Sit-ins, rallies in Quetta, Khuzdar demand release of protesters

QUETTA: The Baloch Solidarity Committee Tuesday took out a rally from Balochistan University to Zarghun Road and later staged a dharna in front of the Balochistan Assembly.

The protesters, including lawyers and members of civil society, demanded release of arrested leaders and workers of the Baloch Solidarity Committee and restoration of Internet service.

Speaking at the sit-in, the protesters threatened entire Balochistan would be closed if their demands were not met.

The rally and sit-in caused a traffic jam in the city. The protesters forcibly closed the shops in different areas of the provincial capital. In Khuzdar and adjoining areas, a shutter-down strike was observed against the arrest of leaders of Baloch Solidarity Committee. Businesses remained closed in other areas against alleged sabotage of a rally organised by Raji Machi in Gwadar. Traffic on the national highway was less than normal. Online report says leaders of Baloch Solidarity Committee while talking to the media in Quetta said they had announced a national gathering in Gwadar on July 28. “Caravans coming from different areas of Balochistan and Sindh were stopped. Firing in Mastung injured our workers. They killed one of our comrades”, they alleged. Another report says due to the sit-in and strike in Gwadar and Mastung, a large number of pilgrims, including women and children, got stuck at the Pak-Iran border. All the highways, including Makran Coastal Highway M8, are closed. Pilgrims stranded at the border are facing food shortages. The deputy commissioner said there were difficulties in bringing the pilgrims to Karachi. Meanwhile, Amnesty International on Tuesday demanded an end to the crackdown on Baloch protests and said the arrests of organsiers was extremely concerning. It called for immediate and unconditional release of all those arrested for exercising their right of peaceful assembly.