Mahrang Baloch, 32, a rights campaigner speaking up against forced disappearances in Balochistan, was arrested on March 22.

The initial violence occurred in Quetta on Friday amid a protest by families of victims of enforced disappearances and members of the BYC.

Enforced disappearances are being reported across Pakistan, but Balochistan remains the most severely affected, along with Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Baloch face reprisals for peaceful gathering on their own land, Mahrang Baloch says.

In one month, six attacks have been carried out against the Shia community, locals said.

While a person is supposed to be formally notified of their inclusion in the list within three days, Dr Mahrang Baloch said that she only found out about it through social media.

Mahrang Baloch was set to travel to the US to attend a celebration of her recognition by Time Magazine, but said she was held back by federal authorities.

A police inquiry the previous week found that the accused, a doctor in Sindh, was killed by police in a staged encounter.

Sindh's government formed a committee to probe the circumstances into Shahnawaz Kanbhar's death, but many do not trust it as it is led by the police.

In recent months, the Baloch people have faced increased harassment, threats, and violence from the state ever since the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) announced the Baloch Raaji Muchi (Baloch National Gathering) in Gwadar on July 28, 2024.

Sadia Baloch's suspension “sends a clear message to every Baloch student, aiming to deter them from joining political activism,” Baloch Yakjehti Committee leader Mahrang Baloch said.

The government has reportedly been exerting pressure on the families of missing persons and of those people who participated in protests to speak out against the Baloch Yakjehti Committee.

Protests by Baloch people have continued in Pakistan, and Baloch women who continued to hold a sit-in in Karachi were beaten and arrested.

'The state holds a gun to the Baloch’s head while pretending to negotiate with us,' says the Baloch rights movement's leader Dr. Mahrang Baloch.

Authorities in the province have denied arresting leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and others.

The Baloch Yakjehti Committee is mobilising people for a ‘Baloch National Gathering’ to be held in Gwadar on July 28. Since the announcement of this gathering, the Balochistan government has started to harass and abduct Baloch activists.

Mahrang Baloch, the leader of the movement, has appealed to international human rights organisations to highlight the Pakistan government's atrocities against Baloch people.

'The government is afraid of free speech and has imposed ban on social media networkers. Now, as they are losing their grip and banning us...'

Footage of police brutality was widely circulated on social media. One image, in particular, showing a security officer grabbing the shawl of a Baloch woman brought back memories of the 1970s military operation in East Bengal, now Bangladesh.

During a sit-in in Islamabad, people in the then government falsely declared her brother as a commander of a terrorist organisation, with the state-sponsored media parroting the government's version.