Tens of thousands of people, including women and children, marched on the main roads and streets of Gwadar in support of their ‘Gwadar ko haq do’ movement led by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, Balochistan general secretary of Jamaati-Islami.
Protestors from Gwadar, Turbat, Pishkan, Zamran, Buleda, Ormara and Pasni are taking part in the Gwadar Ko Huqooq Do Tehreek (Give Rights to Gwadar Movement). They have vowed to continue their protest till their demands are met.
The protest
Led by Maulana Hidayat-ur-Rehman, the people of the port city launched the ‘Gwadar ko haq do’ movement 26 days ago.
The participants of the procession started their march from Seratun-Nabi Chowk, carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans in support of their demands. They were chanting slogans against the provincial government.
Speaking to the participantson Friday, Maulana Hidayat said police and other law-enforcement agencies blocked the Coastal Highway at Uthal, stopping buses, coaches and other vehicles carrying people to travel towards Gwadar as thousands of people from Karachi and other areas of Sindh wanted to join the sit-in in Gwadar.
Maulana Hidayat said that today’s participation of hundreds of thousands of people in the procession and the sit-in was actually a referendum against the provincial and federal governments and the people would continue their struggle and protest till the achievement of their rights which had been denied to them for a long time.
What are the demands?
According to a document, the protesters have put forth 19 demands which include taking steps to rid the sea of the “trawler mafia” and allowing fishermen to freely go into the waters.
The protesters have also called for abolishment of the token system at the Pak-Iran border and to remove unnecessary security check posts, which hinder the movement of people in the area. They also demanded that all wine stores in Gwadar be shut down.
The demands also state that a majority of the people employed by the China Overseas Port Holding Company were from outside of Gwadar and called for giving priority to locals. The demonstrators are also demanding the provision of basic facilities such as health, education, and infrastructure in all cities of Balochistan.
Dawn newspaper, while quoting sources, reported that the provincial government accepted four demands of the protesters and authorities concerned had issued an official notification in this regard.
One of the key demands accepted by the provincial government was taking over powers of running the Pak-Iran border affairs from the Frontier Corps authorities and handing it over to the district administration.
Is it an anti-China protest?
It is no coincidence that such protests had taken place over the past several weeks in Turbat, Zamran, Ormara, Pasni, Piskhan and many other areas, and the common denominator was to solicit the attention of the authorities concerned over their plight.
Meanwhile, Beijing alsp refuted media reports that the protests in Gwadar were anti-China, calling it “fake news” aimed at smearing ongoing CPEC work in the region.
According to a report carried by CGTN, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian made the comments at a press conference on Tuesday.
“The report by certain media on anti-China protests in the Gwadar region is completely groundless. It has been verified that there are no Chinese trawlers harboring in the Gwadar Port or fishing in relevant waters,” he said.
“I would like to reiterate that the Gwadar Port, a flagship project under CPEC, always focuses on development and is livelihood-oriented. The Chinese side upholds the principle of mutual respect and agreement through consultation in advancing relevant cooperation,” he added.
