Baloch people take to streets in Karachi to demand release of Wahid Baloch

Karachi, Pakistan, October 5,2016: Hundreds of people from Pakistan's Baloch ethnic minority took to the streets of Karachi to demand the release of a kidnapped community rights activist. At the October 3rd protest they carried signs reading "Release Wahid Baloch" and "Enough is enough. No more missing persons".

52 year old Wahid Baloch went missing on July 26th after allegedly being snatched from a bus by two unidentified men. The activist's family said," Police had refused to investigate the disappearance". In the past, leaders from the Baloch minority group have accused Pakistan's Intelligence Agencies of illegal abductions and killings but Pakistani security forces which are which are involved in a bloody struggle with Baloch's separatist groups reject the claims yet.

Balochistan is the largest province of Pakistan, constituting 45 % of country's geographical area. But the area is under seize. Since 6 decades, insurgency and demands for separate homeland for Balochs have been simmering in this part of Pakistan. Baloch people have often complained of apathy and marginalization of their people by Pakistani government and lack of development in the area. However, Balochistan is rich in minerals and natural resources. In last several decades, human rights violations and atrocities carried out on Baloch people have often been cited, but the voice of Baloch people has not been heard significantly at the international level. Many separatists have been pushed out of the country and some of them have taken asylums in European countries and have been trying to raise the voice for a free and independent Balochistan.

-Report prepared by NewsGram desk.

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