Protesters in Pakistan’s Balochistan end sit-in, launch anti-government campaign

A regional opposition party in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province, the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), announced on Wednesday an end to its 20-day sit-in protest in Mastung, but vowed to intensify the movement with a new phase of province-wide rallies.

“We believe in a peaceful struggle,” party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal said during a press conference at Lak Pass, the site of the sit-in. “This movement is not ending—it is entering a new phase.”

Mengal said the BNP-M will now begin a “public outreach campaign”, holding protest gatherings across several districts in Balochistan to demand justice for detained activists and draw attention to what the party says is state repression.

The campaign will unfold in three stages. In the first, BNP-M plans rallies in Mastung, Kalat, Khuzdar, and Surab. The second phase will cover Turbat, Gwadar, and other parts of the Makran division, while the third will reach Nasirabad, Jaffarabad, Dera Murad Jamali, and other eastern districts.

The protest, which began in late March, was launched in response to the arrest of human rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch. It escalated when security forces prevented the party’s long march from entering Quetta, prompting road blockades and a city-wide shutdown earlier this month.

“Dozens of our workers were detained, but we stayed committed to nonviolence,” Mengal said. “We now call on the public to join us in peaceful resistance.”

Dr Baloch, a leading figure in the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), was arrested during a police raid on March 22. The government charged her with terrorism, sedition, and murder after three protesters were killed during the raid. Her arrest drew international criticism, including from the United Nations.

Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by landmass and rich in mineral resources, has been the site of an insurgency for the last two decades.

The separatists accuse Islamabad of exploiting the province’s natural resources, such as gold and copper. Successive Pakistani governments have denied the allegations.

The Pakistan Army and the government have in the past variously referred to Baloch and her BYC as “terrorist proxies” who they say are allied with militant separatist groups like the Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA). Baloch and her group deny the charge and say they lead peaceful protests for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people.

Police actions against Baloch rights activists have intensified after Baloch separatist militants last month staged a dramatic train siege that officials said ended in around 60 deaths, half of whom were separatists behind the assault.