QUETTA, BALOCHISTAN: Dr Sabiha Baloch, central leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), has said that retired police surgeon Dr Ayesha Faiz “deserves honour and respect, not arrest and mistreatment,” calling for her immediate release.
In a statement shared on social media platform X, Dr Sabiha Baloch described Dr Ayesha Faiz as a senior citizen and the Balochistan’s only police surgeon for years, who had recently retired after years of what she called dedicated service to humanity. She said Dr Faiz’s arrest was not merely an attack on an individual doctor but reflected what she described as the rapidly shrinking civic and democratic space in Balochistan.
Referring to a recent announcement by the Chief Minister of Balochistan regarding the destruction of apple orchards in Mastung and the displacement of residents, Dr Sabiha Baloch said the decision had been announced “in an authoritarian and deeply irresponsible manner”, forcing residents to potentially live as internally displaced persons (IDPs). She said concerned citizens, including Dr Faiz, had rightly raised their voices against the policy’s consequences.
She argued that the orchards were not simply trees that could be removed without consequence but assets cultivated by local communities through years of labour and investment, providing families with income and sustaining the local agricultural economy. She said their destruction would mean the loss of productive assets, livelihoods and the economic foundations of local communities.
Dr Sabiha Baloch further said the destruction of the orchards would carry serious environmental consequences, arguing that trees play an important role in maintaining soil stability, protecting biodiversity and regulating local ecosystems and that their removal could contribute to soil erosion, habitat loss and increased environmental vulnerability. She said the matter was therefore not simply a dispute over trees, but a question of environmental protection, livelihoods, agricultural land, economic security, and the right of communities to have a say in decisions affecting their lives.
She questioned why authorities had not held a “powerful public official” accountable for announcing a policy she said could destroy livelihoods and displace communities, while a citizen raising concerns about its consequences was instead arrested from her home.
Dr Sabiha Baloch said the arrest exposed oppressive governance in Balochistan, adding that a government responding to criticism with arrests demonstrated “not strength, but intolerance and insecurity”. She reiterated her demand for Dr Ayesha Faiz’s immediate release, saying her dignity must be respected and that the government must answer the concerns raised over the proposed destruction of the orchards, environmental damage, and displacement of local communities.
