Quetta, Jan 3 (IANS) As Pakistani forces continue to escalate the enforced disappearance of civilians across Balochistan, families staged a sit- in protest in province's Kech district blocking a key stretch of the China–Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) in the Tejaban region for the third consecutive day to demand the recovery of four missing members of the same family, local media reported on Saturday.
The demonstration comes amid reports that the district administration broke an agreement, leaving women and children on the road overnight in freezing conditions.
According to the protestors, during talks with the district administration last week, officials assured them of the recovery of missing persons, especially women. Thereafter, the sit-in was temporarily ended but resumed when the authorities failed to act, The Balochistan Post reported.
The protesters said that the four members of the same family, one of whom is nine months pregnant, remain missing, and the authorities’ failure to recover them has sparked serious concerns.
The four members, including two women, Hani Dilwash and Hair-Nisa, were forcibly disappeared from Hub Chowki, and two men, Fareed Ijaz and Mujahid Dilwash, were forcibly disappeared from Tejaban in Kech by Pakistani forces.
On the other hand, protesters alleged that Pakistani forces detained another four people, including two women from Tejaban at the Hub checkpoint, and transferred them to an unknown location. The families and protestors have also dismissed social media claims that the detained individuals were planning a suicide attack.
The protesters further stated that while the world rings in the New Year, women and children in Balochistan are compelled to stage protests on the streets in the bitter cold, demanding the recovery of their loved ones.
Enforced disappearances in Balochistan have long been a sensitive issue, drawing repeated concerns from several human rights organisations.
Meanwhile, the closure of the CPEC highway reportedly caused severe disruption for both the local population and inter-district travellers.
According to the human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), the people of Balochistan continue to live under fear, repression, and systematic human rights violations.
The BYC called on the people of Balochistan to stand in solidarity with the families of the victims, and urged international humanitarian organisations to hold Pakistan and its institutions accountable for the illegal abduction of Baloch women and men.
--IANS
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