February 2nd, 2021
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
Twenty people, who were victims of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, have finally returned home to their families, over the last few days. But almost 300 still remain unaccounted for.
Details given by a Balochistan based organization, Voice forf Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) reveal that there are around 295 people who have still not returned to their families.
Speaking to Voicepk.net from Quetta, Nasrullah Baloch, the chairman of VBMP, said that his organization had shared a list of 590 missing individuals with the provincial government after verification. He said that a total of 315 missing persons had returned home, while 295 individuals were still missing. However he said the recent development would give hope to other families who had lost a loved one.
He welcomed the recovery of the 20 missing persons, who had come home doing the last 14 days. “The recovery of missing persons should be the top priority of the government,” he added.
Baloch said that the missing persons reunited with their families mainly belonged to Dera Bugti, Turbat, Kech, and Gwadar districts. Rab Nawaz Lango, the resident of Mangchar, was reunited with his family after missing for eight years, he said. Similarly, five other missing persons from Dera Bugti: Abdul Sattar Bugti, Nari Bugti, Gandia Bugti, Khawand Baksh Bugti, and Washki Bor Bugti returned home, he added.
The VBMP chief said Balochi language poet Obaid Arif, who had disappeared from Jat Dasht area of Gwadar district in November 2018, returned to his hometown a few days ago. Amin Shekari and Imam Ishaq, both residents of Gwadar’s Dasht Mazanband area, have returned to their homes after two and a half years, he said.
He said that Irfan Imam Bakhsh of Bal-Negor, Wahid Dad from Sami Kalag and Manzoor Hussain of Menaz Buleda of Kech district had also reached home, adding that four others who had been missing for the last two years-Izzatullah and Mehran, both residents of Absar, and Sharif Suleman and Gulab Ali, residents of Tump – were reunited with their families.
Sana Ullah Samlani, the resident of Konabad, met his family members after disappearing for two years. Babu Hasan Jan of Kharan district returned to his hometown after missing for seven years. Three others returning home included Shamsuddin Bangalzai who went missing from Quetta’s Muslim Abad on September 20, 2018, Rahim, son of Aziz, reported missing from Panjgor since June 2020, and Imran Sudhir, resident of Turbat, missing from Karachi since 2017, Nasrullah Baloch said.
According to the VBMP, Aurangzeb, resident of Panjgor, missing since 2020 from Karachi, Nasir Hussain, resident of Jhao, who disappeared from Baloch Colony at Hub Chowki on June 20, 2018, and Khair Muhammad Marri who went missing from Machh two months ago, have all returned to their homes.
According to the state-appointed Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances, a total of 538 cases of missing persons had been reported to the commission till January 2021. Out of the total cases, 185 individuals had returned home, seven individuals were imprisoned in jails and dead bodies of 30 others were found.
The commission had closed cases of 143 individuals on account of not being cases of enforced disappearances, incomplete address, withdrawal by complainants, and non-prosecution. The commission had disposed of 365 cases while 173 cases were pending till January 2021.
