Pakistan: ‘Haq Do Tehreek’ holds motorcycle rally in Gwadar, demands end to enforced disappearance of political activists

INTERNATIONAL DESK: A motorcycle rally was carried out in Pakistan’s Gwadar led by Chairman Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch on Tuesday calling for an end to extrajudicial killings and the enforced disappearances of political activists, students and human rights activists, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.

Protesters carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against the government’s crackdown on participants of the Turbat long march, including women and children.

The motorcycle rally was held to mark the first anniversary of the government crackdown against workers and leaders of Haq Do Tehreek (HDT).

Led by ‘Haq Do Tehreek’ Chairman Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch and other leaders, hundreds of motorcyclists and people from various parts of Makran division reached Gwadar town to participate in the rally, according to Dawn report. The motorcycle rally started at Javed Complex and ended at Lala Shaheed Chowk.

Maulana Rehman and other Haq Do Tehreek leaders addressed the participants of the rally. They condemned the Islamabad police crackdown and the arrest of Turbat long march participants and demanded the unconditional release of all political workers, students, and others, Dawn reported.

On Tuesday, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee denied the claims made by the Islamabad government to have released 290 protestors and highlighted that only 160 protestors had been released until now. The committee emphasised that over 100 protestors are still in police custody or are “missing,” adding that “where are these missing people, no one knows at all.”

They further said that the Islamabad police had not provided correct information to the protesters and the media, stressing that one of the detained protestors, Zaheer Baloch, was still missing.”We are concerned about his life,” the committee added.

Meanwhile, Mahrang Baloch, one of the march organisers, demanded the release of all the protesters “or otherwise we will be forced to take hard steps. Our demand is to release all detainees and this is our clear last warning.”

However, the Pakistan caretaker government claimed that 290 Baloch protesters who were arrested during a demonstration in Islamabad against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings had been released from jail and police custody.

The Baloch protest march was started in Turbat on December 6 after the alleged extrajudicial killing of a Baloch youth by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel and reached the federal capital last week.

Participants in the protest march were met with brutal force and over 200 protestors were taken into custody by the Islamabad police. On December 19, the Islamabad police used excessive force and rounded up all the Baloch protestors, who converged in the capital to stage a protest demonstration against “enforced disappearances.”

The long march led by Baloch women started their journey from Balochistan on December 6, The News International reported. Notably, the police action against the Baloch women and men triggered widespread condemnations from human rights bodies and political parties. Later, to raise their voice against the crackdown, the march led by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee converted into a sit-in outside the National Press Club.

Last week, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) condemned what it termed the violent state crackdown on Baloch protesters, Pakistan-based Dawn reported. In a statement, HRCP Commission Chairperson Asad Iqbal Butt said the commission was appalled by the state’s response to peaceful protesters, with unwarranted force in the form of water cannons and batons being used on women, children and the elderly.

The statement reads, “Numerous women protesters have reportedly been arrested and separated from their male relatives and allies. At least one Baloch woman journalist covering the long march has also been arrested. This treatment of Baloch people exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression is inexcusable,” Dawn reported. It urged the authorities to release all those detained immediately and unconditionally. (ANI)