QUETTA: The relatives of Baloch missing persons, the majority of whom are women and children, staged a protest demonstration in Quetta on the eve of Eid demanding that the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations play their role in ending the practice of enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VFBMP) took out the rally from the Quetta Press Club and marched through different roads and streets of the provincial capital. The protesters staged a sit-in at Mezan Chowk, the main intersection in the city. They said that they were not celebrating Eid because all they wanted was for their loved ones to be returned to them. Addressing the protesters, Chairman for VFBMP Nasarullah Baloch said that neither the judiciary, nor the government had made any serious efforts to tackle the problem of these disappearances in Balochistan. He said that the National Crisis Management Cell was backing the government and that its functionaries were not taking any steps to address the concerns of the people and were not playing their role in highlighting this issue. The VFBMP announced that they would soon march to Islamabad where they would hold protest demonstrations outside the offices of the United Nations and international humanitarian organisations. Sisters of missing Baloch leaders Zakir Majid, Wadood Raisani, Iqbal Baloch and others, said that they were not celebrating Eid since their brothers were missing. “We are living in uncertainty without our brothers,” they said in their speeches. According to VFBMP, as many as 230 bullet-riddled bodies of missing persons have so far been found dumped in desolated places of Balochistan. staff reporthttp://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2011%5C11%5C10%5Cstory_10-11-2011_pg7_14
