A protest took place outside the Sindh Assembly on Sunday, demanding answers regarding the alleged abduction of two Baloch students from the University of Karachi (KU) by law enforcement agencies.
Relatives and civil society organizations had set up a protest camp outside the Karachi Press Club (KPC) for the past two days. On Sunday evening, they marched from the KPC to the provincial legislature. Many protesters, including women and children, removed police barriers at Arts Council Chowrangi and staged a sit-in outside the main gate of the assembly.
South SSP Asad Raza reported that around 60-70 protesters, led by Aamna Baloch, Seemi Din Mohammed Baloch, Abdul Wahab Baloch, and Varsa Pirzada, began their march from the KPC. The police refrained from intervening, as most of the protesters were women and children. Authorities were in discussions with the protesters to persuade them to end their sit-in, especially since a budget session was expected to occur on Monday evening.
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The protesters alleged that the police’s Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) had taken two KU students, Doda Baloch and Ghamshad Baloch, from their home near Maskan Chowrangi in Gulshan-i-Iqbal on June 7, and their whereabouts remain unknown. They argued that if the students were involved in illegal activities, they should have been arrested with a warrant instead of being forcibly taken from their homes at night.
Speakers at the protest criticized the treatment of the Baloch community, questioning the reasons behind the alleged high-handedness of authorities. They demanded the release of the two KU students and other missing persons, asserting that if any criminal charges existed, those individuals should be presented in court.
One protester, Saeeda Zehri, shared her personal story, explaining that her father, Abdul Hameed Zehri, was taken from Balochistan around 14 months ago, and his whereabouts are still unknown. She recounted a meeting with intelligence agency personnel who described her father as a “nice person” with no criminal record, expressing her confusion about why he had been taken.
Aamna highlighted a recent incident where several protesters were detained while trying to reach the chief minister’s house, calling the police’s actions “illegal.” She declared that the sit-in outside the assembly gate would persist until the missing KU students and others were released.
