Quetta, Balochistan: The protest camp organized by Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) against enforced disappearances in Balochistan entered its 6,081st day on Monday in front of the Quetta Press Club.
People from different walks of life visited the camp to express solidarity with the families of forcibly disappeared persons. Participants called for an immediate end to enforced disappearances and demanded the safe recovery of all disappeared individuals, including Tanveer Ahmed and Bashir Ahmed.
On Monday, the mother and grandmother of the two disappeared boys also joined the protest despite the cold weather and rain in Quetta. The boys’ mother, Bibi Shahida, said her sons 17-year-old Tanveer Ahmed and 15-year-old Bashir Ahmed, sons of Shabbir Ahmed were taken into custody by personnel of the Frontier Corps (FC) and other state agencies on the night of February 3 from their home in Killi Bangalzai, Sariab Customs area of Quetta. She said they were taken to an undisclosed location and that the family has not been provided any information about their condition or whereabouts.
Bibi Shahida said her husband has passed away and that her two sons were her only support. Since their detention, she said, the family has been undergoing severe distress. She added that she has been visiting the VBMP protest camp for the past two days to record her protest and appeal to senior authorities to ensure the safe recovery of her sons.
VBMP Chairman Nasrullah Baloch said the boys’ mother is suffering from extreme mental anguish and has fainted at the protest camp on more than one occasion. He expressed concern about her deteriorating mental health due to the separation from her sons. He appealed to the government and heads of state institutions to play their role in ensuring the safe recovery of Tanveer Ahmed and Bashir Ahmed and to relieve their mother of her distress.
