Hundreds of people turn out to greet Mahrang Baloch
Karachi, Jan 26 (PTI) Hundreds of people turned out to greet Dr Mahrang Baloch, the woman who led a month-long sit-in protest in Islamabad to highlight the issue of police torture and missing persons in Pakistan's troubled Balochistan province, as she returned to Quetta along with the participants of the protest march.
Maharang and the participants of the protest march, which started from Balochistan's Turbat, were on Thursday welcomed by hundreds of people, including women, children and students at the Sariab area near Balochistan University as they returned to Balochistan.
The protest march attended by hundreds of Baloch people belonging to varsities, human rights organisations, political parties and other walks of life had started under the umbrella of the Baloch Yakjehti Council (BYC) and garnered a lot of attention when it reached Islamabad from Turbat where it had originated in December.
The protest started after an alleged extrajudicial killing of Balaach Mola Bakhsh for which the Balochistan Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) was blamed by the protesters who had to face tear gassing, baton charges and shelling in Islamabad.
The protest later turned into a massive protest to end the enforced disappearances of students, political workers, and human rights defenders in Balochistan.
“In Islamabad, the policemen pulled the veil (chadar) from the heads of our women and also tortured them,” Mahrang Baloch told the people gathered to welcome her and added those who were in the protest march still didn’t give up.
She also said that the protesters were not expecting any justice from the government in Islamabad but marched there to highlight the issues faced by the Baloch people.
“It was our way to tell everyone not to forget our missing brothers and those who suffer torture in state prisons,” Mahrang said.
Mahrang also made it clear that they had not ended the protest after any negotiations or deal with the government but because of pressure from the police and state institutions.
“If Baloch don’t wake up today, their condition will only worsen," she told the crowd.
Amnesty International had condemned the harassment faced by Baloch protesters in Islamabad.
Additionally, the President of the Balochistan National Party-Mengal (BNP-M), Sardar Akhtar Mengal, has said that he is willing to withdraw from all seats in the upcoming general elections if all Baloch missing persons are released.
He emphasised that he is not ready to compromise the interests of Balochistan merely for the sake of parliamentary seats.
During a public gathering in Turbat and Gwadar as part of his party’s election campaign, Mengal also highlighted the issue of missing persons in Balochi.
Resource-rich Balochistan, Pakistan's largest but least populated province, has been wrecked by a long-running separatist insurgency which has seen brutal repression by Pakistani security forces and enforced disappearances.
In November last year, interim Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar admitted that according to a UN sub-committee estimate, around 50 people disappeared in Balochistan. PTI
