Balochistan: Hundreds gather in Turbat to defy state-backed criminals

QUETTA: Hundreds of people including women and children staged a protest rally against the Dannuk incident in the city of Turbat Balochistan and demanded that perpetrators and facilitator must be punished.

It must be remembered that on the night of 27 May 2020 a Baloch woman Malik Naz was shot dead and her 4-year-old daughter Bramsh Baloch was wounded during a robbery by members of Pakistan Military Intelligence (MI) backed death squads.

The incident has provoked a wave of protests in Gwadar, Pasni and Turbat, so far, demanding the arrest of Sameer Sabzal the head of the death squad who also happens to be a member of Balochistan Awam Party (BAP), the current ruling party in Balochistan led by Jam Kamal.

According to details, the protest rally on Monday started from Dannuk at 9 to reached Fida Shaheed Chowk in Turbat Bazaar and turned into a huge demonstration.

One of the accused involved in the robbery was caught by the people and handed over to the police on their own initiative but the leader of this group Sameer Sabzal is still at large and reportedly being protected by Pakistan army and intelligence agencies.

This has added to the anger and frustration of people and even pro-parliament Baloch joined the protests and directly pointed fingers at the army.

“The guns that are killing our people have the flag of Pakistan imprinted on them,” Said Akram Dashti who in the past has been criticised for his pro-military politics.  

Even today, as he was speaking to the crowd, women participants of in the protest kept interrupting his speech by saying “you’re also one of them.”

Today’s rally in Turbat was held to show solidarity with deceased Malik Naz and her innocent daughter Bramsh Baloch.  Protesters held placards with various slogans calling for justice for Bramsh Baloch and arrest of the group’s leader.

There are more protests scheduled to take place in Panjgur and even Karachi in the coming days.

It may be recalled that 4-year-old Bramsh Baloch was hit by a bullet on her shoulder and is still undergoing treatment at a hospital in Karachi.

Visitors say each time Bramsh wakes up the first thing she ask is: “Where is my mother?”

She is also reportedly traumatised and tells people: “Go away from here. I have nothing with me. Don’t hurt us.”