The Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) has strongly condemned the crackdown on a protest sit-in in Chaman and the arrest of the protest's organisers and leaders.
In a statement issued by PkMAP's Central Information Secretary Talimand Khan the other day, he strongly demanded the provincial and central government immediately release the arrested leaders and accept all the demands put forth by the protesters. He added that the protest sit-in had continued consecutively for the past seven months.
Talimand further said that for the past seven months, the residents and the business community of Chaman have been exercising their constitutional and democratic right to continuously and peacefully protest for their legitimate demands. He added that despite the months-long protest, the protesters have remained so peaceful that not even a single pot had been broken during this time.
However, he lamented that the government and state machinery, instead of patiently listening to the protesters, had resorted to fascist tactics.
It should be noted that the central leaders of PkMAP had addressed the protest sit-in a day before the crackdown.
He further explained that the police and other state institutions attacked the protest camp at night and burnt it down while arresting the organisers and protest leaders. Then, on the pretext of negotiations, they transferred them some 100 kilometres southeast to Quetta.
Talimand strongly condemned the statement issued by Balochistan's Home Minister, in which he accused the peaceful protesters of vandalism and inciting a rebellion. He said that telephone and internet services had been suspended in Chaman, which indicates the government's violent intentions and plans.
In this situation, Talimand said that PkMAP assures its full political and moral support and assistance to the peaceful protesters and appeals to the democratic political forces and national and international human rights organisations to watch and take notice of the situation.