Baloch human rights group accuses authorities of arrests and internet blocking ahead of protest in Gwadar

QUETTA: The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), which advocates for the rights of the ethnic Baloch people, on Saturday accused Pakistani authorities of blocking the internet and detaining dozens of its members in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province, a day before a protest rally in the port city of Gwadar.
Led by 31-year-old human rights activist Dr Mahrang Baloch, the BYC convened the Baloch Raji Muchi, the Baloch National Assembly, in Gwadar this month to rally the masses against alleged human rights violations and the heavy deployment of security forces in Pakistan’s southwestern province.
In the Pakistani province of Balochistan, which borders Iran and Afghanistan, a small insurgency by separatists has been raging for two decades. They say they are fighting against what they see as unfair exploitation of the province’s wealth by the federation. The Pakistani state denies these allegations.
Through social media platforms, the BYC is mobilizing and inviting people from across Balochistan to the meeting, which is scheduled to take place on Sunday at Gwadar Marine Drive, a major thoroughfare in the coastal city.
“Authorities have started blocking highways in Balochistan to intercept convoys of Balochs coming to the Baloch Raji Muchi in Gwadar, and police have arrested more than 100 BYC members from different districts of Balochistan,” Baloch told Arab News.
“Since Friday evening, internet has been completely down in Gwadar and Kech districts and mobile service is likely to be suspended today. We fear that the government will intensify the crackdown on BYC members as it has already registered four FIRs (First Information Reports) against our members in Kalat and Hub districts.”
Shahid Rind, a spokesman for the Balochistan government, denied allegations of a crackdown on the BYC and an internet shutdown in Gwadar.
“The Balochistan Chief Minister made it clear in the plenary session of the provincial assembly that the Constitution of Pakistan gives people the right to peaceful assembly, but the government has the right to decide the place for it,” he told Arab News. “No one can hold such assemblies of their own free will.”
Arab News spoke to several people in Gwadar and Turbat districts who said mobile internet access had been suspended in both districts since Friday evening.
Located on the Arabian Sea, Gwadar is the heart of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CEPC), under which Beijing has pumped tens of billions of dollars into huge transport, energy and infrastructure projects in Pakistan.
However, the plan has been hampered by Islamabad’s inability to meet its financial obligations and by attacks by militant groups on Chinese targets in Balochistan, Pakistan’s poorest province, and elsewhere in the country.

In the provincial capital Quetta, the authorities have blocked all entrances and exits and imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code. This section allows the administration to ban gatherings of four or more people.
Saad bin Asad, Quetta’s deputy commissioner, said they had blocked the Luk Pass tunnel, a key point on the Quetta-Karachi highway, to prevent people from violating Article 144 ahead of Sunday’s gathering. “At least 140 people were arrested at different locations in Quetta and we will disclose the details of those arrested,” he told Arab News.
The government’s move came after the Balochistan government termed the Baloch national meeting in Gwadar as a “conspiracy” against the second phase of CPEC in Pakistan, which had been “stalled” after five Chinese engineers were killed in a suicide attack in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in March.
On Friday, Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti questioned the choice of Gwadar as the venue for the rally, as Pakistan had given security assurances to the Chinese.
“Why Gwadar and not Quetta?” Bugti asked during a session of the provincial assembly. “They wanted to hold this meeting in Gwadar, where we often do international travel, and we have invited Chinese officials to the inauguration of Gwadar International Airport next month.”
Bugti informed MPs that there were intelligence reports of “serious threats” of attacks on the Gwadar assembly by the Baloch separatist group Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA), which seeks to defame the government and state institutions.

“Despite discussions with BYC members about shifting the venue for this gathering, if they insist, the government will take action against those who defy the state’s order,” he added.
Sammi Deen Baloch, one of the organizers of Sunday’s gathering, said Gwadar is part of Balochistan and the port city has international importance.
“We have held many meetings in Quetta, Turbat and other cities of Balochistan, so why not in Gwadar where the Baloch are deprived of basic services,” she said.
Responding to government reports of threats against the gathering, Sammi said the state has power and resources and must therefore protect people who come to a peaceful assembly.
“If the state does not prevent the Baloch from coming to Gwadar, we expect thousands of people to attend this national Baloch gathering,” she told Arab News.