Balochistan: In response to the crackdowns and the persecution and abuse of the Baloch people, the main Baloch human rights organization, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, organized a protest demonstration in the Lasbela district of Balochistan.

According to information shared on X, the march was held early in the morning to protest a number of problems that the Baloch people face. Among them is the suppression of their demonstrations, which exposed them to repression and persecution.

In addition to a demonstration against the crackdown on protest sit-ins and the oppression and repression occurring throughout Balochistan, the Baloch Solidarity Committee (Lasbela Region) organized a protest rally this morning against the crackdown on the sit-in and for the release of the comrades who were arrested. “This demonstration was attended by a large number of people from various backgrounds, and in addition to them, the relatives of the missing persons made sure they were present,” BYC said on X.

Young people, women, and children turned out in significant numbers for the demonstrations. Participants came from all walks of life to draw attention to the problems facing their community.

Notably, BYC said in a different post on X that it will stage a “peaceful resistance sit-in” on March 24 to express opposition to the detention and enforced disappearance of political activists Mahrang Baloch, Bebigar Baloch, and Bebo Baloch.

Tomorrow, the Baloch Solidarity Committee will stage another nonviolent sit-in protest. The Baloch nation will not remain quiet as long as state tyranny persists and Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Baloch leader, Bebigar Baloch, Bebo Baloch, and all other political activists who have been detained and forcefully vanished are not safely returned,” the statement said.

“We encourage full participation from all Baloch citizens who are cognizant, including political activists, journalists, academics, priests, the business sector, women, workers, and children. Our existence depends on national resistance, and being silent in the face of persecution is equivalent to endorsing the oppressor. Time: noon Date: 24 March Burari Bypass is the location,” the rights organization said.

The treatment of Baloch activists and their detention have been denounced by international authorities. The UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, criticized the Quetta crackdown on demonstrators.

“Very concerned by reports that Mahrang Baloch and a number of other HRDs have been arrested in Balochistan following a crackdown on Baloch Yakjehti Committee protesters in Quetta,” she said, highlighting the incarceration of Baloch and other human rights defenders in the region.

Wider worries about how Pakistani authorities are managing opposition in Balochistan have been raised by the arrest.

According to reports, Mahrang Baloch, a prominent figure in the human rights movement, was dragged and taken into custody alongside a number of other people.