IHC asks police not to treat Baloch protesters as enemies

ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Wednesday asked the federal capital police not to treat the Baloch protesters as enemies.

Justice Miangul Hasan Aurangzeb's remarks came as he heard a petition filed last week challenging the protesters' arrests and denying them the right to protest in Islamabad.

The hearing was attended by the Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Operations, the advocate general (AG), Islamabad, and the lawyer representing the organisers of the protest i.e. the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC).

Expressing his indignation, Justice Aurangzeb asked the SSP operations whether the order to treat the protesters harshly was given by him. "You make some people sit in your lap while you treat others like this," the judge remarked as he referred to the mass arrests protesters were subjected to on reaching Islamabad on foot from Kech in Balochistan. "They have come [here]. Let them sit," he said.

During the hearing, the petitioner's counsel stated that 34 Baloch protesters were still in custody who were yet to be presented in an identification parade. He added that an individual named Zaheer in the first information report (FIR) registered at the Kohsar police station was missing.

At this, the SSP informed that Zaheer was in jail and could not be released due to non-payment of bail money.

Meanwhile, the AG Islamabad maintained that it was easy to blame the government but not one Baloch person from among the protesters was missing. "A large number of protesters than these have come here before. You have pampered them. What did they [Baloch protesters] do?" the judge asked the SSP.

The petitioner's lawyer pleaded that the court should summon report from the capital police explaining the arrest of more than 50 women protesters.

"There is a lot that I would like to say but I cannot," Justice Aurangzeb remarked.

He then ordered the police to conduct an identification parade of the 34 arrested Baloch protesters by Thursday (today) and also instructed the Islamabad Police to submit a report explaining the arrest of female protesters. The IHC adjourned the hearing of the case till December 29.

Authorities claimed to have released all Baloch protesters who arrived in Islamabad last week to highlight the issue of missing persons but were rounded up in a crackdown.

However, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) disputed this asserting that Islamabad Police had failed to release all detained protesters despite the three-day deadline's expiry.

The BYC announced that people in Balochistan will stage demonstrations starting today (Wednesday) to protest against authorities' highhandedness.

"We doubt the government's sincerity as its negotiation team assigned by the premier for talks has not reached out to us in the last two days," stated a protest leader.

Caretaker Federal Minister for Information Murtaza Solangi, part of the PM's committee, affirmed that the BYC march participants were released by court after due legal procedures. "We await the protesters demands to proceed with negotiations. Once these demands are presented, we anticipate further discussions," he stated.