QUETTA: A large number of workers of the Balochistan National-Party staged rallies in Quetta and other towns of the province on Saturday to protest against what they called the worsening law and order and free movement of armed groups in Wadh town.

Participants said the issue of Wadh is being painted as tribal when it is political. They said that BNP-M had waged a struggle against injustice, human rights violations, forced disappearances of workers and lamented that the government had taken no steps to control the situation.

The protesters said armed men were involved in heinous crimes like highway robberies and kidnapping for ransom due to the negligence of the authorities concerned.

The participants vowed to not give up on their struggles for the protection of the rights of the people of Balochistan and expressed their solidarity with BNP-M leader Sardar Akhtar Jan Mengal.

Protesters carrying party flags, placards, and banners marched in different areas of the provincial capital and gathered at Jinnah Road.

The protest was led by Waja Jahanzeb Baloch, BNP-M Secretary General, Malik Naseer Ahmed Shahwani, Shakeela Naveed Dehwar, Shumaila Ismail, Ghulam Nabi Marri and Ismail Baloch.

Ali Jan Mangi in Nasirabad, Abdul Wahid Shahwani in Khuzdar and Behram Baloch in Gwadar also contributed to this report

Published in Dawn, July 9th, 2023