The Heroes’ Welcome
Historical gathering in Quetta, where Baloch public in thousands welcomed Dr Mahrang, Sammi and their colleagues on their return from Islamabad.
A massive rally on Thursday greeted the families of Baloch missing persons upon their return to Quetta after spending over a month in Islamabad protesting for the release of their abducted relatives. In Islamabad they received support from activists and common people, but the authorities constantly harassed them and eventually forced them to end their sit-in protest.
The women had also been detained for 24 hours late last month.
“The Pakistani authorities should be ashamed of the harassment meted out to the Baloch Long March protestors,” Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
The number of victims of enforced disappearance is in the thousands, human rights groups say. Intelligence agencies are blamed for the abductions.
Protest leaders said on Tuesday that the State ignored their pleas but vowed they will continue their campaign against human rights violations in Balochistan. “We are not hopeless,” protest organiser the Baloch Yakjehti Committee tweeted earlier along with the hashtag #LongMarchAgainstBalochGenocie. “We will resist against all the genocidal policies of the State.”
