August 14, 2025
By Rana Malhi
ISLAMABAD
A sit-in by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and families of missing persons outside the National Press Club has entered its second month, with women, children, and young people holding photographs of their loved ones.
On Pakistan’s Independence Day, demonstrators repeated their call for the government to engage in talks and secure the recovery of BYC leaders, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, as well as other missing persons from Balochistan.
Dr. Mahrang’s sister, Nadia Baloch, told Voicepk, “We have only two constitutional demands: the immediate release of all BYC leaders and the recovery of missing persons from Balochistan. But even after a month, no government representative has come to speak with us.”
BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch, who was arrested in Karachi, said she was “illegally detained during a protest” and sent to jail under what she described as the “unconstitutional and unlawful” 3 MPO law.
Mahzeb Baloch, attending the protest to demand the release of her uncle, said, “The Islamabad administration has not allowed us to set up tents for a month, which has forced us to protest under the scorching sun and in the rain.”
Protesters said the government must ensure the safe return of their loved ones and end their anguish, warning that the demonstration would continue until their demands were met.