Islamabad: Baloch Families Continue Protest Amid Intensifying Harassment, BYC Announces Awareness Campaign
ISLAMABAD: Today marks the 11th consecutive day of a peaceful sit-in protest by Baloch families in Islamabad, demanding justice and an end to enforced disappearances.
Despite the severe heat, lack of shelter, and increasing harassment, the protestors, including elderly women and children, remain resolute in their cause.
The Pakistani state has continued its repressive tactics. All roads leading to the Press Club remain sealed with buses, barbed wire, and other barricades.
Authorities have denied permission for protestors to set up even minimal camp structures, forcing many, particularly the elderly and children, to endure brutal daytime temperatures. Fainting due to heat exposure has become a daily occurrence, yet the state refuses to provide any humanitarian relief.
In recent days, harassment of protestors has escalated. Intelligence operatives, accompanied by Islamabad police, have been systematically profiling participants, particularly young Baloch men.
These agents have been recording protestors without consent, loitering around the protest site, and following families back to their residences in an apparent attempt to intimidate and pressure them into ending their demonstration.
Despite these oppressive measures, the protest remains peaceful and determined.
Meanwhile, in a show of solidarity and continued resistance, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) has announced a series of awareness programs and a social media webinar to mark the first anniversary of the Raaji Muchi (National Gathering), held in Gwadar in 2024.
These events aim to highlight the continued struggle of the Baloch people and raise national and international awareness of the human rights violations being committed.
The BYC reaffirms its commitment to peaceful resistance and calls on civil society, media, and international human rights organisations to urgently take notice of the deteriorating situation in Islamabad and across Balochistan.
