Relatives are not being allowed to meet and deliver food to Dr Mahrang Baloch while she is in custody in Quetta District Jail, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader’s sister alleged on Sunday.
The BYC’s chief organiser and 16 other activists were arrested from their protest camp at Quetta’s Sariab Road, while a police crackdown on its sit-in against alleged enforced disappearances continues.
Asma Baloch told Dawn.com that more than 24 hours have passed, but Mahrang has not been produced in court nor is she allowed access to legal counsel.
“The authorities at Quetta District Jail did not allow us to meet my sister and we were not allowed to deliver food and other essential items to her,” Asma alleged, adding that these items were returned by jail authorities.
“This morning we waited outside the jail for more than 2 hours and kept requesting to meet her, but we were denied access and not allowed to deliver clothes and food.”
The BYC has issued protest calls on social media platform X in both Karachi and Quetta for March 24 (tomorrow), with the protest at the Karachi Press Club organised in collaboration with civil society members.
The demonstrators will protest the “illegal detention” of both Mahrang and Bebarg Baloch in the two cities, calling the arrests “a direct attack on fundamental human rights, justice, and freedom of expression”.
According to the X posts, the protest at the Karachi Press Club is scheduled for 4pm, while the protest in Quetta is scheduled for noon.
Meanwhile, the situation in Quetta returned to normal on Sunday — a day after a partial shutdown — while a shutter-down strike continued for a second day in some cities across Balochistan in response to a call by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC), which demanded the release of its leadership.
Mahrang had been leading the protest against the arrests of BYC activist Bebarg Baloch, his brother, and Bolan Medical College Vice Principal Dr Ilyas Baloch and his family members. Dr Ilyas and his relatives have been released. The participants were also protesting against the alleged burial of 13 bodies without identification.
The strike call had been issued after the BYC claimed on Friday that three of its protesters were killed by blank shots allegedly fired by the police. However, Quetta Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat had denied the claim, saying the deaths resulted from alleged firing by “armed elements accompanying BYC leadership”.
According to a Dawn.com correspondent, the situation in Quetta returned to normal today after the provincial capital observed a partial shutdown and wheel-jam strike yesterday.
A Dawn.com correspondent confirmed that mobile internet services had resumed in Quetta after being suspended for four days. The suspension caused difficulties for users, in the city particularly traders and students.
The correspondent added that the provincial administration gave no reason for the suspension.
While the main businesses and markets remained open on Saturday, Sariab Road, Brewery Road as well as some other areas on the city’s outskirts had remained closed.
Shops in Gwadar and Surab, where a strike was reported yesterday, also reopened today, Dawn.com correspondents said.
