Baloch protesters demanding an end to enforced disappearances and extra-judicial killings in their province issued a three-day ultimatum to the state on Saturday, calling for the immediate release of all demonstrators detained so far and quashing of charges against them, failing which they would be “compelled to take harsh steps and the state and its administration shall be responsible for this”.
The demands were issued as the protesters claimed in a statement to the press that over 100 previously detained members were not presented in courts and thus “missing” while they continued their rally outside Islamabad’s National Press Club amid the presence of the police.
The long march led by Baloch women, starting in Turbat on December 6 after the alleged “extra-judicial killing” of a Baloch youth by the Counter-Terrorism Department officials, had reached the federal capital on Wednesday. However, the police had blocked entry points of the city along with major arteries to prevent the protesters from reaching the NPC.
