File photo, courtesy PID
Interim Prime Minister Anwaarul Haq Kakar on Monday took aim at “elements” backing armed militants under the guise of supporting Baloch protesters, who have been camped out in Islamabad protesting against extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances since last month after facing police brutality upon their entry to the federal capital.
Addressing a press conference at the Central Business District in Lahore, he alleged to a journalist asking about the police violence against Baloch protesters in Islamabad that some of the people—including media personnel—were trying to “mislead everyone, turning themselves into fake heroes of human rights and damaging the state.”
Claiming protesters camped out in Islamabad were the “relatives of those fighting against the state” in Balochistan, he maintained the state was battling militant outfits, not the Baloch people. “We still respect their right to protest because their dear and near ones disappeared. But they should also know that they [militants] were fighting against the state, with the help of RAW funding and aided by India. It is an armed rebellion, with foreign help,” he said.
People trying to create human rights issues out of the police’s use of water cannons against protesters should also explain who is killing common people in Balochistan, he said. “Who is engaged in armed mutiny against the state of Pakistan? I am sure if these so-called advocates go to Balochistan, they would be killed as well. But, please, go and join the BLF or BLA so that the state knows where you stand. The state is clear on how to deal with this menace. Please clarify your position,” he demanded.
“Advocates of terrorists in Balochistan should go and join them if they are convinced on the veracity of their issue and fight the state along with them … so that we know where they stand and how to deal with them,” he said, in a seeming reference to criticism of rights activists and journalists.
“Should we ignore the fact that over 90,000 innocent people have been killed and not even nine criminals have been convicted so far? Our criminal justice is weak, and cannot punish terrorists. Should we let them go on a rampage? Have these false advocates [of human rights] tried to unmask those who are behind this carnage? Who is doing it? Isn’t investigative journalism part of their duty? If they are turning the handling of protesters into a human rights issue, taunting me about my Balochistan origin, and raising an uproar about how can it happen right under my nose, they must also bring out the other side of the picture,” he said.
“There are organized attacks taking place on security forces on a daily basis,” he said. “Why not demand the arrest of killers of security forces and innocent people? Drawing a one-sided picture and then trying to take social, professional and political mileage out of it will not be allowed because it damages the state,” he said. “I insist and support their right to protest for their dear ones. My problem is with those trying to project the wrong interpretation of the issue and exploiting it for their ends,” he added.
Maintaining that protesting within legal limits was everyone’s right, he said the state must respond if such limits are crossed. “After all, what happened on May 9? The PTI people were also protesting. Why are they taken to task? They crossed the legal limit. Everyone can protest but only with legal limits,” he said.
Responding to the tirade in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, one of the organizers of the Baloch protest said their sole demand was the immediate cessation of all forms of rights violations in Balochistan. “Today, the Prime Minister of Pakistan declared victims of enforced disappearances as terrorists, insulting victim families and addressing peaceful political activists in a threatening tone. However, we assert to this state and government that we will persist in informing the world about your oppression and barbarism,” wrote Mahrang Baloch.