The interim government of Pakistan announced on Thursday that all women and children detained during the police crackdown on Baloch protesters had been released.
This was announced by Privatisation Minister Fawad Hasan Fawad while addressing a press conference in Islamabad, accompanied by Information Minister Murtaza Solangi and Jamal Shah.
“At the prime minister’s direction, a decision was made to release all women and children without exception. Additionally, all identified men have also been freed,” stated Fawad Hasan Fawad.
The Islamabad police had detained numerous Baloch men and women during a demonstration against enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.
Videos circulating on social media depicted security forces using water cannons and tear gas on the protesters, forcibly dragging Baloch individuals into police vans, and using batons against them.
All Long March participants are arrested by Islamabad police.#MarchAgainstBalochGenocide pic.twitter.com/KA92DsvvoL
— Baloch Yakjehti Committee (Islamabad) (@BYCislamabad) December 20, 2023
Furthermore, the police dismantled protest camps and loudspeaker setups outside the National Press Club.
Following the outcry, the caretaker government formed a negotiation team led by Solangi, Fawad, and Jamal Shah to engage with the protesters’ families.
#MarchAgainstBalochGenocide is under attack by the Islamabad police. Many of our youth have been arrested, & many have been injured by tear gas shelling and violence. Right now, we are being treated worse than animals. Will the world raise its voice for us against this barbarism? pic.twitter.com/AYhRPW0K9S
— Mahrang Baloch (@MahrangBaloch_) December 20, 2023
A women-led march from Turbat, initiated on Dec 6 following the alleged extrajudicial killing of a Baloch youth, reached Islamabad. However, the police blocked entrances to the city and major routes leading to the National Press Club.
