Islamabad [Pakistan], July 18 : Families of detained Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and relatives of forcibly disappeared persons from Balochistan have launched a sit-in protest outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, demanding an immediate end to enforced disappearances and the release of all detained activists, The Balochistan Post reported.
The protest, which began earlier this week, includes family members of BYC leaders who have been in custody for over three months, along with long-suffering families of missing persons. Many of the demonstrators have spent years campaigning for the safe return of their loved ones, without any resolution or justice, The Balochistan Post reported.
Addressing a press conference at the protest site's location, participants said they had once again travelled to the capital in the hope that their voices might finally be heard. "In Balochistan, our cries are suppressed on our own soil. Media censorship is rampant, and the doors to truth have been shut," one speaker told The Balochistan Post.
The families described Balochistan as an "information black hole", where only state-approved narratives are permitted. "Any voice that dares speak against injustice is silenced," they added.
Protesters accused state institutions of promoting a false narrative of peace in Balochistan while the ground reality remains marred by "repression, enforced disappearances, and political intimidation," The Balochistan Post reported.
They highlighted the arrests of key BYC and human rights activists, Dr Mahrang Baloch, Beebarg Zehri, Beebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, Shah Jee Sibghatullah, Ghaffar Qambarani, and Imran Baloch, in what they termed a targeted crackdown following a press conference in Quetta on March 19. Despite court orders for release, the activists were held under the colonial-era 3-MPO law and later transferred to anti-terrorism custody on July 8, facing new charges, The Balochistan Post reported.
The protesters demanded two actions: the immediate release of all detained Baloch political leaders and an end to the "cycle of enforced disappearances and arbitrary arrests in Balochistan".
They appealed to Pakistani media, civil society, lawyers, and international human rights organisations to raise their voices in solidarity, The Balochistan Post reported.
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