Demonstrations were organized in Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore and in major cities of Balochistan including Quetta, Turbat, Gwadar and Khuzdar against the extrajudicial killing of Hayat Baloch by the Frontier Corps. Demonstrations were also held in Germany and Netherland in this regard.
According to the details, students and the civil society organized demonstrations in Islamabad, Lahore and Karachi. Scores of people flocked the Karachi Press Club and demanded the removal of the FC from Balochistan. In Islamabad, demonstrator raised slogans against the human rights violations in enforced disappearances in Balochistan. Members from several campaign groups also demonstrated in Lahore.
Demonstrations were also held in Berlin and Hanover, Germany, against the killing of Hayat Baloch. German political workers and the members of the Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement also participated in the demonstration organised by Baloch diaspora. Several people addressed the crowd, saying that Hayat Baloch was an innocent and peace-loving student. They said his crime was that he cherished knowledge. The speakers said that like Hayat, many other students have been killed without justification.
The speakers said that Balochistan is rife with human rights violations, and if the world authorities don’t intervene, a human rights catastrophe is imminent. The speakers also said that Hayat Baloch’s extrajudicial killing is the continuation of the ethnic cleansing campaign in Balochistan. They said that to conquer Balochistan, the state is extinguishing its young, enlightened minds.
Demonstrations have been ubiquitous throughout Balochistan for the past week. On Saturday, hundreds of people in various cities of Balochistan took to the streets to demand justice for Hayat Baloch. The demonstrators said that the relevant authorities must carry out an impartial investigation on Hayat Baloch’s murder and deliver justice to his traumatized family.
In a demonstration in Soorab, the speakers said that Hayat Baloch’s murder is not a mistake, but a ‘well-planned conspiracy’ that has been in operation for the past seven decades. In another demonstration in front of the Sarawan Press Club, the speakers said that killing a young son before his parents’ eyes is abject cruelty. They said that we will continue to protest until justice has been delivered to Hayat Baloch and his family.
Haji Lashkari Raisani, the leader of the Balochistan National Movement, said that Hayat Baloch has not died in vain. Addressing the demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club, Raisani said that the youth have to unite to rid Balochistan of its perpetual crises and predicaments. He said that in the wake of Hayat’s killing, we will revolutionize education, justice sector, and will encourage unity among the Baloch.
Raisani said that not even a single representative of the ‘puppet government’ visited Hayat Baloch’s house to condole with his family. This, he said, proves that the people at the helm are ‘non-political’ and ‘non-public’, their loyalty lies only with authority and power.