Quetta (Balochistan), Pakistan , August 28 (HS): Members of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) staged a major protest in Khuzdar on Wednesday, blocking traffic along the vital RCD Highway that links Quetta and Karachi. The sit-in was launched in response to the alleged enforced disappearance of tribal notable Mir Yousuf Ali Khan Qalandrani.

According to JUI officials, the demonstration began in the Sani area of Khuzdar, with party leaders vowing that the blockade would continue until Qalandrani is recovered and presented by security authorities. The protest is being spearheaded by JUI leader Maulana Qamruddin, along with tribal chief Ali Muhammad Qalandrani, district representatives, elders, and large numbers of party workers.

Eyewitnesses reported that passenger buses and freight trucks were stranded on both sides of the barricaded highway, stretching into long queues. Protesters declared that they would not lift the blockade until security officials disclose Qalandrani’s whereabouts.

Local accounts state that Mir Yousuf Qalandrani was allegedly detained in Karachi on August 17, 2025, and has been missing ever since. His family and supporters accuse security agencies of forcibly disappearing him.

This is not the first time the Qalandrani family has faced such allegations. On February 18, 2011, security forces reportedly besieged Tutak village in Khuzdar, conducting house-to-house searches. Male residents were rounded up, several were released later, but three of Yousuf Qalandrani’s brothers, an 82-year-old relative Muhammad Raheem Khan Qalandrani, and 16 other family members remain missing to this day.

The latest disappearance has reignited anger in Khuzdar, with tribal representatives accusing Pakistani authorities of systematically targeting the Qalandrani family for years.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar