The Human Rights Council of Balochistan (HRCB) strongly condemns the enforced disappearance of Changaiz Sahir, director of Ilm-o-Adab, a prominent literary publication. Around noon on July 21, 2025, several armed and masked men raided the publication’s office and abducted Sahir. His whereabouts remain unknown.
This incident is part of a disturbing and consistent pattern aimed at curbing freedom of expression and restricting access to literature in Balochistan.
In August 2022, Ilm-o-Adab’s former director, Lala Faheem Baloch, was similarly abducted and held in illegal detention for three months before his eventual release.
In January 2014, the Frontier Corps raided Atta Shad Degree College in Turbat, confiscated books, and threatened students. That same year, security forces raided bookstores in Turbat and Gwadar, seizing books, threatening owners, and reportedly arresting at least one bookseller.
In June 2016, Comrade Wahid Baloch, a respected publisher and literary figure, was forcibly disappeared. He was held incommunicado for months before being released in December.
Moreover, this year, in January 2025, police in Gwadar raided a bookstall organized by members of the Baloch Students Action Committee. Several students were detained, and dozens of books were confiscated.
These repeated violations are part of a larger campaign to silence dissent and erase cultural and political narratives that challenge state narratives. The right to freedom of expression and access to information is enshrined in Pakistan’s Constitution as well as international human rights law—including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Pakistan is a party.
HRCB calls upon the Government of Pakistan to immediately ensure the safe release of Changaiz Sahir and to end the targeted repression of literary and cultural spaces in Balochistan. The state must fulfill its constitutional duties and international obligations to protect freedom of expression and uphold the rule of law.
