Pakistan Imposes Ban on Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Protests

Balochistan: Pakistan has imposed a complete ban on freedom of expression and peaceful protests, said Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch on Saturday sharing the recent example of a peaceful sit-in, which was met with an FIR by the Hub police, targeting family.

Sharing the pictures on X of the peaceful sit-in, Mahrang Baloch wrote, “The state of Pakistan has imposed a complete ban on freedom of expression and peaceful protest. A peaceful sit-in in Hub, led by the family of Zubair Baloch—a Balochistan University student demanding his recovery—was met with an FIR by the Hub police. The FIR targets Zubair’s family, including his 15-year-old sister @mahanbaloch370, members of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and political activists, including women.”

“Similarly, another FIR was filed by the SHO of City Police Station Kalat against the family of enforced disappearance victim Akhtar Shah and a BYC activist after their peaceful sit-in in Kalat. The family, demanding Akhtar Shah’s release, has faced threats and intimidation from the authorities in an attempt to silence their struggle,” she added.

Further, Mahrang Baloch condemned the state’s actions, stating that instead of addressing enforced disappearances, the state is criminalizing peaceful protests and using fear to suppress the Baloch people’s fight for justice. “These actions expose the state’s fascist tactics,” she said

Earlier, Baloch activist Mahrang Baloch took to ‘X’ to condemn Pakistan’s treatment of Balochistan, describing it as a “colony where oppression and barbarity are enforced instead of constitution and law.”

Her remarks highlight the intensifying policy of Baloch “genocide” which has left the region in turmoil. Across Balochistan, families and communities are staging sit-ins to demand justice for victims of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. (ANI)

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