KARACHI — A Baloch woman activist Fozia Baloch has held an emotional press conference from her home using her mobile phone after being repeatedly denied access to Karachi Press Club, alleging that her brother Dad Shah Baloch was forcibly disappeared by CTD and intelligence personnel 17 days ago and that the state is using his detention as leverage to force her out of political activism.
According to the activist’s statement, her brother Dad Shah Baloch was forcibly disappeared on April 21, 2026, from their home. She said approximately 20 to 25 armed personnel in plain clothes arrived at their residence in two police vehicles, a black Vigo and a white Alto, conducted a raid, subjected family members to violence and took her brother away.
She stated that when family members attempted to record video footage of the incident, they were threatened that her elder brother would also be taken away. When the family demanded warrants and legal justification, the personnel told them to visit the police station for information but refused to specify which station.
Approximately two hours after the incident, the family visited the nearest police station and were told to return after 24 hours. They then proceeded to Karachi Press Club to book a press conference but their request was not accepted.
She said that we returned to the police station and met the SHO of Maripur Police Station, to submitted an application but were not provided a receipt.
They were later called back and told that an FIR would be registered against unknown persons. The family refused, stating they were eyewitnesses to the fact that their brother was taken in the presence of police vehicles a fact that state officials are denying entirely.
On April 25, four days after her brother’s disappearance, the family made another attempt to hold a press conference at Karachi Press Club. When they arrived, police had already surrounded the building. They were told no press conference would be permitted. Without offering any resistance, the family turned around and began making their way home.
What followed, the activist described as an act of pure intimidation. Police subjected the family to violence, arrested them on the spot and registered what she called a false FIR against them. Her elderly mother, who suffers from high blood pressure, was among those taken into custody.
They were held for 24 hours. Throughout their detention, Fozia Baloch says her mother was denied medication despite her serious medical condition.
“It was as if we were left there to die,” she said.
“I have stood with Baloch mothers whose sons have been in dungeons for years,” she said. “Their courage has kept my own courage alive. Today when the same injustice has come to my door, I feel more strongly than ever that our struggle is necessary and our cause is just.”
She said the state’s use of law as a weapon of blackmail rather than as a tool of protection is the very fascism she has spent years speaking out against.
“In this helplessness, resistance is our only refuge,” she said. “This oppression will not break me. It will only deepen my resolve.”
“I am holding a press conference from inside my own home,” she said. “This itself is the greatest proof of the state’s fascism.”
She appealed to everyone watching to share her message as widely as possible, saying that when all doors of justice are closed, people are each other’s only support.
“This struggle is not mine alone,” she said. “Thousands of families have faced this before me. Today it is us. Tomorrow it could be you. We must all raise our voices against this oppression.”
Her demands are clear the immediate and safe recovery of her brother Dad Shah Baloch, and if any charges exist against him, he must be presented before a court of law in accordance with due process.
