It has been almost a year since Baloch student Feroz Baloch went missing from Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, after he was allegedly abducted while he was on his way to the university’s library.
Feroz Baloch was abducted on May 11, 2022, while he was on his way to the university’s library, and since then his whereabouts remain unknown.
He was a resident of Turbat and was one of the members of the Baloch Students council, Islamabad.
A month after he was forcible disappeared, his father had called on authorities to produce him before courts if he had committed a crime.
It has been more than a year since #Baloch student #FerozBaloch went missing from Rawalpindi.
A month after he was forcible disappeared, his father had called on authorities to produce him before courts if he had committed a crime and to this day his whereabouts remain unknown. pic.twitter.com/qGAybbJUpA— Dissent Today (@DissentToday) March 28, 2023
He had also appealed to the authorities to release him if he is in custody.
The family of Feroz Baloch had also moved the Islamabad High Court through their counsel Iman Hazir Mazari against his and other Baloch students’ abductions last year.
The IHC had directed to put the issue of enforced disappearances of Baloch students before a recently-formed commission over the issue.
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.
