KARACHI: The 15th anniversary of the disappearance of their father, Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, brought 25-year-old Baloch social activist Sammi Baloch and younger sister Mehlab Baloch to the Karachi Press Club on Friday to bare their hearts and share their pain with the media.

“My mother doesn’t know her marital status. Is she a widow or a wife? My siblings and I don’t know if we have been orphaned or if our father is alive somewhere. We have been left completely in the dark for 15 years now,” Sammi Baloch said.

“The number of missing persons and enforced disappearances are increasing by the day but the state is not interested in recovering these people or resolving the matter. Having faith in the justice system, we also approached the courts. We were told by the Supreme Court of Pakistan that our father had most probably left the country, he was not abducted. How are we to accept such a ruling without any proof?

“Still, out of respect for national institutions, we reached out to the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances. There we were given another cock and bull story. Thrice we marched to Islamabad, where we were greeted with sticks and stones. We are trolled on social media and pushed out of the way wherever we go looking for justice.

Daughters of Dr Deen Muhammad Baloch, who went missing 15 years ago, want clear answer from state

“But rest assured we are not stopping here. We will approach every platform. We will also reach out to foreign institutions and human rights organisations. It is our right to know what happened to our father,” she said.

Sharing her anguish, younger sister Mehlab Baloch said that they zoom in on pictures of dead bodies on social media to check for a birthmark on their father’s hand. “Maybe he looks different now so we look for such clues,” she said before breaking down.

But Sammi told her not to cry or show her pain to people who didn’t care. “Baloch men are being abducted and taken away from their homes for the purpose of weakening our community. But in fact this shameful and cowardly act has made us women stronger. We are labelled ‘anti-state’, ‘traitors’ and ‘terrorists’. But we are only searching for our family members. You don’t see us as the citizens of this country. At least see us as human beings. Don’t expect us to chant ‘Pakistan Zindabad’ after planting hate in our hearts,” Sammi said.

“Fifteen years ago, we were little children crying for our father’s return outside the Quetta Press Club and today we are grown up and still demanding his return at the Karachi Press Club,” Sammi concluded.

Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), Asad Iqbal Butt said that enforced disappearances are happening all around now. “The HRCP has published as many as six reports about it and yet the state is not willing to accept the issue. But the people are more aware. There are protests taking place against enforced disappearances in all provinces, including Punjab. If the state cannot provide justice, then it is the right of people to raise their voice. You cannot take that right from them,” he said.

Community elder and supporter, Abdul Wahab Baloch, pointed out that 15 years was a very long time. “It is almost like life imprisonment. You cannot imagine the living hell the families of missing persons go through. And enforced disappearances are too common in Balochistan. Every other home has a loved one who was abducted. In one home, all five brothers were taken away. Please join us and be our voice in our struggle against this injustice,” he shared.

HRCP vice chairman Qazi Khizar said that after someone is abducted, there is total denial by government agencies of having anything to do with his disappearance “and yet they are either returned by the Inter-Services Intelligence, the Military Intelligence or Rangers”.

He said that if these people being picked did anything questionable then there are the courts to look into such things. “Why are these agencies taking the law into their own hands? In doing so they are also violating the Constitution of Pakistan,” he pointed out.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024