“Will anyone come? We have been waiting for so many days,” asked a Baloch mother, grasping my hand in hope of good news. Another mother, Zar Gul, whose son Saeed Ahmed was forcibly disappeared in 2013, joined in, holding my other hand and saying, “Maybe this time we’ll bring our sons home.”

These past fifty-plus days in Islamabad have been an emotional whirlwind for anyone visiting the Baloch families’ camp near the National Press Club in F‑6 sector. The women’s stories are so harrowing that they often collapse while recounting their ordeal — seeing their sons abducted by plainclothes men who broke into their homes; enduring ten years of agonizing waiting, searching for answers in courts and on the streets; holding fifteen years of hope that their brothers remain alive as they were when taken before their eyes.

The Baloch National Movement’s human rights department, Paank, reported that in the first half of 2025 alone, 785 cases of enforced disappearances and 121 extrajudicial killings were documented.

The Defence of Human Rights has documented 3,140 cases since 2006, with 1,362 victims still missing. In 2025, 32 new cases were reported.

Only the families enduring this cruel, collective, and relentless punishment truly understand what each second of the day feels like. Their cries seem to go unheard in the corridors of power just streets away — no government minister has visited the camp to date. This government’s apathy is so stark and the war on its citizens so brazen that even the fiction of engagement with these elderly women and young girls has been abandoned.

The callousness is further illustrated by the authorities’ refusal to allow the peaceful protesters to set up camp for shelter outside the Press Club. Much like they are caged in Balochistan, these women are now confined to a narrow road, surrounded by barriers and barbed wire — a chilling reminder of that treatment during the 2023 Baloch long march to Islamabad.

During the freezing winter of 2023, many of them were attacked with water cannons and sticks as they peacefully protested. Many, including young Mahzaib (niece of forcibly disappeared Rashid Hussain), were unlawfully arrested, detained, and loaded into buses to be forcibly sent back to Balochistan.

Although the Baloch Yekjehti Committee has made significant strides in advocating for human rights, its impact has been severely hampered by the detention of its leadership, most notably Dr. Mahrang Baloch, its founder and a globally recognized human rights activist.

Dr. Baloch has now been detained since March 22, following a peaceful sit-in protesting state violence.

Her imprisonment has deeply affected the community. Elderly mothers at the protest camp have shown me photographs of their sons and said, “Mahrang raised her voice for them. Now, we will raise our voice for Mahrang.”

Moreover, almost the entire leadership of the Committee is now behind bars. This includes Sebghetullah Shah Jee, Beebarg Baloch, Beebow Baloch, and Gulzadi Baloch.

The legal process surrounding these detentions reflects a persistent pattern of arbitrary and prolonged incarceration. The authorities have repeatedly invoked the colonial-era Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) law — originally enacted in 1960 — allowing detention without formal charges. Even when the judicial system convenes hearings, the prosecution repeatedly fails to present credible evidence, yet the detainees remain imprisoned.

These women and girls are not just here for their loved ones – they are here to demand the release of those brave leaders who carried the grief of the Baloch people on their shoulders. They remember the Long March with Dr. Mahrang to Islamabad in 2023.

Though the state succeeded in breaking the hope of many — as seen in the much smaller number who returned this year — even the stubborn hope held by these few women sends a powerful message to the people of Pakistan: no matter how heartless the state’s response, the path of peaceful resistance must not be abandoned.

Passersby often approach the camp and ask, “Why have they been sitting here so long? Has anyone from the government come to speak to them yet?” When told that no one has come despite more than a month of protest, through scorching heat and torrential downpour, they merely sigh and move on. But these women cannot move forward, as their lives remain forever suspended.

There is no doubt that enforced disappearances are Pakistan’s greatest crisis — the clearest indication of a total breakdown in rule of law in a society that tolerates this atrocity. Impunity is entrenched: not a single perpetrator has been identified or brought to justice.

Worse still, impunity has grown in recent months, especially since the 26th Constitutional Amendment. 

Baloch families have always faced significant challenges in registering cases for crimes committed against them. But following recent amendments, police have begun to outright refuse the registration of abduction First Information Reports (FIRs) — even when the Islamabad High Court is actively hearing a habeas corpus petition or has issued a court order.

Habeas corpus petitions, which were once heard promptly — often the same or next day — are now delayed due to frivolous administrative objections, even when hearings are scheduled. New judges at the Islamabad High Court have started to decline directing police to register abduction FIRs immediately, even in cases where previous court interventions had led to the recovery of missing persons, as in the Ahmad Farhad case.

The state has given its people nothing to hope for. Yet against all odds, these courageous mothers, sisters, daughters, and wives still find hope. They refuse to give up. Their loved ones may be missing, but they will not be forgotten. 

The state must remember: this pain cannot be erased, and the peaceful struggle against enforced disappearances cannot be ignored — doing so risks irreparable damage to the integrity of the federation.

Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir

The writer is an Islamabad-based lawyer and human rights activist.

The post In Islamabad, State’s Apathy on Full Display as Baloch Families Hold Protest Camp appeared first on Dissent Today.

Mahrang says she fears for the lives of those who are currently in custody, because the police’s treatment of the protestors has been violent and cruel.

The individuals arrested during the march include family members of missing persons and Zaheer Baloch, a PhD candidate at Quaid-e-Azam University. In a video circulating on social media, Zaheer Baloch can be seen politely requesting the police to allow the march participants to continue their protest. Shortly after, he was arrested.

“Zaheer Baloch and more than 100 participants of our long march are missing. We have not been informed of their location,” Mahrang Baloch told Dissent Today.

On Thursday, Islamabad police faced heavy criticism for their unprovoked use of force against Baloch activists and family members of missing persons who had traveled from Balochistan to Islamabad for the long march against extrajudicial killings and for the recovery of missing persons. To forcefully disperse the sit-in, the police arrested organizers and participants on the night of their arrival in the capital. After their subsequent release on court orders, videos of women and children being forced onto buses arranged by the Islamabad police to be returned to Balochistan against their will went viral on social media, sparking public outrage. Witnessing the mistreatment, the bus drivers refused to transport the protesters back to Quetta and offered their support instead.

Mahrang Baloch told Dissent Today that female and child protesters were physically assaulted by police officers who hurled profanities and labeled them as “terrorists.”

“After witnessing the police assaulting our people to make them leave Islamabad, I asked the women if they wanted to end the protest. However, everyone stated that they would not be pressured into returning to Balochistan and would continue the protest because that is why they had journeyed to Islamabad,” she said.

The organizers have issued a three-day ultimatum to the government to meet their demands, which include the release of all detained protestors from four days ago, as well as locating all missing persons. “It is ironic that those who were demanding the release of missing persons have themselves now gone missing,” Mahrang added.

The protest ultimatum will expire today (Monday), after which the protestors will announce their future plans. “We have and will continue to be peaceful, but the government’s policy of indifference persists,” laments Mahrang.

Caretaker federal ministers Fawad Hasan Fawad and Murtaza Solangi visited the sit-in and assured the organizers of their cooperation. However, according to Mahrang, no progress has been made on the demands and no government representatives have contacted them since the ministers’ visit.

In addition to the recovery of missing persons, the protestors are demanding that the government acknowledge the “fake encounters” conducted by the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD). “We possess all the necessary evidence to prove the number of missing persons and those who were killed in these staged encounters,” stated Mahrang.

Who is Mahrang Baloch?

Dr. Mahrang Baloch, 31, is the daughter of Abdul Ghaffar Langov, whose mutilated body was discovered in the coastal town of Gadanni in 2011. He had gone missing in 2006, and Mahrang has been actively protesting against enforced disappearances ever since.

According to Mahrang, when her father was finally presented before a judge seven months after his initial disappearance, he had been severely tortured and his teeth were broken. Langov was released in 2009, only to be kidnapped once again seven months later from a hospital where he was caring for his sick wife. Two years after that, he was found dead in Gaddani.

“My father was extrajudicially killed. No court in Pakistan had declared him a terrorist or criminal. He died as a missing person,” she asserted.

In 2017, Mahrang’s 21-year-old brother was abducted. Although he was released after three months, the hostility she encountered from authorities throughout her search for him strengthened her determination to begin a movement against enforced disappearances.

Ailia Zehra

The writer is a journalist and the Founding Editor of Dissent Today. She covers politics, human rights, and religious extremism. She tweets at @AiliaZehra.

The post Unfazed By Police Violence, Mahrang Baloch Continues To Lead Islamabad Protest Against Enforced Disappearances appeared first on Dissent Today.

Last week, three dead bodies were brought to a hospital in Quetta, while on Eid, another bullet-riddled body was recovered from Mach. Vice Chairman of Voice for Baloch Missing Persons Mama Qadeer Baloch has claimed six bodies were recovered from various parts of Balochistan. 

Social media has been flooded with messages of sympathy for the death of an elephant in Karachi today & Yesterday . However, the same individuals who expressed such sentiments for an elephant failed to sympathize with the families of #BalochMissingPersons .
Just one day before… pic.twitter.com/IlbouvUQ3O

— Mama Qadeer Baloch (@QadeerMama) April 23, 2023

Three bullet-riddled bodies were brought to the Civil Hospital in Quetta by security forces. The security forces had said the men were Baloch insurgents killed in operation. However, the deceased were later identified as victims of enforced disappearance, claimed The Balochistan Post.

Among the dead were Ghulam Fareed Shahwani, Azeem Khan, and Hazrat Sumalani.

Ghulam Fareed Shahwani, a resident of Sor Karez, Mastung, went missing in August 2022. Azeem Khan, a resident of Nishpa Harnai and a livestock farmer by profession went missing on March 21, 2023, while he was traveling from Quetta to Harnai.

Hazrat Sumalani, a resident of Gharbok, Sanjal, went missing from Harnai on March 23, 2023.

News Desk

dissenttoday.net

The post 6 Bodies Found From Different Parts Of Balochistan; 3 Identified As Missing Persons appeared first on Dissent Today.

Voice for Baloch Missing Persons vice president Mama Qadeer has been staging sit-ins and organising protest demonstrations across the province for the release of missing persons.

Mama Qadeer’s son Jaleel Reiki went missing in 2010. Three years later, he found his bullet-riddled body and since then he has been protesting against enforced disappearances.

Mama Qadeer said that the CTD is forcing families of Baloch missing persons, including children, to falsely link him to banned outfits.

Be Aware :
Please be aware CTD is pressuring families of #Balochmissingpersons, including children as young as ten, to provide written statements to CTD accusing me, #MamaQadeer, of having ties with banned militant outfits. This is a deliberate attempt to defame and trap me.

I…

— Mama Qadeer Baloch (@QadeerMama) April 9, 2023

He said that he has always organised peaceful protests.

“Despite these challenges, I will continue to remain peaceful in my activism. My struggle will continue until every missing person is reunited with their loved ones,” he added. 

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.

News Desk

dissenttoday.net

The post Baloch Activist Accuses CTD Of Trying To Falsely Link Him To Militant Groups appeared first on Dissent Today.