Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch files petition alleging harrasment by Pakistan authorities

Baloch Activist Mahrang Baloch on Monday filed a petition in the Sindh high court claiming that her passport and mobile phone had been stolen while she was returning from the Karachi Airport.

In a post on X, Baloch said, “On October 14th, I, along with my advocate Jibran Nasir, filed a petition in the Sindh High Court for the recovery of my stolen passport and mobile phone, which were snatched from me on the night of October 8 when I was returning from Karachi airport. The court issued a notice to SSP and SHO Malir, directing them to locate and produce the stolen items by October 21st. Additionally, the false and baseless FIR filed against me by the Karachi police on Friday was unequivocally suspended by the High Court after reviewing clear evidence disproving its claims. The Sindh High Court also declared that I cannot be harassed by the authorities in any manner.”

Earlier on October 7 Mahrang Baloch had been stopped from travelling to the United States at the Karchi Airport.

“I was scheduled to travel to New York to attend Time Magazine’s gala, where I was invited alongside other leaders named as TIME’s Most Influential Emerging Leaders of the Year. However, I was unjustly stopped at Karachi International Airport with no legal or valid given reason, which is a clear violation of my fundamental right to freedom of movement,” Baloch had posted at the time.

The action by Pakistan to prevent her from attending the event was shared by the Time Magazine on their page on the social media platform, X.

TIME stated that she was prevented from attending the event after immigration officials from Pakistan’s Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) detained her at Karachi’s Jinnah International Airport and confiscated her passport, stating that she did not have a valid U.S. visa despite her passport indicating that she had been issued a five-year visa recently.

Time reiterated the struggles faced by Baloch citizens at the hands of Pakistan. In its post it said, “There, an estimated 5,000 people have gone missing amid Pakistan’s decades-long crackdown on a separatist insurgency led by Baloch militants belonging to the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) and other groups, which seek independence from Islamabad.”

Baloch citizens are routinely subjected to crimes such as abduction, extra judicial killings, kidnappings by the Pakistan government.

The people continue to remain ostracized both socially and economically as despite being one of the richest areas in terms of mineral wealth, the benefits are not translated to the common citizens as Pakistan is known to sell of contracts for the mineral areas to international players such as China which does not offer all round development to the Baloch citizens.

The Baloch Yakhjeti Committe says, “The State vindictively targets Baloch youth after it’s security failures. The families of disappeared people are in constant agony and fear that there sons be targeted in fake encounters. Baloch nation must stand against such vengeful acts of the State and resist to end the scourge of enforced disappearances.”