Several hundred protesters from across Balochistan and some from other parts of the country overcame blocked roads, mobile networks and security checkposts to converge on the coastal city of Gwadar on Sunday for the grand Baloch National Gathering.
The gathering, or the 'Baloch Raji Muchi' (Baloch National Grand Jirga), was convened by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, led by Dr Mahrang Baloch.
The national gathering was held as a joint protest against the general underdevelopment across Balochistan, discriminatory development, and alleged state excesses against the Baloch people, including enforced disappearances, forced displacement, military operations and extrajudicial killings.
On Sunday, caravans from different parts of Balochistan and other parts of the country converged in Gwadar. Together with hundreds of residents of Gwadar, they gathered on the main marine boulevard.
During the event, various leaders addressed the large gathering, raising slogans for their rights, the return of missing persons and an end to the culture of violence and impunity.
Dr Baloch said they would stage a sit-in if the government did not accept their demands.
Obstacles
Even though the gathering drew a large number of people, the lead-up to the event was quite jarring.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) had started preparations for the event a month in advance, distributing pamphlets across the province and making other arrangements.
In Gwadar, an application to stage the rally was submitted to the deputy commissioner as per standard procedure. However, the committee said they never heard back from the district administration about their application for the no-objection certificate.
However, the Balochistan government separately stated that owing to the law and order situation in the region, they could not grant permission for any rally, and thusGwadar, caravans could not proceed.
Earlier in July, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti, while speaking in the Balochistan Assembly, questioned the BYC's decision to stage the Baloch National Gathering in a city like Gwadar, the hub of the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), rather than in the provincial capital of Gwadar, which is the seat of provincial power. He noted that the protest gathering was being held at a time when the second phase of the project was launching.
To prevent or delay caravans from reaching Gwadar, roads leading to the coastal city were blocked. The Makran Coastal Highway—which runs along the length of the Arabian Sea and links Karachi to Gwadar—was blocked at various locations, including Pasni and Hub. The Gwadar-Quetta road was also blocked at various locations. The Gwadar-Turbat Road was blocked at Kalat, while blockades were set up at Awaran as well.
Additionally, workers and volunteers preparing, agitating or mobilising for the national gathering were harassed or detained, including in Gwadar, Pasni, Kohlu, Kalat, Turbat, Awaran, Hub, Karachi and Quetta.
The committee, in an earlier release, claimed that volunteers, including women, were prevented from handing out pamphlets and were harassed. Activists were called from unidentified phone numbers and threatened; FIRs were registered on trumped-up charges for collecting donations; they were prevented from holding corner meetings to raise awareness while several volunteers were detained and arbitrarily arrested, including 13 women briefly in Awaran.
Further, they claimed that transport company owners were allegedly called and threatened with dire consequences if they provided transportation services to people intending to travel to Gwadar.
Local journalists reported that, to hamper communications, mobile and internet services (3G and 4G) in Gwadar and Turbat have beene shut since Friday.
Violence
As preparations were underway in Gwadar, caravans arriving from different parts of the country were stopped and some faced violence.
A caravan of buses and other vehicles were stopped at a security checkpost in Mastung, where violence subsequently erupted.
Videos circulating on social media, which could not be independently verified, showed armed, uniformed officers of the FC clash with protesters heading towards Gwadar. In some videos, protesters showed smashed windows of buses and tyres which had been punctured after they were shot at or slashed. Some videos also showed officers firing in the air and over the heads of protesters to disperse them. Other videos showed protesters pelt officers, some of whom were carrying batons and were wearing riot gear, with stones.
At least 14 protesters were reported to have been injured, including some who apparently suffered greivous wounds. At least one fatality was reported to have taken place.
In another incident, a group of 13 women were detained by security forces in Awaran. But after locals protested, they were released after a few hours. The detained women claimed that officers misbehaved with them.
Crackdown condemned
The crackdown launched by the government during the protest demonstration has been strongly condemned.
The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) issued a statement a day before the gathering expressing grave concern about the situation unfolding in Balochistan, particularly in Gwadar and Turbat.
"We have received reports of violence against protestors, resulting in injuries, and alleged attempts by state authorities to intimidate leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee into calling off the gathering, including through arrests and enforced disappearances," HRCP said.
The rights watchdog said that it was proving difficult to confirm all such reports, given the connectivity blackout in parts of the province. It called urgently on the federal and provincial governments not to repeat past mistakes but to constitute a high-level parliamentary delegation to meet Baloch representatives and listen carefully to their demands.
"As citizens of Pakistan, the protestors should not be denied their constitutional right to assemble peacefully."
On Sunday, the Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) issued a statement strongly condemning the government's crackdown on the pre-announced public protest rallies and arrests of protest participants.
PkMAP, which enjoys support in Pashtun-dominated regions of Balochistan, extended support to all constitutional and democratic demands by the Baloch Raji Muchi.
In their statement, PkMAP central spokesperson Talimand Khan said that peaceful protests, political gatherings, and demonstrations are the fundamental, inviolable constitutional right of every citizen, and it is the state's duty to listen to them instead of suppressing their voices.
"The PkMAP considers the extrajudicial abductions and forced disappearances of citizens, particularly in Balochistan, on political grounds as a constitutional and human tragedy and supports every voice and step taken against it."
Talimand further stated that the current unrest in the province results from decades of undemocratic, authoritarian attitudes, arbitrary political decisions, and actions, which have become unbearable and are manifesting as protests, rallies, and processions on the streets of the province.
"The misfortune of this Baloch-Pashtun province is that from the beginning, political issues were attempted to be suppressed by force rather than resolved in a political and democratic manner, which continues to this day," he said.
PkMAP, which is allied with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and PkMAP's chief was nominated by the PTI for the post of the country's president, but he ended up losing the vote, took a shot at the legitimacy of the federal and provincial governments. "Ironically, in this delicate situation, the central and provincial governments - imposed through Form-47, which lack public support and legal and moral legitimacy - are becoming part of the problem instead of a solution and are unable to hear the voice of the people."
PkMAP warned of unintended consequences if the ruling cader suppresses the will of the people using sticks and bullets instead of seeking political solutions to political problems.
It is pertinent to note that prior to Sunday's gathering, the Baloch Raji Muchi received international attention after Swedish climate change activist Gret Thunberg shared a post on her official social media calling for an end to the oppression.
Standing with a cardboard placard with the words "Stand with Balochistan" inscribed, she shared a message of solidarity with the Baloch Yakjehti Committee and others opposing state oppression.
"The Pakistani government must end the crackdown against the peaceful gathering organised by Baloch women against the Baloch genocide by blocking roads, raiding houses, and abducting organisers," she wrote, adding, "The reports from Gwadar are extremely concerning. The right to resist state repression is a fundamental human right."
"All forcibly disappeared organisers and others must be released."