Baloch rights group South Korea chapter holds protest against recent enforced disappearances of women

Busan [South Korea], February 27 (ANI): The Baloch National Movement, South Korea Chapter on Sunday held a protest in Busan city against the recent enforced disappearances of Baloch women in Balochistan.

The protest took place on February 26 at Biff Square Nampo Dong from 15:00 to 17:00 pm (local time). Mahal Baloch, who has been identified as a female suicide bomber on Friday was arrested in Quetta by the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) and according to The Express Tribune, she was forced to support the Balochistan Liberation Front (BLF). According to details, Mahal Baloch was used by and forced to support BLF’s militant wing.

She had been separated from her children and turned into a suicide bomber in yet another case of Baloch mothers and sisters being used by terror outfits for nefarious purposes, the report said.
The CTD recovered from her handbag a suicide jacket with four to five kilos of explosive material attached to it.

The Balochistan CTD spokesperson said the alleged suicide bomber was planning to attack important installations or security forces in Quetta, The Express Tribune reported. New series of these protests are taking place after the enforced disappearances of Baloch women. On February 3, Pakistan Army in collaboration with intelligence agencies forcibly disappeared Rahim Zehri, his mother Mahbas Khatoon, his wife Rasheeda Zehri, and their two children from Gishkori Town in Quetta, the capital city of Balochistan.

In the same fashion, Pakistan Army whisked away Mahal Baloch, her two daughters and other women, and shifted them to an unknown location.
The family of Rahim Zehri were tortured, hence due to a mounting reaction from the masses, the women were released later on. However, the fate of Rahim Zehri is still unknown. Mahal Baloch was tortured as the eyewitness of her two daughters. The following day, two elderly ladies along with Mahal’s daughters were released but Mahal Baloch is still in Police detention.

Enforced disappearances are common in Balochistan. People forcibly disappear daily at the hands of the Pakistan Army and other law enforcement agencies, where mostly young people become the victim of enforced disappearances.
In the recent past, a few cases of the enforced disappearances of women have been also reported. Though in the last several months, a hike has been noticed in the enforced disappearances of Baloch women too.

In the last six months, a dozen of women have become the victim of enforced disappearances in Quetta, Karachi, Bolan, Kech and Panjgur. Even Balochistan High Court also confirmed some cases of enforced disappearances of women.
Prior to this, such incidents were reported in District Panjgur and other parts of Balochistan, where the Pakistan Army whisked away women; tortured and abused them sexually.

Women are kept in Nazi-style concentration camps where a woman was raped and became pregnant. Later on, she was forced to abortion. The enforced disappearances of Baloch women have been reported since 2015; however, in the last few months, the abduction of Baloch women has increased.
Last year, in August, Pakistan Army took away thirteen women in the Uch Kaman area of district Bolan. A known poetess of Balochi, Habiba Pir Jan was abducted from Karachi and another woman was detained from District Kech.

The cases of forced disappearances of Baloch women were also reported in 2018 and 2019. Baloch Nationalists claim that the Pakistan spy agency abducted a school teacher, Zarina Marri with her one-year-old child in 2007.
Since then her whereabouts and fate are unknown. Renowned Pakistani journalist, Hamid Mir in one of his tweets claims that Zarina Marri forcibly disappeared from Khohlu and later on she was shifted to central detention in Karachi.