ISLAMABAD: Human rights advocates including Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai criticised Pakistan on Wednesday for stopping a leading ethnic activist from travelling to accept a US award.

Mahrang Baloch, one of country’s most prominent rights voices, said officials blocked her from leaving Karachi for New York on Monday night to attend a TIME magazine awards gala.

The 31-year-old had been due to accept an award for campaigning on behalf of the Baloch ethnic group, which claims it has been targeted by Islamabad with extrajudicial harassment, arrests and killings.

“Mahrang Baloch’s activism for Baloch people should be recognised, not denied a platform,” Yousafzai wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday. “I know this will not deter her from continuing to speak up and protest peacefully for human rights,” she said.