Hundreds in Karachi march against enforced disappearances

Hundreds marched in Karachi on Friday to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, carrying banners of loved ones who have been forcibly disappeared or killed.

On December 21, 2010, the UN General Assembly, through a resolution, voiced deep concern over the rise in enforced disappearances worldwide, including related arrests, detentions, and abductions, as well as the harassment and intimidation of witnesses and relatives of the disappeared.

The resolution also welcomed the adoption of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and established August 30 as the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, to be observed from 2011 onward.

The 40-minute, nearly three-kilometre walk from Teen Talwar to Karachi Press Club was a microcosm of a growing nationwide movement, uniting communities that have fallen victim to the decades-long issue of enforced disappearances in Pakistan.

“Usually, when you have people coming out, the Baloch will come out for the Baloch, Pakhtun will come out for Pakhtun, Sindhi for Sindhi,” academic and activist Nida Kirmani said to Dawn.com.

“In this event, we have all of the affected communities together. And to be honest, there’s no community in Pakistan that’s not affected by the practice of enforced disappearances,” she said.

The march — punctuated by slogans of “we want justice” — brought together several families of missing persons, long-time human rights activists, lawyers, and civilians.

Usman Baloch, 86, was at the forefront of the march and sloganeering, just as he has been for the issue for the last 60 years.

“It gives me immense hope to see young people coming out and leading marches and revolutions like this,” the veteran labour leader told Dawn.com as he pointed to a group of young Baloch girls marching ahead of him.

The girls, some as young as 12, were following in the footsteps of prominent activists like Sammi Deen Baloch, who has become the face of the movement in recent years.

Sammi and Dr Mahrang Baloch have been at the forefront of national movements to end enforced disappearances, leading rallies and protests within Balochistan and across the nation where thousands have marched behind them.

Women were wearing face masks with Mahrang and Sammi’s pictures printed on them, chanting their names in support as they marched on Clifton Bridge and made their way to KPC.

Dozens flocked to Sammi for photos just seconds after she delivered a 15-minute speech that was met with frequent applause and chants.

A prominent slogan in every march has been to let the law run its course rather than kidnapping people without a trace or justification of any sort.

“If our loved ones have done anything wrong, there is the law. You can give them the death penalty if that’s what is meted out, but at least give us back their bodies,” Elahi Bux Bikik, a long-time activist from Sindh, said to roaring applause from the crowd.

Qazi Khizer, vice-president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP)’s Sindh Chapter, echoed the same sentiment.

“All those who have committed a crime should be presented in the courts,” he told Dawn.com, “and those who have not committed any crime should be released”.

According to him, the march was attended by representatives of several civic organisations, including the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, Baloch Missing Persons, Sindh Sujag Forum, Voice of Sindhi Missing Persons, and Voice of Shia Missing Persons.

Sasui Lohar, whose father Hidayat Lohar was gunned down in Nasirabad earlier this year, urged the United Nations to step in and help put an end to enforced disappearances in Pakistan.

Several other activists addressed the crowd with personal accounts of witnessing loved ones being kidnapped, or being kidnapped themselves.

Sixteen-year-old Sadaf Ameer, whose father Ameer Baksh Baloch has been missing for 10 years now, was nervous before she addressed the crowd. Her courage got the better of her nerves as she ended her speech to heavy applause from the hundreds seated before her outside KPC.

“Today is a day of serious problems for jabri gumshuda in Balochistan. Today, thousands of people are missing in Balochistan. We don’t know where they are and what condition they are in,” she told Dawn.com.

She urged civilians to express solidarity with the victims and families of enforced disappearances. “They have endured a lot of difficulties. Come and stand with them.”

Her call has already been heeded in many ways. According to participants, Friday’s march in Karachi, more than triple the size from last year, is a testament that the movement to end enforced disappearances is growing into a revolution, gaining momentum from marches like these.