Last week’s crackdown on a Baloch demonstration in the federal capital has brought shame to Pakistan, with the Islamabad High Court demanding to know why police arrested peaceful protesters and attempted to forcefully “deport” women and children back to their province.
Triggered by the killing of Balaach Mola Bakhsh while in the custody of the Counter-Terrorism Department—which had earlier declared him a terrorist—the protest against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings originated in Turbat, attracting hundreds of men, women and children, before evolving into a long march to Islamabad. The demonstrators faced some hurdles en route, but these were nothing compared to what awaited them in Islamabad, with one leader, Mahrang Baloch, declaring authorities were treating the protesters “worse than animals,” and questioning if the world would raise its voice against the “barbarism.”
With the entire sorry affair caught on video, outrage against the crackdown mounted. In a statement, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) criticized the police action and urged the government to give the legitimate demands of the protesters a fair hearing. “The HRCP strongly condemns the violent police crackdown on Baloch protesters in Islamabad, with women, children and the elderly subjected to unwarranted force in the form of water cannons and use of batons,” it said, adding “numerous” women were arrested and separated from their male relatives and allies. “This treatment of Baloch citizens exercising their constitutional right to peaceful assembly is inexcusable. It also reflects how little the state thinks of the protesters’ demand that their right to life and liberty be upheld,” it continued, calling for the unconditional release of all detainees. Thanks to the IHC’s intervention, the protesters were allowed to remain in Islamabad, with their long march now transformed into a sit-in outside the National Press Club, even as several of the men arrested have yet to be released.
Undoubtedly, the police response to the protesters was horribly mismanaged. Instead of extending sympathy to the march, the administration wrongly decided to brutalize it. Consequently, Pakistan as a whole stands accused of maltreating citizens protesting for their rights. This, tragically, becomes yet another dark patch on Pakistan’s history of human rights violations that the country will eventually have to reckon with.