Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind on Saturday warned the Balochistan National Party (BNP-M) that it will face a police response if its long march to Quetta breaches the city’s Red Zone, as the party prepared to continue its demonstration from April 6 (Sunday).
The BNP-M launched its long march from Wadh to Quetta on March 28, with party chief Sardar Akhtar Mengal warning it will transform into a sit-in if authorities don’t release detained leaders of the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC), including Mahrang Baloch. The party has drawn the support of various other parties, including the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who have condemned attempts to dampen the march through trenches and internet restrictions as unconstitutional.
“The provincial government held a dialogue and proposed that BNP-M will be allowed till Shawani Stadium [on] Sariab Road, but they did not agree and wanted to hold the demonstration in the Red Zone,” Rind told a press conference, confirming talks between the state and the party. “However, the government will not accept that,” he said, emphasizing that peaceful protest is a fundamental right, but the specifics of location and span are for the district administration to determine.
“They have announced bringing the march to Quetta, and they should know that Section 144 has already been declared, and if it will be violated, then the law will take its course,” he warned, adding no one would be allowed to hold the Red Zone or government functionaries hostage.
To a question on remarks made by Mengal, he alleged that the platform of a registered political party was being used for anti-state speeches and appropriate legal action has been initiated. He said the government had engaged with the BNP-M in two rounds of negotiations, adding consensus was also achieved with opposition parties in the Balochistan Assembly.
“Mengal claimed that the negotiation committee was without authority, so they were given authority, and they [BNP] had three demands that were the release of Mahrang and BYC leadership and our stance was clear that if courts provide relief, the government would not object,” said Rind.