ISLAMABAD: Visitors continued to pour in at the two Baloch protest camps set up outside the National Press Club (NPC) – both demanding justice to counter lawlessness in the province.

One camp has been established by the Baloch Yekjehti Committee (BYC), which received around 200 warm shawls donated by the women wing of Majlis Wahdat-i-Muslimeen (MWM).

Expressing their sympathies with the protesters, the MWM women wing leaders promised to provide waterproof tents to the BYC camp ahead of rains in the coming days.

The tents would be donated by families of missing persons belonging to their community.

Talking to Dawn, Sammi Deen Baloch said they too were concerned about the weather condition as a number of more families of missing persons had arrived at their camp.

“You can see ash and burnt wood as this is the way we try to stay warm after sunset. But, conditions will get difficult to bear once it rains,” Sammi Deen added.

Meanwhile, the participants of their rival camp set up by Balochistan Shuhada Forum (BSF) claimed that there was a picture of Sammi Deen Baloch with Dr Ala Nazar, leader of Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), “which proves that she was a member of BLA”.

Ms Deen, meanwhile, claimed that all such pictures were edited and doctored.

On the other hand, caretaker Balochistan Information Minister Jan Achakzai visited the BSF camp and while talking to media demanded exemplary punishment to the terrorists and miscreants who were restricting growth and progress in the province.

Mr Achakzai said they were at the press club not to counter the BYC camp but to press their own demands for justice to the family members of the deceased.

“We want the judiciary and the authorities to ensure that the terrorists are awarded exemplary punishments,” he said, adding that those killing the innocent were against growth and progress of the province. However, he soon added that the social media accounts of the BYC were being operated from India and said there were proof that the Indian agency RAW was funding it.

Later, talking to Dawn, the Balochistan caretaker information minister disclosed that most of the BYC members and even several politicians were deliberately distorting the issue and did not present themselves at the commission or at the relevant forum.

“They criticise the state, the army and even use abusive language against any person they feel like; they even equate the conditions in Kashmir with Balochistan, but the fact is that Kashmir is an unresolved disputed issue pending at the UN,” Mr Achakzai said.

The provincial minister said one serious problem in the justice system was that terrorists and law breakers could not be proven guilty in the court.

Meanwhile, as per the directives of the Islamabad High Court (IHC), the capital’s civic body installed two more makeshift toilets at the protest area in front of the National Press Club.

Justice Mohsin Akhtar Kayani of the IHC last week barred Islamabad police from dispersing Baloch protesters camped outside the NPC on a petition filed by Sammi Deen Baloch.

The court also directed the deputy commissioner to ensure proper sanitation and hygiene at the protest camp by deputing staff.

Published in Dawn, January 13th, 2024