Quetta (Shal), Balochistan – The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) organized a protest in Quetta against the arrest of Dr. Mahrang Baloch and other BYC leaders, as well as the ongoing enforced disappearances and Baloch genocide.
The demonstration, which was scheduled to be held near Shahwani Stadium on BYC’s call, faced heavy resistance from police and state forces, who had preemptively mobilized to suppress the protest. Despite the obstacles, a large number of women and children joined the protest, holding photographs of missing persons and banners demanding international attention to human rights violations in Balochistan.
According to the BYC, the state enforces a separate set of laws for Baloch people—those who speak out are either disappeared or killed, while state loyalists operate with impunity. “Permission is granted for rallies in the Red Zone in solidarity with Palestine, but Baloch are not even allowed to protest peacefully in a public ground,” a spokesperson said.
The Baloch Yakjehti committee stated that the state’s double standards are now clearly exposed. “Even when we don’t block roads, people are arrested. So far, more than a dozen individuals have been detained, and Quetta remains heavily policed.”
Concluding the protest, BYC called on the Baloch nation to reflect on why they are being made strangers in their own land. “The time has come to unite and raise our voices against this oppression because silence is no longer an option, it is complicity.”
