KARACHI: A day after immigration authorities had barred Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch from boarding a New York-bound flight, the rights activist on Tuesday vowed to challenge the government’s decision to impose restrictions on her foreign travel in courts.

On Monday, Dr Mahrang was stopped at Jinnah International Airport from travelling to New York to attend a Time magazine function.

In a social media post, she said she was invited alongside other leaders named as Time’s Most Influential Emerging Leaders of the Year, but she was stopped at airport and barred from boarding a flight to New York.

Speaking at a press conference here at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday, she alleged that she and her female companions were harassed by law enforcement agencies on their way back from the airport.

Accompanied by Baloch rights activists Wahab Baloch, Sammi Deen and Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) vice chairperson Qazi Khizar, she said that was stopped from travelling abroad without any legal reason despite having a valid US visa and an invitation from Time.

Mahrang Baloch says authorities stopped her from boarding flight to New York where she was invited by prestigious Time magazine

She said that she had been held at the airport for well over five hours and was allowed to leave only after her flight took off. “As we were about to leave airport, a woman official of the FIA [Federal Investigation Agency] confiscated my passport,” she said, adding that it took her over an hour to get back her passport.

Dr Mahrang said as soon as she along with Sammi Deen and another female companion left the airport, their car was surrounded by the police and intelligence officials. “Our driver was dragged out,” she said and added the raiders had also taken their car key.

She said that the law enforcers searched the car and got them out of the car when she tried to talk to them. “They hurled expletives on us and manhandled us before forcibly taking away my passport, mobile phone and car keys,” she added.

Dr Mahrang said that while they were still standing on a deserted road at 1am, two vehicles came and their occupants harassed them. “We feeling insecure abandoned our car there and left for home in a cab,” she added.

She appealed to the national and international rights organisations to hold authorities accountable for alleged violations of human rights in Balochistan.

Meanwhile, FIA officials did not respond to Dawn’s repeated requests for their version.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2024