On Thursday, police blocked routes leading to the Karachi Press Club ahead of an Aurat March press conference on the alleged “kidnapping” of two Baloch girls and briefly detained an activist, with organizers claiming other members were also mistreated.
Aurat March, a women’s rights group, was to hold a press conference at 3pm on the alleged “kidnapping” of two Baloch girls: 15-year-old Nasreen Baloch and 24-year-old Mahjabeen Baloch.
Authorities closed roads leading to the KPC ahead of the press conference, which ultimately began with a delay of about 20 minutes when organizers said they were “stopped by police” at the gate of the press club.
Qazi Khizar, member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), said an activist named Sara was taken away by the police from outside the KPC. A few hours later, Aurat March confirmed Sunrise that had been released.
Sunrise Police have been contacted for comment on the arrest.
Journalist Dodal Chandio said in a Facebook post that “the police detained the Aurat March women who were going to hold a press conference” in front of the KPC.
The police “misbehaved” with activist Sheema Kirmani, he added. In the video she shared, Kirmani could be heard saying, “You have no right to touch me. How dare you touch me?”
The video also showed female police officers grabbing the hand of another woman to detain her, while Kirmani told the officers that the woman was a reporter. As the fight between them and police continued, the woman said, “Let go of my hand. This is not a legal process.”
In other videos that appeared on social media, the woman identified herself as Shakeela and a member of “JMDC, Joint Minority Development.” He showed a “slip” that had been given to him for the press conference, which was attended by “10 people” from his group.
Journalist Zofeen Ebrahim, who was banned from attending the press conference, recalled Sunrise: “The police stationed in front of the Kosovo Protection Corps stopped me and asked me where I was going.
“I told them I’m here for the press conference, to which they told me that’s not going to happen,” he continued.
Ebrahim said that when she tried to head towards the KPC and was stopped by police, she called the organizers to ask if the press conference had been cancelled. “They didn’t know what was happening either,” he said.
“Other women who were trying to enter were also stopped at the door,” the journalist added.
He also shared a video about X in which he asked: “What is happening with my city, my country?”
Ahead of the press conference, Karachi police also stepped up security outside the KPC, with a considerable number of female personnel present, a Sunrise the correspondent reported. Nearby streets, which had been closed to traffic, were reopened around 5 p.m.
In a press statement issued yesterday, Aurat March had said that its press conference would “address the growing pattern of enforced disappearances in Balochistan, particularly the alarming rise in abductions of Baloch women and girls.”
“The Fourth Schedule has become a tool of coercion in Balochistan, where women, many of them completely unrelated to activism, are included and denied freedom of movement,” the statement read.
On November 27, police detained 24 PTI leaders and workers following a protest at KPC to express concern over the well-being of former Prime Minister Imran Khan.
A week earlier, police had detained around half a dozen people to prevent them from advancing towards the site of a protest scheduled by the opposition alliance Tehreek-i-Tahafuz-i-Ayeen-i-Pakistan (TTAP) against the 27th Constitutional Amendment.
In March, Karachi police arrested six people at Fawara Chowk when the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) was trying to reach the KPC to protest against the arrests of its leaders.
Civil society seeks recovery of Mahjabeen Baloch and teenager Nasreen Baloch
The Aurat March press conference highlighted two cases: one of Nasreen, who the group said was “kidnapped from Hub” in Balochistan in November, and another of Mahjabeen, who was “taken from Quetta” earlier this year.
Mahjabeen, daughter of Ghulam Mustafa and a student at the University of Balochistan, was picked up from Quetta Civil Hospital in May, according to Voice for Baloch Missing Persons (VBMP) president Nasrullah Baloch.
At the beginning of the press conference, Kirmani said police “grabbed and pushed” her outside and asked why the state was preventing them from holding a press conference.
“What right did the State have to prevent them from demanding the recovery of the Baloch girls?” she asked.
“Are you a fascist government or a democratic government? What are you afraid of?” Kirmani said angrily, adding that by imposing such treatment, the State was creating an atmosphere of hatred.
Aurat March organizer Moneeza Ahmed asked: “Why are the families of Nasreena and Mahjabeen not even allowed to ask the state about the whereabouts of their daughters?”
He alleged that the State was trying to intimidate the activists and the families of the missing girls. “To what extent is the State willing to go?” Ahmed wondered.
Kirmani claimed that the police had also tried to arrest BYC activist Sammi Deen Baloch while she was addressing the press conference.
“Baloch women have repeatedly stated that they have no relationship with the BLA, but the state continues to harass them,” she lamented, referring to the banned so-called Baloch Liberation Army.
At the press conference, Khizer noted that “at this moment, the Kosovo Protection Corps is surrounded by police from all corners.” “This is fear,” added the vice-president of the HRCP’s Sindh chapter.
He highlighted that the “young Baloch women who fight for their rights and those [militants] in the remote mountains they were not the same.”
“The state has now resorted to picking up young girls,” he alleged, expressing his disappointment.
Kirmani called on the government to “negotiate” and asked: “Why shouldn’t they know where their daughters are?”
“It’s been seven months since she left and we don’t know anything,” he said, referring to Mahjabeen. “Why aren’t we allowed to ask about his whereabouts?” she questioned.
The activists demanded the “immediate recovery and safe return of both girls, an end to forced disappearances, protection for the families of the missing people, and transparency on the part of state institutions.”
