule of law.
“As a daughter of a forcibly disappeared person, do I not even have the right to hope that our loved ones will be treated in accordance with the Constitution and the law?” she asked, adding that when ministers themselves question constitutional authority, ordinary citizens are left with no avenue for justice.
She concluded by stating that the state appears deeply confused over the issue of enforced disappearances, with officials oscillating between outright denial and attempts to justify the practice in the name of counterterrorism. She said enforced disappearances have become a “black stain” on the state and warned that unless the issue is addressed seriously, it will continue to be raised, regardless of whether government representatives deny or attempt to justify it.
