Hundreds of protesters, including women, children and elders, took to the streets in the coastal city of Gwadar on Sunday to rally against Army’s plans to erect a fence encircling the city.
The protest was organized by the Baloch Yakjehti Committee, with participants from various areas marching while carrying banners and placards opposing the fencing, as well as condemning enforced disappearances and the genocide of the Baloch people.
The rally met at Shahda-e-Jiuni Chowk, where speakers from the Committee addressed the protesters. Sabghat Ullah Baloch, a senior leader, questioned the need for fencing off Gwadar in the name of security for locals.
“At one time, people used to come here from Punjab with sacks of money to buy land from Baloch owners, but their dreams were dashed. The Baloch still live on this land, and their aspiration of keeping it will never be defeated,” he said.
He said that rather than posing a threat, the Baloch have co-existed peacefully with all communities in Gwadar, which he hailed as a site where “mosques and temples stand side-by-side.”
They warned that attempts to “grab” Baloch lands by fencing them off will not succeed. The Army is fencing the city to safeguard its and Chinese interests and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor rather than securing the local population.
They said that erecting a fence in Gwadar will not make the lives of those who are victims of enforced disappearances secure. The recent floods in Gwadar destroyed the livelihood of fishermen, rendering them homeless. People have lost their shelters, their homes have been submerged, leaving them in utter misery. The fence is being erected to secure Gwadar for the Chinese and the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, ignoring the locals and putting them at further risk.
Shah Ji said in the name of protecting foreigners, Gwadar has already been divided into two parts. From the airport to Gwadar port, the city has become a center of facilities for non-locals. And now the city is being fenced in the name of security. What kind of law is this that you imprison our homes for your own security? Will the Army, which eats up billions in security budgets, now be protected by imprisoning our homes behind fences?
Earlier, Baloch student and nationalist groups have strongly condemned the construction of barriers by Pak forces on agricultural lands in Gwadar, as it is an attempt to displace local farmers from their ancestral lands.