LAHORE: “If my father has done something wrong then he should be produced in court,” says a tired Hani Baloch.

Dressed simply in her traditional Baloch clothes, her head covered in a bright pink scarf, its colour does not reflect her dark and somber mood. She has travelled from Karachi to lead a protest at the Lahore Press Club, accompanied by a cousin.

A student of Bachelors, Hani is still overwhelmed and confused and she admits that such stress has never been a norm in her life.

“All I wanted to do was to study medicine, and work for mankind,” she says. “But the way my father is being treated, I hate the mere thought of doing anything for people. No one cares for anyone but themselves.”

On July 26, 2016, Abdul Wahid Baloch, a renowned writer and poet and resident of Lyari -- a Baloch dominated area of Karachi -- was stopped at the Hyderabad Toll Plaza and taken away, however, not a person in his family knows where he was taken and why.

“No one can imagine the stress we are living in,” says Hani. “My mother, a patient of hypertension, roams the house in anxiety. My sister is in a state. My grandmother is in hospital, and keeps asking after her son. I have to lie to her telling her that I just met my father in the police station.”

Akhtar Hussain has also travelled from Karachi for the protest. He is general-secretary of the Awami Workers Party and member of the Pakistan Bar Council. He says that too many laws instead of protecting the rights of people go against them.

“We do not know the real reason behind his detention, but under the Protection of Pakistan Act 2014, too many political workers who have questioned the role of the state and government have been reported missing. I would like everyone to be reminded of Baba Jan from Gilgit Baltistan, and of so many people from Okara, and Muridke and Dera Saigal.”

Hussain says that even the Anti-Terrorism Act has endangered ordinary political workers. As for those from Balochistan it is even dangerous.

Some Baloch students also took part in the protest. “Being a Baloch is enough to put yourself in a risky situation,” said one. “But it is also true that anyone -- even the non Baloch -- who raise their voices against oppression and injustice are often attacked from different quarters. Unfortunately though such people get very little coverage in the media, and even if they do, the reporters themselves put themselves at risk by doing so.”

“Our political parties operate in a vacuum,” says Raheemul Haq, a researcher.

“They want to get rid of something they don’t like such as corruption and it soon becomes a buzz word. But when it comes to other issues that need a voice, such as missing persons, then no one wants to unite with the oppressed.”

Abdul Wahid Baloch was working on a book on human rights defenders, and was working at Gaba Publications (Lyari) where he published several writings. These included pieces in a Balochi language magazine called ‘Labzan’ or ‘Words’.

Hani says it was major evidence that other literary people had openly supported Abdul Wahid and stated that he was a peace loving man and no terrorist.

“In the beginning I was running from pillar to post to have an FIR filed, but they would not even let that happen,” she says.

“Neither the CPLC Karachi (City Police Liasion Committee) nor the police would file an FIR until I went to court to get a petition. Only after that did I get to file an FIR.”

Now she says all she wants is for any news of her father.

“All the time we are suffocated by nightmarish thoughts of him being in some godforsaken place or a torture cell; we as his family need to know where he is and why he was taken away.”

Published in Dawn October 29th, 2016