What Happened to the Four Family Members Disappeared in Balochistan?
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Key Takeaways
Quetta, Dec 15 (NationPress) A disturbing incident has come to light where at least four members of the same family were forcibly taken by authorities in Balochistan after being called to the Sariab police station in Quetta, according to a prominent human rights organization on Monday.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) reported that an awareness seminar was held in Quetta on Saturday in observance of International Human Rights Day, without any obstruction to state activities or roadblocks.
However, the rights organization claimed that the four family members were summoned to the Sariab police station on Saturday night, suspected of attending the seminar, and subsequently went missing.
The BYC noted that when a petition was filed in court on Sunday morning for their recovery, the Pakistani authorities failed to present the individuals before the judge.
Instead, the court was informed that they were detained at the Deputy Commissioner's office in Quetta under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law, which permits preventive detention based on perceived threats to public order.
The organization criticized the authorities for not providing any legal documentation to justify the detention.
In a statement, the BYC condemned the incident as evidence of an “undeclared military martial law” in Balochistan, suggesting that judges and deputy commissioners are collaborating with the Pakistani Army and intelligence agencies, acting as “plainclothes military personnel.”
“Hosting a program for International Human Rights Day is a fundamental human and constitutional right,” the BYC stated, adding that the enforced disappearance of four family members and their detention under MPO without legal basis underscores that the State of Pakistan administers Balochistan in a colonial manner.
“The extent of state oppression and tyranny reveals that the true criminals are state officials, while the incarcerated belong to oppressed and marginalized communities,” the statement continued.
The BYC has urged international human rights organizations to take decisive action against this state oppression, asserting that silence only serves to empower the Pakistani authorities.