Baloch protesters wind up sit-in outside NPC

Mahrang say BYC will announce its next course of action today

Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) leader Dr Mahrang Baloch on Tuesday called off a month-long sit-in outside Islamabad’s National Press Club (NPC) against “enforced disappearances” and “extrajudicial killings” of her people.

Announcing the conclusion of the protest’s current stage, Mahrang said their struggle’s next phase would be aimed at highlighting the voice of the BYC movement though the social media and other mediums.

She also announced a meeting in Quetta, scheduled for Jan 27, to discuss the matter of the missing Baloch people.

The protesters had been staging a sit-in in front of the federal capital's press club for over a month with a camp established at the site on Dec 22 and carried on despite the extreme cold weather.

The BYC also accused the police of harassing the protesters and registering bogus FIRs against them.
The announcement by Mahrang came a day after the NPC wrote a letter to the Islamabad police asking for the removal of the protesters’ camp.

However, the NPC later withdrew its letter after facing severe criticism from several quarters, including journalists.

The NPC, in its application to Kohsar SHO Shafqat Faiz, expressed concern over the traffic congestion as well as difficulties faced by its members and guests because of the ongoing protest.

It sought the relocation of the protesters to some other place to avoid these problems, adding that the club’s sole means of income were news conferences and seminars held at its premises.

The NPC continued that the local business community and residents were facing inconvenience as well.
In response to the NPC’s letter on social media platform X, Mahrang expressed her disappointment, writing that journalists as well as media outlets everywhere had an obligation to stand with those people whose voices were neglected and it was painful to see that even now the press club was uncomfortable with their sit-in outside its premises against enforced disappearances.

However, she added that she could understand why the NPC was resorting to these measures as the Baloch protesters too were facing pressure and being harassed with the police “circulating false information” against them.

“Journalists are being stopped from visiting us and [being] told there [was] a possible threat around the press club area,” she added.

Mahrang continued that “this response by Islamabad is deeply disappointing”.

She wrote that the BYC would hold an important news conference on Wednesday (today) at 2pm and inform everyone about its next course of action.

Read: NPC seeks relocation of ongoing protest

Addressing a news conference later in the day, Mahrang described the NPC’s letter as a “stain” on the profession of journalism.

She added that they would take the “message of hate” they had received back with them. “We will remember everything that has happened to us,” she continued, adding that the protesters would return to Balochistan on Wednesday.

The BYC leader said the Baloch protesters were trying to communicate with the authorities to find a solution to the issue of missing persons, pointing out that they were not against the state.
She also expressed her dismay that no political party had reached out to them even though an election campaign was under way.

Earlier in the day, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) shared a statement on X, saying that it stood in solidarity with the ongoing Baloch camp led by women against enforced disappearances that had faced “persistent harassment from the local law enforcement” as well as a dismal response from the government authorities.

The HRCP wrote it was also “deeply concerned” over the efforts to uproot the camp, pointing out that this violated not only the Islamabad High Court's order that it should remain undisturbed, but also the protesters' right to peacefully assemble.

“The validity of the Baloch protesters' demands cannot continue to be ignored and must be heeded with the legitimacy it deserves, not with undue force or defamation,” it added.

PPP Human Rights Cell President Senator Farhatullah Babar in a statement welcomed the decision of the protesters to wind up their sit-in camp, describing it as a “wise move” as they had “achieved their purpose”.

“The decision by the organisers to wind up the 60-day long protest camp in Islamabad of Baloch women and children against enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and death squads in the province is wise and welcomed for having achieved the purpose for which it was set up,” it read.