Baloch National Movement condemns crackdown on Gwadar protestors

Islamabad [Pakistan], December 30 (ANI): The Baloch National Movement (BNM) has condemned the crackdown on people protesting in the Pakistani port city of Gwadar that led to the arrest of nearly 100 people.

"BNM strongly condemns the police violence against the peaceful protesters in Gwadar, but simultaneously believes that we must direct our struggle and national strength on the right path instead of wasting it in oblivion," the BNM spokesperson said in a statement.

The BNM spokesperson said that Gwadar had been declared the hub of the China-Pakistan Corridor (CPEC) by Islamabad but the people of Balochistan are not only unhappy with these projects and are expressing their displeasure through continuous protests.

The BNM spokesperson said that attempts are being made to silence the Baloch through forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in Gwadar and Balochistan.

This rebuke comes as more than 100 people have been arrested in Gwadar as the provincial government struck with an iron fist at protesters and imposed an emergency law that prohibits gathering five or more people, the Dawn newspaper reported.

"Continuing the same strategy, Gwadar had been under siege for the last six days, and a crackdown had been going on against the political workers. More than 100 political workers had been arrested from Gwadar and Kech districts and the majority had been either transferred to other cities or forcibly disappeared," the BNM statement added.

The Dawn report added that the arrests come a day after the provincial government imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Gwadar. "There will be a ban on all kinds of rallies, protests, sit-ins and gatherings of five or more people in the port city of Gwadar," the Balochistan home department said in a statement.

Despite the imposition of Section 144, workers and supporters of the Maulana Rehman-led Haq Do Tehreek (HDT) continued their protest, demanding the release of all people and activists of the movement.

Tensions continued to simmer in Pakistan's port city of Gwadar with protests continuing after clashes with supporters of the HDT. The clashes occurred this month between locals and security forces in Gwadar as protests against illegal fishing turned violent after some people were arrested in the port city.

The provincial government had contacted Jamaat-i-Islami leader Liaquat Baloch to help restore normalcy and resolve the issues that have become a bone of contention between the government and the HDT, the Dawn newspaper reported citing sources. (ANI)