All Parties leaders in Noshki have said restrictions on movement, road closures and stringent checks have effectively placed the district under siege and deprived residents of basic rights, while rejecting any attempt to displace people from their ancestral areas.
Addressing a press conference at the Noshki Press Club, Mir Khurshid Jamaldini, Haji Manzoor Ahmed Mengal, Farooq Baloch and other political and social leaders said citizens were entitled to fundamental rights under the Constitution, adding that demanding those rights was not a crime and their denial would no longer be tolerated.
Rejecting the possible displacement of Ahmed Wal’s residents by Pakistani forces, they said the population had lived on the land for thousands of years and would not accept being forced from its homes.
“We will not be driven from our homes and ancestral areas. Our graves may be made here, but we will not leave our land,” they said.
The leaders said nearly 98 per cent of Noshki’s residents were being treated like criminals under the curfew and at checkpoints. Barriers and roads dug up along several routes had restricted movement on major highways, including the N-40, causing severe difficulties for patients, travellers and traders, they added.
According to the leaders, the situation had become so severe that taking patients to Noshki’s hospital at night was difficult, while transferring them outside the city in an emergency had also been made challenging. Even vehicles carrying bodies were being stopped for several hours in the name of checks, they alleged.
The lockdown had also disrupted education at several government schools, they said, with teachers and students unable to reach classes on time.
Calling for the immediate restoration of civilian movement, the leaders demanded the removal of barriers from Kuchaki to Kotal and from Zarochah to Albat, along with the reopening of markets in Ahmed Wal, Batto and Jorkain. Their demands also included fertiliser supplies for farmers, the restoration of gas and an end to unannounced electricity load-shedding.
They expressed concern over reported drone flights in Ahmed Wal, saying the sanctity of residents’ homes and their private lives must be respected under all circumstances.
On enforced disappearances, the leaders demanded the immediate release of those disappeared from Noshki, adding that anyone accused of an offence should be brought before a court and dealt with according to the law. Pakistani forces should not act as judges or deny citizens judicial proceedings, they said.
The leaders also questioned the district administration’s performance, saying theft and robbery had left residents feeling unsafe while no effective measures appeared to have been taken against those responsible.
They said several key administrative posts, including that of deputy commissioner, remained vacant after an officer appointed to the position had his appointment order cancelled several days later. Permanent appointments were needed to ensure public problems could be addressed, they added.
The All Parties leaders demanded that the authorities immediately reopen all routes, withdraw any decision to displace Ahmed Wal’s residents and restore essential services and business activity.
If practical steps were not taken, they warned, they would expand protests with civil society, traders and the public and launch a movement at the provincial and federal levels.
“Today, we are demanding our legitimate constitutional, civil and human rights from state institutions. The circumstances should not force us to stage even stronger protests tomorrow. The people’s patience must not be tested any further,” they said.
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