Source : INDIATV NEWS
Protests have erupted in Zehri town of Balochistan after more than 10 Baloch individuals were forcibly abducted by Pakistani security forces on Saturday, sparking widespread outrage and demands for their safe return. According to the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), a leading Baloch human rights organization, the raids carried out by the Pakistani military and law enforcement agencies (LEAs) in Zehri were part of a broader pattern of “state vengeance” against the Baloch population.
The BYC shared the identities of 12 individuals who have been confirmed as victims of enforced disappearances, with others still unaccounted for. The group condemned the ongoing wave of abductions and violence against the Baloch people, describing the actions as “intensifying enforced disappearances and violence” against the community.
In response to these abductions, residents of Zehri have organized a series of protests, including a complete shutter-down strike and sit-ins. Demonstrators blocked key roads, including the Zehri Cross at Anjira and the main Quetta-Karachi Highway at Surab Cross, demanding the immediate release of the detained individuals. Sit-ins are also taking place in front of the Levies Station in Zehri, where protesters have vowed to continue their actions until all abducted persons are freed.
Baloch Yakjehti Committee expressed solidarity with the families of the victims and called on people from surrounding areas to join the protests. “We must stand firm against enforced disappearances and hold the perpetrators accountable,” the organization stated in a social media post.
Amid the rising violence and brutality faced by the Baloch people, Mahrang Baloch, a prominent Baloch human rights activist and organizer of the BYC, has called for a national gathering on January 25 in Dalbandin. This date marks the discovery of over 100 mutilated bodies in the Tootak region of Balochistan in 2014, a tragedy that remains a symbol of the ongoing human rights abuses in the region. The gathering aims to highlight the plight of the Baloch people and demand an end to the state-sponsored violence they continue to endure.
