A heated exchange occurred in the Balochistan Assembly on Tuesday between Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman of the Haq Do Tehreek and Ali Madad Jattak of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP). The altercation, the video of which quickly went viral on social media, was sparked by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman’s condemnation of the police’s mistreatment of female protesters of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in Quetta.
During the session, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman criticized the police for allegedly pulling the veils off women protesters on Quetta’s Sariab Road. He condemned the police behavior and recalled that even his own female family members had been subjected to brutality at the hands of Pakistani security forces in the past.
He emphasized the right to peaceful protest to every citizen of the country and demanded the resignation of the Interior Minister over the incident. He also called for a resolution condemning the mistreatment of protesters, similar to the resolution passed concerning the desecration of the Pakistani flag.
In response, Provincial Minister Ali Madad Jattak asserted that regardless of being Baloch or Pashtun, all members of the assembly are ultimately Pakistani. He alleged that during the election period, participants in a protest rally had damaged his party’s office and torn images of ‘martyrs’ that were hanging on the walls, but he had tolerated it.
He further alleged that protestors in a recent rally by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee stoned his house and tore down images of ‘martyrs’, which he said he had also tolerated. However, he warned that any future ‘provocations’ would be met with a strong response and vowed to prevent protesters from passing through Sariab.
Ali Madad Jattak accused Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman of receiving government funds while simultaneously supporting ‘anti-state elements.’ This accusation led to a fierce exchange of words between the two members, with Jattak using inappropriate language.
The Speaker of the Assembly had to call in the Sergeant-at-Arms to restore order. Following the incident, Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman walked out of the session in protest.