LONDON: The family of Baloch businessman Taj Muhammad Sarparah, who was allegedly forcibly disappeared by agencies from Karachi on July 19, 2020, held a protest in London on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of his disappearance.
Human rights advocates and activists from various communities, including Sindhi, Pashtun, Mohajir, Kashmiri, and the Baloch diaspora, joined the demonstration. Protesters carried placards demanding the recovery of Sarparah and other missing persons and chanted slogans against forced disappearances.
Speaking at the protest, Sarparah’s wife, Saleha Marri, said, “I have been protesting my husband’s disappearance for four years. Forced disappearance is a torment for the entire family. Thousands of families in Balochistan, including mine, are suffering from this ordeal.” She urged the British government to halt military aid to Pakistan, claiming it supports the ‘genocide’ of the Baloch people.
In addition to the London protest, the rights group Baloch Voice for Justice organized an online campaign on the social media platform ‘X’ using the hashtag #ReleaseTajMuhammadSarparah, which ran from 7 PM to midnight on July 19 to demand his safe release.