Islamabad, July 23 (IANS) The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) on Wednesday accused Pakistani authorities of blocking roads leading to the Islamabad Press Club using buses, and barbed wires to confine Baloch families protesting against the illegal detention of BYC leaders and enforced disappearances as their sit-in entered eighth day. The BYC called on people, journalists and human rights defenders to stand in solidarity with the protesting families.
While sharing pictures and videos of the sit-in on X, the BYC wrote, “On the eighth consecutive day, Pakistani authorities continue to block all roads leading to the Islamabad Press Club using buses, and barbed wires to confine Baloch families protesting against the illegal detention of Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders and enforced disappearances.”
“These families, many of whom are elderly women, mothers, and children, have traveled from Balochistan seeking justice — not isolation. Yet they are being trapped, hidden from public view, and denied their democratic right to protest. We demand that these repressive tactics end immediately and call on all conscious citizens, journalists, and human rights defenders to stand in solidarity with the protesting families,” it added.
On July 21, a Baloch human rights organisation slammed the Pakistani authorities for forcibly evicting Baloch protestors – including women, children and elderly members – from their flat after cutting off water supply and exposing them to extreme weather conditions in Islamabad.
“Islamabad authorities have now forcibly evicted Baloch protestors from their flat after cutting off water and subjecting them to rain and heat. Pressuring landlords to displace peaceful demonstrators is cruel and unacceptable,” said the Baloch Voice for Justice.
Meanwhile, Nadia Baloch, sister of BYC Central Organiser Mahrang Baloch, criticised the Islamabad Police and state institutions, accusing them of mistreating Baloch women in a manner unimaginable even for immigrants anywhere in the world.
“Islamabad police and state institutions are treating Baloch women in a manner that is not even meted out to immigrants anywhere in the world. For years, our people have been forcibly disappeared, and then their mutilated bodies are dumped in desolate places. Occupying Baloch resources, state control over our land, imposing artificial leadership on our politics, and imprisoning our true leaders—despite doing all this, the State is still not satisfied. Now, we are apparently not even given the right to live in the capital of our own country, Islamabad,” Nadia posted on X
“Evicting Baloch children, mothers, and elders from their homes in the darkness of last night and leaving them on the streets is not just insensitivity but the worst form of state oppression, fascism, and racial discrimination. Islamabad police and state institutions should clearly state: Are Baloch equal citizens of this state or not? If we are not given the right to live, speak, or demand justice in Islamabad, then we too will have to think about what this state means to us,” the post added.
Nadia asserted that the Baloch community have always demanded their rights through peaceful protests while remaining within the constitutional framework. But if the State does not change its attitude, she stated, then the “Baloch mothers, sisters, and daughters will not remain silent either”.
“This country does not belong only to the powerful elites; it is ours too. If you do not consider us citizens of this country, then we will also speak the language you understand. And this path will not be easy for you either,” Nadia emphasised.
–IANS
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