GWADAR: The Gwadar district administration and All Parties Alliance (APA) have agreed to form a committee to discuss demands of protesters who have been protesting and have staged a sit-in for the last three weeks.

The protesters’ demands include a halt to fishing by illegal trawlers between Jewani and Gadani, end to power outages in the area, end to inflated electricity bills, implementation of the commitment made to the people to build fishermen’s colonies in Gwadar, Pasni, Jewani and Ormara and an end to token system and allow the people to carry out their business through Kontani border on the basis of CNICs.

Other demands of the protesters include shifting of the Shipyard at Surbandan to Kupper, Kalmat, and disbursement of aid that was announced for the rain-hit people of the area.

Former Chief Minister and MPA Dr Abdul Malik Baloch visited the protesters at the sit-in camp and told them that Gwadar Port has primarily been built for military purposes, and no cargo planes will land at the New Gwadar International Airport because it has been constructed specifically for military fighter jets.

Gwadar port, airport have been built for military purposes, claims Dr Malik Baloch

He said that is why the local people have not been given jobs at the Gwadar port and at the new airport.

“China allocated $65 billion for Gwadar, but due to climate change, the city is sinking while the rulers remain indifferent,” Dr Baloch said.

He said there was a time when black people in the US were denied the right to vote, and now in Balochistan, the Baloch people’s right to vote is being snatched away.

He said in the Quetta by-elections, nationalist and democratic parties, including the National Party and BNP supported the JUI candidate, but their joint candidate who bagged 1,800 votes was defeated, and the rival candidate who clinched just 170 votes was declared victorious by the establishment.

He said the current assembly has been sold for billions of rupees, which is a disgrace to the spirit of democracy.

He accused the establishment and the power-seeking elites of having no interest in the welfare of the Baloch people and they are only interested in Balochistan’s land, coasts, and natural resources, which they continue to exploit.

The former chief minister said that sea of Balochistan is being plundered by maritime pirates and the Balochistan Fisheries Department could not only be blamed for this sorry state of affairs because other maritime forces are also involved in this loot and plunder.

“The security forces can spot vehicles of Baloch people on the roads, but they fail to see illegal trawlers looting sea resources of Balochistan,” he said.

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2025