Pakistan: Baloch Yakjehti Committee announces public seminar in Turbat against enforced disappearances

Turbat [Pakistan], May 3 (ANI): The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has announced a major public seminar to protest the ongoing enforced disappearances and state violence in Balochistan.

The gathering is scheduled to take place on Sunday at 4:30 PM at Shaheed Fida Chowk, Turbat. Citizens from Turbat, Dasht, Gwadar, and surrounding areas have been urged to participate in large numbers to raise a united voice against continued injustices.

Taking to social media platform X, BYC stated, "Every day we are losing our youth and companions, being thrown into dungeons and prison cells far from their homeland. This situation is no longer hidden -- the pain and suffering of Baloch youth and the forced disappearances have become a part of our collective memory."

BYC emphasised that the entire Baloch population is effectively living under siege, declaring symbolically: "We are all prisoners." The statement reflected growing frustration and grief, asserting that the systematic targeting of Baloch people has become normalised and must be resisted. The committee called for unity, clarity, and collective action in the face of this oppression, insisting that "history always favours resistance." The BYC urged the Baloch people to rise together to demand safety, dignity, and justice on their own land.

For decades, Balochistan has faced a humanitarian crisis marked by enforced disappearances, military operations, extrajudicial killings, and political repression. Thousands of Baloch men have vanished, with many later found dead or never heard from again. The issue has drawn criticism from local and international human rights groups, yet the violence continues largely unchecked. Families of the disappeared continue to protest for justice, often facing intimidation themselves.

These disappearances are part of a larger pattern of systematic repression, which also includes military operations in civilian areas, extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and harassment of journalists. Entire families have been devastated, and many women and children continue to lead long protest marches, hunger strikes, and sit-ins demanding the safe return of their loved ones -- often in vain. (ANI)

(The story has come from a syndicated feed and has not been edited by the Tribune Staff.)