Tuesday’s strike in Gwadar in response to the Balochistan National Party-Mengal’s appeal to assist the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) in its latest demonstrations against the police crackdown and incarceration of its leaders.
Closed were all businesses, banks, stores, petrol stations in the city. A total shutter-down strike by the traders’ association was under progress in Ormara, a city 270 kilometers from Gwadar, to protest against the arrests and cases made against all BYC women leaders, including Dr. Mahrang Baloch, Bebo Baloch, and Sammi Deen Baloch.
This comes one day following the detention of BYC leader Sammi Deen Baloch and several others by Karachi police in response to a protest over recent BYC leadership arrests and a crackdown on its Quetta sit-in.
The police deployed water cannons and tear gas on Friday night to remove BYC protestors, who had set up a sit-in on Sariab Road close to the University of Balochistan, against claimed forced disappearances including leader Bebarg Baloch.
With the activist group claiming three killed and the police stating that ten of their people were injured, the Balochistan government and the BYC had recorded casualties on their sides resulting from each other’s activities.
The matter got more out of hand when BYC chief organiser Mahrang Baloch was detained early on Saturday under terror allegations alongside 150 others.
Responding to BYC’s appeal, strikes persisted in several Balochistan cities, including Quetta, Panjgur, Kalat, Turbat, Mastung, Kharan, Chaghi, Dalbandin and Dhadar.
Separately, BNP-M president Sardar Akhtar Mengal has declared a protracted march on March 28 in opposition to the detention of BYC leaders.
Mengal said in an X post, “I announce a long march from Wadh to Quetta, against the arrest of our daughters and the desecration of our mothers and sisters.”
“I will lead this march myself, and invite all Baloch brothers and sisters, young and old, to join us in this march,” he said.
He also penned, “This is a question of our national dignity, our honor, and our own life, not merely of the arrest of our girls. We will not keep quiet until our daughters, sisters, and mothers are protected.
“The Balochistan National Party’s announcement of a long march is a commendable step, and we respect this decision,” the BYC said in praising Mengal’s call.
