Pakistani forces raided the girls’ hostel of Bolan Medical College in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan, last night and detained nursing student Khadija Baloch, daughter of Pir Jan, and shifted her to an unknown location.
Khadija Baloch is a seventh-semester BS Nursing student and a resident of Heronik area of Kech district.
After the incident, female students residing in the girls’ hostel have started a protest sit-in.
The protesters demanded the immediate and safe recovery of Khadija Baloch, an end to the harassment of female students and an end to enforced disappearances.
According to eyewitnesses, the raid involved personnel from Frontier Corps (FC), Military Intelligence (MI) and Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) who forcibly detained Khadija Baloch.
Baloch students chanted slogans during the protest, saying that such measures have caused them severe mental stress and fear and that they are being targeted on the basis of their Baloch identity.
The Baloch Solidarity Committee (BYC) reacted strongly to the incident and said that the enforced disappearance of Khadija Baloch is not an exception but a part of state policy.
The statement said that the Pakistani state is using enforced disappearance as a weapon to collectively punish Baloch families, in which students, widows, daughters and women are also being targeted.
BYC has appealed to the Baloch people to unite at this time and raise their voice against state oppression and cruelty.
It should be remembered that the incidents of enforced disappearances are continuously increasing in Balochistan and now women are also becoming victims of this process in large numbers.
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