Baloch student group to boycott classes across Pakistan on March 21 against enforced disappearances

The council urged students from all over Pakistan to boycott classes on Monday, March 21 to record their protest for the safe recovery of Hafeez Baloch, reported Pakistan's vernacular media.

They are seeking the release of fellow student Hafeez Baloch, who was forcibly disappeared by Pakistani intelligence agencies.

Meanwhile, a protest will be held in Quetta for the recovery of Zahid Baloch on Friday, March 18 at 4 pm on the eighth anniversary of the enforced disappearance of Zahid, reported local media, The Balochistan Post.

Zarjan Baloch, wife of Zahid Baloch, former chairman of Baloch Students Organization in a statement announced the protest in Quetta.

She said that after the disappearance of Zahid Baloch, the family was severely affected. "The family is deeply concerned about whether he is alive or not because in these eight years we have knocked on the doors of all state institutions from the courts but no one has listened to our pain and has not even told us. Where is Zahid Baloch and in what condition is he?", said Zarjan.

Appealing to the government and the apex court, Zarjan Baloch said, "We are citizens of this state and we are living in it. Don't we as citizens have the right to know whether Zahid is safe or not? If there is any case against Zahid and he is involved in any crime then he should be produced in court and punished according to the law of Pakistan."

Zarjan Baloch further said, "We will not remain silent on the enforced disappearance of Zahid Baloch. Zahid Baloch should be brought to light and we as citizens should be provided justice. We appeal to the government and state institutions to bring Zahid to light and save us from this agony."

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) earlier had expressed alarm over reports of a fresh wave of enforced disappearances in Balochistan and the rest of Pakistan, including most recently, Hafeez Baloch, a postgraduate student at the university in Islamabad.

Experts believe that the missing persons may be dead, their mutilated bodies dumped into ditches. They may be interned, locked in some detention center of dubious legality. (ANI)