December 27, 2023
By Aitzaz Ibrahim
LAHORE
The Baloch sit-in protest against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings has entered its sixth day, with the organizers declaring that the camp will remain outside the National Press Club in Islamabad till their demands are met. Meanwhile, the SSP Operations Islamabad Mustafa Tanveer informed the Islamabad High Court (IHC) during proceedings today that PhD scholar Dr. Zaheer Baloch, whom the protestors raised alarm that his whereabouts were known as of yesterday, was in fact being held at Adiala Jail.
During an interview for the Aaj TV program Spotlight with Munizae Jahangir on Tuesday, prominent Baloch missing persons activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch revealed that contrary to the claims of the Interior Ministry, many protesters are still being held in jails, while Dr. Zaheer, who was arrested during the Islamabad Police crackdown on December 21, was missing.
“Some 100 students who have yet to be released, and our team of lawyers is working on this,” she said. “And what we are most concerened about is that Dr. Zaheer Baloch, who is a Quaid-e-Azam University PhD scholar [is missing]. There is footage of him being picked up in a police van, as well as footage of the police taking his name to separate him from the others. He has yet to be presented before any court.”
She also mentioned relatives of missing Baloch youth who remain in custody.
Mahrang demanded a UN fact-finding mission in Balochistan to investigate human rights violations. She further reiterated the protestors’ demand for the release of all arrested comrades and the recovery of missing persons, adding that the sit-in will persist until all these demands are fulfilled.
“This problem has been ongoing for years in Balochistan. There is a media blackout and state institutions have failed to enforce law. Our demand is that a UN fact-finding committee reach Balochistan and take notice of the human rights violations there,” she stated, adding that for the past 10 years, the UN working group on enforced disappearances has issued several correspondences to Pakistan with regards to enforced disappearances in Balochistan, and their requests to conduct an inquiry have been turned down.
Chair of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal, Sardar Akhtar Mengal, warned that if negotiations with the government fail, the Governor of Balochistan may resign from his position.
“The party has issued [these] orders if negotiations fail – right now, [the protesters] are trying to secure their people’s release. And it is very likely that [talks will fall apart] as the government does not want to give any leeway. The ministers and the bureacracy are spewing lies upon lies. If the talks do not succeed, then the Governor [of Balochistan] will have no other option than to resign.”
On the other hand, caretaker Interior Minister for Balochistan Zubair Jamali admitted that if the cases related to extrajudicial killings were handled right, the Baloch protest march would not have turned to Islamabad.
“If this matter had been handled properly from the beginning, if an FIR was launched right at the start, it would have turned out better,” he said.
According to media reports, during the hearing of the case of Baloch protesters’ arrests in the IHC, SSP Operations Islamabad Mustafa Tanveer admitted before the court that Dr. Zaheer Baloch is being held in Adiala Jail, and though he has been granted bail, he is still in custody due to non-payment of bail money.
SSP Operations Tanveer also added that the police arrested 196 protesters, and while 162 have been granted bail, 34 are still in jail pending identification parade. On Monday, the Ministry of Interior claimed that 290 arrested protestors were released, a statement which the protest organizers, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), rejected.