GUJRAT: Jamaat-i-Islami Balochistan emir and party’s parliamentary leader in Balochistan Assembly Maulana Hidayatur Rehman Baloch announced launching a long march from Quetta to Islamabad along with the Baloch youth for constitutional and democratic rights of the people of Balochistan after Eidul Fitr.

He made the announcement while speaking to a gathering of businessmen, media persons and students at the Islamic Center here on Saturday.

Punjab JI emir Dr Tariq Saleem and other local party leaders were also present at the reception hosted by Gujrat JI emir Ansar Dhool advocate.

“Despite of all strong arm tactics against the Baloch people, I believe in waging a peaceful and democratic struggle for the sake of achieving basic constitutional rights from the platform of the JI and I will also visit the other major cities of Punjab to muster support for the people of the province,” Mr Baloch said and added that he had always condemned the murders of Punjabi labourers in Balochistan as well as other lawlessness in the province.

He said the hundreds of kilometres of motorways had been built for China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) for linking the road networks to Gwadar with China but ironically there had not been a single kilometre of motorway in any part of Balochistan while the inauguration of Gwadar airport was performed virtually from Islamabad.

“Balochistan has only been given the checkposts rather than the motorways despite of providing its natural resources of gas, gold, coal, copper and other natural resources for the economic stability of Pakistan,” Mr Baloch said and added that the people of his province had been the victim of high handedness and atrocities of establishment for the last 77 years. He said the Baloch leadership had merged at least four states into Pakistan but in return the Baloch were given dead bodies, missing persons and humiliation at the hands of powerful military and bureaucracy.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2025