ISLAMABAD: The interior ministry said on Monday that 290 Baloch protesters, who arrived in the capital last week to protest against alleged rights abuses in southwestern Pakistan, had been released following negotiations.
The activists, led by 30-year-old Dr. Mahrang Baloch, marched 1,600 kilometers to the Pakistani capital from the southwestern Turbat district, where a 24-year-old man, Balach Baloch, was killed in the custody of the provincial Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) last month.
The CTD says the deceased had links with militants and was involved in a number of attacks in the region, but his family and civil society activists deny the CTD claim and describe it as a case of “extrajudicial murder.”
The protesters, who have been staging a sit-in outside the Islamabad Press Club, call for disbanding the CTD in Balochistan, the release of all “missing persons” as well as freeing their fellows who were arrested after clashes with police last week. A three-member committee formed by Caretaker Prime Minister Anwaar-ul-Haq Kakar has been holding talks with them.
“In light of the negotiations held with the committee formed by the prime minister and the decision of the [Islamabad High] Court, all protesters have been freed,” the Ministry of Interior wrote on social media platform X.
“In total, 290 people have been released from jails and police custody,” it said, adding that everyone has the right to protest peacefully but “no one will be allowed to take the law into their hands.”
The ministry said security of the Red Zone in Islamabad had been ensured in every way as it houses the Diplomatic Enclave and other constitutional bodies.
On Saturday, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) which organized the protest under Dr. Baloch, gave the government a three-day ultimatum to quash all cases against students and activists and release all Baloch protesters.
Political leaders, human rights activists and families of victims have for decades spoken against alleged killings in Balochistan by security agencies in what they call staged encounters, a practice where officials claim the victims were killed in a gunfight though they were summarily executed.
Authorities deny involvement in such incidents.
Balochistan, which shares a porous border with Iran and Afghanistan, has been the scene of a low-level insurgency by Baloch nationalists for around two decades.
The separatists say they are fighting what they see as the unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation. The Pakistani state denies it.
