Pakistan: Protestors block CPEC highway in Turbat after enforced disappearance of youth
Jan 30, 2024
Islamabad [Pakistan], January 30 : The China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) Highway in Pakistan's Turbat was blocked after a case of enforced disappearance came to the fore, Balochistan Post reported.
A massive protest broke out in the Turbat region after a young man from Sami in the Kech area disappeared.
The family launched a massive protest after which the CPEC highway had to be closed again.
According to information, the CPEC highway has been blocked at Sami once again by local residents.
The protestors alleged that the Pakistani forces raided a Sami house last night and forced the only son of Bakhsh, Pir Muhammad, to disappear, Balochistan Post reported.
Even during the sit-in on the highway, a large number of Pakistani forces surrounded the protestors and opened fire at them.
A scuffle also broke out while the forces tried to take away another youth, Balochistan Post reported.
Recently, Pakistan witnessed a long march organised by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee against the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of Baloch people. On December 6, 2023, the families of victims and Baloch activists began their march from Balochistan's Turbat towards Islamabad.
However, the Pakistani state and its security forces made an effort to stop the march at different places. This was done by using a variety of tactics, such as roadblocks, harassment, and direct use of force and violence by Police.
After holding sit-in for over two months outside the National Press Club in Islamabad, the activists decided to return to their homes in Balochistan under the leadership of Mahrang Baloch.
The Pakistan government has been accused of employing force against relatives of missing persons and engaging in political vendettas.
The Interim Prime Minister Anwarul Haq Kakar has openly opposed demonstrations by families of the forcibly disappeared and has accused journalists, writers, and civil society advocates supporting these causes of being linked to the Baloch armed struggle, as reported by Balochistan Post.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee and other rights organizations alleged that Pakistan's military institutions are behind the extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of innocent people in Balochistan and the state's mainstream parties, government, judiciary, and media are backing these crimes, Dawn reported.
