ISLAMABAD: Sensing an impending police action against their protest camp set up outside the National Press Club, Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leaders have said their “peaceful” demonstration is only to seek information about the whereabouts of their loved ones who have gone missing.

After they expressed concern over the persistent harassment of the protesters at a press conference on Monday, an application by the National Press Club (NPC) seeking police intervention to relocate the camp went viral on social media. The NPC’s request for action against protesters was later withdrawn following severe criticism from all quarters, including journalists.

Addressing the press conference, Dr Mahrang Baloch, one of the protest leaders, said demonstrators were “under severe pressure to vacate the camp”.

“We are being harassed and threatened, with police circulating false information and journalists being stopped from visiting us. We are told there is a possible threat around the press club area,” she added.

National Press Club submits, then withdraws request for relocation of protesters’ camp

Ms Baloch complained that a propaganda campaign had been ongoing for the past two months, and neither the establishment nor any other state entity bothered to listen to their demands.

“What we see now is a shrinking space to talk about our woes,” she said and lamented that the media is apparently under pressure, and their protest is not getting any coverage on the mainstream news channels.

She complained that authorities are “profiling male protesters” and expressed fear of possible retribution later.

Flanked by human rights activists Farhatullah Babar and Afrasiyab Khattak, Dr Baloch said women, children and the elderly were at the camp, enduring the harsh winter of Islamabad.

With visible signs of fatigue and sickness among some participants, she was asked if the BYC was considering calling off the protest for now.

Dr Baloch replied that the next course of action would be announced on Tuesday (today).

“We are here for a just cause — the state wants to crush us, but things cannot go on like this forever. We will continue to knock on all doors and approach the international bodies to seek redressal of our grievances. “We appeal to the courts and all those who have a voice to condemn the state repression of our people in Balochistan and Islamabad,” she said.

Responding to her earlier statement that those killed in the attack by Pakistani forces in Iran were protesters’ relatives, she claimed her remarks were “distorted”.

“I will repeat what I said that those killed were children and innocent civilians, and any three-year-old cannot be a terrorist,” she said.

In his address, Farhatullah Babar said the women protesters are “an inspiration” for peaceful protest against state violence.

The Islamabad High Court had ordered that peaceful protesters be not disturbed, but it appeared that the city administration was planning to uproot the camp, he said, adding that this was unfair. He said the protesters had covered a distance of over 1,500 kilometres from Turbat in Balochistan to Islamabad and peacefully sat in the federal capital.

Mama Qadeer Baloch, the veteran activist seeking the release of Baloch missing persons, also joined the BYC camp in Islamabad on Monday. He said there was no reason for talks with the state authorities as “they have been deceiving them for a long time”.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2024