Baloch activist Mehrang Baloch files petition accusing Pakistani authorities of harassment

Baloch activist Mehrang Baloch on Monday filed a petition in the Sindh High Court claiming that her passport and mobile phone were stolen when she was returning from Karachi airport.

In a post on Was.” On October 8, when I was returning from Karachi airport. The court has issued a notice to the SSP and SHO of Malir and directed them to trace and present the stolen goods by October 21. Additionally, on Friday the false and baseless FIR filed against me by the Karachi Police was apparently suspended by the High Court after reviewing the clear evidence refuting its claims. The Sindh High Court also declared that I cannot be harassed in any way by the authorities.

Earlier on October 7, Mehrang Baloch was stopped from traveling to the United States at Karachi airport.

“I was about to fly to New York to attend a Time magazine event, where I was invited along with other leaders named as Time’s Most Influential Emerging Leaders of the Year. However, I was unjustly stopped at Karachi International Airport without any legal or legitimate reason, which is a clear violation of my fundamental right to freedom of movement,” Baloch had posted at the time.

Pakistan’s action to prevent him/her from attending the event was shared by Time magazine on its page on social media platform X.

Time said immigration officials from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained her at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and confiscated her passport, after which she was prevented from attending the event, adding that her Pass did not have a valid US visa, even though his/her passport indicated he/she had a valid US visa. Recently a five-year visa has been issued.

Time recounted the struggle of Baloch civilians at the hands of Pakistan. “An estimated 5,000 people have gone missing amid Pakistan’s decades-long crackdown on the separatist insurgency led by Baloch militants of the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other groups seeking independence from Islamabad,” she said in her post.

Baloch civilians regularly face crimes such as kidnapping, extrajudicial killings, kidnappings etc. by the Government of Pakistan.

People remain socially and economically excluded because despite being one of the richest regions in terms of mineral wealth, its benefits do not reach the common citizens as Pakistan is known to sell contracts for mineral fields to international players. China which does not provide all-round development to Baloch citizens.

“The state targets Baloch youth in retaliation following security failures,” says the Baloch Yakhjeti Committee. The families of the disappeared continue to suffer and fear that their sons will be targeted in fake encounters. The Baloch nation must stand up against such retaliatory acts of the state and oppose ending the menace of enforced disappearances.”