Skip to main content

Baloch protesters call off sit-in outside Islamabad’s National Press Club

Baloch protesters, who had been camped outside Islamabad’s National Press Club (NPC) since December, called off their sit-in on Tuesday.

The announcement came a day after the NPC penned a letter to the Islamabad police requesting the removal of the Baloch rights camp. The NPC’s request was later withdrawn following severe criticism from all quarters, including journalists.

The protesters had been demonstrating in a sit-in organised in front of the NPC by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

The camp was established on December 22 and had persisted despite harsh weather. Further, organisers of the Islamabad sit-in had also accused police of harassing their supporters and profiling them as well as registering first information reports against them.

In the letter to the Islamabad police, the NPC had requested that a plan be drawn up to relocate the protesters to a different location so “the difficulties for the press club and all residents and the business community can be reduced”.

The letter said that the press club’s sole means of income were press conferences and seminars held at its premises. It said the sit-in and its related issues such as security requirements were impeding not only the club’s members but also the holding of its events, as well as the local business community and residents.

Responding to the letter, Dr Mahrang Baloch, one of the protest organisers, had expressed dismay and said the journalist and media community “have an obligation to stand with people whose voices are neglected”.

Addressing a late-night press conference, she had also said demonstrators were “under severe pressure to vacate the camp”.

“We are being harassed and threatened, with police circulating false information and journalists being stopped from visiting us. We are told there is a possible threat around the press club area,” she had said.

In a press conference today, Mahrang termed the letter by the NPC a “stain” on the profession of journalism.

“We will take back the message of hate we received. We will remember everything that has happened with us,” she asserted, adding that the protesters would head back to Balochistan tomorrow.

“We are not against the state, the state is against us,” she said, adding that Baloch protesters had been trying to communicate with the authorities to find a solution to the issue of missing persons.

“It is a shame that despite election campaigns being under way, no political party has spoken about the issue of missing persons,” she said.

Earlier today, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said that it stood in solidarity with the Baloch camp that “has faced persistent harassment from local law enforcement as well as dismissal from government authorities”.

It also said it was “deeply concerned” by efforts to uproot the camp.

“The validity of the Baloch protestors’ demands cannot continue to be ignored, and must be heeded with the legitimacy it deserves, not with undue force or defamation,” the commission said.



from The Dawn News - Home https://ift.tt/kcVwKSA
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ministers rubbish notion that proposed retirement age extension to favour ‘one particular institution’

Information Minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday rubbished the notion that a proposed extension in the retirement age was to favour “one particular institution”, adding that the move would be implemented across the board if approved. The rebuttal comes in the wake of media reports claiming that the government was mulling changes to the Constitution to fix the tenure of the chief justice . Currently, judges of the Supreme Court, including the chief justice, retire after attaining the age of superannuation, i.e. 65 years, as stipulated in Article 179 of the Constitution. While giving his opinion recently on the reports of the constitutional amendment, Law Minister Azam Nazeer Tarar had said he “will not vehemently turn down the proposals related to the tenure of the chief justice”. Addressing the issue during a press conference in Islamabad today along since Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb and the law minister, Attaullah said the extension in the retirement age was “a proposal to a...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Republican primary race for president in 2024

The Republican primary race for president in 2024 is already shaping up to be a competitive one. There are a number of high-profile candidates who have already announced their intention to run, and more are expected to join the field in the coming months. The frontrunner for the nomination is former President Donald Trump. Trump has been teasing a 2024 run for months, and he has a large and loyal following among Republican voters. However, he is also a polarizing figure, and his candidacy could alienate some moderate Republicans. Another potential contender for the nomination is Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. DeSantis has been praised by many conservatives for his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic and his opposition to vaccine mandates. He is also seen as a rising star in the Republican Party. Other potential candidates include former Vice President Mike Pence, former Ambassador Nikki Haley, and Senator Tim Scott. Pence is a more traditional Republican who could appeal to moderate vote...
1 comment
Read more

In pictures: Grief in Gaza and the loss of a child

In the photo, the woman cradles a child in her arms, balanced on her knee. It is an image that resonates, as ancient as human history. But in a grim inversion of the familiar, we see that the child she holds close is a corpse, wrapped in a shroud. It is a quiet moment of intense grief. The woman wears a headscarf and her head is bowed. We cannot see who she is nor can we learn anything about the child — not even if it is a boy or girl. Palestinian woman Inas Abu Maamar, 36, embraces the body of her 5-year-old niece Saly, who was killed in an Israeli strike, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, October 17, 2023. The child is one of many who have lost their lives on both sides in the Israel-Hamas war. Most have names we will never know, whose deaths will spark a lifetime of grief for family members we will never meet. In the 21st century, an average of almost 20 children a day have been killed or maimed in wars around the world, according to Unicef. Reuter...
Post a Comment
Read more