Prominent Baloch journalist Abid Mir has gone missing from Islamabad, where he was pursuing his PhD at the National University Of Modern Languages.
Abid Mir is a regional editor of a progressive digital media platform Lok Sujag.
He is also a writer and Ph.D. student.
According to Abid Mir’s family, he has been missing since yesterday.
Lok Sujag registers grave concern over the disappearance of Baloch journalist and our regional editor Abid Mir.#FindAbidMir pic.twitter.com/sWTIYLI0ZR
— Lok Sujag (@lok_sujag) March 9, 2023
The issue of enforced disappearances is a severe and longstanding issue in Pakistan.
According to a report released by the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances (COIOED) in July 2022, a total of 8,696 cases of missing persons have been reported. While 6,513 of these cases have been solved, 2,219 are still pending. Among the missing persons, the majority of people are from Baloch and Pashtun ethnicities.
However, human rights activists claim the number is much higher than this.
Earlier, unidentified men abducted a Baloch citizen identified as Muhammad Rahim Zehri along with his family members, including his mother, wife, and children, from Quetta. Rahim Zehri still remains missing, while the rest of the family was released.
Last month, a Baloch woman, a single mother of two children, who was allegedly abducted by the authorities from Quetta, was declared a ‘terrorist’ by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD).
