In Islamabad on Thursday, Pakistani police deployed tear gas and water cannons to disperse protests led by women. Over 200 individuals, including protest leader Mahrang Baloch, were arrested upon entering the capital. The demonstrations, spanning weeks across the nation, condemn alleged enforced disappearances of men in Balochistan province.
The catalyst for these protests was the death of a Baloch man, with family members contending he was shot dead while in police custody. Mahrang Baloch, in a tweet around 02:30 local time, asserted that the march faced aggression from Islamabad police.
#MarchAgainstBalochGenocide is under attack by the Islamabad police. Many of our youth have been arrested, & many have been injured by tear gas shelling and violence. Right now, we are being treated worse than animals. Will the world raise its voice for us against this barbarism? pic.twitter.com/zxDeGxT8zD
— Mahrang Baloch (@MahrangBaloch_) December 20, 2023
Efforts to enter the Red Zone, housing key governmental structures, were thwarted by police wielding batons and protective gear. Videos circulating on social media depict chaotic scenes of officers loading protestors into police vehicles, with many shouting, crying, and some visibly wounded on the ground.
Enforced disappearances in Balochistan, Pakistan's largest province, involve alleged untraceable arrests by intelligence services, unrecognized by the government or courts. Victims span political workers, journalists, human rights activists, and students, a longstanding issue dating back to the Balochistan nationalist movement in the early 2000s.
All of the protesters are arrested and kept in different stations, at this time they are taking woman and children to another station.We are unable to connect to our male fellows, we fear that the state will abduct them. #MarchAgainstBalochGenocide pic.twitter.com/eKwGw6TlFY
— Mahrang Baloch (@MahrangBaloch_) December 21, 2023
Balach Mola Bakhsh's case is the latest, where he was detained by counter-terrorism police on October 29, held for nearly a month, and authorities later claimed he had explosives. On November 23, a day before his bail plea, police reported the killing of four "Baloch," including Bakhsh, in a Turbat shootout. His family disputes the terrorism claim, asserting he died in police custody.
The ongoing protests, labeled the "march against Baloch genocide," demand an end to enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and accountability for those implicated in alleged extrajudicial killings of Baloch youth. Ms. Baloch, speaking to the media before her arrest, emphasized the determination of peaceful protesters, despite anticipated resistance. The movement, comprising mothers, sisters, and daughters of the disappeared or deceased, remains resolute in its pursuit of justice.
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