The Karachi police initiated an aggressive crackdown in anticipation of a peaceful demonstration of Baloch people and sympathisers in the city, the capital of Pakistan’s Sindh province, on 18 January. The protest was intended to take place at 2pm, but was violently obstructed by police. Prominent members of the human rights group the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) were among those arrested.
The arrests come in the wake of a mobilisation campaign by the BYC to stage protests in multiple cities leading up to a major protest in Dalbandin, Balochistan province, on 25 January, Baloch Genocide Remembrance Day. The protests so far have been met with force, baton charges and arrests in Sindh province, which sits on the eastern border of Balochistan province.
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Several BYC members and feminists were unlawfully arrested, including Lala Wahab Baloch, Sammi Deen Baloch, Fouzia Baloch and Amna Baloch. Graphic videos show the women having their hair pulled by the Karachi Police, and others among the crowd being generally manhandled. BYC Deputy Organiser and Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) General Secretary Sammi Deen Baloch was held at Karadar Police Station, while Lala Wahab Baloch was held at Chakiwara Police Station.
The BYC called on the Baloch and other communities to mobilise at police stations where Baloch activists and Baloch community members were being held to demand justice and the release of their comrades. Only the day before, Sammi Deen had survived an assassination attempt which the BYC claims was the responsibility of the Sindh police. The activists were held in isolation, in prisons with no female wardens, eventually being released due the public pressure created by the BYC’s call to mobilise at the police stations.
