Missing students of Balochistan University: ‘I didn’t say don’t take my little boy out of my sight!

By Mohammad Kazim 

“After hearing about my brother’s disappearance, our mother said, ‘Look, I told you not to take my son

out of my sight and send him out to study so that nothing will happen to him.’

It was said that Jamil Ahmed Baloch’s younger brother Sohail Baloch, who was studying at Balochistan University, had been missing since November 1, 2021, along with another classmate Fasih Baloch.

“When my mother heard about the enforced disappearances of other students and youths, she was upset and told me to send my son to a garage but not to study outside,” said Jamil Ahmed.

University students have started a series of massive protests against the disappearance of the two students, which has suspended academic activities at the university and prevented mid-term examinations.

University has been re-closed due to student protests, while the Balochistan government has also formed a parliamentary committee to look into the students’ protests.

Who are the missing students?

The two missing Balochistan University students are from the Noshki district.

Sohail Baloch had been admitted to the University of Balochistan after doing F.A from Noshki. However, Fasih Baloch had entered Balochistan University after matriculating and then completing his secondary education due to his father’s employment in Quetta.

Both were students of the Department of Pakistan Studies at the University of Balochistan, and both classmates were living in the same room in the university’s hostel.

Jameel Ahmed said that his brother Sohail was a hard-working student, which can be estimated from the fact that out of 500 BS students across Pakistan who were ranked according to their performance, his brother’s number was nine.

Fasih Baloch’s elder brother Shahenshah Baloch said that Fasih was the third of seven brothers, and he came third in the third semester of BS due to his hard work.

He said he lived in a rented house in Quetta and could not pay much attention to his studies in the eloquent place due to its small size. He moved to a hostel so that he could concentrate on his studies.

He said that both the classmates wanted to take the competitive exam, and therefore their focus was on their studies. He could not get much education due to poverty but decided to give higher education to his younger brother.

Jameel Ahmed said that Sohail Ahmed was the youngest of the five brothers. He said that his father was a class four employee, so he could not teach him much for a meager salary. 

He said that we, the four elder brothers, saw that the younger brother was capable, but he also had a keen interest in reading. Given this, we admitted him to Balochistan University.

Jamil Ahmed said that Sohail lived with him in Quetta, but when he saw that he could not study at home, he moved to a university hostel.

Jamil Ahmed said that Sohail Ahmed had called a day before his disappearance and told him that he was enrolling in a center for learning essays, the fee of which is ten thousand rupees.

“I told my brother that I have a thousand rupees in my pocket, but I will tell my family to manage the money.”

He said that when the family members managed the money and made it easy for him, I called him around 5-6 pm on November 1, 2021, and his phone was switched off.

“I thought maybe he would be busy reading so the phone would have been switched off, but apart from getting the phone switched off at night, his phone was constantly switched off on November 2, 2021.”

He said that after that we came to the university and asked his friends and we found out that not only Sohail Ahmed but also his friend Fasih was missing.

The mother is most worried about the missing of her young son

Jamil Ahmed said that the disappearance of Sohail Ahmed and his friend has troubled both the families, and our mother is most worried about her youngest son.

He said that his mother already had diabetes.

“I can’t put into words the mother’s anxiety and worry. She was upset with us when she heard the news of the disappearance of other people’s children.

Now that her brother is missing, she constantly says, “I didn’t say we don’t take my little boy out of sight.”

Jameel Ahmed said that the mother is telling us older brothers to bring their youngest child immediately, and they do not need to be taught anymore.

Various student organizations at the university have alleged that Sohail Baloch and Fasih Baloch have been forcibly disappeared from the university premises.

The students had earlier staged protest rallies on the campus for their recovery, but in the following days, when they did not recover, they closed all the university’s gates and called for a sit-in outside.

Due to the students’ protest, the university’s academic activities were affected, but the examinations in the fields held on November 16, 2021, could not be conducted.

Due to student protests, the university administration has closed the university until November 10, 2021.

Addressing a joint press conference of student organizations at the university premises, Information Secretary of Baloch Students Organization Balach Qadir Baloch said that students’ protest would continue till the recovery of both the students.

He said that both the students had gone missing from the university premises. Still, the university administration and security chiefs were not realizing their responsibilities, due to which the students hadn’t any except to protest.

He said that there are CCTV cameras in various places in the university but when we said that when they were picked up, the data of these cameras should be used to trace out who abducted them. The cameras were off because there was no electricity.

On occasion, BSO Pajjar Chairman Zubair Baloch said that it was attempted some time ago to kill the leader of the Pashtun Students Organization, Jaffar Khan Achakzai, by torturing him in a university hostel.

He said that when it was demanded that the accused be traced through CCTV cameras, it was also noted that the cameras were off.

Balach Qadir said that despite the existence of massive security at the university, the expression of ignorance by the administration about the disappearance of students was beyond comprehension.

“We demanded that a case of students’ disappearance be registered against the vice-chancellor and security chief, but the police have registered it against unknown persons,” he said.

Balach Qadir said that the brother of Dr. Sabiha Baloch was earlier picked up from the hostel of an educational institution in Khuzdar and disappeared for a period, but recently he was released. 

He said that these incidents had caused great unrest among the students, and they had been forced to protest. If disappeared students weren’t brought on the surface, it would propel the fellow students to extend the protest Balochistan-wise in educational institutions.

The article originally was published in BBC Urdu, translated by the Bolan Voice team, and is republished with special thanks.