KARACHI: The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Tuesday issued an order detaining prominent Baloch rights activist Sammi Deen Baloch and four others for a period of 30 days, accusing them of instigating masses to stage sit-in protests in Karachi, alleging that their presence in public can cause a “grave threat” to people’s safety.

Baloch and several others from the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) group were arrested by police on Monday evening and charged with violating a ban imposed on public gatherings after they held a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club.

The BYC was protesting against the detention of its leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and some other members who were arrested last week at a protest camp in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province. Three persons had died following clashes between police and protesters, leading both sides to blame each other for the deaths.

A judicial magistrate ordered the release of Baloch and others arrested by the Sindh Police on Tuesday, prompting the provincial home department to issue the order to detain her and Razzak Ali, Abdul Wahab Baloch, Shehdad Abdul and Sultan Aamal for a period of 30 days under the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) ordinance. 

“The Government of Sindh on the basis of request and considering the merits of the case is satisfied that there is a serious apprehension of public safety and in the interest of the country and public, the presence of above persons, at any public place is likely to pose grave threat to the public safety and can cause breach of peace and tranquility,” the home ministry’s notification said. 

The order said that the arrested persons will be detained for a period of 30 days from the date of their arrest, and shall be placed under the custody of the senior superintendent of Karachi’s Central Prison. 

Under the MPO, authorities can arrest a person to maintain public order and extend the period of such detention for a period not exceeding six months at a time.

The BYC, founded in 2020, has organized several large protests in Balochistan and led marches to, and sit-ins in, the Pakistani federal capital, Islamabad, mainly against what it describes as a surge in enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan that it blames on the army and other security forces operating in the province. Officials deny the accusations.

Balochistan has also been plagued by enforced disappearances for decades. Families say men are picked up by security forces, disappear often for years, and are sometimes found dead, with no official explanation. Government and security officials deny involvement and say they are working for the uplift of the province through development projects. 

Pakistan’s military has a huge presence in the rugged, impoverished region bordering Afghanistan and Iran, where insurgent groups have been fighting for a separate homeland for decades to win a larger share of benefits for the resource-rich province. The military has long run intelligence-based operations against insurgent groups, who have escalated attacks in recent months on the military and nationals from longtime ally China, which is building key projects in the region, including a port at Gwadar.

International rights bodies like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as well as opposition political parties have also long highlighted enforced disappearances targeting students, activists, journalists and human rights defenders in Balochistan. The army says many of Balochistan’s so-called disappeared have links to separatists. 

Military spokespersons have also variously accused rights movements like the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) of being “terrorist proxies.”