The Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has expressed solidarity with the ongoing public campaign in Malir against what it described as efforts to acquire local land, affect villages and agricultural areas in the name of the Education City project.
The organisation said development and education are necessary for any society, but argued that development imposed at the cost of local people’s ancestral land, homes, livelihoods, environment and identity should not be considered public development.
The BYC said attempts to acquire land in Malir in the name of Education City represented what it described as an escalation of policies by the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) against Baloch communities’ land and collective existence. It said Baloch communities had lived in Malir for centuries and that the area’s land, agricultural life and local society formed part of their historical identity.
According to the BYC, the Education City project could affect approximately 20,000 acres of land across six small villages in Malir. It said more than 80 villages, ancient cemeteries, historical sites and agricultural lands were also at risk. The organisation further claimed that the process of acquiring approximately 1,000 acres of land immediately for the project had become a serious concern regarding local residents’ land rights.
The BYC also referred to international principles concerning the rights of Indigenous peoples to land. It cited Article 26 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which recognises Indigenous peoples’ rights to lands and resources traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used, and Article 32, which calls for consultation and cooperation with Indigenous peoples to obtain their free, prior and informed consent before approving projects affecting their lands or resources.
The organisation said an ongoing protest camp by affected residents in Faqir Muhammad Baloch Goth demonstrated that local people would not allow decisions concerning the future of their land to be made behind closed doors.
The BYC said it supported a peaceful protest scheduled for Saturday, 29 August, on Malir Link Road in front of Ziauddin University and called on residents to participate.
It also called on political, social, human rights, environmental, legal, journalistic, student and civil society groups to support what it described as a peaceful and democratic campaign by Malir residents.
The BYC urged the relevant authorities to immediately halt what it described as land acquisition without local consent, forced evictions, destruction of agricultural land and threats to historical sites.