In a recent incident the family of forcibly disappeared Baloch Nationalist Taj Muhammad Sarparah’s wife and daughters staged a compelling sit-in protest in front of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of UK Prime Minister. To find out the truth about Taj Mohammad’s disappearance, the family organized a moving protest and called for international attention and intervention.
The abduction of a well-known Baloch businessman from Karachi, which was purportedly carried out on July 19, 2020, by the Pak Army has added a new chapter to the extensive history of the forcible disappearance of Baloch people in Pakistan. According to numerous international agencies thousands of Baloch have disappeared in Pakistan over the past few years as a result of actions carried out by the Pak Army and other deep state agencies. However, this is the first instance of an important Baloch man with ties to the nation’s executive and political classes being abducted by the Pak Army. Three years later, his family is still speaking out in support of him.
A five-day sit-in in London from January 3 to 7 was announced by Salia Marri, the niece of Baloch national leader Baba Khair Bakhsh Marri, in an attempt to draw attention to the growing chorus of protests against the purported enforced disappearances and human rights violations in Balochistan.
Disappearance of Taj Muhammad Sarparah
Mir Taj Muhammad Sarparah was a Pakistan and Dubai-based businessman who was on his way to Karachi from Dubai to catch a flight to Turkey. However, July 2020 marked the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and his travel schedule had to be significantly adjusted. He chose to spend some time in Karachi before boarding the flight that would take him to his next destination and afterwards, take a return flight. But he never made it to the airport.
According to his wife Salia Marri, Taj and his driver, Mohammad Javed, were abducted on July 19, 2020, at 2:10 a.m. in the Baloch Colony neighbourhood while they were travelling to the Karachi airport. Even though Javed did show up months later there are no traces of Taj.
Following her husband’s kidnapping, Marri was forced to relocate from a Middle Eastern nation to France due to threats she received from the Pak Army there. She claimed that three months after her husband’s abduction, the Pak Army sent her a message through multiple “sources” confirming his custody, but they refused to tell her the reason for the abduction or the estimated time of his release.
Along with many victims, there’s been no trace of Kabir Baloch for over fifteen years now, the abduction took place on March 27, 2009, in front of the Khuzdar Sessions Court gate along with two other BNP employees, Attaullah Baloch and Mushtaq Baloch. Latif Baloch his brother revealed the widespread kidnappings and targeting of political activists during the unrest in Balochistan by claiming that the abductors were supposedly the Pak Army. The family has accused the Pak Army of causing suffering to families only because of their Baloch identity. Her attempts to obtain justice through the legal system have been met with humiliation and disappointment, despite her unwavering efforts.
The Baloch people have been subjected to ceaseless oppression since March 27, 1948, including daily home invasions, abductions for ransom, disappearances, simulated encounters, target killings, and torture. Balaach Mola Bakhsh’s extrajudicial killing set off the long march, which is unwavering in its demands for the release of those who are missing, the disarmament of the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD), and an investigation into the Army’s wrongdoings.