A protest was organized by the Baloch Solidarity Committee in Quetta on Saturday against the alleged murder of activist Karima Baloch in Canada. Hundreds of individuals, predominantly Baloch students and women, took to the roads, chanting cries of justice for the deceased activist. The protestors also raised voice against the suppression of protests and demonstrations, and the “harassment” of protestors in other cities of Balochistan. Quetta administrations attempted to disrupt the protest.
According to the details, hundreds of people took to the roads in Quetta to protest against the alleged murder of Karima Baloch. The participants carried banners and placards that bore messages like: “Resistance is life”, “We will never forgive. We will never forget” and “We are Karima Baloch.”
“Why Baloch masses are not allowed to protest?” one placard read, referring to the alleged suppression of demonstrations in various cities of Balochistan by the Pakistani security forces.
Several of the protestors had blindfolds around their eyes, and some children even ha chains around their hands as a sign of the “enslavement” of the Baloch nation and the “suppression” of freedom of speech in Balochistan by the Pakistani state.
The Quetta Police attempted to stop the protest near the Quetta Press Club, but the protestors surmounted the barriers and launched their rally towards the Balochistan High Court.
Mahrang Baloch, a Baloch student leader and the organizer of the protest, addressed the gathering in front of the High Court.
She said that when the police in Quetta had attempted to stop a peaceful, democratic protest, imagine what the security forces would do in the remote regions of Balochistan.
She said that the demonstration aimed to convey the message to the authorities that protest is a fundamental, democratic and constitutional right of every citizen. “You cannot stop a peaceful protest”, she said.
She said that the “state-backed oppression” in Balochistan has reached such a critical level that anyone attempting to make his voice heard is “harassed” and “threatened.” She said that the female protestors in other cities of Balochistan were threatened that if they participate in the protests, their family members or they themselves will be “abducted.”
“This High Court has failed to protect our rights; this Court and the [provincial] assembly are puppet institutions”, Mahrang Baloch said, repeatedly pointing towards the Balochistan High Court.