PAKISTAN
March To Protest Excessive Arrests Of Baluch Men Ends Violently In Islamabad
WATCH: Baluchis March In Pakistan Against Alleged Deaths In Police Custody
Police in Islamabad used force to disperse a protest by Baluchis in the early hours of December 21 after the protesters marched hundreds of kilometers to draw attention to excessive arrests of Baluch men and their mistreatment by police.
The woman who led the march, Mahrang Baloch, said on X, formerly Twitter, that she was taken into custody along with other protesters, while several protesters were reportedly injured by police as the protest was dispersed and people were rounded up and placed into transport vehicles.
The march "is under attack by the Islamabad police," Baloch said on X. "I have been arrested along with several women and men by Islamabad police, but remember fascist state, we will defeat you."
Participants in the march posted videos on X showing people, mainly women, marching and decrying alleged brutal police beatings of their sons.
Before her own arrest, Baloch said many youths had been arrested and many had been injured by tear gas and violence.
"Right now, we are being treated worse than animals. Will the world raise its voice for us against this barbarism?" she said on X.
The protesters reached Islamabad nearly a month after setting off from the Turbat district in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province to demand a judicial inquiry into the killing of Balach Maula Bakhsh, who relatives say died in police custody in November.
The killing is just one of the crimes that protesters want authorities to investigate. They also accuse Pakistani security agencies of a string of abductions and extrajudicial killings of Baluch men. The authorities reject the allegations.
The march passed through the provincial capital, Quetta, before heading toward Islamabad.
ANI / Updated: Dec 23, 2023,
Pakistani author Hanif Mohammad returns award (ANI)
ISLAMABAD: Amid the ongoing Baloch protest in Pakistan, Pakistauthor and journalist Hanif Mohammad returned his "Sitara e Imtiaz" award on Saturday in protest against Pakistan's action on the Balochistan march.
In a social media post, Hanif accused the state government of abducting and torturing Baloch citizens.
In a post shared on X, he said, "In protest, returning my Sitara e Imtiaz, given to me by a state that continues to abduct and torture Baloch citizens.
Bigg Boss-7 Telugu winner, Pallavi Prashant, arrested in Hyderabad for 'rally violence'Journalists of my generation have seen @SammiBaluch and @MahrangBaloch_ grow up in protest camps. Ashamed to witness a new generation being denied basic dignity."
On Wednesday night, Islamabad Police cracked down on and broke up Baloch protesters, who had gathered in the capital to voice their opposition to enforced disappearances and alleged extrajudicial killings in their region.
More than 200 demonstrators from various parts of Islamabad were arrested. Police batons, water cannons and tear gas were also used against the protesters, according to Dawn.
Politicians, analysts, and human rights organisations denounced the events.
Later, on Thursday night, the administration announced that 90 per cent of the Baloch men and women detained had been freed, with the exception of individuals who police were unable to identify, according to Dawn.
Notably, the movement against the Baloch Genocide; the detained females were released at last after 26 hours of humiliation, harassment and torture from Islamabad Police.
Still, 162 male protestors have been shifted to Adiala Jail and more than 50 males have been detained in different police stations in Islamabad.
"We request and appeal to the Baloch nation to continue their protests against the inhumane treatment of protesters in Islamabad and stand up against this treatment of Baloch nation and raise their voice in each and every possible way for those detained friends, who had the courage to speak and stand against the mass genocide of Baloch nation," the committee posted earlier.
The committee further stated, "We shall continue our movement against Baloch Genocide and the extra-judicial abductions."
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