Protest outside Karachi Press Club enters 34th day over enforced disappearance

Karachi [Pakistan], September 8 (ANI): The Protest outside Karachi Press Club entered its 34th day after a student was forcibly disappeared earlier in July, leading the Baloch human rights body, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), reported on Saturday.

Sharing the details in a post on X, BYC said that the sit-in protest camp was organised by the family of Zahid Ali, a 25-year-old IR student of Karachi University, who was forcibly disappeared along with his rickshaw on 17 July 2025.

“Despite his father Abdul Hameed’s worsening health condition, the family continues their protest with steadfast determination, demanding Zahid’s immediate and safe release. Their struggle is a painful reminder of the ongoing wave of enforced disappearances that continues to tear apart families in Karachi and Balochistan”, the post said.

In another post on X, BYC brought to attention yet another case of extrajudicial killing at the hands of state-backed death squads in Tump, Kech.

“Jalal, son of Haji Yar Muhammad, a local businessman and resident of Gomazi, Tump, district Kech, was shot dead by state-backed death squads on the evening of September 6, 2025.”, the post said.

It brought to attention that the killing was the third extrajudicial killing within a single day in district Kech, following the killings of Izhar and Mulla Bahram in Mand earlier the same day. BYC said that eyewitnesses and local sources confirmed that state-backed death squads operating under the supervision of the Pakistani forces carried out the attack.

Enforced disappearances in Balochistan have been a grave human rights issue for decades, rooted in the region’s long-standing political and ethnic tensions. For the last several decades, Baloch nationalists, students, activists, and intellectuals have been targeted, allegedly by state security agencies, for demanding greater autonomy or rights.

Thousands have reportedly gone missing without due process, and many remain unaccounted for. Families are often left without information, legal recourse, or justice. Human rights organisations, both local and international, have condemned these actions, calling them violations of international law.

The Pakistan government has consistently denied involvement, but has failed to investigate or resolve the cases transparently. In recent years, peaceful resistance–through sit-ins, marches, and now social media–has grown, led by groups like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

These families, driven by grief and hope, continue to demand the safe return of their loved ones and an end to the culture of impunity. (ANI)

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