Balochistan: Concern expressed over 9-yr-long disappearance of Zaheer Baloch
Apr 14, 2024
Panjgur (Pakistan), April 14 : The issue of enforced disappearances has been a matter of concern in Balochistan for a long time. The Baloch community in this area has been a target of Pakistan's atrocities and bears the brunt in vivid forms of inhumane treatment ranging from enforced disappearances to extrajudicial killings and torture.
Speaking on the same issue, a prominent Baloch rights leader, Sammi Deen Baloch, raised the case of Zaheer Baloch, a citizen of the Panjgur area of Balochistan, whose whereabouts remained unknown for the last nine years.
In a post on social media platform X, Sammi Deen Baloch, said, "It has been nine years since the forced disappearance of Zaheer Baloch from Panjgur. The family of Zaheer Baloch, who was a victim of forced disappearance on 13 April 2016, has been kept in the dark about the crime of Zaheer Baloch and where he is. In what condition?"
https://twitter.com/SammiBaluch/status/1779197164272382172
She further said, "In this country, even those who talk about forced disappearances are not tolerated. Journalists, lawyers and activists who talk about the basic issue of human rights are being prosecuted, while the political leaders of this country are in opposition to solving the basic issue. They become sympathizers as soon as they get the chair, they forget that they have wrongly called forced disappearances as the worst violation of human rights. #ReleaseZaheerBaloch."
Notably, the issues faced by the Baloch community never reach the mainstream media of Pakistan due to a media blackout in the area, hence reaching to social media remains the only choice for the Baloch. Recently a social media campaign was launched by another prominent Baloch leader Maharang Baloch promoting the hashtag #ReleaseZaheerBaloch.
https://twitter.com/MahrangBaloch_/status/1779147870043812328
Since then several human rights supporters, activists, and people belonging to the Baloch community have unitedly been raising the issue of the enforced disappearance of Zaheer Baloch.
