Quetta and other parts of Balochistan observed a shutter-down strike on Saturday in response to the Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC) call, a day after its members in the provincial capital faced a police crackdown as they protested against alleged enforced disappearances.
There were reports of BYC leader Dr Mahrang Baloch and others being arrested by the police which the authorities have yet to confiirm.
A day earlier, the police used tear gas and water cannon and fired blank shots to disperse BYC protesters, who had staged a sit-in on the Sariab Road near University of Balochistan, against some arrests, including its leaders.
The Balochistan government and the BYC had reported casualties on their sides as a result of each other’s actions — with the activist group claiming three dead and 13 others suffering injuries and the police saying around 10 of their personnel were hurt.
Subsequently, BYC chief organiser Dr Mahrang late last night issued a call for a shutter-down strike across the province, in response to the alleged casualties resulting from the police action.
The BYC, sharing her statement in the Balochi language on X, quoted her as announcing “shutting down the entire Balochistan against […] the state violence”.
BYC chief organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch issues a statement at a sit-in by BYC in Quetta on March 22, 2025. — screengrab via X/BalochYakjehtiC
“There will be a shutter-down and wheel-jam strike in the entire Balochistan tomorrow,” the statement added. The BYC further announced staging another sit-in at Quetta’s Sariab Road with bodies of the alleged casualties from yesterday.
Later in the day, the BYC shared purported pictures of closed shops and roads in Chagai District’s Dalbandin city, as well as Khuzdar, Washuk, and Surab districts.
It also posted purported visuals of protests held in Mastung, Dera Murad Jamali and Turbat, where demonstrators burned tyres to block roads.
According to a Dawn.com correspondent in Quetta, mobile services have been suspended in Quetta since Friday night while data services had been down since Thursday.
However, no notification officially announcing the suspension has been issued yet.
Dawn.com has reached out to the Balochistan government for comment.
Mahrang, others arrested: BYC
After Mahrang’s strike call, the BYC claimed she and other protesters had been arrested earlier today from the Quetta sit-in while the alleged bodies were “seized”.
“Today, at 5:30am, security forces carried out a brutal pre-dawn raid on the sit-in. Baloch women, children, and peaceful protesters were subjected to extreme violence,” the BYC said on X.
“The authorities forcibly seized the dead bodies that protesters had planned to offer funeral prayers for today. BYC organiser Dr Mahrang Baloch, along with many others, was dragged and arrested,” it claimed.
The organisation also shared a night-time video showing police personnel wielding batons and dragging some women. Another video showed dozens of policemen gathered on a road.
Police personnel in action during a sit-in by BYC in Quetta on March 22, 2025. — screengrab via X/BalochYakjehtiC
The protesters staging the Sariab Road sit-in were demanding the “release of its central committee member Bebarg Baloch, his brother Hammal, Dr Ilyas, and others who has been forcibly disappeared, as well as the release of Baloch woman Saeeda and several others”, the BYC recalled.
UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Mary Lawlor said on X she was “very concerned” about the reported arrests of Dr Mahrang and others.
Front Line Defenders, an Irish organisation advocating and working for the protection of human rights, also condemned the alleged arrest and called for Mahrang’s immediate release.
Balochistan National Party-Mengal chief Akhtar Mengal said: “Dr Mahrang Baloch has been arrested for simply speaking the truth. The truth about pain loss and injustice that has been ignored for years. She stood peacefully, bravely, with nothing but the voice of her people, and for that, she was silenced.
“The BYC activists raised no weapons, only words and yet they were treated like criminals. Is this really how you want to solve problems? By arresting those who speak by punishing those who ask for rights? If this is your idea of justice, then good luck to you. But remember, no matter how many you silence, the truth will keep rising. We demand the immediate release of Dr Mahrang Baloch and all BYC activists.”
Michael Kugelman, a scholar of South Asian affairs at the Wilson Centre in Washington, said Dr Mahrang’s arrest would “only produce more anger and resistance”, terming it a “misguided move and bound to backfire”.
He added that due to her international renown, “her arrest will likely receive international attention, which won’t help the global image of Pakistan that its leaders are keen to soften.”
There were conflicting reports about the casualties yesterday, with Bolan Medical College Hospital sources saying two bodies were brought there while one body and nine injured, including a policewoman, were received at Civil Hospital.
On her part, Mahrang claimed that three people were killed and 13 others injured during the police action while they were protesting against the arrest of BYC leader Bebarg and four others a few days ago.
Meanwhile, a Balochistan government spokesperson claimed that protesters pelted the police with stones and beat them up, injuring 10 personnel, including a policewoman.
Similarly, a complete shutter-down strike and wheel jam were observed in Turbat, with the BYC staging a rally and sit-in at Shaheed Fida Chowk.
In the Malikabad area of Turbat, unidentified men on motorcycles fired gunshots at the protesters, who were monitoring the strike, injuring two children. They were rushed to the hospital for medical treatment.
The other areas of the province that were also shut down in response to the call included Panjgur, Gwadar, Nushki, Kharan, Kalat, Mastung and Khuzdar.
Protestors sit on the road as shops are closed in the background in Gwadar on March 22. — Asad Baloch
In a statement issued by the BYC, it has demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Dr Mahrang, Bebarg and the other arrested members.
The group has also sought the registration of a first information report (FIR) against the Balochistan chief minister and the IGP for the “indiscriminate firing” that resulted in dozens of injuries and the “martyrdom of three individuals” as well as their dismissal from their posts.
The BYC also demanded that the Quetta commissioner and his deputy should be dismissed immediately too.
It further sought that the series of “retaliatory actions against Baloch political activists” must be stopped immediately, and all false cases should be dropped.
Balochistan Bar Council, PTI condemn ‘brutal use of force’
Separately, the Balochistan Bar Council and the PTI condemned the police action against the protesters.
In a statement, the bar council announced a boycott of court proceedings across the province in protest of yesterday’s incident.
It demanded that the arrested “women, children and students” be released immediately and that “individuals who had gone missing from Sariab be brought before the public”. It further called on the Balochistan government to bear the expenses of the injured people’s medical treatment.
Reiterating the BYC’s claims on the casualties, the bar council termed the crackdown as “anxiousness” displayed by the provincial government. It condemned the “worst violence, violation of human rights and unconstitutional measures”.
The bar added: “The incompetent provincial government of the PPP has set the worst example of dictatorship by using coercion and power to extend its rule.”
It asserted that the Balochistan government had “completely failed to protect the lives and properties” of the province’s people.
The PTI also strongly condemned the “excessive and brutal use of force against the peaceful protesters” while highlighting the reported casualties.
“The oppressive regime has once again crossed all boundaries of brutality in its desperate attempt to cling to power, even at the cost of national unity and integrity,” a statement by PTI’s Information Secretary Sheikh Waqqas Akram said.
It demanded “immediate accountability for those responsible for the killing and injuring of peaceful demonstrators” and that all missing persons be presented before a court of law.
“If any individual is found guilty, they should be dealt with in accordance with legal procedures. However, enforced disappearances are inhumane, unlawful, and a blatant violation of human rights. This abhorrent practice must be brought to an immediate end,” the PTI asserted.
The opposition party urged the government to heed the “legitimate demands of the BYC protesters and take immediate steps to address their genuine grievances”.
“Such coercive and oppressive measures will not serve the interests of those unlawfully clinging to power; instead, they will only exacerbate the already volatile situation,” it said, adding it stood with the people of Balochistan.
