The Pakistani security forces reportedly picked up four individuals from Karachi on Tuesday. Three of them are students at the University of Karachi, while the third is a fourth class employee in a private bank.
According to sources, the forces reportedly raided a house in the Maskan Chorangi area of Karachi in the early hours of the morning and detained two individuals. The detainees were identified as Doda Baloch s/o Ilahi Baksh and Ghamshad Baloch s/o Ghani Baloch, students of philosophy at the University of Karachi. They were moved to an unknown location, and their whereabouts and condition remain unknown.
The forces also raided a house in the Karachi’s Liyari and allegedly picked up Shoukat s/o Haji Hazoor Baksh, a native of Balochistan’s district Panjgur, who was an employee in a private bank. Detainee’s family members say he is an innocent man trying to eke out a meagre living.
“Enforced disappearances” have seen an uptick in Karachi over the past few weeks. Baloch youth, especially students, have been picked up by forces in raids at their houses and hostels and moved to unknown locations. Only a handful of the detainees have been released and the majority are still missing.
Baloch Yakjehti Committee condemned the crackdown on Baloch youth and criticized the Sindh government for its inaction in putting an end to this practice. Addressing the media in front of the Karachi Press Club, BYC organizer Amna Baloch and activist Sammi Deen Baloch said that the Sindh government now considers every Baloch a terrorist. They said that Baloch students are being picked up from different universities in Sindh and the government is doing nothing about it. Amna Baloch said that the women and children suffer when they see their fathers and brothers being dragged away by the forces.
They said that “enforced disappearances” have seen an alarming rise in the past few weeks. They said that if the Sindh government did not take notice of the issue, we will launch protests across Karachi.
