QUETTA: Maulana Hidayatur Rehman, the MPA from Gwadar and leader of the Haq Do Tehreek (HDT), has threatened to stage a sit-in at the coastal highway from September 5 if the alleged interference of army officers in government affairs didn’t stop.
While addressing a press conference in Quetta on Saturday, Mr Rehman claimed military officers were running the affairs of various government departments, including education, health, public health engineering and water in his constituency.
He claimed officers of colonel and brigadier ranks were interfering in the education department to appoint their preferred people to the post of headmistress in a girls’ school in his native area of Surbandar.
The Haq Do Tehreek leader said despite an annual expenditure of Rs180 billion on security, the law and order situation was deteriorating.
“The dignity, life and property of people are not safe, and security forces have failed to restore peace and stop killings.”
Claims senior army personnel were interfering in issues of education, health and other departments in Gwadar
“Now they are interfering in politics, district administration, and other departments,” he claimed, adding that politicians should be allowed to do their work.
The MPA said he was “not a Form 47” but a true representative of the people of Gwadar. “I will not compromise on the rights of the people under any circumstances.”
According to Mr Rehman, other political parties will also support his sit-in, which will continue until his demands, including the military’s interference in government departments, restoring electricity, tackling the trawler mafia, and addressing unemployment, are met.
He claimed that 70 per cent of Gwadar’s waters were under the control of the trawler mafia, which is “stealing” fish worth Rs200 to 250 billion and destroying the marine ecosystem.
The trawler mafia has left local fishermen destitute, and despite repeatedly informing the government, Mr Rehman claimed no attention has been given to this critical issue.
Published in Dawn, September 1st, 2024
