Maria B expresses solidarity with 'sisters and mothers of Balochistan'

Renowned fashion designer Maria B expressed solidarity with Baloch women following a recent crackdown on protests by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) and the arrest of Dr Mahrang Baloch.

Maria B shared a picture on Instagram, wearing a traditional Balochi outfit as a symbol of solidarity and to extend her support to Baloch women enduring the police crackdown.

“We stand in solidarity with our sister and mother in Balochistan,” she wrote in captions. 

The fashion entrepreneur’s post came amid a wave of protests by hundreds of Baloch demonstrators against alleged enforced disappearances and the subsequent crackdown by authorities, which resulted in the arrest of key leaders of the BYC.

Last Friday, police used tear gas, water cannons, and blank shots to disperse a BYC-led protest staged in Quetta.

The detention of BYC chief organiser Drs Mahrang Baloch, along with 150 others on terrorism charges, triggered shutter-down strikes in multiple cities across Balochistan. 

In Karachi, BYC leader Sammi Baloch was apprehended for participating in a protest and subsequently charged with disrupting public order, despite a judicial magistrate's ruling for her release, along with four other activists who were also detained.

Earlier, the international human rights organisation Amnesty International urged the government to end “systematic attacks and relentless crackdown” on the people of Balochistan, protesting against alleged enforced disappearance and other human rights.