The Baloch Yakjetti Committee (BYC), a group of families of missing Baloch people, has been holding a sit-in protest in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan, for the past 33 days. They are demanding the release of their loved ones who have been allegedly abducted by the state forces.
On Tuesday, the BYC claimed that masked gunmen, belonging to Pakistan’s intelligence agencies, stormed into the protest camp at 3:00 am and harassed women and children at the camp by pointing pistols at them. They also took away the sound speaker that the protesters were using to voice their grievances.
The incident has come to be known, rather mockingly, as “speakergate scandal” on social media.
The BYC said that the incident occurred in the presence of many police officers and surveillance cameras, but no action was taken to stop the intimidation. Moreover, the police officials “faked” ignorance of the matter when they were confronted by the Baloch protestors.
The BYC is part of a long march that started from Turbat (Balochistan) to Islamabad (Pakistan) to protest against the “Baloch genocide”. The march has faced several obstacles but has not yet achieved its legitimate demands.