Sindh Sabha and families of missing persons started a hunger strike in front of Karachi Press Club, on Tuesday, against the arrest of long march participants and preventing the march from entering Punjab.
The hunger strike was announced by Sindh Sabha against the arrest of long march leaders and sabotage of protests.
The long march had started by Sindh Sabha, missing persons’ families and other rights activists on foot from Karachi in November and was scheduled to culminate in Islamabad. They had announced that they would protest in front of the Pakistan Army Headquarters (GHQ) in Islamabad for the recovery of missing persons.
However, a week earlier, dozens of police vans of the Ghotki district police prevented the participants from crossing the Sindh border to enter in Rawalpindi.
Afterwards, the march’s participants staged a sit-in blocking the National Highway.
Sindh Sabha and Voice for Missing Persons of Sindh had also called for a nationwide protest against the arrest of participants which was followed by protests in different cities.
According to a Sindh Sabha leader: “A large number of women were participating in the protest are on hunger strike now and Four people are on hunger strike till death.
Their demand is to release the detained leaders and produce the missing persons as soon as possible.
A protester named Hussain Bakhsh, who is now on hunger strike till death, said while talking to the media: “We were protesting peacefully for the recovery of missing persons in Sindh, but the peaceful march was stopped by force and our leaders were unjustifiably arrested.”
“We are on hunger strike for the freedom of our loved ones,” he said.
The Police and provincial authorities have not commented on this matter yet.