Baloch missing person's 2nd phase of 1400 km long march has begun to bring their plight to local & international community
The Voice of Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) has started the second phase of the Long March, this time from Karachi to Islamabad covering a distance of approximately 1,400 kilometers. The first phase of the March started on October 27 from Quetta and ended in Karachi where the marchers demonstrated in front of the Karachi Press Club on November 23. The marchers covered a total of 730 kilometers. In Karachi they carried out a hunger strike and conducted two seminars and two press conferences to bring their plight to the general public and the international community. The marchers were made up of 20 persons representing some of the families of the disappeared and included women, children and the elderly. The marchers were led by Mama Qadeer Baloch, a man of the age of 70. The participants suffered blistered and bruised feet but have again started a march. This time double the distance of the one they have completed just 19 days after arriving in Karachi. During the first stage the marchers were attacked and threatened and received numerous threatening phone calls from persons believed to be from the security forces. During their protest and hungert srike in Karachi some ministers, including the Minister of Defense, and politicians visited their camp and assured them that their loved ones would be recovered very soon. However, these promises were proved to be false and nothing has been done. Indeed, it was made evident when the former Chief Justice, Iftekhar Chouhdry, in the daily hearing of cases of disappearances instructed the military and the Minister of Defense to produce 35 missing persons who were handed over in 2009 to the Pakistani authorities by the government of Afghanistan. The Malakand jail authority also confirmed that the military took custody of these persons in 2010. Since then, not only are their whereabouts unknown but enforced disappearances have continued unabated. The government has made the excuse that seven out of the 35 persons have gone missing and have never been produced in court. This more than anything else proves how hollow the promises of the Minister of Defence were.
