Amid the ongoing protests in Islamabad, Baloch protestors have called for a shutterdown strike across Pakistan on January 3, The Balochistan Post reported. The announcement about the shutterdown strike comes at a time when protestors have been voicing their discontent over what they consider a dismissive attitude from state officials.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which has been organising these protests, voiced its dissatisfaction over the government’s response in a statement shared on social media, according to The Balochistan Post report.
Amid the ongoing #Baloch protest in #Islamabad, the #Balochistan govt has suspended 44 government employees in #Turbat & #Kohlu, including some officers, for allegedly participating in and facilitating a protest sit-in and rally against the alleged killing of Balaach Mola Bakhsh. pic.twitter.com/IlKeszwTFE
— Aneesa Tareen (@TareenAneesa) January 3, 2024
The BYC stated, “The state has consistently shown a half-hearted and uncommitted concern regarding our demands from the beginning,” accusing state authorities of calling their movement mere “propaganda.” In response to the government’s action, the BYC announced the strike and urged people to support the strike.
In a statement, the BYC said, “On January 3, we are calling for a shutterdown demonstration across Pakistan. We urge people from all walks of life to support and respect our call for the strike in the name of humanity and the Baloch nation, aiming to preserve our identity,” The Balochistan Post reported.
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On January 2, Pakistan caretaker Prime Minister Anwarul-haq-Kakar termed the ongoing Baloch protest against alleged extrajudicial killings in the province as ‘irresponsible’ and ‘provocative’, Dawn News reported.
While addressing a press conference on the issues of Balochistan at Lahore’s central business district, Kakar said, “Advocates of terrorists in Balochistan should go and join them if they are convinced on the veracity of their issue and fight the state along with them, so that we know where they stand and how to deal with them,” referring to rights activists and journalists standing with the Baloch marchers, The Balochistan Post reported.
Responding to the media on the issue of police violence against Baloch protesters in Islamabad, Pakistan caretaker PM said that some of the people, media persons included, were trying to “mislead everyone, turning themselves into fake heroes of human rights and damaging the state”.
The strike on January 3 is planned to amplify awareness among people in Pakistan about the critical issues faced by Balochistan, particularly enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings. Meanwhile, Mahrang Baloch, the face of the Baloch movement, has vowed to continue the ongoing protest and said that they are ready to make all kinds of sacrifices for the cause.
In a social media post shared on X, Mahrang Baloch wrote, “If this state thinks that we will be afraid of Islamabad Police’s threatening tone, torture, and arrest and end our protest, then this is a childish thinking of the state. We have shouldered the mutilated bodies of our loved ones in Balochistan, we have buried the bodies of ten of our youth together, we have spent our childhood in deep pain and sorrow waiting for our loved ones, we have lost our mothers.”
Moreover, the protesters also shared that the state administration is prohibiting food, tents, sound systems and other facilities in the cold weather at the protesting site.
Source: ANI
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