The Baloch Solidarity Committee (BSC) has announced the end of their protest after successful negotiations with the government, concluding its sit-in in Gwadar and other cities of Balochistan on the night of August 8.
The negotiations took place in Gwadar, with the government delegation led by Senior Minister Mir Zahoor Ahmad Bilidi and the BSC represented by Dr. Mah Rang Baloch and Sami Deen Baloch, Dawn newspaper reports.
The Baloch Solidarity Committee organizer stated that, after ending the sit-in in Gwadar, members would travel to Turbat for a public meeting. The convoy is scheduled to leave for Turbat at 10 a.m., with a public rally planned for noon.
Commissioner Makran Daud Khalji, Deputy Commissioner Gwadar Hamudur Rehman, SSP Najeeb Pendran, and National Party leader Hussain Ashraf were also present during the talks.
A video circulated on social media on Thursday shows Baloch activist Dr. Mahrang Baloch being dragged into a police van, suggesting that she has been arrested.
Dawn.com, however, conducted a fact check and confirmed that the video is from 2020.
This spread of misinformation coincides with renewed unrest in Balochistan following protests by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in Gwadar on July 28. The protests were against human rights violations and exploiting the province’s resources. The demonstrations led to arrests and violent clashes with security forces.
Since then, the arrest of prominent leaders has intensified the protests.
Currently, the BYC has signed an agreement with the provincial government to end the protest, as their demands, including the release of all those arrested, have been met.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) led by Dr Mahrang Baloch, has on Tuesday called off their over 30 day-long sit-in outside the National Press Club (NPC) in Islamabad, Geo News has reported.
Baloch protesters had been protesting in the federal capital since December 20, 2023, against “enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings”. Activist Dr Mahrang Baloch said they are returning to Balochistan from Islamabad.
“We will hold a rally in Balochistan on January 27,” she added.
The development comes a day after NPC Islamabad on Monday lodged a complaint with the Kohsar Police Station requesting to remove the Baloch protesters from the open park in front of the NPC.
According to The News, the club’s administration, in its complaint, felt a security threat due to certain reasons as many political and social personalities of national stature visit the NPC to attend different functions.
Journalists’ unions, journalists, and media outlets everywhere have an obligation to stand with people whose voices are neglected. It is painful to see that even now, the Islamabad Press Club is uncomfortable with our staging a sit-in outside the press club, protesting against… pic.twitter.com/W2FHJDi1BR
The NPC administration said that the protesters’ sit-in had been going on for over two months, causing financial loss as the people belonging to political and social sectors, avoided holding press conferences and other political and social functions at the NPC. However, it is also important to note that the security situation in Islamabad raised concerns when several educational institutes located in Islamabad reportedly were closed until further notice amid security concerns.
Earlier this month, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had ordered local authorities and police to refrain from creating any hindrance or using force to remove the Baloch marchers.
Moreover, Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani had issued orders on a petition filed by a Baloch activist Sammi Deen Baloch, who was also among the protesting families in Islamabad, against harassment and attempts to remove marchers by force.
2023 saw the world witnessing war and injustices on a global scale, and the rise of indigenous leadership. It is said that leaders are not born, they are made. The war on Gaza and some indigenous movements have caused a paradigm shift in the collective consciousness of people by changing the way pop culture approaches celebrity culture. This time the choice was not hard. Heroes of 2023 are neither politicians nor actors, they are people who have not deliberately made their way to the limelight. Circumstances made them stand up for the cause they stood for.
Motaz Azaiza
Motaz, the photojournalist famously known as “The Eye of Gaza”, has emerged as the world’s window into Gaza. His Instagram and Twitter accounts provided a very real and horrifying peek into the oppression carried out by the Israeli forces.
The world saw his transformation over a short time, as the war lingered on for more than 80 days. From grey hair at 24 to his struggle to have access to the internet, the world him document the horrors unfolding in Gaza’s genocide. His followers increased from thousands to millions and he became that one person who people prayed for when seen offline for a long time.
This young man graduated from the University of Gaza in English Language Literature, pursued his passion for photography, and struggled as a freelancer in the limited options available in Gaza but his efforts got recognized post-October 7. His valour and commitment got appreciated in the form of him being declared the “Man of the Year” by GQ Middle East and the pictures taken by him making it to Times Top 100 Photos of 2023.
“No one is safe, nowhere is safe, and fear is everywhere. Either I stay at home or I go outside. Why should I stay at home? I have to stand up and show the world the truth through the camera lens,” Motaz told The New Arab in an interview and this encapsulates the motive behind his work.
Mahrang, a student leader from Balochistan, is again a leader crafted by circumstances. At 30, she is leading a movement against the extra-judicial killings and missing persons in the country.
Mahrang was just a young girl when her father was forcibly abducted and later found dead with signs of torture back in 2009. According to her, this incident changed her life completely. Unfazed, she became vocal about the inhumane acts. Her brother faced the same persecution in 2017 but that made her even more resolute to speak against this injustice. She actively led different movements in her student years. Mahrang was a student leader in 2020 when the removal of the quota system at Bolan Medical College emerged and she led the campaign to oppose the suggestion successfully as she believed that this quota system preserve opportunities for students from remote areas.
یکم جولائی 2011 میرے سیاسی استاد اور میرے والد عبدالغفار لانگو کو 2 سال جبری گمشدہ کرنے کے بعد انکی مسخ شدہ لاش ریاست نے ہمیں تحفے میں دی۔اپنے مہروان والد کے خون آلود چہرے کو دیکھتے انکے تابوت کے پاس بیٹھے ہم پانچ بہنوں اور ہمارے اکلوتے بھائی کی زندگیاں یکسر بدل گئی۔ pic.twitter.com/OC1EBJS9Ky
The human rights activist describes herself as a political worker and an advocate of #endenforceddisappearences.
She is currently leading the sit-in by Balcoh protestors in Islamabad, becoming the voice of tens of thousands of Baloch suffering the loss of their beloved in the province through the platform of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee. The death of Balach Baloch instigated a new wave of awareness about the issue and this time Mahrang is determined to not let the phenomenon of the “Baloch Genocide” go unnoticed.
Both causes are close to our hearts, inspiring us with their bravery and determination.
