Chaman dwellers urged to mind state interests while resolving issues

QUETTA: Balochistan Home Minister Mir Ziaullah Langau has urged the people of Chaman to find a solution to their issues while keeping both personal and state interests in mind.

Speaking to journalists during a visit to the Quetta Press Club on Saturday, he said employment in government departments had been offered to those working at the border. He remarked that terrorism and unrest had been fostered in the province and the country from across the border.

He said that when the state’s authority is challenged by attacking state institutions and offices, such as the DC office and passport office, the forces will deal with those challenging the state’s authority.

The home minister dismissed claims regarding missing persons, noting that those who went to the mountains to fight and get killed were also listed as missing. The state would not allow its authority to be challenged, he added.

He stated that the caretaker government, considering the increasing terrorism and unrest in the country, decided to enforce passport regulations for travel to and from Afghanistan. Previously, people travelled without any documents, a practice ongoing for many years. For the past 20 to 25 years, the situation in the country had deteriorated, with more than 18 consulates established across the border in Afghanistan, from where terrorism and unrest had been promoted in the province and the country.

The international community has been provided with all evidence regarding Baloch terrorist organisations, TTP, ISIS, and others, whose operatives come and carry out activities without any hindrance, he said, adding that the Afghan government and the current government were also informed and provided with evidence, but no action was taken to curb this because they were bent on harming Pakistan’s integrity and worsening the situation in collaboration with Pakistan’s enemies.

After three days of violent protests, demonstrations and arson against the arrest of the sit-in leadership in Chaman, the police finally took control of the city on Saturday. A 17-year-old boy was killed and 61 other people were injured in clashes with the forces.

The acting sit-in spokesman claimed that the arrested leadership had been tortured, demanding their immediate transfer to the hospital for treatment, and the release of more than 300 protesters arrested during the protests.

However, the district administration has failed to move the negotiation process forward after the arrests. The sit-in on the Pak-Afghan Highway has been going on for seven months.

Following the arrest of sit-in leader Ghulamullah Achakzai, spokesman Sadiq Achakzai and seven others during talks with the authorities, violent protests and arson continued in the city for four days. On Saturday the police and other forces succeeded in preventing the protesters from entering the city. According to officials, 800 police, levies and FC personnel were deployed at various places to prevent fierce resistance from the protesters. SP Shahid Jameel Kakar and levies officers started patrolling the city, along with a heavy contingent and armoured vehicles, and tried to reassure the residents. As the day progressed, most of the markets started opening. The forces also kept the protesters engaged on the internal roads of the city leading to the Pak-Afghan Highway.

The protesters had entered the FC Fort at this place a day earlier and demolished the security wall, but the rioters were successfully confined to the sit-in site due to tear gas and continuous aerial firing against the protesters. However, uncertainty persists in the city, with mobile, telephone and internet services suspended in the district. According to hospital officials, 61 protesters have been injured in the violent protests, of whom 23 have been shifted to Quetta, while 34 protesters were injured by rubber bullets and 27 by other weapons. Most of the injured are between the ages of 18 and 25.

A 17-year-old boy who was undergoing treatment at the Quetta Trauma Centre succumbed to his injuries on Saturday. Doctors said the injured youth had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.The acting sit-in spokesman said that the sit-in leadership was arrested on the pretext of negotiations, and subjected to severe torture. On the other hand, the sit-in committee has released a video of the attack on the Chaman Press Club by the protesters, according to which the protesters were provoked to attack the press club.Separately, speaking to a delegation led by Muhammad Kashif Chaudhry, president of the Central Organisation of Traders of Pakistan, Mahmood Khan Achakzai, the head of the Pakistan Protection Movement and Pashtunkhwa, called on the government to establish checkpoints at the Chaman border to create an easier route for traders. This would allow traders to cross the border daily using their ID cards, as the requirement for passports is very difficult, he said and adding that due to the Durand Line at the Chaman border, the properties of Chaman’s traders have been divided, and both the federal and provincial governments are essentially committing economic murder against Balochistan’s traders. — Online