KECH, BALOCHISTAN: Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Syeda Bibi Sharif was arrested once again on Friday, this time under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance, just hours after she alleged at a press conference that the Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) had been harassing her and her family.
According to sources, Syeda Sharif went to the CTD police station in Turbat this morning for her routine weekly appearance, where she was taken into custody and shifted to Turbat District Jail.
Earlier in the day, at an emergency press conference held at 11 a.m. at the Turbat Press Club, She alleged that CTD personnel had raided her home three times the previous night in an attempt to arrest her, but that she had not been present at the time and so could not be apprehended. She further said that officials broke down the doors of her residence and damaged household belongings during these raids.
Syeda Sharif also claimed that in the course of trying to arrest her, CTD personnel raided the homes of her mother, her ailing brother, and neighbors overnight.
She said that the repeated raids and fear of arrest left her young children severely frightened, forcing her to leave home at night; she said that, unable to find shelter, she spent the night with her two children near her late husband’s grave in a nearby graveyard.
Sharif further stated that her name appears on the Fourth Schedule, a watchlist under Pakistan’s anti-terrorism law, and that she has reported to the CTD police station weekly as required. She said her attendance record would show she has never missed an appearance and questioned why she and her children were, in her words, being “targeted” despite her compliance.
This marks her second detention in as many days. She was first taken into custody during a raid on her home Wednesday night and released Thursday night, only to be re-arrested Friday morning following her press conference.
Separately, reports from Turbat, the main town of Kech district, indicate that seven Baloch women, several children, and three young men were detained by Pakistani forces following a BYC protest held the previous day. Those named include Nusrat Munir, Nadia, Ayesha, Lal Bibi, Muhammad, Tariq, and Irshad; the identities of other detainees remain unconfirmed. None of those detained have yet been produced publicly.
The protest, called by BYC on Thursday, was held against the life sentences handed down to Dr. Mahrang Baloch and “Shah Ji” (Shah Sibghatullah Shah). Ahead of the demonstration, the administration had imposed Section 144 across the city and detained several people overnight. On the day of the protest, the city saw a curfew-like atmosphere, with a heavy deployment of forces attempting to block the demonstration; women and children were among those detained during the operation.
