Pakistan: Gwadar rights leader warns of long march
Feb 01, 2022
Islamabad [Pakistan], February 1 : A top Baloch leader has warned the provincial government in Balochistan that if the deal the government signed with the leaders of the 'Gwadar movement' for ending the protest is not implemented, they would organise a long march against it in Quetta.
Speaking at a presser on Monday, Baloch leader Maulana Hidayatur Rehman said besides many other demands, the recovery of missing persons was also included in the accord, the Dawn newspaper reported.
Analysts say that the recently-held Gwadar protests were an indication of resentment of local people against harsh Chinese policies in the region.
Canada-based think tank International Forum for Rights and Security (IFFRAS) is of the view that similar agitations could break out in places like Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Myanmar.
The protest started by Pakistan's Gwadar residents came to a halt on December 16, 2021, after the government agreed to the demands of the people protesting the illegal fishing of trawlers in Gwadar.
The major demand was to ban the illegal fishing of trawlers at the Makran Coast and to protect the rights of fishermen of Gwadar and other areas of Balochistan, according to IFFRAS.
Pakistan's Gwadar residents staged a protest demanding action against the trawler mafia by Pakistan and provincial governments. Led by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, Balochistan general secretary of Jamaat-i-Islami, the people of the port city launched the 'Gwadar ko haq do' movement in November last year.
The protests were also against the mega-development plans of the port city as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. China's port project started in 2016 in Gwadar and since then it has gained international attention.
"When international media rightly highlighted these issues as stemming both, directly and indirectly, due to unregulated Chinese investment and interference in Pakistan's economy, Chinese Foreign Ministry issued a statement castigating these media reports as fake news," the think tank said.
"However, there is a view that the Gwadar protests could be an indication of local resentment against Chinese predatory policies in South Asia and that the day was not far off when similar agitations could take place in places like Sri Lanka, Maldives, and Myanmar, once people realize how Chinese investments were ruining their livelihoods," it added.
