Protesters block Quetta Brewery Road to protest enforced disappearance of six Baloch students

On Friday, several people blocked the Quetta Brewery Road to protest against the forced disappearance of six Baloch students from Quetta and failure of the police to register an FIR, Balochistan Post reported.

The kidnapped persons were residents of Turbat area of ​​Balochistan. Four out of the six kidnapped persons were released by the alleged kidnappers while two are still in jail.

In a post on X, The Balochistan Post said, “Baloch Solidarity Committee blocked Quetta Brewery Road to protest against the forced disappearance of Baloch students from Quetta and non-registration of FIR by police. It should be noted that five students belonging to Turbat were forcibly disappeared by Pakistan Army from Quetta, One City, others of whom were released but two are still missing.”

A social activist present at the scene said that the police refused to register an FIR. The activist said that the police’s decision not to register an FIR shows that the kidnappers are so powerful that no one is willing to take action against them.

A social worker said, “When we requested them, they did not listen to us. After this, when we went to register an FIR, we were straight away rejected. The police clearly said that they will not register an FIR in such a case.”

“This means these kidnappers are so powerful that no one is ready to take action against them. So, the only way we have is this road blockade. There were six students, out of which four have been released and two are still in custody,” the activist said.

According to Balochistan Post report, the social activist questioned the attitude of the policemen in this matter.

A social activist said, “The local Station House Officer (SHO) came here some time ago and we raised the same issue with him/her and now he/she is nowhere to be seen. We made the same request to the Additional SHO and he/she openly expressed his/her inability and helplessness in this matter.”

Earlier on May 26, the Baloch Yakjeheti Committee (BYC) had expressed concern over the alarming rise in the number of enforced disappearances and called it an endless cycle of pain for the Baloch community.

In the statement, BYC also claimed that in recent times there has been an increase in incidents of enforced disappearances by Pakistani law enforcement agencies, especially in the Gwadar region.

According to the BYC statement, enforced disappearances have plunged the entire Balochistan region into a cycle of trauma and suffering, causing endless suffering for the Baloch people. According to the statement, the increasing number of enforced disappearances and fake arrests in Gwadar remains a matter of grave concern.