Hundreds of students from Quaid-e-Azam University (QAU), Islamabad assembled to demand the release of missing Baloch student Hafeez Baloch, who was allegedly kidnapped by masked armed men in Khuzdar, Balochistan earlier this week.
Hafeez Baloch had been volunteering at a local school, teaching children for free during a vacation in Khuzdar. On Tuesday, ‘three masked armed men came in a black surf car and forcibly took Abdul Hafeez to an unknown location in front of the students,’ Hafeez’s father told BBC.
The missing student’s family filed a complaint with the City Police Station Khuzdar regarding his disappearance, and also tried to find the missing student on their own. The family said that they did not know why he was picked up and that Hafeez did not have animosity towards him.
Hafeez was completing his MPhil in Physics from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad.
As reported in the Balochistan Post, students alleged that Hafeez was ‘taken away by security forces,’ carrying signs demanding the release of ‘their teacher’ and ‘fellow student.’
Khuzdar: Hundreds of students participated in a rally today to demand release of missing Baloch student Hafeez Baloch. Hafeez, an MPhil researcher from Quaid-e-Azam University in Islamabad, was in Khuzdar on holidays when he was taken away by Pakistani security forces on 8th Feb. pic.twitter.com/00DyxZTD7h
— The Balochistan Post – English (@TBPEnglish) February 11, 2022
Hafeez Baloch is one of multiple Baloch students and young people who have been reportedly forcibly disappeared. The Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) stated that it had registered at least 5,000 cases of ‘Balochistan’s forcibly disappeared.’ According to the group, at times security forces do not deny the detentions, but claim that the individuals in question are militant Baloch fighters.
In November 2021, students at the University of Balochistan staged a sit-in after two students, Sohail Baloch and Faseeh Baloch, were allegedly abducted from the campus by security forces. Those two students also remain missing.
