QUETTA: A rally to express solidarity with the participants in the Baloch long march, who are staging a sit-in outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, was held in Turbat on the call of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

A large number of people, including political workers, human rights defenders, and students, gathered at Shaheed Fida Chowk on Monday, carrying placards, banners, and pictures of missing persons.

During the rally, the participants marched on various roads of the town and chanted slogans in favour of their demands. Haq Do Tehreek leaders Sadiq Fateh, Yaqoob Kohi, and nationalist leaders Waja Asa Zafar, Nazil Baloch, and Rizwana Baloch addressed the protesters. They strongly condemned enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Balochistan and demanded justice.

About the treatment meted out to the Baloch protesters in the federal capital, they said that the participants in the long march were badly treated by the Islamabad police as hundreds of participants were arrested during the crackdown.

The protesters were released only after the intervention of courts, they said. “We want justice and recovery of our loved ones who have been missing for years. We have no other demand,” the leaders said.

Published in Dawn, January 9th, 2024