Education is one of the basic rights of every human in the world and is considered a primary element for students. However, it is a distinct dream for Baloch students in Balochistan, where students are always the victims of enforced disappearance and fake encounters. Recently, four young Baloch students forcibly disappeared at Dera Gazi Khan University Punjab late at night at 2 am, were identified as Ameer Baloch, Salman Baloch, Sakim Baloch and Zubair Baloch.
In truth, enforced disappearance is not a new episode in Balochistan, but it has been long destroying the Baloch youth and students. For so many years, Baloch students have been forcibly disappeared by cruel forces, thousands of people were killed or martyred and several others have disappeared. Besides, after the public, they initiated an attack on Baloch students in their educational institutions, even though many students were killed or forcibly disappeared, and many others were mentally and physically tortured.
After the crackdowns beginning from 2009 in full pace, there was a slowdown after 2015, but this did not last for long. After 2017, the disappearances observed a flow in its fresher form which has covered mostly Baloch youth, including a large portion of students, and women alongside fake encounters and one-sided media trials during the pendency of the case.
However, these students are the latest victim, but earlier some months, Fateh Baloch, who was a student and a part-time English teacher was forcibly abducted on 14 June 2022, and still, his family has been clueless about his whereabouts. Providing and getting education becomes a violation in Balochistan. More importantly, students in Balochistan have been prioritizing education, but unfortunately, enforced disappearance is breaking their dreams and physically torturing them away from education.
Among the four recent abducted students, one is Ameer Hayat who hails from a remote area in Balochistan, Jamak, where just a single Middle school has been established; so for higher education, he took admission in Dera Ghazi Khan University in Punjab, but depressingly, as being a student and the sole son of his parent, was forcibly abducted along with four other classmates at Dera Ghazi Khan university. This demonstrates that getting higher education in Balochistan is extremely hard.
Many organizations are made to assist the people of a state, but woefully in Balochistan, instead of assisting the people, they are practicing cruelty and brutality on innocent people through enforced disappearances and fake encounters. It is very disheartening that neither homes are safe, nor educational institutions, in Balochistan. If education is a violation in Balochistan, then what else remains for Baloch students? A question to the state.
This issue has not only caused immense pain and suffering to the families of the missing persons but has also had a significant impact on the academic performance of Baloch students. Moreover, the issue has also led to a significant number of Baloch students dropping out of school or university. According to a report by the Baloch Human Rights Organisation (BHRO), between 2004 and 2019, over 1,500 Baloch students had to drop out of school or university due to the fear of enforced disappearance (BHRO, 2019).
Certainly, owing to these brutalities, many parents in Balochistan lost their trust in admitting their children to higher educational institutions in Pakistan, and several others have a terrifying fear for their loved ones in Balochistan’s educational institutions.
As the father of a missing student says, “I was the unluckiest person to admit my son in Balochistan’s educational institutions”. He also said that if once they released his son, he would never allow him to attend Balochistan’s educational institutions.
Besides, Saki Sawad, a Baloch teacher and writer also faced forced detention from the same city at Turbat earlier. He used to teach Balochi writing as well as used to write Balochi in social media, which helped many students understand Balochi. His abduction raised many concerns for his family. Is teaching Balochi and writing on social media a crime for Baloch students and teachers?
Moreover, it is concerning that one is released after an abduction but five more are being abducted with no end in sight for heinous practice. Feroz Baloch is also one such student who was forcibly disappeared on 11 May 2022, while on his way to the library at Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, and is still disappeared without any information of his whereabouts.
But apart from the delaying tactics, the Disappeared Persons Commission is doing nothing to get the Baloch students released. Other than passing remarks on enforced disappearances, whether in courts, parliament, or assemblies, nothing productive has ever been done practically to resolve the issue of enforced disappearances of the Baloch.
Apart from students, Master Yousaf, an SST (secondary school teacher) was forcibly abducted in the same city of Turbat on 8 October 2014, and still, his sons are hopeless and helpless to find their father after struggling constantly for the last nine years. They say that they don’t know yet whether they are orphans or not. Not only Yousaf, hundreds of teachers have disappeared for a long time, and their women are baffled, whether they are widows or not.
Many organizations are made to assist the people of a state, but woefully in Balochistan, instead of assisting the people, they are practicing cruelty and brutality on innocent people through enforced disappearances and fake encounters. It is very disheartening that neither homes are safe, nor educational institutions, in Balochistan. If education is a violation in Balochistan, then what else remains for Baloch students? A question to the state.
