January 2, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE
The main organizer of the Baloch long march against enforced disappearances, Mahrang Baloch has said that around 12 people have been forcibly disappeared from Balochistan despite the protestors’ march to the capital. “This is an ongoing crisis,” she said. “On top of all this, the way we were treated in Islamabad, there is still no inquiry being done about that.”
Meanwhile, a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa in the Supreme Court heard the case against missing persons and enforced disappearances today. During the hearing, Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa remarked that the problem of missing persons is serious and everyone must work unanimously to come up with a solution.
The Chief Justice further said that now we will just try to solve this problem. The Supreme Court summoned the Attorney General of Pakistan Mansoor Awan and adjourned the hearing of the case till Wednesday, January 3.
On Monday, January 1, the delegation of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) held a press conference at the Islamabad Press Club on the ongoing human rights violations in Pakistan and expressed strong concerns. After the press conference, the delegation visited the ongoing camp outside the press club to express solidarity with the Baloch protesters against forced disappearances.
On the occasion, HRCP co-chairperson Munizae Jahangir assured Mahrang that HRCP was standing in solidarity with the protestors. She said the Commission for the Inquiry of Enforced Disappearances had failed and suggested that a new committee should be formed over which everyone agrees. She added that the courts should work to provide justice to people
On the other hand, the Caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar, while holding a press conference in Lahore, used harsh words, equating the Baloch protesters with terrorists and accused them of receiving funding from foreign intelligence agencies including RAW. He said those who raised their voice against enforced disappearances to join separatist organizations and terrorist organizations.
The caretaker prime minister is currently under criticism from social circles for using such language against the Baloch protesters