New Delhi:
Abductions and enforced disappearances of Balochis, reportedly by the Pakistani military establishment and its notorious spy agency ISI have taken a sharp upturn across Balochistan. Boys as young as 11 are allegedly being abducted as gross human rights violations continue, local news outlets say.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, a human rights organisation, has confirmed the identities of 11 Baloch nationals, including three minors, who disappeared after being forcibly abducted by Pakistani security forces.
According to a report in the Balochistan Post, the abductions happened on the morning of March 16 from near SBK University in Balochistan’s Nushki district. Though several dozen people from the area were abducted, the identities of 11 have so far been confirmed. The group of abducted individuals includes residents of the town, including labourers, drivers, and even students.
“Many more people are missing,” said the human rights group, raising concerns over the fear and distress among the families of those who have disappeared, as well as the local community as a whole.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee emphasised that the abduction and disappearance of minors and innocent civilians is a gross violation of human rights. It has also appealed to the international human rights organisations to “intervene urgently”.
According to the report in Balochistan Post, those identified as victims of forced abductions and disappearances include:
- Liaqat Baloch, a student in class 6
- Adnan Baloch from Ghareebabad in Nushki, another student in grade 6
- Zia ur Rehman, also from Ghareebabad, Nushki, a student in class 7
- Muhammad Usman Baloch from Zorabad
- Zubair Ahmed from Chagai
- Atta ur Rehman, also from Chagai
- Umar Shah from Padag
- Tahir Khan, also from Padag
- Hafiz Shakoor from Chagai
- Jaleel Ahmed, from Kalat
- Sanaullah, from Quetta
Enforced disappearances across Balochistan have become a recurring problem. In 2025 there has been a surge in both abductions as well as extrajudicial killings. The residents of Balochistan live in fear amid reports of brutality by Pakistan’s security forces.
Human rights groups have repeatedly urged Pakistani authorities to put an end to these torturous practices and has appealed for accountability. However, according to news reports, such incidents persist.
Balochistan, now a province of Pakistan, has never accepted Pakistan’s “forceful occupation” since 1947. Political groups as well as armed ones have been a war with the Pakistani military.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF BALOCHISTAN
Balochistan, also known as Kalat, had declared itself a sovereign nation after its gained independence from British India on August 5, 1947. It was Muhammad Ali Jinnah who was the lawyer and legal adviser of Khan Mir Ahmed Yar Khan – the ‘Khan of Kalat’, and had fought the legal cause for Kalat’s independence.
On August 4, 1947, a meeting was held in New Delhi, which was chaired by then British Viceroy to India, Lord Mountbatten, and was attended by the then Khan of Kalat, the chief minister of Kalat, Muslim League chief Muhammad Ali Jinnah, and head of the Indian National Congress, Jawaharlal Nehru. Kalat was given three choices – join India, join Pakistan, or seek an independent nation.
The Khan of Kalat chose an independent nation, and Muhammad Ali Jinnah supported the Khan of Kalat’s decision. As a result, it was agreed in that meeting that Kalat would become an independent country from August 5, 1947. Jinnah insisted that the regions of Kharan, Las Bela, and Makaran merge with princely state of Kalat to form a complete and independent nation of Balochistan – they agreed.
Muhammad Ali Jinnah with the Khan of Kalat Mir Ahmed Yar Khan (Photo Credit: Facebook/Lofmountains / Travel Balochistan)
Jinnah’s Muslim League then officially signed a treaty with Kalat on August 11, 1947, which recognised Kalat as an independent country. But months later, on March 26, 1948, Jinnah ordered the Pakistani Army to move into Kalat (Balochistan) to forcibly make it a part of Pakistan.
A day later, on March 27, 1948, in a news bulletin on All India Radio, it was announced that the Khan of Kalat approached India to merge with it after Balochistan’s parliament unanimously rejected joining Pakistan, but New Delhi was “not in a position” to accept it, said then Secretary of the Ministry of States VP Menon. However, then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Home Minister Sardar Patel distanced themselves from this statement.
(Inputs from ANI)
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