July 28, 2025
By Rana Malhi
ISLAMABAD
Families of missing persons from Balochistan have been continuing with their protest for the thirteenth consecutive day, outside the Islamabad Press Club. The demonstrators include women, children, and elderly individuals who, holding photos of their loved ones and clinging to the hope for their recovery, which despite their resilience seems too far out of reach at times.
The families have been enduring extreme heat and rain sitting outside. Over the course of the last two weeks, the rain has been particularly heavy in the capital city, however even then, the administration refused to allow them to even set up tents for shelter, despite the fact that there were children and elderly present. Yet still they want to believe that the authorities in Islamabad will eventually hear their voices. All they want is the recovery of their missing relatives so their lives can gain some sort of normalcy, they say.
Seema’s brother Shabbir Baloch has been missing for the past nine years. She has staged sit-ins in Karachi, Quetta, and Islamabad multiple times, but there has been no progress so far.
Similarly, Sadia, whose brother Salman Baloch was disappeared in 2022, also traveled from Balochistan to join the protest in Islamabad. She said she came here only with the hope that her voice would reach the higher authorities.
Another protester, Rashida, held up pictures of her two missing brothers, Junaid and Yasir. She said the family goes through daily torment, and until her brothers are returned, their lives will remain filled with uncertainty.
All families present at the protest camp have a single demand, that their missing loved ones be recovered and that they be provided justice. They stated that their protest will continue until their demand is fulfilled.