One of the buses posted outside the police station to forcibly repatriate protesters to Quetta
Following condemnations from various rights bodies and civil society, the interim government on Thursday claimed it has already released over 90 percent of demonstrators—including all women and children—detained by police in a crackdown on Baloch long march participants a day earlier. However, the claim was rubbished just a day later, when the police chief appeared in court and admitted several protesters were still in police custody.
The matter was “postponed” until Friday after several rounds of negotiations between the marchers and authorities, with the protesters maintaining they would not leave until all of them—including those still incarcerated—were released. “First, the police said in the [Islamabad] High Court today that they only had one Baloch woman. Then they said the 19-20 women they had were released and now they’re shoving 50+ women onto buses forcibly expelling them from Islamabad,” Imaan Mazari-Hazir, counsel for the Baloch protesters, wrote on her X account.
Taking up a petition filed by the protesters against their illegal detention on Friday, Islamabad High Court (IHC) Chief Justice Aamer Farooq inquired why police were “forcefully” sending the protesters back to Balochistan. “They can stay in Islamabad, protest or go back home. The choice is theirs,” he remarked.
The counsels for the protesters, meanwhile, informed the court that police on Thursday night told them a bus was waiting outside the police station to take the protesters back home. “We had a conversation over this with the police for three hours,” they said, adding the police had informed them they were acting on the orders of interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar.
“Baloch women were forcefully filled into buses,” he alleged, adding some Baloch students studying in Islamabad were also forced into the buses. Once these people were released, they said, police issued a statement claiming the protesters were safely sent back home.
The court then summoned Inspector General of Police Akbar Nasir, who admitted he had arranged the transport for the protesters. “Why did you send them? They could have stayed in Islamabad wherever they wanted to,” observed the judge and asked where they were currently staying. The IG said the detained women were currently in a hostel in I-10 sector. “Tell the counsels where they are,” the judge directed the police chief and told him to arrange a meeting with their counsels. “You have to convince them [counsels] that not one person is missing,” he added.
Nasir also informed the court that 216 Baloch men and women were at the Kohsar police station, with 162 sent on judicial remand. Of the total detained, he said, 19 women were released.
The lawyer, meanwhile, said today’s testimony suggested the IG had miscommunicated in court yesterday, adding contempt proceedings should be initiated against him.
Anchor Hamid Mir also testified in court that women were not released despite government claims and alleged he was manhandled by police when he reached the police station. The IG tendered an apology to the Geo News journalist in court.
“What kind of a society are we living in? Even if a common person is being unjust, public officeholders should always be careful,” remarked the judge and instructed the protesters’ counsel to oversee the matter and contact the IHC registrar office if there was a problem. He directed all women staying at the I-10 hostel to be immediately released.
“I will issue a detailed order of today’s proceedings,” Justice Farooq said, adding the next hearing would be conducted by Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb.
Interim government
On Thursday evening, amidst mounting criticism, several interim ministers claimed to media that all women and children had been released, while men who had yet to be identified were in police custody. “Those who have not been identified would be freed on Friday after the completion of an inquiry being conducted on the directives of the IHC,” they said, with Privatization Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad claiming the interim P.M. had formed a committee to negotiate with the protesters. “We, being the members of the committee, rushed to the demonstrators and as a first step got the children and the women released,” he claimed.
“The protesters were sitting outside the National Press Club for the past 23 days and the government had not taken any action against them,” he said to a query on apparent curbs on freedom of assembly. To another question, he claimed some “masked” individuals who were not part of the protest had infiltrated it and hurled stones at police officials preventing the demonstrators from entering the Red Zone. The “genuine” protesters, he maintained, had not initiated any violence.
Earlier, protests erupted in various cities of Balochistan against the arrests and aggression meted out to the participants of the long march. Balochistan National Party (Mengal) President Akhtar Mengal denounced the crackdown and urged Balochistan Governor Abdul Wali Kakar to reach Islamabad and secure their release. He said if the governor could not ensure their freedom, he should resign.
March and crackdown
On Wednesday night, a Baloch long march that commenced on Turbat reached Islamabad, triggering police action that included the use of water cannons, tear gas and baton-charging. Roughly 200 people, including women and children, were taken into custody. Police also raided the homes of Baloch individuals living in Islamabad and detained several of them.
The Baloch long march seeking an end to extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances was organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Council after the family of Balaach Mola Bakhsh accused personnel of the Counter-Terrorism Department of killing him in encounter, alongside three others, after declaring them militants. Bakhsh’s family maintains he was initially arrested without charge, before being declared a militant, and then being killed, without any legal justification.