QUETTA: A senior administration official in Pakistan’s southwestern Gwadar port city said on Wednesday a Baloch rights group had agreed to end its protest in the area after the authorities agreed to fulfil its demands and release its activists, although the other side maintained talks were still ongoing.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which advocates for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people, called a rally in Balochistan’s Gwadar port city on Sunday against alleged human rights abuses, extra-judicial killings and enforced disappearances which it blames on Pakistani armed forces. The government and security agencies deny its allegations.
Last Saturday, more than a dozen protesters, who were en route to Gwadar to attend the rally, were injured in clashes with security forces in the Mastung district, officials and protesters said, amid a shutdown of Internet, mobile phone and broadband services in parts of the province.
BYC leaders also mentioned dozens of arrests of its activists while the military said one of its soldiers was killed and 16 others injured in “unprovoked assaults by the violent protesters.”
“The negotiations between the administration and BYC in Gwadar have been successful,” Gwadar Assistant Commissioner Mir Jawad Zehri told Pakistan’s Geo News TV.
“Baloch Yakjehti Committee’s detained workers will be released,” he continued. “Mobile network will be restored, and all roads will be cleared of obstacles. Gwadar BYC will end the sit-in.”
Speaking to Arab News, however, a BYC leader said talks were still continuing with the provincial administration officials, adding the group was still waiting for the final acceptance of its demands.
“BYC will call off its protests across Balochistan after the government accepts our demands, but the talks are likely to be finalized today,” Beberg Baloch said. “BYC protests continue for the sixth consecutive day, and yet hundreds of our members are in custody.”
Earlier, the Baloch rights group shared a list of its demands provided to the government’s negotiating team, calling for an end to the use of force against the participants of the rally in Gwadar and rest of the Balochistan province.
It also asked for the release of its arrested activists.
“All highways in Balochistan will be opened immediately,” the BYC said in a social media post. “The practice of raiding homes and harassing people in Gwadar will be immediately stopped.”
The group threatened to continue its sit-in if its conditions were not met by the authorities or any of its members faced harassment.
Gwadar, situated along the Arabian Sea, lies at the heart of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC), under which Beijing has funneled tens of billions of dollars into massive transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan. But the undertaking has been hit by Islamabad struggling to keep up its financial obligations as well as attacks on Chinese targets by militants in Balochistan and elsewhere in the country.
The BYC protest in Gwadar also prompted a Chinese diplomat in Pakistan this week to urge all the political forces and rights groups in Balochistan to “set aside” their differences and focus on the region’s economic development.