A sedition case has been registered against Dr. MahRang Baloch, a prominent Baloch activist, and 300 unnamed individuals in the Khairpur district, Sindh. Station House Officer Sarfaraz Khoso lodged the case under Section 124-A of the Pakistan Penal Code.
The First Information Report (FIR) accuses Dr. Baloch and her supporters of inciting rebellion against the state and army during protests in Islamabad. These protests, as per the FIR, were allegedly influenced by a foreign agenda.
Dr. Baloch has been at the forefront of the sit-in in Islamabad, advocating for the recovery of missing persons from Balochistan and calling for United Nations intervention to investigate extrajudicial killings and human rights abuses in Balochistan.
She asserts that their movement is peaceful and seeks to draw attention to the situation in Balochistan, where she claims there is a media blackout and non-compliance with the law by state institutions.
The leader of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has also criticized the Pakistani government for not granting a No Objection Certificate (NOC) to the United Nations Working Group, which has been seeking to investigate cases in Balochistan for over a decade.
Additionally, similar charges have been filed against participants of the long march against “Baloch Genocide” in areas such as Naal, Khuzdar, Kohlu, and Dera Ghazi Khan. In a related action, 44 Baloch government employees have been suspended for their alleged involvement or support of the march against “Baloch Genocide.”
According to the latest reports received by The Balochistan Post, the SHO, who lodged the FIR against Mahrang and other participants of the long march has been officially suspended due to public pressure and strong criticism.
Vengas, a known journalist from Sindh and founding editor of The Rise News, has confirmed the suspension of the police officer.
As per Vengas, the news of the police officer’s suspension came when the Sindh Police faced severe criticism from the Sindhi youth and political circles for filing a case against a Baloch woman leader.
Vengas said that the police had changed its statement on the suspension, but the real reason seems to be the FIR registered against Dr. Baloch.