At serious risk of violent police crackdown: Protesting Baloch activists in Islamabad

Islamabad, July 19 (IANS) Baloch human rights activists on Saturday raised alarm over the imminent threat of a violent crackdown by Pakistani police as the National Press Club in Islamabad and its surrounding areas were cordoned off with barbed wire to block them from setting up a peaceful protest camp in front of the club. 

Human rights organisation Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) mentioned that Saturday marked the fourth consecutive day of the sit-in protest by families of forcibly disappeared persons and detained leaders of the BYC in Islamabad. Since the beginning of the camp, the protestors - including women, children, and elderly family members - have been denied the right to set up the camp.

"We are at serious risk of a violent police crackdown. Riot police have surrounded the National Press Club in Islamabad and its surrounding areas with barbed wire. We are peaceful protesters, including older women and young children, who have travelled thousands of kilometers from Balochistan to this city of power and authority, only to now face the threat of arrest, violence, and intimidation," Nadia Baloch, sister of detained BYC Central Organiser Mahrang Baloch, posted on X.

"We are not terrorists, militants, or violent actors. We are peaceful protesters. We have come from Balochistan to Islamabad in search of our forcibly disappeared and unlawfully detained ones. But today, riot police have surrounded the National Press Club with barbed wire. We are under the threat of a violent crackdown," she added.

Nadia asserted that in this very city, "violent actors are welcomed and even rewarded with cash by army officers", but Baloch elders are humiliated for simply demanding justice.

"We urgently appeal to the civil society of Islamabad, human rights groups, and concerned citizens to intervene immediately and help stop this looming police action,” she stated.

Another Baloch activist, Sahiba Baloch called on all conscientious citizens, members of the media, and human rights defenders in Islamabad to stand in solidarity and not leave the families alone and urged support for their peaceful struggle for justice.

"The families of Baloch missing persons, who have been staging a peaceful sit-in for the past four days, are now continuing their protest surrounded by barricades. The police have encircled them from all sides, and there is a growing concern that they may be arrested at any moment," BYC leader Sahiba stated.

Slamming the Pakistani authorities, the BYC stated that the ongoing restriction on the right to peaceful assembly, combined with the targeting of BYC leadership through illegal detentions, reflects a deliberate and systematic attempt to silence Baloch voices.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also expressed concerns over the treatment being meted out to “peaceful protesters” by the Islamabad police.

"The protestors, many of them women and children, have travelled to Islamabad from Balochistan, asking for the release of political prisoners and those forcibly disappeared in the province. HRCP stands by their right to peaceful assembly and protest and demands that the authorities differentiate between advocacy for legitimate rights and militancy. Women and children from Balochistan deserve as much dignity and respect as people from other parts of the country," the rights body stated.

--IANS

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