Five more go missing in Balochistan as families live in fear

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Haseeba Qambrani is inconsolable. Standing in front of the Quetta Press Club, holding placards with pictures of her missing brothers, she is crying for justice. Hizbullah and Hassan Qambrani are missing since February 14. Haseeba fears that both will meet the same fate as their another brother whose deformed body was found earlier by the family.</p>
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"You all can see my grief. Everyone knows what is happening in Balochistan. Every household lives in fear of their family members being abducted. They go missing and then one day, we find their deformed bodies. We don’t celebrate anything, we just cry and mourn," she says in a heart wrenching video, which has gone viral on social media.</p>
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Haseeba, and a few hundred more, had gathered outside the club Monday, June 8, which is marked as the 'Baloch Missing Persons Day' in Pakistan. Family of Zakir Majeed Baloch, a senior vice-chairman of Baloch Students Organization (BSO) in Mustang, who disappeared in 2009, was also there.</p>
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As they were telling the world about the gross human rights violations being done by Pakistani authorities in their province, as many as five new cases of enforced disappearances were reported from Kech and Panjgur districts. <em>The Balochistan Post</em> reported four persons being allegedly detained by the security forces in Kech and a zonal leader of BSO being abducted in Panjgur. "The security forces raided a house in Kech, detained four youths, including two brothers, and moved them to unknown locations. These persons are Ahsaab, Zaman, Majid and Abul Hassan.</p>
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The locals reportedly visited the security forces’ encampment and requested the release of the said missing persons. The security forces denied their involvement in the abduction altogether. "In Panjgur, the zonal leader and the press secretary of the BSO-Pajjar, Alam Baloch, was allegedly abducted by the security forces two days ago and remains unheard since. In a statement, the representative of BSO-Pajjar confirmed the news of Mr Baloch’s abduction.</p>
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He said that Alam Baloch is a student of Balochi literature at the Balochistan University. The spokesperson further said that the enforced disappearance has gained momentum during the COVID-19 lockdown which is a tragedy," said the. The newspaper cited innumerable incidents of Balochistan leaders, activists and vocal members of various student organizations being allegedly detained by the Pakistani forces. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP), which helps families register cases of missing persons and lodge petitions in courts, estimates that around 50,000 Baloch have went missing over the last two decades.</p>
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As reported by India Narrative, massive protests have erupted in and around the Turbat town of Makran in Balochistan after ‘death squads’ shot dead a woman named Malik Naz and seriously wounded her four-year-old daughter Bramsh Baloch on the night of May 26. Hundreds of Balochs had also outside the Karachi Press Club last Friday in a protest rally organized by the Bramsh Baloch Solidarity Committee and backed by Baloch National Movement (BNM).</p>
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But the protests, even though they have caught the attention of the world and have been widely reported, have not resulted in any let-up in the crimes being committed by the Pakistani authorities in Balochistan. The placards and photographs have only been increasing with each passing day.</p>