Pakistan: Baloch activists condemn 'inhumane treatment' of protestors in Islamabad

Islamabad, July 21 A Baloch human rights organisation on Monday 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.

According to the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), Sunday marked the fifth consecutive day of the sit-in protest by the families of forcibly disappeared persons and detained leaders of the BYC in Islamabad. Since the beginning of the camp, the protestors have been denied the right to set up the camp in front of the Islamabad Press Club.

Nadia Baloch, sister of BYC Central Organiser Mahrang Baloch, on Monday 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.

The BYC highlighted that even on the fifth day of the protest, the Islamabad Police continued to obstruct the families from carrying on with their protest.

"Now, on Day 5, Islamabad police are actively preventing the families from continuing their sit-in in front of the Islamabad Press Club. This comes after a series of repressive tactics: Roads sealed to restrict access to the protest site. No tents or shade allowed, despite extreme weather. Elderly women and children fainting under heat and arrival of a police bus, raising fears of forced deportation back to Balochistan," the BYC stated, detailing the restriction imposed by the Islamabad Police.

"This is not only a denial of the right to peaceful assembly, but a clear attempt to suppress and erase the voices of those demanding justice. These families have come from far and are only asking for what is owed to them: freedom for the detained, and accountability for the disappeared," it added.

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