QUETTA: The senior leader of a prominent Baloch nationalist party on Sunday accused Balochistan police of stopping “peaceful” supporters from marching toward the provincial capital of Quetta to demand the release of rights activists, as authorities warned of stern action against anyone violating a ban on public gatherings. 

The Balochistan National Party (BNP-M), led by lawmaker Sardar Akhtar Mengal, on Friday announced its supporters would march from Lakpass toward Quetta after two rounds of talks with officials failed to yield any results.

The BNP-M is demanding the release of Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s (BYC) top leader, Dr. Mahrang Baloch, and several of her colleagues who were arrested on Mar. 22 after staging a sit-in outside the University of Balochistan. Pakistani authorities charged them with “terrorism,” sedition and murder following a protest in which three demonstrators were killed, according to police documents.

Sanaullah Baloch, a senior BNP-M leader, said police stopped the party’s march from Lakpass, an area between Quetta and Mastung cities, from proceeding further toward Quetta on Sunday morning. 

“We started our march toward Quetta this morning but the police stopped us, citing the imposition of section 144,” Baloch told Arab News, referring to a legal provision that empowers authorities to ban public gatherings of more than four people to maintain law and order.

He said the provincial government has deployed a “large number of troops” at Lakpass who have surrounded the area to stop the march. 

“We are peaceful and we will attempt again to start our march for the release of our detained daughters including Dr. Mahrang Baloch,” he vowed. 

Separately, Mengal took to social media platform X and alleged that a major operation against the party was “imminent.”

“I call upon all districts to immediately shut down all national highways in protest,” he wrote. “Let the world witness this injustice. We remain peaceful, but resolute. Whatever unfolds today— the consequences, the blood, the fallout— will rest solely on the shoulders of the government and the local administration.”

Shahid Rind, spokesperson of the Balochistan provincial government, replied to Mengal’s post on X by saying that he was informed around 6:00 am that he would be detained by authorities under the Maintenance of Public Order ordinance. 

“Sardar Akhtar Mengal refused to be arrested,” Rind wrote. “The administration and police clearly told him that if he moves toward Quetta, he will be arrested and that’s why the law enforcement agencies are there.”

He said the BNP-M’s call to block highways will increase the masses’ problems. 

“The administrations of all districts have clear instructions that the national highways will not be closed,” the official said. 

Rind had warned the BNP-M a day earlier that it would not be allowed to enter the Red Zone, a high-security area in Quetta housing key government buildings. 

“The provincial government is ready to allow Mengal and his party to protest at Sariab Road [in Quetta], but he is adamant on entering the Red Zone,” Rind said on Saturday. 

“The Government of Balochistan will not allow anyone to violate Section 144, and action will be taken against protesters,” he added. 

On Friday, Pakistan’s top army generals met to review the national security situation and pledged not to let “foreign-backed proxies” and their “political supporters” destabilize Balochistan.

Authorities have long claimed a nexus between the separatist Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) militants and BYC activists, an allegation the latter denies.

The crackdown on BYC leaders followed a deadly train attack last month in Balochistan, in which BLA separatists took hundreds of passengers hostage. The standoff lasted nearly 36 hours until the army launched a rescue operation, killing 33 militants.

A final count showed 26 passengers had also died in the incident.