August 22, 2025
By Rehan Piracha
LAHORE
An anti-terrorism court (ATC) in Quetta on Friday granted a further 15-day extension in the physical remand of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) coordinator Dr. Mahrang Baloch and six other leaders.
The BYC leaders were produced before the court amid tight security. Police sought an extension, citing ongoing investigations against Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Bebarg Baloch, Bebow Baloch, Gulzadi Baloch, and Shahjee Sibghatullah. The ATC handed over the leaders to police custody for another 15 days. They were later shifted back to the police station under heavy security, including armoured vehicles and a large police contingent.
According to the BYC, this marks the fourth extension in their physical remand since their arrest in a terrorism case on July 8. The ATC had previously extended their custody for 20 days on August 2, after granting a 10-day remand on July 8 and another 15-day extension on July 18. The BYC leaders have now spent a total of 45 days in police custody, raising concerns among lawyers and rights activists.
In a post on X, lawyer and rights activist Imaan Zainab Mazari-Hazir condemned the repeated extensions, calling them a “brazen violation of settled principles on remand.”
“Remand can only be given for a specific purpose. The onus is on the prosecution to establish why physical custody is required—what recovery is to be made and what investigation necessitates custody,” she wrote.
“Here, 10, 15, 20 and now another 15-day remand has been given without any application of mind and in brazen violation of settled principles,” Mazari added. “Especially post-26th Amendment, the law is not a tool to protect people’s rights in Pakistan—it is a weapon employed by the State against anyone who dares to question its excesses.”
Following the hearing, Dr. Mahrang Baloch addressed the media outside the court, sharply criticising state institutions and rejecting Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti’s allegations that the BYC served as a proxy for terrorists.
“Instead of acting responsibly as Chief Minister of the province, Sarfraz Bugti is only furthering state propaganda,” she said. “You spent millions on your fake propaganda, but you cannot dismiss this movement. You cannot crush the resistance of the oppressed people.”
The six BYC activists were first arrested on March 22 under Section 3 of the Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) and detained in Quetta for three months. Their current remand now extends what has become more than four months of continuous detention.
In July, Amnesty International urged Chief Minister Bugti to release all detained Baloch activists, drop the charges against them, and revoke their detention orders, stating that they were being targeted solely for exercising constitutional rights.
Mahrang’s detention was initially authorised under the MPO for 30 days on March 22, extended for another 30 days in April. After completing a three-month term, the provincial Home Department issued a fourth extension of 15 days in July.
While the BYC is not listed among banned organisations by the National Counter Terrorism Authority (NACTA), Dr. Mahrang Baloch is named among proscribed individuals.
Constitutional petitions seeking the release of Dr. Mahrang and two other activists were dismissed by the Balochistan High Court in May. In June, her sister Nadia Baloch appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the repeated unlawful detentions and branding of Mahrang as a “militant sympathiser” were part of a deliberate attempt to silence her activism for missing persons.