Pakistan’s minority Baloch activists on Tuesday called off their sit-in protest against the alleged enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in the Balochistan province, a militancy-plagued region in the country’s south-west.
The protest was organised by the activists of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in front of the National Press Club (NPC) in the capital Islamabad, where the participants had been camping since December last year.
The sit-in was wrapped up a day after the NPC in a letter asked Islamabad police to remove the camp. In the letter to the Islamabad police, the NPC had requested that a plan be drawn up to relocate the protesters to a different location so that the difficulties for the press club and all residents and the business community can be reduced. The letter said that the press club’s sole means of income were press conferences and seminars held at its premises. And the sit-in and its related issues such as security requirements were impeding not only the club members but also the holding of its events, as well as the local business community and residents.
However, the press club withdrew the letter after severe criticism by different people, including journalists. Mahrang Baloch, a protest leader, in a press conference blasted the move by the NPC. We will take back the message of hate we received. We will remember everything that has happened with us, she said, adding that the protesters would head back to Balochistan on Wednesday.
She also criticised various political parties for not supporting their cause. It is a shame that despite election campaigns being under way, no political party has spoken about the issue of missing persons, she said. She also said the protestors were not against the state of Pakistan. We are not against the state, the state is against us, she said.
Separately, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HCRP) in a statement on Tuesday said it was deeply concerned by efforts to uproot the camp. The validity of the Baloch protestors’ demands cannot continue to be ignored, and must be heeded with the legitimacy it deserves, not with undue force or defamation, the commission said.
The issue of missing persons has been going on for years with conflicting claims about their numbers and whereabouts. The protestors allege that the authorities have been involved in enforced disappearances of thousands of people. However, it is rejected by the officials who claim that those reported missing had either joined militant groups, with some killed in counter-insurgency operations and others living in rebel hideouts in Pakistan and abroad in Iran and Afghanistan.
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