Massive protest in Pakistan on Eid demanding release of missing persons

ISLAMABAD: A massive protest rally was taken out on the occasion of Eid, in Pakistan’s Gwadar, demanding the release of missing persons including many political activists, Pakistan vernacular media reported.

According to Intekhab Daily, a large number of people took part in the protest rally demanding the release of Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman Baloch and Mahil Baloch.

Hussain Wadela, President of ‘Give Rights Movement’ (Haq Do Tehreek), Deputy Organiser Yakub Juski, Gwadar organiser Akram Fida, sister of missing Azeem Baloch said that Maulana Hidayat ur Rahman Baloch has been behind bars for past three months for demanding rights, as per Intekhab Daily.

The protesters demanded the release of Maulana Hidayat ur Rehman Baloch and Mahil Baloch and the recovery of all the missing persons, according to Pak vernacular media outlet Intekhab Daily.

Haq Do Tehreek (Give Rights Movement) had earlier said Balochistan has been made hell for political activists, according to Pakistan vernacular media Qudrat. On April 19, Haq Do Tehreek had announced that protest rallies for the release of Maulana Hidayatur Rahman and Mahil Baloch and the recovery of missing persons would be taken out across Balochistan.

The movement’s spokesperson Hafiz Kayani said that the situation in Balochistan is worse than in Palestine, according to Qudrat. Geo News recently reported that the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has sounded alarm over growing public frustration pertaining to enforced disappearances, economic exclusion, curbs on press freedom, misgovernance and allegations of political manipulation by the establishment in Balochistan.

A fact-finding mission led by HRCP in October 2022 said that a palpable sense of anger was seen among ordinary citizens, many of whom even called Balochistan as a ‘colony’ of the state during meetings with the organisation, as per the news report.

The mission raised concern about the state’s widespread use of enforced disappearances to stop dissent, a grievance echoed in numerous conversations, as per the Geo News report. The discontent has been exacerbated by the extensive presence of paramilitary check-posts, which people have said has caused a climate of fear, particularly in Makran.

Balochistan continues to be deprived of its fair share of revenues from large development projects initiated by China through CPEC amid the serious economic downtown, Geo News reported, adding that the mission also observed that the absence of a healthy legal trading ecosystem between Balochistan and Pakistan’s neighbouring nations has enhanced poverty levels in the province.