August 24, 2025
By Rana Malhi/Staff Report
ISLAMABAD/KARACHI
The families of missing persons and members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) announced on Sunday, August 24, that they will be expanding their protest in the capital city. It has been 40 days since they have been holding a sit-in outside the National Press Club, trying to bring attention to their issue of enforced disappearances where their loved ones have gone missing, however have failed to elicit any government response.
‘Our demands are not new’
Speaking at a press conference outside the press club, protest leaders said their demands were neither new nor unconstitutional: the release of BYC leaders, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Bebarg Baloch, Shaji Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, Bebo Baloch, and Imran Baloch, and the recovery of all victims of enforced disappearances from Balochistan.
“This protest is not about personal gain,” a spokesperson said. “It is about the recovery of our loved ones, the supremacy of the Constitution, and the restoration of justice.”
‘State’s response is unjust’
The protesters condemned what they called the state’s use of prolonged detentions to silence dissenting voices. They noted that courts have repeatedly extended the remand of BYC leaders despite the lack of evidence against them.
“Their only crime is raising their voice against enforced disappearances and what we call the slow genocide of the Baloch people,” the statement read.
The group criticized both the judiciary and the media, accusing them of failing in their constitutional duties. “Media should be amplifying the voices of the oppressed, but instead it misrepresents our demands and works under state pressure,” one protester said. “Courts, meanwhile, are strengthening repression by continually extending remands.”
According to the BYC, their leaders were first detained under the Maintenance of Public Order law for three months before being shifted to Anti-Terrorism Courts (ATC) under multiple FIRs. While some remand requests were rejected, police and the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) allegedly registered five new cases to prolong detention. Protesters claimed this amounted to “abuse of court” and accused authorities of deliberately obstructing justice.
They also pointed to the 26th Constitutional Amendment, which they said gave sweeping powers to law enforcement agencies to shift even ordinary cases to ATCs, thereby criminalizing peaceful political activism.
Disappointed but resilient
“We want to make it clear: Dr Mahrang Baloch and her colleagues are peaceful political activists, not terrorists,” the statement said. “Yet they are being portrayed as criminals to silence Baloch voices.”
The group pledged to continue their protest peacefully but warned of escalation if their demands remained ignored. “For 40 days we have waited here without any official willing to talk to us,” they said. “Now we are left with no choice but to widen our protest. The responsibility for what comes next will lie with the state.”
They called on civil society, human rights defenders, and the international community to stand with them, stressing that their struggle was not just for the Baloch but for justice and human dignity in Pakistan as a whole.
“This is not only the protest of Baloch families,” the statement concluded. “It is a protest for the principles of justice. If we remain silent today, tomorrow this repression will knock on someone else’s door.”
Protest for student Zahid Ali reaches 19th day
Sunday also marked the 19th consecutive day of the protest camp held by the family of Zahid Ali, a 25-year-old International Relations student at the University of Karachi, who was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani forces on July 17, 2025, including his rickshaw which he drove part-time to support his family.
It has now been 39 days since Zahid’s enforced disappearance. His father, Abdul Hameed—a hepatitis patient in deteriorating health— has been sitting outside the Karachi Press Club, enduring harsh conditions with his family, demanding the safe release of his son.
Despite nearly three weeks of continuous protest, the authorities have provided no explanation, no legal process, and no justice. Zahid’s case is one among countless enforced disappearances that continue to devastate Baloch families.
On the completion of 39 days since Zahid’s disappearance, his family and friends held a peace walk near the Karachi Press Club to demand his safe return and to highlight the ongoing injustice faced by families of the disappeared.