Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) lawmaker Zabid Reki on Tuesday threw his Pakistani passport onto the Balochistan Assembly floor in protest after saying he had been stopped from travelling abroad and labelled a “terrorist” by immigration officials.
Speaking on a point of order, Reki said Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) officials stopped him at the airport as he prepared to travel to Medina.
He said that after seeking further information, he was told his passport had been blocked on the instructions of Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hamza Shafqaat and that his name had been placed on the Exit Control List (ECL) and Passport Control List (PCL).
Reki questioned the basis for the restrictions, saying he had always spoken for the rights of the people and Balochistan.
“When I go to Washuk, militants are after me, and when I come to Quetta, I am labelled a militant,” he said.
He asked authorities to identify the organisation he was allegedly associated with and present any evidence against him before the assembly.
Reki also demanded that Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Hamza Shafqaat be summoned to the house to explain the restrictions and produce evidence supporting them.
He then threw his passport onto the assembly floor in protest.
Reki is the latest political or rights figure from Balochistan to be prevented from travelling abroad after being placed on, or reportedly associated with, one of Pakistan’s travel-control lists.
In July 2025, Balochistan National Party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal was prevented from boarding a Dubai-bound flight at Quetta airport after immigration officials told him his name had been placed on the Provisional National Identification List (PNIL). The Balochistan High Court later declared the restriction illegal and ordered his name removed from the list.
Baloch rights activists Sammi Deen Baloch and Dr Mahrang Baloch were separately stopped from travelling abroad from Karachi airport in 2024. Sammi was prevented from travelling to Belgium for an international human rights conference, while Mahrang was stopped from travelling to New York to attend a TIME event.
Pakistan uses several mechanisms to restrict foreign travel, including the ECL, PNIL and PCL. The ECL is governed by the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance, 1981, and the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Rules, 2010, which allow restrictions on specified grounds including serious corruption and economic crimes, terrorism, heinous crimes or threats to national security, major financial defaults, drug trafficking and court-directed cases.